News Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, & Nuclear Disaster

[PhantomCruiser]

The spent fuel pool is inside a building (or at least it used to be...).

 

[Urwumpe]

The spent fuel pool is inside a building (or at least it used to be...).

It is. You have essentially two pools per unit, one inside the secondary containment building, where the fuel is put directly after removing it, and a second one in another building where the nuclear fuel is stored before it can be reprocessed.

 

[Rtyh-12]

How far can the nuclear smoke/particles/radiation/whatever travel? Do people outside of the area (Japan, Eastern Russia, China and other close countries) have to worry?

 

[Ripley]

It all depends on winds strength, me thinks...

 

[IronRain]

From JPL:

The March 11, magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan may have shortened the length of each Earth day and shifted its axis. But don't worry-you won't notice the difference.

Using a United States Geological Survey estimate for how the fault responsible for the earthquake slipped, research scientist Richard Gross of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., applied a complex model to perform a preliminary theoretical calculation of how the Japan earthquake-the fifth largest since 1900-affected Earth's rotation. His calculations indicate that by changing the distribution of Earth's mass, the Japanese earthquake should have caused Earth to rotate a bit faster, shortening the length of the day by about 1.8 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second).

Japan Quake May Have Shortened Earth Days, Moved Axis

 

[Urwumpe]

How far can the nuclear smoke/particles/radiation/whatever travel? Do people outside of the area (Japan, Eastern Russia, China and other close countries) have to worry?

Europe is safe in any case, there is only a very tiny chance for some particles reaching Alaska currently. This is not Chernobyl, because of the lack of a graphite moderator fire that transports the particles at higher atmosphere layers, most of the stuff will end near the plant and cause possibly higher radiation there, then in Chernobyl, but also confined to a much smaller region.

Worse is the effect on fishing because of the stuff that is already washed into the ocean.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuroshio_Current"]Kuroshio Current - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Didn't know they had two pools, we only have the one that is shared between the two units (inside the aux. bldg, but outside containment). There's a really cool blue glow down at the bottom when the lights are off. Also, several guys here know Charles Casto from their "Ferry days".

Anyway, here is the word that we have here so far...

Nuclear Energy Institute Updates
Below are updates provided this morning by the Nuclear Energy Institute on the Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini nuclear power plants.
March 15, as of 10:20 a.m. Fukushima Daiichi - The level of radioactivity at the nuclear power plant has been decreasing, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. At 8 p.m. EDT March 15, a dose rate of 1,190 millirem per hour was observed. Six hours later, the dose rate was 60 millirem per hour, IAEA said.
About 150 residents near the Fukushima Daiichi site have been checked for radiation, and 23 have been decontaminated.
Japanese authorities have distributed potassium iodide tablets to evacuation center (see this page for more information on potassium iodide). If taken within several hours of ingesting radioactive iodine, potassium iodide can protect the thyroid gland.
MARCH 15, as of 915 a.m. Fukushima Daiichi - Units 1 and 3 at Fukushima Daiichi are stable, and cooling is being maintained through seawater injection. Primary containment integrity has been maintained on both reactors.
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) reported an explosion in the suppression pool at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2, at 7:14 p.m. EDT on March 14. Reactor water level was reported to be at 2.7 meters below the top of the fuel. The pressure in the suppression pool decreased from 3 atmospheres to 1 atmosphere. Radiation readings at the site increased to 96 millirem per hour.
Dose rates at Fukushima Daiichi as reported at 10:22 p.m. EDT on March 14 were:
��
Near Unit 3 reactor building - 40 rem/hr
��
Near Unit 4 reactor building - 10 rem/hr
��
At site boundary - 821 millirem/hr.
��
Kitaibaraki (200 km south of site) - 0.4 millirem/hr.
Station personnel not directly supporting reactor recovery efforts have been evacuated, leaving approximately 50 staff members at the site. Operators are no longer in the main control room due to high radiation levels.
Safety relief valves were able to be re-opened and seawater injection into the reactor core was restarted around 1 a.m. EDT on March 15 and is continuing.
At Unit 4 on March 14 at approximately 8:38 p.m. EDT, a fire was reported in the reactor building. It is believed to have been from a lube oil leak in a system that drives recirculation water pumps. Fire fighting efforts extinguished the fire. The roof of the reactor building was damaged.
Fukushima Daini - All four reactors at Fukushima Daini are being maintained with normal cooling using residual heat removal systems.

 

[N_Molson]

Reactors 5 & 6 begin to overheat.

All remote systems are out of order, all operations (like opening a valve) must be done manually.

Some technicians remain on the site with heavy protection suits and a rollout to shorten exposure ; it is feared they are going to be irradiated beyond recovery.

Most foreigners are evacuating Japan ; their is a large population move towards Osaka, in the South.

People are getting nervous on the russian Island of Sakhaline, the army is on site to monitor radiation levels that seem acceptable until now.

The stock market is dropping all around the world, with an historical loss for the Nikkei.

(Local News)

 

[RGClark]

Aaargh!
It's time for the world community to recognize this is not just a Japanese problem but potentially a world-wide problem. With the entire country of Japan in a crisis with the earthquake and tsunamis, dealing with this nuclear crisis is clearly straining Japans capability to deal with it.
It's time for the President to get off the golf course and tell Japan the U.S. and other members of the word-wide community are moving in to assist in solving the problems at these stricken plants.

The plants are on the coast! Bring in the fuel from tankers off shore!!

