Meltdown alert at Japan reactor!

[Zombiehuntereky]

BBC News - Japan earthquake: Meltdown alert at Fukushima reactor (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12733393)

Meltdown alert at Japan reactor

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/51672000/jpg/_51672113_011525965-1.jpg

Technicians are battling to stabilise a third reactor at a quake-stricken Japanese nuclear plant that has been rocked by a second blast in three days.

Sea water is being pumped into reactor 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant after its fuel rods were fully exposed twice.

International nuclear watchdogs said there was no sign of a meltdown but one minister said a melting of rods was "highly likely" to be happening.

The crisis was sparked by Friday's 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami.

Thousands of people are believed to have died, and millions are spending a fourth night without water, food, electricity or gas. More than 500,000 people have been left homeless.
'All our effort'

On Monday a hydrogen blast at the Fukushima Daiichi's reactor 3 injured 11 people and destroyed the building surrounding it. The explosion was felt 40km (25 miles) away and sent a huge column of smoke into the air.

It followed a blast at reactor 1 on Saturday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said there were signs that the fuel rods were melting in all three reactors.

"Although we cannot directly check it, it's highly likely happening," he told reporters.

Both explosions at the plant were preceded by cooling system breakdowns but the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said neither blast penetrated the thick containment walls shielding the reactor cores.

It said radiation levels outside were still within legal limits.

But shortly after Monday's blast, Tepco warned it had lost the ability to cool Fukushima Daiichi's reactor 2.

[RedJohn]

That does not look very good.

[Kodiak]

And its getting worse... I feel for those people and what they are going through.

[RedJohn]

Yeah, I was seeing this in the news today. It is looking worse everyday.

[The Stig]

Update (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20110505/D9N18ODO1.html)


TOKYO (AP) - Workers entered one of the damaged reactor buildings at Japan's stricken nuclear power plant Thursday for the first time since it was rocked by an explosion in the days after a devastating earthquake, the country's nuclear safety agency said.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said workers are connecting ventilation equipment in Unit 1 in an attempt to absorb radiation from the air inside the building. The work is expected to take about four or five days.

The utility must lower radiation levels inside the reactor before it can proceed with the key step of installing a cooling system that was knocked out by the March 11 quake and subsequent tsunami that left more than 25,000 people dead or missing along Japan's northeastern coast.

Workers have not been able to enter the reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, about 140 miles northeast of Tokyo, since the first days after the tsunami. Hydrogen explosions at four of the buildings at the six-reactor complex in the first few days destroyed some of their roofs and walls and scattered radioactive debris.

(AP) This April 10, 2011 file image taken by T-Hawk drone aircraft and released by Tokyo Electric...
Full Image
In mid-April, a robot recorded radioactivity readings of about 50 millisieverts per hour inside Unit 1's reactor building - a level too high for workers to realistically enter.

The decision to send the workers in was made after robots last Friday collected fresh data that showed radiation levels were safe enough for workers to enter some areas, said Taisuke Tomikawa, a spokesman for TEPCO.

Two workers entered the reactor building around 11:30 am (0230GMT) for about 25 minutes. They were exposed to 2 millisieverts during that time, Tomikawa said.

A dozen workers split up into teams were expected to go into the building on a rotation for short periods to limit radiation exposure.

"This is an effort to improve the environment inside the reactor building," he said.

The workers were equipped with protective gear and a mask and air tank set similar to those used by scuba divers, according to an official at the Nuclear Safety and Industrial Agency.

Outside the reactor building, the utility erected a temporary tent designed to prevent radioactive air from escaping.

TEPCO has laid out a blueprint for bringing the bringing the plant into a cold shutdown within six to nine months.

Japanese authorities more than doubled the legal limit of radiation exposure for nuclear workers since the crisis began to 250 millisieverts a year. Workers in the U.S. nuclear industry are allowed an upper limit of 50 millisieverts per year. Doctors say radiation sickness sets in at 1,000 millisieverts and includes nausea and vomiting.

