Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor

[sbk]

Posts have been deleted. Lets make this clear yet one more time.

This thread is for news updates. Please take your political commentary elsewhere.

And if you are going to post news then you must provide a source. Rumor mongering is frowned upon and will earn more than mere deletion if it continues.

[ETatBKK]

I am dame simple - the Fukushina Dai Ichi plant has brothers of 6, a huge complexity there !

the entire plant now it is a no-man zone. they busy on reactor 3, how about reactor 4, and rest of other reactors. saying that, they must have 6 teams of 'experts' fire fighting the disater situation.

Some experts say that should any leak at the Fukushima nuclear plant occur, the range of contamination of the atmosphere would be much worse than that produced by the Chernobyl disaster, regardless of the containment dome.

http://rt.com/news/n...s-echoes-plant/

[elcent]

THOUSANDS of people are fleeing Tokyo in a panic over radiation leaks — as freezing blizzards heaped further misery on disaster-hit north Japan.

The airport of Japan's quake-hit capital was besieged as levels of the invisible killer soared to ten times the normal level there.

And a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions began to unfold as thousands of survivors of last week's devastating tsunami were hit by plunging temperatures as low as -5C and blizzards.

Just one of the many sources. Watch the images from the blizzard here too. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3470486/Japan-nuclear-cloud-terror.html

[bkkjames]

A couple of headcases were predicting that aliens would arrive by the end of 2010 to show us the err of our ways.

Right now I wouldn't mind a helping 3rd hand of ET origin to get us out of this mess.

I am amazed that the super power types haven't stepped up _ taken over the situation. There is very lil point in saving face at this time. IMO.

[elcent]

and here ... thousands flee Tokyo http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2011/03/16/japanese-tsunami-thousands-flee-tokyo-as-radiation-levels-reach-danger-levels-fears-of-meltdown-at-nuclear-plant-grow-86908-22993048/

<P align=justify>Thousands of tourists and residents left Tokyo and fled to safer areas on wednesday, despite official reassurances that radiation levels in the capital were negligible and posed no threat to health, after an explosion in reactor no 2 of the Fukushima nuclear plant, threatened to send radiation levels soaring.

The explosion is believed to have caused a crack in the chamber of reactor no 2 and steam and radioactive substances are reportedly pouring out through it, raising the contamination levels.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yukio Edano, said that the levels quickly fell again, but refused to rule out further leaks.

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan has warned that the risk of further contamination from the Fukushima complex was 'still high'.

http://www.sify.com/news/thousands-flee-tokyo-as-radiation-fears-mount-news-international-ldqo4fiicda.html

Pinoys in Japan told: Narita Airport crowded, take other exit means http://www.gmanews.tv/story/215391/pinoy-abroad/pinoys-in-japan-told-narita-airport-crowded-take-other-exit-means

More?

[Moonrakers]

Right now I wouldn't mind a helping 3rd hand of ET origin to get us out of this mess.

They'd probably be denied the paperwork James

[Chopperboy]

Germany's foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said what is happening in Japan is an "apocalypse", and Russia's nuclear chief said all six reactors could melt down unless officials find some way to cool down deadly nuclear rods.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2011/03/16/japanese-tsunami-thousands-flee-tokyo-as-radiation-levels-reach-danger-levels-fears-of-meltdown-at-nuclear-plant-grow-86908-22993048/

[elcent]

Alarm Over Spent Fuel Rods Threatens “Chernobyl on Steroids”

Radioactive rods stored outside main containment facility could cause “catastrophic fires”

Paul Joseph Watson

Prison Planet.com

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Perhaps the most underreported and deadliest aspect of the three explosions and numerous fires to hit the stricken Fukushima nuclear reactor since Saturday is the fact that highly radioactive spent fuel rods which are stored outside of the active nuclear rod containment facility are likely to have been massively compromised by the blasts, an elevation in the crisis that would represent “Chernobyl on steroids,” according to nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen.

As you can see from the NPR graphic below, the spent fuel rods are stored outside of the active nuclear rod containment casing and close to the roof of the reactor complex. Video from Saturday’s explosion and subsequent images clearly indicate that the spent fuel rods at Fukushima unit number one could easily have been compromised by the blast.

According to Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer at Fairewinds Associates and a member of the public oversight panel for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, which is identical to the Fukushima Daiichi unit 1, the failure to maintain pools of water that keep the 20 years worth of spent fuel rods cool could cause “catastrophic fires” and turn the crisis into “Chernobyl on steroids.”