More about the suspected damage to the suppression pool:

Officials confirm ‘apparent’ breach of containment vessel at Japanese reactor – spent fuel pond boiling

Part of: Nuclear meltdown in Japan
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan speaks at a press conference on Tuesday.
NTV Japan

The containment vessel at the embattled No 2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has apparently been breached, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which runs the earthquake-stricken facility. Charles Digges, 15/03-2011
More specifically, Japan's nuclear agency said the explosion may have damaged the reactor's suppression chamber, a water-filled tube at the bottom of the containment vessel that surrounds the nuclear core, agency spokesman Shinji Kinjo told MSNBC.
The suppression chamber is used to turn steam back into water to cool the reactor and also plays a role in removing radioactive particles from the steam.
The nuclear agency’s acknowledgement that the suppression pool at the bottom of Unit 2, designed to serve as a last line of defense against a meltdown, was believed to have been breached could represent a major escalation of the crisis, said Victor Gilinsky, a former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
"If that is true, then there is a path to the control room, the workers and the outside environment," he said.
TEPCO said the problem could develop into a critical “meltdown” situation, according to Kyodo News, in which fuel rods melt and are destroyed, emitting massive amounts of radioactive materials and substances into the environment.
http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2011/apparent_breach

Note, by damage to the "containment vessel" apparently they are only referring to this component the "suppression pool", not the part of the containment chamber that holds the nuclear rods.
Still the fact that the control room had to be evacuated suggests this interpretation is correct and there is now access of radiation from the core into the environment.
When is OUR national leader going to speak on this?

Bob Clark

 

[Wishbone]

A case for classifying the disaster as INES 7: USS Ronald Reagan is American territory...

IAEA Alert Log:

Japanese Earthquake Update (15 March 18:00 UTC)

15 March 2011

Announcements, Featured

The IAEA can confirm the following information about the status of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Unit 4 was shut down for a routine, planned maintenance outage on 30 November 2010. After the outage, all fuel from the reactor was transferred to the spent fuel pool.

Units 5 and 6 were shut down at the time of the earthquake. Unit 5 was shut down as of 3 January 2011. Unit 6 was shut down as of 14 August 2010. Both reactors are currently loaded with fuel.

As of 00:16 UTC on 15 March, plant operators were considering the removal of panels from units 5 and 6 reactor buildings to prevent a possible build-up of hydrogen in the future. It was a build-up of hydrogen at units 1, 2, and 3 that led to explosions at the Daiichi facilities in recent days.

The IAEA continues to monitor and seek information on the status of plant workers, reactor conditions, and spent nuclear fuel at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Japanese Earthquake Update (15 March 15:30 UTC)

15 March 2011

Announcements, Featured

An earthquake of 6.1 magnitude was reported today at 13:31 UTC in Eastern Honshu, Japan. The Hamaoka nuclear power plant is sited an estimated 100 kilometres from the epicentre.

IEC confirmed with Japan that the plant continues to operate safely.

Units 1 and 2 are decommissioned, unit 3 is under inspection and not operational, and units 4 and 5 remain in safe operational status after the earthquake.

EDIT: IAEA decides to keep it at INES 4. Hypocrisy...

EDIT #2: Wind and background radiation levels map:

EDIT #3: Passing the buck... is the ultimate defense of cowards
(http://www.rian.ru/jpquake_analitics/20110315/354256896.html, citing Reuters)

Между тем выяснилось, что руководители компании TokyoElectric Power Co (TEPCO) слишком поздно сообщили премьер-министру Японии Наото Кану о взрыве на принадлежащей компании АЭС.

"Телевидение сообщило о взрыве, однако администрация премьер-министра ничего об этом не знали", - сказал премьер. Глава кабинета министров выразил крайнее недовольство этим, сообщает Рейтер.

(back) Translation:

Meanwhile it turned out that managers of TEPCO were late in notifying PM of Japan Naoto Kan about the explosion at the company's NPP.

"TV gave reports about the explosion, but the PM's cabinet knew nothing about it", said the Japanese PM. He expressed extreme indignation at that, according to Reuters {news agency}.

 

[N_Molson]

50 technicians are still working on the site (not always the same, they work in short shifts).

A journalist here said "Heroes or Kamikazes ?" ; I say that both are compatible.

Edit : a doctor said that, with the quantity of radiation probably involved, they risk having their blood cells damaged, even with radiation suits.

 

[Wishbone]

:hail: :hail:

===
Does anyone know how the calamity affected Internet connectivity?

 

[MeDiCS]

:hail: :hail:

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Belisarius]

Heroes without any doubt. Consider that kamikazes were dedicated to the deaths of their enemies.
These 50 workers are dedicating their lives to the saving of other lives.

I wouldn't do it. Thankfully I'll never be called on to do anything like it.

 

[dimo_stoianov]

Fukushima nuclear plant

:facepalm:
This is not from the rising sun.

 

[N_Molson]

There is a big crack on the roof of reactor n°4.

[the question is : what do they call the "roof of the reactor ?"]

(Local news)

 

[Stevodoran]

From what ive heard on the radio, 2000 bodies washed up on shore. Dono if its true thought........

 

[Wishbone]

Must be true... The race to inter them is on.

 

[N_Molson]

It is. People got litterally "washed away" by the tsunami. The old man floating on a roof part rescued by a destroyer 15 kilometers away from the shore is the proof of that.

The terrible thing with a tsunami is that it hits 2 time : the first when the wave runs on the land, the second when the water return to the sea.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Worse is the effect on fishing because of the stuff that is already washed into the ocean.

Kuroshio Current - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Since a bit from now I really want to check any fish, or other sea-originated products for radioactovity. What do you think the best type of dosimeter for that type of living creature cumulable fallout? α & β detector?