Radiation leaking from the Fukushima plant has forced 80,000 people living within a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius to leave their homes. Many are living in gymnasiums and community centers.

[RedJohn]

This is good to have further info on this deal. Nobody is saying anything about this anymore.

[The Stig]

Washington Post Original Story (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/japan-tells-utility-to-halt-3-nuclear-reactors-out-of-safety-concerns-in-event-of-major-quake/2011/05/06/AFFNnl6F_story.html?hpid=z3)

Japan wants utility to halt 3 nuclear reactors while seawall is built as tsunami protection

By Associated Press, Published: May 6

TOKYO — Officials at a Japanese power company were finalizing a decision Saturday following a government request that it suspend all three reactors at a coastal nuclear plant while steps are taken to prevent a major earthquake or tsunami from causing another radiation crisis.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Friday that he had asked Chubu Electric Power Co. to halt its three reactors at Hamaoka nuclear power plant in central Japan until the operator can improve safety measures. Though not legally binding, the request is a virtual order.

The government is wrapping up a safety review of Japan’s 54 atomic reactors after a March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. The disaster left more than 25,000 people dead or missing on the northeast coast.

The Hamaoka nuclear plant just off the Pacific coast in central Japan is the only one so far where the government has asked that operations be halted over safety reasons.

Chubu Electric president Akihisa Mizuno said in a statement that the company would “swiftly consider” the government’s request.

He was expected to hold a news conference later Saturday to announce a decision.

“It was a decision made after thoroughly considering people’s safety,” Kan said Friday, citing experts’ forecast of a 90 percent probability of a quake with magnitude of 8.0 or higher striking central Japan within 30 years.

The government asked Chubu Electric to suspend two running reactors and a third currently shut for a regular inspection at the plant in Shizuoka, which is around 124 miles (200 kilometers) west of Tokyo. Two other reactors are currently being decommissioned.

“If an accident occurs at Hamaoka, it could create serious consequences,” Kan said.

Since the March 11 disasters, Chubu Electric has drawn up safety measures that include building a 40-foot-high (12-meter-high) seawall nearly a mile (1.5 kilometers) long over the next two to three years, company official Takanobu Yamada said. The company also promised to install additional emergency backup generators and other equipment and improve water-tightness of the reactor building.

Chubu also plans to erect concrete walls along 18 water pumps at the plant, to protect them from tsunami or quake damage. It will also install additional backup generators and other emergency equipment to secure cooling capacity, and improve water-tightness of reactor buildings. It will take two to three years to complete the sea wall, Yamada said.

The plant does not have a concrete sea barrier now. Sandhills between the ocean and the plant are about 32 to 50 feet (10 to 15 meters) high, the company said.

Chubu Electric has estimated a tsunami reaching around 26 feet (8 meters).

The company recently said it was considering restarting the third reactor in July, triggering harsh local opposition.

Trade Minister Banri Kaieda said Chubu’s safety measures were insufficient. “Until the company completes safety steps, it is inevitable that it should stop operating nuclear reactors,” he said.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the stricken Fukushima plant, has said the waves that wrecked critical power and cooling systems there were at least 46 feet (14 meters) high.

Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu called the government’s request “a wise decision” and vowed to secure alternative sources of energy.

Residents in Shizuoka have long demanded suspension of the Hamaoka reactors. About 79,800 people live within a 6-mile (10-kilometer) radius of the plant. Some residents have filed a request to a regional court to suspend the Hamaoka plant.

The Hamaoka plant provides power to around 16 million people in central Japan, including Aichi, home to Toyota Motor Corp.’s headquarters and an auto plant. Faced with a possible power crunch due to the shutdown, Kan sought public understanding.

Automakers and other industries have had troubles with interrupted supply lines, parts shortages and damage to manufacturing plants since the March 11 disasters.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi plant lost its power and cooling systems in the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, triggering fires, explosions and radiation leaks in the world’s second-worst nuclear accident.

Radiation leaks have forced 80,000 people living within a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius of the plant to leave their homes.

