Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor

[think_too_mut]

Again, you can live in a tent next to the Fukushima plant and receive for your lifetime same radiation flight attendants/pilots receive in 6 months.

No you can't! Even in save environments, your exposure is 0.5 to 4 mSv/year, compared to 5 to 20 mSv/year for long-haul flight attendants (ICRP-recommended limit is 10mSv/year). Your life should be pretty short to verify the above claim.

The geiger map you yourself commended (http://japan.failedrobot.com/) currently shows a dose rate of 48 microSievert per hour at a location approx. 1km west of the reactor buildings 1-4. Even if only one third of that radiation is gamma, you'd get 16 microSievert per hour inside your lovely tent, three times the dose rate flight attendants are exposed to at cruising altitude. You'd get that 24/7. If you leave the tent or take contamination inside, your exposure increases.

microsieverts, not milisieverts. 1000 times less. Have a look again. Nothing dangerous.

[Organicpete]

I may apologize for saying "nonsense" without strict qualification what I meant: the nonsense is what the article suggests, that even Japanese are shutting down their nukes.

Thanks

The PM is simply usinig (the initiative to build 20m high construction to house backup systems) of Hamaoka, started by the plant itself, without him knowing. Out of 58 nukes in Japan, I doubt he can tell more than 10-15 of them.

Harvesting the points that he needs after the public has grown mistrustfull about his handling of Fukushima. He is not wrong but is irrelevant. Except that he covers energy shortages caused (by the temporary closing, until the structure is built and used).

Ah the cynical politics...

Pete

[think_too_mut]

I may apologize for saying "nonsense" without strict qualification what I meant: the nonsense is what the article suggests, that even Japanese are shutting down their nukes.

Thanks

The PM is simply usinig (the initiative to build 20m high construction to house backup systems) of Hamaoka, started by the plant itself, without him knowing. Out of 58 nukes in Japan, I doubt he can tell more than 10-15 of them.

Harvesting the points that he needs after the public has grown mistrustfull about his handling of Fukushima. He is not wrong but is irrelevant. Except that he covers energy shortages caused (by the temporary closing, until the structure is built and used).

Ah the cynical politics...

Pete

Furhter more..just now.. the plant has told him to get stuffed. Not much revealing but along the lines that you have seen frome me:

Chubu Electric puts off decision on nuclear plant suspension

What shutdown?

The PM is, to say it mildly, an idiot. He has no idea about how to cross a street. Thanks to his aides (much linked to his survival) that he is still afloat.

Listen to more of his announcements. He is as clueless as CNN or Fox or similar rubbish stations.

[pomeloseed]

Call me a 'tree hugger' if you want, but I want to be as far from nuclear radiation as humanly possible. And it offends me that Thai officials are still hell-bent on making Thailand go nuclear.

In that case, you'll need to move outside the universe. Every human everywhere is constantly bombarded by nuclear radiation and if you're really concerned, you'd be better off taking a ship to Thailand rather than fly. Btw, nuclear power stations do not emit harmful amounts of radiation by default. There are many hundreds around the world running just fine and the new generation are tickety-boo. No need to cite what's happening now as we all know a monster quake & tsunami caused Fuk' problems, while Chernobyl was an unauthorised experiment gone wrong.

There are different types of radiation. I avoid flying as much as possible, thanks. Mostly because of the hydrocarbons released by using planes. The two disasters you mentioned are excused by nuclear boosters because of one unforeseen glitch or another. Let's look at Thailand for a moment: In the past two years alone, both its biggest airports have been commandeered, and there have been riots and a takeover of its biggest city for two years in a row. Each of those scenarios was relatively easy to achieve, with little or no resistance from security authorities. Over the past several years, there have been several armory explosions, several mass killings of protesters (tak bai to name one). So if Thailand stupidly goes nuclear, there are potential calamities other than natural disasters which could cripple one or more of its planned nuke plants. For an insurgent group bent on getting media attention, what better target than a N power plant?