[StreetCowboy]

Germany's foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said what is happening in Japan is an "apocalypse", and Russia's nuclear chief said all six reactors could melt down unless officials find some way to cool down deadly nuclear rods.

http://www.dailyreco...86908-22993048/

Referencing a newspaper does give it an air of credibility, doesn't it? Sadly, the Record is not even the paper of record in Scotland... I don't know if they still have a Page 3 model on a daily basis; they were the first paper to go colour on Page 3, if my memory serves me correctly. I supp ose I should also check to see what the Herald and the Press and Journal have to say...http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2180914

Given the huge problems that Japan is facing just now, I imagine it must be frustrating that all the attention is focused on one site...

instead of looking at the bigger picture

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/plea-for-calm-as-panic-grows-among-the-ruins-1.1090653

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/how-japan-lives-with-the-constant-threat-of-disaster-1.1090121

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2180918

I've not checked the Ayrshire Post yet...

SC

[elcent]

France's govt tells its people to leave Tokyo. "Lets not beat around the bush, the Japanese govt has lost control over the situation", - "this is our analysis and not that what they say". "Those who want to stay in Japan should proceed to the South, otherwise leave."

+++ Frankreich rät zum Verlassen Tokios +++

[12.10 Uhr] Die französische Regierung geht offenbar vom Schlimmsten aus - und widerspricht den Offiziellen in Japan. "Reden wir nicht drum herum. Sie haben offensichtlich die Kontrolle über die Situation verloren. Das ist jedenfalls unsere Analyse und nicht das, was sie verkünden", sagte Wirtschaftsminister Eric Besson dem Fernsehsender BFM. Umweltministerin Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet empfahl demnach allen Franzosen, Tokio mit dem Flugzeug zu verlassen. Sollten sie darauf bestehen, zu bleiben, sollten sie sich in den Süden des Landes begeben.

http://www.spiegel.d...,751191,00.html

[StreetCowboy]

Alarm Over Spent Fuel Rods Threatens "Chernobyl on Steroids"

Radioactive rods stored outside main containment facility could cause "catastrophic fires"

Paul Joseph Watson

Prison Planet.com

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Perhaps the most underreported and deadliest aspect of the three explosions and numerous fires to hit the stricken Fukushima nuclear reactor since Saturday is the fact that highly radioactive spent fuel rods which are stored outside of the active nuclear rod containment facility are likely to have been massively compromised by the blasts, an elevation in the crisis that would represent "Chernobyl on steroids," according to nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen.

As you can see from the NPR graphic below, the spent fuel rods are stored outside of the active nuclear rod containment casing and close to the roof of the reactor complex. Video from Saturday's explosion and subsequent images clearly indicate that the spent fuel rods at Fukushima unit number one could easily have been compromised by the blast.

According to Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer at Fairewinds Associates and a member of the public oversight panel for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, which is identical to the Fukushima Daiichi unit 1, the failure to maintain pools of water that keep the 20 years worth of spent fuel rods cool could cause "catastrophic fires" and turn the crisis into "Chernobyl on steroids."

Arnie's credentials are subject to debate

http://atomicinsights.blogspot.com/2011/02/arnie-gundersen-has-inflated-his-resume.html

though his remoteness from the incident, in the USA, is not.

SC

[elcent]

Arnie's credentials are subject to debate

http://atomicinsight...his-resume.html

though his remoteness from the incident, in the USA, is not.

SC

Looks more like the nuke lobby wants to get him out. He seems a bit to critical for them. Don't forget they (Nuke lobby) acts like Mafia.

[jfchandler]

You had quite a party last night, huh Elcent??? Hope you have someone around to pick up after you...

Image of reactor unit 4

[brahmburgers]

over 100 000 children homeless in Japam.

Sad as that is, it's at least heartening to hear that 100,000 children survived - assuming they were children from town worst hit by the tsunami.

What about Iran, it is a country prone to strong quakes. Iran would keep it a secret and let nobody in? North Korea? Burma? China? ...This should be the end of nuclear power plants.

For many more reasons that potential quakes, nuclear should be phased out. China is probably the most likely problem area, as they have earthquakes often, and their safety standards are lower than Japan's and there is scant little transparency in China. Plus, prevailing winds from China blow to Taiwan and/or Japan. Future headlines will show terrorists targeting N plants - it's inevitable.