Since the Fukushima crisis unfolded, nuclear safety officials have acknowledged that tsunami safety measures at Japanese nuclear power plants were insufficient.

In 2001, TEPCO told Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency that waves would not exceed 18 feet (5.7 meters) at the Dai-ichi plant, based on an anticipation of a magnitude-8.6 quake. It assumed the backup power generators, which were stored in basement areas, would stay dry in a tsunami triggered by a magnitude-9.0 quake.

[piranha2]

Funny how this dropped off the radar. No more news stories, etc. Guess a nuclear meltdown is not as newsworthy as it once was.

[RedJohn]

A lot less interest than let's say ... a royal wedding?

[bacpacker]

Keep changing stories and folks will forget what happened yesterday very quickly. Eathquake/Tusnami, radiation coming into the US (where is ANY info on this now), floods all over the US, tornado's, birth certificate, wedding, bin laden, a different story everyday. Just makes you wonder what the follow up's are to any of these. The Media isn't following up on anything.

[piranha2]

Except what they want you to hear or see.

[bacpacker]

My point EXACTLY

[The Stig]

Original story from AP (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_EARTHQUAKE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-12-08-28-30)


More-than-expected damage found at Japan reactor

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

Experts: Early warnings mitigated Japan disaster

TOKYO (AP) -- One of the reactors at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant has been damaged more severely than originally thought, officials said Thursday - a serious setback for efforts to stabilize the radiation-leaking complex.

Repairs to monitoring equipment revealed the new data, which also showed that the water level in the core of Unit 1 at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant is much lower than previously thought, leaving the portion of the fuel rods still intact fully exposed. Other fuel has slumped to the bottom of the pressure vessel and is thought to be covered in water.

The findings also indicate a greater-than-expected leak in that vessel. Radioactive water pouring from troubled reactors has pooled around the complex, hindering work to bring the plant under control.

However, temperatures in the unit are still far below dangerous levels because the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., continues to inject new water to keep the rods cool. That radioactive water is apparently then leaking into and through the larger, beaker-shaped drywell, or containment vessel.

"The situation (in the core) hasn't changed since (early in the crisis), and the fuel rods are being cooled by water continuously being injected into the core," nuclear official Takashi Sakurai said.

Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency officials said the new data indicates that it is likely that partially melted fuel had fallen to the bottom of the pressurized vessel that holds the reactor core together and possibly leached down into the drywell soon after the March 11 quake and tsunami that struck Japan's northeastern coast.

While officials said it was unlikely that the chunks of fuel were still dangerously hot or that they could melt through the concrete base of containment vessel, they acknowledged that the level of damage could complicate plans detailed in April to bring the plant to a cold shutdown within nine months. Further examination was needed to ascertain the full extent of damage, they said.

TEPCO had adopted an unorthodox method of trying to cool Unit 1's reactor by trying to fill the drywell with water leaking from the core, but the possibility that chunks of melted fuel had fallen and damaged part the containment vessel raised questions about how successful this method would be. It also called into question the utility's timeline for stabilizing the reactor.

"We have to revise the flooding method, as we need to re-examine the way we carry it out," Matsumoto said.

Recent temperatures inside Unit 1's core were at the most 237 degrees Fahrenheit (114 Celsius), well below the normal operating temperature of about 570 Fahrenheit (300 Celsius). Zirconium fuel rod casing begin to break down at 2,200 Fahrenheit (1,200 Celsius) and melt at 3,900 Fahrenheit (2,200 Celsius).

The new findings became available as workers fixed a water meter Tuesday after entering the building for the first time since a March 12 hydrogen explosion at the unit.

The gauge showed that the water was at least three feet (one meter) below the 13-foot-long (four-meter-long) fuel rods, which are suspended in the pressure vessel. Some of the rods has melted away, however, and the chunks of damaged fuel are presumed to be sitting at the bottom of the vessel, covered in water.

The low level of water indicates that the core of Unit 1 had a bigger breach than expected, said TEPCO spokesman Junichi Matsumoto.