Natural gas is better than nuclear, and alternative power (concentrated solar in particular) is waaaaaay better than nuclear in every way, including cheaper. If you don't believe it's cheaper, look at the costs for Fukushima. Yes, all those costs, including insurance and ruined lives of those in the vicinity, are part of the nuclear package. Even without a breach, nuclear is more expensive, for a score of reasons, when you include mining/processing/shipping/insuring fuel, plus building/maintaining/securing sites, plus dealing with decommissioning, and radioactive garbage. Can anyone familiar with Thailand say with a straight face that Thai authorities will deal responsibly with nuclear garbage, or that they'll decommission a plant when it's supposed to? It's more expensive even if there weren't bribes in the process, which of course is inevitable for any large project in Thailand.

[Richard W]

Even if only one third of that radiation is gamma, you'd get 16 microSievert per hour inside your lovely tent, three times the dose rate flight attendants are exposed to at cruising altitude. You'd get that 24/7. If you leave the tent or take contamination inside, your exposure increases.

microsieverts, not milisieverts. 1000 times less. Have a look again. Nothing dangerous.

16 microSievert per hour = 365.225 days/year * 24 hours/day * 16 microSievert per hour = 140 mSv/year.

[think_too_mut]

Even if only one third of that radiation is gamma, you'd get 16 microSievert per hour inside your lovely tent, three times the dose rate flight attendants are exposed to at cruising altitude. You'd get that 24/7. If you leave the tent or take contamination inside, your exposure increases.

microsieverts, not milisieverts. 1000 times less. Have a look again. Nothing dangerous.

16 microSievert per hour = 365.225 days/year * 24 hours/day * 16 microSievert per hour = 140 mSv/year.

Radiation dose rates at Iitate dropped below 10 microsievert/hour as of March 25 and are now below 5 microsievert/hour. If the Iitate dose rate stabilised permanently now, people living there would sustain annual dose rates of 44 millisievert. If levels continue to descend along the curve seen thus far the dose in the first year would be below 20 millisievert and less thereafter.

[midas]

Call me a 'tree hugger' if you want, but I want to be as far from nuclear radiation as humanly possible. And it offends me that Thai officials are still hell-bent on making Thailand go nuclear.

In that case, you'll need to move outside the universe. Every human everywhere is constantly bombarded by nuclear radiation and if you're really concerned, you'd be better off taking a ship to Thailand rather than fly. Btw, nuclear power stations do not emit harmful amounts of radiation by default. There are many hundreds around the world running just fine and the new generation are tickety-boo. No need to cite what's happening now as we all know a monster quake & tsunami caused Fuk' problems, while Chernobyl was an unauthorised experiment gone wrong.

so get ready for some more bombardment

" From Kyodo:

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday the level of radioactive materials in the No. 1 reactor building of the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is low enough to pose no problem when it opens the building's doors to help stabilize the damaged reactor.

The utility known as TEPCO said it had reported its plan to take the measure to the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency for review, and that it would open the doors after consulting local governments.

The double-entry doors that connect the reactor building with an adjacent turbine building will be opened to allow workers to reenter the site and build a new cooling system for the reactor, the most severely damaged at the six-reactor plant, which lost cooling functions in the March 11 quake and tsunami. "

http://silverdoctors.blogspot.com/2011/05/tepco-to-release-radiation-from.html

[vont]

I live in Japan, have not left like 240,000 other foreigners had. (fly-jin)

To put this radiation in a perspective, if one put up a tent next to the Fukushima plant fence, for his lifetime he would absorb the same amount of radioation flight attendants/pilots get in 6 months.

The whole nonsense from the press is just that: scaremongering rubbish.

Why do you think everyone on site is wearing radiological protection gear?

Have you seen the radiation maps for Fukushima recently??

Please provide evidence that supports your claim...

Chopperboy

Wishing you the best of luck to go with your most admirable decision and outlook.

You are the man of Japan.

You also are a nuclear fear not man.

I truly admire your contrarian outlook putting your life on line.

Hope you live many more years to come and outlive many of us, maybe.

[Chopperboy]

Chopperboy

Wishing you the best of luck to go with your most admirable decision and outlook.

You are the man of Japan.

You also are a nuclear fear not man.

I truly admire your contrarian outlook putting your life on line.

Hope you live many more years to come and outlive many of us, maybe.

Shouldn't this be addressed to Think-to Mut?