[jfchandler]

That's a very high number, if it's really MILLI sievert and not micro sievert...\

What's the source for that information?

1000 Millisievert are currently measured around the reactors. This is enough to get radiation sickness which will lead to death within weeks.

[elcent]

Wikileaks revealed a Document from 2008 that proves that the reactors were a big security concern and only checked three times within 35 years. http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,751212,00.html

[jfchandler]

I see you guys have been busy while I've been gone...

Reading above, it almost made me think the world is ending... How bout coming back to earth...

Nice of GE to think of this... NOW....

NHK

GE to send power generators to Japan

The US-based General Electric Company, or GE, will send 10 gas turbine generators to Japan to help replace power generating capacity lost when nuclear reactors were damaged in Friday's mega-quake.

GE said on Tuesday it was sending the generators on request from Tokyo Electric Power Company, which is struggling with a nuclear crisis at its Daiichi plant in Fukushima Prefecture. GE manufactured 2 of the plant's 6 reactors.

GE said 3 of the 10 gas turbine generators have been moved to Florida ahead of being flown to Japan.

The company said it is also offering technological assistance to Japan through a joint venture set up with Japanese electronics-maker Hitachi.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 15:09 +0900 (JST)

Edited March 16, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

NHK

European airlines avoid Narita amid nuclear accident

Some European airlines are re-routing flights to Narita Airport near Tokyo to other airports in Japan, apparently out of concern about radiation leaks from the nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been dealing with a series of accidents since last Friday's earthquake and tsumami.

On Tuesday, Germany's Lufthansa started routing its flight from Frankfurt to land at Central Japan International Airport near Nagoya. It also changed its Munich flight to Kansai International Airport in western Japan. The company plans to continue this measure until Sunday.

Air France has added a stopover at South Korea's Incheon airport to its 2 daily direct flights from Paris to Narita, calling it a "safety measure." The airline is also changing crew at Incheon apparently to avoid having them stay at Narita.

The head of France's nuclear safety authority, Andre-Claude Lacoste, has said the accident at Japan's nuclear power plant could be classified as a level 6, the second highest on an international scale of one to 7.

This exceeds the level of the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the United States.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 11:52 +0900 (JST)

[jfchandler]

NHK

China asks agents to cancel trip to Japan

China has called on domestic travel agencies to halt, or postpone tours to northern Japanese regions that were hit hard by a powerful earthquake last week.

China's National Tourism Administration announced the move on its website on Wednesday. The site said the step was taken to ensure the safety of Chinese travelers, after considering the quake and the serious nature of the accident at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture.

A travel agency says it has stopped offering tours to Japan in compliance with the tourism authorities' demands.

China's Xinhua News Agency says an estimated 30,000 Chinese citizens are now in hard-hit Fukushima, Ibaraki, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures on the northern Japanese Pacific coast.

Chinese airlines have begun chartered flights for the country's citizens who want to return home.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 18:51 +0900 (JST)

[jfchandler]

NHK

SDF gives up on dousing No.3 reactor

Japan's Self-Defense Forces have postponed a mission to dump water by helicopter on the No.3 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, because radiation above the facility has climbed too high for such work.

White plumes started rising from the reactor on Wednesday morning. Tokyo Electric Power Company says the vapor was steam caused by water evaporating from the reactor's storage pool for spent fuel rods, which is heating up.

In an effort to avert the fuel rods' exposure, a Self Defense Force CH47 helicopter took off from the Sendai base hauling a large container of water on Wednesday afternoon.

But the plan was aborted after radiation levels above the plant were found to have largely exceeded 50 millisieverts -- the maximum permissible for SDF personnel on a mission.

The Self-Defense Forces say it is ready to recommence work when radiation levels and other conditions allow.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 19:06 +0900 (JST)

Edited March 16, 2011 by jfchandler

[bkkjames]

Alarm Over Spent Fuel Rods Threatens "Chernobyl on Steroids" [/ size]

Radioactive rods stored outside main containment facility could cause "catastrophic fires"

Paul Joseph Watson

Prison Planet.com

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Perhaps the most underreported and deadliest aspect of the three explosions and numerous fires to hit the stricken Fukushima nuclear reactor since Saturday is the fact that highly radioactive spent fuel rods which are stored outside of the active nuclear rod containment facility are likely to have been massively compromised by the blasts, an elevation in the crisis that would represent "Chernobyl on steroids," according to nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen.