Cooling water has been leaking from the reactor cores of Units 2 and 3 as well, allowing an estimated 70,000 tons of contaminated water to pool inside the complex, which TEPCO has been struggling to bring under control for two months.

To prevent contaminated water from leaking into the ocean, workers in April began pumping it into a waste processing building while a system to decontaminate the water is set up.

The plant, 140 miles (220 kilometers) north of Tokyo, has a total of six reactors. Units 5 and 6 have already reached cold shutdown. Unit 4 contained no fuel rods at the time of the earthquake, but workers have needed to spray water into its spent fuel pool where still-hot rods are stored and structural damage and leakage are suspected.

The government on Thursday also delayed the announcement of a plan to ensure that TEPCO fulfills its obligation to compensate tens of thousands of people affected by the crisis. Prime Minister Naoto Kan said further discussion was needed.

Under the plan, a new fund would be created with mandatory contributions from electric utilities, including TEPCO, in case TEPCO's total compensation exceeds its financial capacity. The government could also add public money if needed.

TEPCO would be required to repay any money it uses from the fund. The utility has agreed to drastic restructuring, cost-cutting and other conditions in exchange for government support in the compensation scheme.

[The Stig]

Original story from NHK World English (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/25_20.html)
(Ya.....I've never heard of them either)



The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says data analyses suggest damage to its reactors may have caused cracks and openings in the reactor containment vessels equivalent to a 10-centimeter hole.

Reactors 1 through 3 at the plant suffered nuclear fuel meltdowns after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. This is likely to have created holes and cracks at the bottom of the pressure vessels protecting the reactor cores and damaged the containment vessels.

Massive amounts of highly radioactive water also leaked from the structures.

Tokyo Electric Power Company analyzed the changes in pressure levels inside the pressure and containment vessels to gauge the scope of the damage.

TEPCO said the analyses show that holes in the Number 1 reactor containment vessel amounting to 3 centimeters in total may have formed 18 hours after the quake. It said that may have expanded to 7 centimeters at least 50 hours after the quake.

The utility said holes and cracks equivalent to 10 centimeters in diameter may have formed in the Number 2 reactor's containment vessel about 21 hours after the quake. It said a similar amount of holes could have been created in the suppression pool chamber by an explosion heard coming from there on March 15th.

TEPCO said these results were obtained through data calculations, and that it has yet to confirm whether such holes actually exist.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011 12:56 +0900 (JST)

[RedJohn]

NHK is a major Japanese media company.

Man, they're no longer talking about that and it is still a very dangerous situation.

[bacpacker]

Those reactors will be a bad deal for many years to come. IRC the half life of the Cesium137 being released, it'll be thousands of years. I can't remember where I read or heard it, but sometime last week the japs were suppose to be direct buring the waste. Anything that comes out the least bit "hot" is supposed to be put in lead or concrete casks before being buried. That's just contaminating even more area. On top of that who knows how much water and waste in being dumped in the pacific. That is contaminating the fisheries. A lot of the fish in the states come from the pacific.
Be sure and check the country of origin of any fish you purchase. I'm avoiding anything from Asia period.

[RedJohn]

I'm avoiding anything from Asia period.

yeah, no more sushi. ;)

[AlphaTea]

Yea, its bad but it's not TEOTWAWKI. The 1/2 life of Cs-137 is a hair over 30y, but that is not the only isotope of interest. Most of the isotopes are of a short 1/2 life but there are others that have 1/2 life in the e+6y range.
For perspective, remember that Japan was nuked twice during WWII and both of those cities are inhabited thriving communities.
This stuff can and will be contained and disposed of, eventually.
Also of note is the fact that it was common practice in the 40's, 50's and early 60's to dump nuclear waste at sea.
And yes, I do work in the nuclear (pronounced nu-clee-er, not nu-cu-lar :)) industry.

[RedJohn]

I do work in the nuclear (pronounced nu-clee-er, not nu-cu-lar :)) industry.

Only GW says it this way. So, now we have 2 specialists. FWY, gunbuilder69 is in the same industry.