Edited May 9, 2011 by Chopperboy

[Chopperboy]

Japan nuclear crew may need lead shields - official

THE operator of Japan's stricken nuclear power plant may need to use lead sheets and metal tunnels to protect workers seeking to stabilise its reactors, the nuclear safety agency said today.

Before dawn today, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) sent a team to measure radiation inside the building housing reactor one and detected levels between 10 and 700 millisieverts per hour in different parts of the structure.

Japanese nuclear workers are only allowed to be exposed to cumulative radiation of 250 millisieverts - meaning they could only stay in reactor one's most contaminated areas for about 20 minutes before hitting their limit.

"An area with a double-digit millisievert level, let alone three-digit figures, is quite tough as a working environment," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Kyodo News reported.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/japan-nuclear-crew-may-need-lead-shields-official/story-e6frf7jx-1226052788792?from=public_rss

[Chopperboy]

Dutch finds radiation in Japan container

THE HAGUE: Dutch customs officials found higher-than-allowed radioactivity levels in a container that arrived by ship from Japan eight weeks after the Fukushima nuclear accident, a spokeswoman said Friday.

"Traces of radioactivity were detected on the exterior of the container, but none in the cargo itself," customs spokeswoman Gera van Weenum told AFP, adding the levels exceeded the maximum authorised of four becquerel.

"There were spots of radioactivity of up to 33 becquerel, but the average was six becquerel," said the spokeswoman.

The contamination was detected Thursday as the container passed through standard security checks at the port of Rotterdam, and was then sent for a second, more thorough inspection before being put on a truck to its final destination, a Dutch importer.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1127251/1/.html

[Chopperboy]

Air-lock at Japan nuclear reactor reopened

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency approved opening the double-entry doors, deciding it would not cause more environmental harm, Kyodo News reported.

TEPCO said it would send workers into the reactor building about 4 a.m. Monday to measure radioactivity levels.

On Thursday, TEPCO workers installed pipes connecting the No. 1 reactor building with a ventilator to filter out radioactive substances and allow safe entry. The ventilation was stopped and some of the pipes removed Sunday night.

The door opening will let workers start building a new cooling system for the reactor, whose cooling was knocked out by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Meanwhile, the company said radioactive strontium at 100 times normal levels was found in soil inside the plant, and the temperature at the No. 3 reactor's pressure vessel was rising again.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/05/08/Key-door-at-Japan-nuclear-reactor-reopened/UPI-36391304880429/

Edited May 9, 2011 by Chopperboy

[Chopperboy]

IAEA reactor status summary

Unit 1:

Reactor pressure Vessel is assumed to be leaking most probably through connected recirculation system (Pump seal LOCA).

Unit 2:

Reactor Pressure Vessel is assumed to be leaking most probably through connected recirculation system (Pump seal LOCA).

Containtment is believed to be damaged.

Unit 3:

Reactor Pressure Vessel is assumed to be leaking most probably through connected recirculation system (Pump seal LOCA).

Containtment is believed to be damaged.

http://www.slideshare.net/iaea/technical-briefing-11-0505

Edited May 9, 2011 by Chopperboy

[Chopperboy]

Fukushima Marine Environment Monitoring Report

IAEA Slide Show on marine environment

http://www.slideshare.net/iaea/marine-briefing-11-0505-hn-rev

[Chopperboy]

NEW video Spent Fuel Pool of reactor 4 Unit 4 at Fukushima Daiichi

[Chopperboy]

Workers Exploring inside Reactor Unit 1 - 6 May 2011

[Chopperboy]

Reactor 3 - higher cooling rates do not tame temperature rise

The temperatures in reactor 3 is now 314,5C and shows a constant increase in temperature, depite an increase in cooling rate.

New temperature readings from Tepco

http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/032_1F3_05090600.pdf

Edited May 9, 2011 by Chopperboy

[Chopperboy]

Fukushima Groundwater

Contamination Worst in Nuclear History

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXgQsWVM4no

[Chopperboy]

Radiation to restrict work on No. 1

Kyodo

The operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant found the radiation level of the building housing the No. 1 reactor stood as high as 700 millisieverts per hour, the government's nuclear agency said Monday, citing the need for radiation shielding to proceed with work to bring an end to the nuclear crisis.

