News Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, & Nuclear Disaster

[Belisarius]

And cooling of the exterior of the containment structure by seawater spraying and helicopter dumping? Can it do anything or is it a wasted effort only adding to the risk for emergency workers?
I ask because it seems that is what they're doing.

 

[N_Molson]

Would it work to "bomb" the reactor with tons and tons of sand, using heavy lifters / bombers like B-52 or Antonovs ?

 

[Urwumpe]

here is one image of the damaged nuclear power plant before the explosion:


Earthquake and Tsunami damage-Dai Ichi Power Plant, Japan von DigitalGlobe-Imagery auf Flickr

And cooling of the exterior of the containment structure by seawater spraying and helicopter dumping? Can it do anything or is it a wasted effort only adding to the risk for emergency workers?
I ask because it seems that is what they're doing.

It is the best what they can essentially do. They need large amount of water to reduce temperatures as fast as possible. It isn't enough to just spray the sea water there or use helicopters, you also need to make sure the whole containment structure gets flooded so the heat transfer is possible.

Would it work to "bomb" the reactor with tons and tons of sand, using heavy lifters / bombers like B-52 or Antonovs ?

Would only contain the heat where you don't want it. The containment is not yet breached open as far as I can tell, so the sand would only prevent access to it for cooling it with water.

---------- Post added at 04:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:51 PM ----------

It also looks like the exploded reactor was scheduled to go offline this month after 40 years of operation.

http://www.icjt.org/plants/index.html

Important dates:
Construction Start: 7.1967
Grid connection: 11.1970
First criticality: 10.1970
Commercial operation: 3.1971
Expected shutdown date: 3.2011

 

[N_Molson]

It also looks like the exploded reactor was scheduled to go offline this month after 40 years of operation.

:facepalm: That's real bad luck...

Vladimir Putin asked to check the readiness of the safety teams in eastern Russia.

 

[Belisarius]

Expected shutdown March 2011 - that is a cruel irony

 

[T.Neo]

What happens now? Is there anything that can be done to prevent a total disaster in regards to this powerplant? Or, anything that indicates a more optimistic outcome?

 

[Urwumpe]

What happens now? Is there anything that can be done to prevent a total disaster in regards to this powerplant? Or, anything that indicates a more optimistic outcome?

What speaks for a more optimistic outcome is the fact, that the reactor was scheduled to be shutdown forever this month - this means the reactor fuel is possibly already burnt down and there is a lower danger of recriticality. Also the emergency forces can wreck havoc there without having to care about rescuing the unit, since it was meant to be disassembled completely.

The bad side about it: It explains why the pumps and emergency systems of this unit are in such a bad shape. The owner had simply no reason to be quick on the repairs.

 

[Wishbone]

Judging by weaselling from the Cabinet, the danger is still not being faced squarely.

What happens to Fukushima II units 1, 2, and 4?

EDIT: Looking through the WorldNuclearNews site cited by Urwumpe, found that Fukushima Daini (Fukushima II) has lost pressure control only at unit 1.

 

[RisingFury]

 

[SiberianTiger]

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110312/162972723.html

Russia to boost liquefied gas supplies to Japan if asked

18:23 12/03/2011

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Saturday liquefied natural gas supplies to earthquake-stricken Japan should be stepped up if requested.

Japan "is our neighbor, a friendly neighbor and...we should do all we can to help with energy supplies due to [Japan's] waning capacities as a result of an earthquake and tsunami," he said at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Emergency Situations Deputy Minister Ruslan Tsalikov.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110312/162973067.html

Japan asks Russia to boost gas, coal supplies
18:40 12/03/2011

Earthquake-stricken Japan asked Russia on Saturday to increase energy supplies and Moscow is ready to deliver up to 150,000 tons of liquefied natural gas and increase gas supplies, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said earlier in the day liquefied natural gas supplies to Japan should be stepped up if requested.

Japan "is our neighbor, a friendly neighbor and...we should do all we can to help with energy supplies due to [Japan's] waning capacities as a result of an earthquake and tsunami," he said at a meeting with Sechin and Emergency Situations Deputy Minister Ruslan Tsalikov.

 

[Urwumpe]

According to Spiegel Online the water level inside the pressure vessel has dropped to only 1.7 meters, meaning most of the 4m long fuel elements is not cooled at all. No source for the information yet though.

---------- Post added at 05:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:42 PM ----------

One worker of the plant has died during the explosion:

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_reactors_1203111.html

 

[N_Molson]

I guess it is possible that the containement structure looks intact from the outside, while the melted core just sinks inside the ground, attracted by gravity ?

Edit : as a direct consequence, more that 5.1 million households remain without electrical power...

 

[Urwumpe]

I guess it is possible that the containement structure looks intact from the outside, while the melted core just sinks inside the ground, attracted by gravity ?

Yes, that is easily possible. But even if it wouldn't leave the containment structure, it would then already be a very bad thing. As long as it is inside the pressure vessel, it is a bit under control.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

While the risk of a nuclear meltdown is frightening, let us not forget that the complete devastation brought by the tsunamis that completely destroyed towns along the shoreline. Reports are coming in that 10000+ people are missing in the town of Minamisanriku northeast of Sendai, where almost no buildings survived the engulfing waves (Co-ordinates: 38.680498 N, 141.447544 E). That's half of the town's population missing. Also completely destroyed is the town of Rikuzentakata (Co-ordinates: 39.013128 N ,141.626759 E), in which more than 2000 houses were swept away, leaving almost nothing left in the town (apart from a few concrete buildings). Reports are coming that at least 300 bodies were found there.
Mark my words: the death toll will reach at least 2500, and there's a chance that it could be six times that much.
Video of the devastation: here (choose the video "Before and after images of quake zone ")

 

[N_Molson]

Yeah, and I remember the news saying yesterday's morning : "It looks like this will be mostly an economical more than human disaster..."

 

[Urwumpe]

Yeah, and I remember the news saying yesterday's morning : "It looks like this will be mostly an economical more than human disaster..."

Is probably right. As human disaster, it is very bad any that the number was for such a long time below 1000 was really too good to be true.

But the economic damage is not even yet possible to be estimated. The situation is still in motion. A strong aftershock could cause new damages, the nuclear reactor situation is extremely bad and the reports about existing infrastructure damages only arrive slowly.

 

[N_Molson]

They estimate the economical damage to "at least 15 billion dollars" on BBCnews.

 

[Urwumpe]

They estimate the economical damage to "at least 15 billion dollars" on BBCnews.

Just one NASA budget...peanuts...

---------- Post added at 06:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:26 PM ----------

The Japanese government now claims the explosion was caused by the roof collapse, not the other way around. Judging the available evidence, that is deepest denial. I start to loose trust in their statements, TEPCO was already known to be lying about their nuclear accidents.

 

[Belisarius]

BBC special report on the reactor and the issues involved

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12723092

 

[Wishbone]

Re: denial - Mr.Gorbachev must be proud...