Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor

[elcent]

A new symbol of hope. This clip was viewed over 6 000 000 million times

loyalty and friendship comes from two dogs in the devastated coastal Arahama area of Japan. A Japanese camera crew came across one of the dogs pacing frantically around the apocalyptic scene and discovered it was actually protecting another pooch lying motionless nearby.

At first the crew thought the second dog was dead, according to a translation of the voiceover by The Metro. But he eventually raised his dirty head and received a pat from his friend.

Both dogs have since been rescued, according to a Facebook post by Kenn Sakuri, president of Butch Japan, a dog and cat food company:

The one which came close to the camera is in the better condition. The other white, gray and black was weak. So it is in the vet clinic in Ibaraki Prefecture. The other dog is in the shelter of the same area. But please know that those two are just the tip of the iceberg. There are more and we need help.

Watch the heart-rending video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3TM9GL2iLI

Here‘s an English translation of the camera crew’s words upon discovering the pair (h/t

Yahoo):

We are in Arahama area. Looks like there is a dog. There is a dog. He looks tired and dirty. He must have been caught in the tsunami. He looks very dirty.

He has a collar. He must be someone’s pet. He has a silver collar. He is shaking. He seems very afraid.

Oh, there is another dog. I wonder if he is dead.

Where?

Right there. There is another dog right next to the one sitting down. He is not moving. I wonder. I wonder if he is alright.

The dog is protecting him.

Yes. He is protecting the dog. That is why he did not want us to approach them. He was trying to keep us at bay.

I can’t watch this. This is a very difficult to watch.

Oh. Look. He is moving. He is alive. I am so happy to see that he is alive.

Yes! Yes! He is alive.

He looks to be weakened. We need to them to be rescued soon. We really want them rescued soon.

Oh good. He’s getting up.

Edited March 18, 2011 by elcent

[elcent]

3:53am Al Jazeera's Steve Chao, reporting from northern Japan, tells us public anger is starting to rise, with reports of fights at petrol pumps over government-ordered rationing - "unheard of in a nation where politeness is an institution,' he tells us.

aljazeera

I have no understanding for people who fight for oil and being selfish. This is disgusting.

[elcent]

(All times are local in Japan GMT+9)

• Timestamp: 4:11am Power should be coming back online at Fukushima nuclear plant - as Tokyo Electric Power Co say they've managed to connect an external transmission line.
  Tepco - Asia's largest power utility company - confirmed that electricity can be turned on, saying it "planned to supply Unit 2 first, followed by Unit 1, Unit 3 and Unit 4 ... because Unit 2 is expected to be less damaged". - aljazeera

[bkkjames]

More on that power cable: Nearly 300 engineers are working to restore power at pumps in four of the reactors. at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Operator Tepco said:

Tepco has connected the external transmission line with the receiving point of the plant and confirmed that electricity can be supplied.

Another 1,480m (5,000 feet) of cable are being laid inside the complex before engineers try to crank up the

coolers at reactor No. 2, followed by 1, 3 and 4 this weekend, company officials added. Laurence

Williams, of Britain's University of Central Lancashire, said:

If they can get those electric pumps on and they can start pushing that water successfully up the core, quite slowly so you don't cause any brittle failure, they should be able to get it under control in the next couple of days.

If not, there is an option of last resort under consideration - to bury the sprawling 40-year-old plant in sand

and concrete to prevent a catastrophic radiation release, the method used to seal huge leakages from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/asia/disaster-japan-live-blog-march-19#update-15536

[bkkjames]

RT @Reuters: FLASH: Japan nuclear safety agency says Fukushima No. 4 reactor roof is cracked

[LaoPo]

The moment nuclear plant chief WEPT as Japanese finally admit that radiation leak is serious enough to kill people

By David Derbyshire

Last updated at 8:55 PM on 18th March 2011

• Officials admit they may have to bury reactors under concrete - as happened at Chernobyl
• Government says it was overwhelmed by the scale of twin disasters
• Japanese upgrade accident from level four to five - the same as Three Mile Island
• We will rebuild from scratch says Japanese prime minister
  
• Particles spewed from wrecked Fukushima power station arrive in California
• Military trucks tackle reactors with tons of water for second day
  

Overwhelmed: Tokyo Electric Power Company Managing Director Akio Komiri cries as he leaves after a press conference in Fukushima

The boss of the company behind the devastated Japanese nuclear reactor today broke down in tears - as his country finally acknowledged the radiation spewing from the over-heating reactors and fuel rods was enough to kill some citizens

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency admitted that the disaster was a level 5, which is classified as a crisis causing 'several radiation deaths' by the UN International Atomic Energy.

Officials said the rating was raised after they realised the full extent of the radiation leaking from the plant. They also said that 3 per cent of the fuel in three of the reactors at the Fukushima plant had been severely damaged, suggesting those reactor cores have partially melted down.