As you can see from the NPR graphic below, the spent fuel rods are stored outside of the active nuclear rod containment casing and close to the roof of the reactor complex. Video from Saturday's explosion and subsequent images clearly indicate that the spent fuel rods at Fukushima unit number one could easily have been compromised by the blast.

According to Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer at Fairewinds Associates and a member of the public oversight panel for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, which is identical to the Fukushima Daiichi unit 1, the failure to maintain pools of water that keep the 20 years worth of spent fuel rods cool could cause "catastrophic fires" and turn the crisis into "Chernobyl on steroids."

Arnie's credentials are subject to debate

http://atomicinsights.blogspot.com/2011/02/arnie-gundersen-has-inflated-his-resume.html

though his remoteness from the incident, in the USA, is not.

SC

At this point in time, even if his creds are ???, compared with what the phd's are coming up with a ground zero, maybe its time to think outside of the box-before we all end up in one.

[jfchandler]

NHK

High radiation levels detected 20 km. from plant

Japan's science ministry has observed radiation levels of up to 0.33 millisieverts per hour in areas about 20 kilometers northwest of the quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Experts say exposure to such radiation for 3 hours would result in absorption of 1 millisievert, or the maximum considered safe for 1 year.

The ministry gauged radiation levels for 10 minutes from 8:40 PM local time on Tuesday [yesterday] at 3 places in Fukushima Prefecture, whose residents are being instructed to stay indoors. The measurements produced readings as low as 0.22 millisieverts per hour.

It is not known whether these levels have changed since the measurements. A former chief of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Shigenobu Nagataki, said radiation at such levels does not immediately affect human health. But he said that if such levels continue to be observed, authorities must review ways to evacuate people.

The ministry said it also observed maximum radiation levels of 0.0253 millisieverts in areas 30 to 60 kilometers from the plant on Wednesday morning. The levels are slightly higher than normal.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 17:58 +0900 (JST)

[StreetCowboy]

Arnie's credentials are subject to debate

http://atomicinsight...his-resume.html

though his remoteness from the incident, in the USA, is not.

SC

Looks more like the nuke lobby wants to get him out. He seems a bit to critical for them. Don't forget they (Nuke lobby) acts like Mafia.

I would rely more on the opinion of people who did not make a living by expressing it in support of one side or another. A partisan stance does not help his credibility.

Nor does the use of a term like "Chernobyl on steroids" without any supporting quantitative or comparative information engender support for his case. Where does he suppose that the energy to disperse the fission products into the atmosphere would come from? In Chernobyl, this came from the reaction of high pressure steam with super-heated fuel and graphite moderator, if my memory serves me correcly, and was exacerbated by the uncontrolled critical state of the reactor immediately prior to the explosion. With passive water cooling, it appears that the spent fuel rods remain below 100 C (the fuel ponds are not boiling) and so even passive air cooling might keep the spent fuel within its allowable range for integrity - speculation, I know, but at least I acknowledge it as such - a bit like 3 Mile Island on valium...

Anyway, enough of these entertaining drug abuse analogies...

Thanks very much for the orignal links back to British tabloids; it reminded me of my days as a paper-boy, cycling along checking the page 3 models and catching up on the Falklands War.

I had a look at the News sections of the web sites for local papers serving the areas around Scotland's two operating nuclear power stations, but they had no mention of the events in Japan.

SC

I've never seen the Mafia post a referenced rebuttal of someone's CV on the internet. I think if the nuclear lobby acted like the Mafia then we would be talking about the late and sadly missed Arnie - if he had any credibility whatsoever.

Or maybe I don't know enough about American and Italian gangsters.

[jfchandler]

Thailand to offer potassium iodide tablets to Japan-bound travelers

BANGKOK, March 16, Kyodo News

The Thai Public Health Ministry plans to hand out free potassium iodide tablets to people traveling to northern Japan in the wake of radiation leaks from a stricken nuclear power plant, officials said Wednesday.

The government has ordered the state-run pharmaceutical agency to produce 15,000 potassium iodide pills as the first step.

The pills will be available free at international airports in Bangkok and Phuket, where flights to Japan are operated, according to the ministry officials.

Officials will conduct preliminary screening at Bangkok and Phuket airports and offer the pills to passengers intending to travel to northeastern or eastern Japan where radiation risks have been heightened near the troubled No. 1 Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The Japanese government has ordered people living within a 20-kilometer radius of the plant to evacuate and advised residents within a 20-30 kilometer radius to stay indoors.