The radiation level, which was around 10 millisieverts per hour at its lowest, was measured as Tokyo Electric Power Co. workers and agency officials entered the No. 1 reactor building early Monday as part of preparations to start full-scale work to create a stable system to cool the damaged fuel inside.

The latest move came after Tepco opened the doors linking the reactor building to its adjacent turbine building Sunday, and confirmed the resultant release of radioactive materials into the air had not raised radiation levels on the premises and nearby areas as of 5 a.m. Monday, according to the firm.

By opening the air-lock doors, air containing about 500 million becquerels of radioactive substances is believed to have been released into the atmosphere from the upper part of the No. 1 reactor building, which was damaged in a hydrogen explosion that occurred in the early days of the nuclear crisis.

Seven Tepco workers and two nuclear regulatory officials went into the reactor building around 4:20 a.m. and measured radiation inside for about 30 minutes. They were exposed to radiation between 2.7 millisieverts and 10.56 millisieverts, the agency said.

Tepco plans to fill the No. 1 reactor's primary containment vessel with water to a level above the nuclear fuel inside, and start operating by June an air-cooling device aimed at reducing the temperature of the water circulating around the reactor. Now that workers have entered the reactor building, Tepco plans to have them install and adjust instruments to measure the water levels in the reactor's containment vessel, and place a heat exchanger.

Edited May 10, 2011 by Chopperboy

[Chopperboy]

80 Photos taken around Fukushima Nuclear Plant

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xtcbz/sets/72157626687253144/

[Chopperboy]

TEPCO video of Spend Fuel Pool unit 3

What a mess - shows roof beam sections that have fallen in, rebar, concrete rubble and bubbles.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110510_1.zip

Edited May 10, 2011 by Chopperboy

[Chopperboy]

Video of the inside of Spent Fuel Pool 3

Edited May 10, 2011 by Chopperboy

[Chopperboy]

Another photo showing possible melted top of the fuel assembly

[Chopperboy]

Prime Minister Kan takes bold decision

On Tuesday, May 11 Prime Minister Kan took another dramatic step, announcing that Japan would cancel its plans to build new nuclear reactors, and would seek a new national energy policy that puts an increased emphasis on renewable energy and conservation. "We need to start from scratch," Kan said in a press conference. "We need to make nuclear energy safer and do more to promote renewable energy."

Kan's decision means that the government will drop an energy policy released last year, which called for the construction of 14 more nuclear reactors before 2030; that plan called for nuclear to supply 50 percent of the country's energy needs.

In a major development, Chubu Electric Power Co. agreed on Monday May 10 to suspend operation of its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka prefecture, about 200 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, "until further measures to prevent tsunami are completed." The decision came after Prime Minister Kan's May 6 request that the power company cease all operations at the plant, citing concerns over its safety. Kan said the government had predicted that there's an 87 percent chance that a magnitude 8 earthquake will strike the region within the next 30 years.

[Chopperboy]

Prime Minister Kan takes bold decision

On Tuesday, May 11 Prime Minister Kan took another dramatic step, announcing that Japan would cancel its plans to build new nuclear reactors, and would seek a new national energy policy that puts an increased emphasis on renewable energy and conservation. "We need to start from scratch," Kan said in a press conference. "We need to make nuclear energy safer and do more to promote renewable energy."

Kan's decision means that the government will drop an energy policy released last year, which called for the construction of 14 more nuclear reactors before 2030; that plan called for nuclear to supply 50 percent of the country's energy needs.

In a major development, Chubu Electric Power Co. agreed on Monday May 10 to suspend operation of its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka prefecture, about 200 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, "until further measures to prevent tsunami are completed." The decision came after Prime Minister Kan's May 6 request that the power company cease all operations at the plant, citing concerns over its safety. Kan said the government had predicted that there's an 87 percent chance that a magnitude 8 earthquake will strike the region within the next 30 years.

[Chopperboy]

Amusing look at Japans nuclear regulators

Dear Prime Minister Naoto Kan,

I applaud your call to suspend operations at the Hamaoka nuclear power station (in Shizuoka Prefecture). It's good news following on the heels of the public resignation of your senior nuclear safety advisor, Toshiso Kosako. In the wake of his tearful protest against raising the radiation exposure limit for children in Fukushima, it looks like you're now taking a step in the right direction.