The ministry has warned against all but necessary travel to the area. It will also offer advice and screenings to those returning to Thailand from Japan.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters Wednesday that he was told by experts that radioactive vapor that vented at the stricken nuclear plant in Japan would not affect Thailand for now.

He added that the Thai government will remain on alert and prepare plans in case of an emergency, including closely monitoring the radiation level and inspecting imported products from Japan.

Also Wednesday, the Thai Food and Drug Administration started randomly inspecting products imported from Japan, but has yet to disclose the results so far.

For the relief operation, Abhisit said the Thai national airline and military aircraft started sending relief materials, including blankets, water, and food, to Japan early this week.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Thai authorities in Japan have not been able to contact about 200 of 300 Thais who live in Sendai.

''Our embassy officials are trying to contact them, but there is a problem related to telecommunication,'' Kasit said.

Kasit also said 70 Thais from Sendai are now in Tokyo and 40 of them will come back to Thailand on Wednesday night.

Edited March 16, 2011 by jfchandler

[Crushdepth]

Mafia or not, the nuclear power industry is in a big pile of political poop for the next 15 years or so. And that's if this doesn't get worse.

[jfchandler]

Police eye using water cannon to cool Fukushima No. 4 reactor

TOKYO, March 16, Kyodo

The National Police Agency is considering using a special water cannon truck held by the Metropolitan Police Department to cool a pool storing spent fuel rods at the troubled No. 4 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, police sources said Wednesday. The operation could start as early as Wednesday night, they said.

Edited March 16, 2011 by jfchandler

[elcent]

That's a very high number, if it's really MILLI sievert and not micro sievert...\

What's the source for that information?

1000 Millisievert are currently measured around the reactors. This is enough to get radiation sickness which will lead to death within weeks.

there are many. Here's one Radioactive emissions at the plant reached record levels overnight. Measurements of 1,000 millisievert were taken and on Wednesday morning, 600 to 800 millisieverts were measured, Edano said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/673980.aspx

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Government-Reactor-shell-may-be-damaged-workers-le-30151024.html

Radioactive emissions at the plant reached record levels overnight. Measurements of 1,000 millisievert were taken and Wednesday morning, 600 to 800 millisieverts were measured, Edano said.

http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=97185

http://mobile.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9030560

http://infodumy.com/2011/03/reactor-shell-may-be-damaged-workers-leave-japan/

When you search with the search term 1000 millisievert measured around the plants you get about 28000 results showing

I found it in a so called recognized news outlet, but can't recall it for sure at the moment.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/japan_nuclear_risk

More?

[elcent]

China stops permission for new powerplants. Germany shuts down 7 reactors now.

+++ China setzt Bewilligung weiterer Atomkraftwerke aus +++

[13.40 Uhr] Angesichts des drohenden Fallouts im AKW Fukushima nach dem heftigen Erdbeben in Japan hat China die Bewilligung weiterer Kernkraftwerke vorerst ausgesetzt. Die Sicherheitsstandards in bestehenden und den im Bau befindlichen AKW müssten überprüft werden, hieß es am Mittwoch nach einer Kabinettssitzung. Viele Regierungen auf der Welt haben ihre Atompolitik nach dem Unglück in Japan auf den Prüfstand gestellt. Deutschland schaltet sieben Reaktoren vorübergehend ab.

[elcent]

Mafia or not, the nuclear power industry is in a big pile of political poop for the next 15 years or so. And that's if this doesn't get worse.

They are finished. Thanks Gawd. Read the above developement Germany and China

[jfchandler]

NHK reporting Tokyo health authorities inundated with calls from residents concerned about health risk...

Tokyo authorities now monitoring for radiation levels every hour, instead of every 8 hours in the past.

The results are being posted on a Japanese govt. web site.

Showing a chart with hourly radiation reading results from different cities around Japan...

Ranging from .2 to 15+ MICRO sieverts per hour.

Giving example of a chest Xray equaling 50 MicroSieverts...

Natural radiation exposure per year about 2.4 MilliSieverts or 2400 MicroSieverts...

Usual amount in Fukushima (pre-crisis) per hour is 0.04 MicroSieverts

Had one reading of 80 MicroSieverts per hour about 20 Km away from Fukushima plant.

Edited March 16, 2011 by jfchandler