When you're navigating uncharted territory, like the unprecedented disaster at Fukushima, guidance from experts in the field can be a lifesaver. But if the roadmap to safety they give you is a blank piece of paper, hold on because it's going to be a bumpy ride.

A blank piece of paper is kind of what the minutes of a special March 11 Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) meeting looked like. The meeting was held in response to the series of devastating events that occurred that fateful day.

If I've read those meeting minutes correctly, the NSC commissioners met for just five minutes. The document doesn't say who was at the meeting, but if all five commissioners attended, that would leave one minute of brainstorming time for each of them. You'd think they would have spent just a little more time putting their heads together to figure out a solution to one of the worst nuclear power plant accidents ever. I guess they thought it best just to leave the fate of the nation in the hands of Tepco (Tokyo Electric Power Co.) for a while.

In their next session a week later, the record simply notes that the country's other major nuclear regulatory body, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), had notified the NSC about disclosing the radiation threshold values for nuclear power reactor emergencies. I guess that made everyone feel a lot safer, or not, because once again they were out the door in five minutes.

Finally on March 25, their meeting minutes document was something that needed a sturdy staple to hold together. At nearly 10 pages it had all the earmarks of a regulatory opus magnum. Surely this was the blueprint to nuclear safety that the nation cried out for.

Then again, maybe it wasn't. The minutes show that a huge chunk of time was spent nailing down the exact spelling of the computerized spread sheet program Excel. There had been some previous clerical disaster in which somebody omitted the letter "c" from the brand name and they were dead set on getting the whole mess straightened out. As radioactive plumes drifted overhead, to add a "c" or not to add a "c" appeared to be the big question of the day at the Nuclear Safety Commission.

This burning issue and other kanji character bugbears chewed up much of the 26 minutes the commissioners spent together that day. I'm no scientific genius, but if I were a commissioner of anything, I'd leave the spell checking to my assistant.

I know the work of Japan's nuclear safety commissioners goes beyond their weekly meeting, and that they are probably every bit as haunted by this nuclear nightmare as everyone else. We are all together in this raging battle against this menacing monster and, to borrow a well-worn phrase, "failure is not an option."

Against the backdrop of a sky cluttered with radioactive clouds, it's clearer than ever that nuclear power is not an option we can live with safely.

If ever there were a time to rid the planet of these ticking atomic time bombs amongst us and commit to harnessing safe renewable energy resources, this would be it. Instead of standing idly by while the country's nuclear power regulators waste precious minutes, Mr. Kan, you could make this your finest hour.

J.T. CASSIDY

Yokohama

Edited May 11, 2011 by Chopperboy

[Chopperboy]

Double post - TV server maintenance glitch.

[Chopperboy]

TEPCO slipping behind schedule to contain accident

Nearly one month has passed since the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant announced a schedule to contain the accident. But Tokyo Electric Power Company is finding it difficult to stick to the plan.

TEPCO announced the schedule on April 17th, detailing 51 measures to be implemented over the next 3 months for the 1st stage.

The most important steps involve the cooling of the reactors. These include pumping water into the reactors, injecting nitrogen into the containment vessels to prevent a hydrogen blast and filling them with water, as well as a study on the possible installation of heat exchangers.

Workers have entered the No.1 reactor building to prepare to inject water into the containment vessel. On Tuesday, they started calibrating the water gauges, and a plan has been drawn up to install a heat exchanger.

However, none of these measures have been carried out at the other reactors, apart from pumping water into them.

The high levels of radiation detected inside the No.1 building could force TEPCO to change its work plan.

A clear strategy for containing the problem is yet to be seen 2 months after the nuclear accident occurred.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/11_04.html

[Chopperboy]

Contaminated water storage tank video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up_DMVUr9d0

The tanks are for storage of contaminated water. Due to the criticism of the previous release of contaminated water, the government will not release contaminated water any more. It is also mentioned that due to the typhoon rains, the ground water will also be contaminated. A new problem has surfaced that the rain and additionally, the groundwater must be processed as contaminated water.

[Chopperboy]

Another radioactive leak into the sea!

Shows water flowing out from a reactor 3 electrical pit

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11051108-e.html