After Tokyo Electric Power Company Managing Director Akio Komiri cried as he left a conference to brief journalists on the situation at Fukushima, a senior Japanese minister also admitted that the country was overwhelmed by the scale of the tsunami and nuclear crisis.

He said officials should have admitted earlier how serious the radiation leaks were.

Continues:

http://www.dailymail...ill-people.html

LaoPo

[bkkjames]

17 page press release (update on damage / status) of Fukushima plant and area dated last night. A good background read on the situation on the ground..from the Ministry of Trade, Industry etc : not a Tepco release...

Fuk U update from Ministry of Industry Trade.PDF

[LaoPo]

17 page press release (update on damage / status) of Fukushima plant and area dated last night. A good background read on the situation on the ground..from the Ministry of Trade, Industry etc : not a Tepco release...

Thanks for that, but to be honest, it's absolutely unreadable stuff for normal souls (like myself) who are not familiar with such complicated details and disasters like an exploded Nuclear Plant..

Next to that we will never know if everything in that report is the truth or not.

The only thing people are interested in is if the situation is worsening......or not; personally, I'm afraid it IS worsening.

It has nothing to do with your efforts to try and inform us since I appreciate it very much.

It's the complexity of the drama that makes it so difficult to understand and the fact that the Japanese authorities are and were so reluctant to inform the people in time and to the detail.

It's the culture I suppose.

LaoPo

[flying]

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/79482.html

Link does not seem to work unless you copy & paste it into a browser

Here is the article

Status of quake-stricken reactors at Fukushima nuclear power plants

TOKYO, March 19, Kyodo

The following is the known status as of Friday night of each of the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and the four reactors at the Fukushima Daini plant, both in Fukushima Prefecture, which were crippled by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and the ensuing tsunami on March 11.

Fukushima Daiichi plant

-- Reactor No. 1 - Operation suspended after quake, cooling failure, partial melting of core, vapor vented, building housing reactor damaged March 12 by hydrogen explosion, roof blown off, seawater being pumped in.

-- Reactor No. 2 - Operation suspended after quake, cooling failure, seawater being pumped in, fuel rods fully exposed temporarily, vapor vented, building housing reactor damaged Monday by blast at reactor No. 3, blast sound heard near suppression chamber of containment vessel on Tuesday, damage to containment structure feared.

-- Reactor No. 3 - Operation suspended after quake, cooling failure, partial melting of core feared, vapor vented, seawater being pumped in, building housing reactor badly damaged Monday by hydrogen explosion, high-level radiation measured nearby on Tuesday, plume of smoke observed Wednesday and presumed to have come from spent-fuel storage pool, seawater dumped over pool by helicopter on Thursday, water sprayed at it from ground on Thursday and Friday.

-- Reactor No. 4 - Under maintenance when quake struck, no fuel rods in reactor core, temperature in spent-fuel storage pool reached 84 C on Monday, fire Tuesday possibly caused by hydrogen explosion at pool holding spent fuel rods, fire observed Wednesday at building housing reactor, pool water level feared receding, renewed nuclear chain reaction feared, only frame remains of reactor building roof.

-- Reactors No. 5, 6 - Under maintenance when quake struck, some fuel rods left in reactor cores, water temperatures in spent-fuel storage pools increased to about 64 C on Thursday.

-- Spent-fuel storage pools - Cooling functions lost at reactors No. 1 to 4, water temperatures or levels unobservable at reactors No. 1 to 4, no immediate threat to water level at common spent fuel pool.

Fukushima Daini plant

-- Reactors No. 1, 2, 4 - Operation suspended after quake, cooling failure, then cold shutdown.

-- Reactor No. 3 - Operation suspended after quake, cold shutdown.

==Kyodo

[JulianLS]

17 page press release (update on damage / status) of Fukushima plant and area dated last night. A good background read on the situation on the ground..from the Ministry of Trade, Industry etc : not a Tepco release...

Could you post a link please, bkkjames? As with some attached images, I just get error 10171 trying to view the file.

[canuckamuck]

'Fuk U update from Ministry of Industry Trade'.

Although this is am extreme tragedy, you would have to be in a coma if you didn't at least get a chuckle from the title of that report.

Edited March 19, 2011 by canuckamuck

[vont]

Just fyi to everyone, TV confirms it's a system problem, and not anything about my particular photo postings...

They're working to remedy, but no time estimate given.

I'll keep posting the photos, since I presume they will be viewable by everyone at some point...

But be aware that it's also not any problem with your computers either..

Meanwhile, let me mull if there isn't a work around available by using an online place to host the Fukushima photos outside TV...until the problem is resolved.

Finnally was able to catch up with reading.

Images still don't show up, tried with both IE and FF.

Try youtube? It is quite simply to upload there.

[pedro01]

The moment nuclear plant chief WEPT as Japanese finally admit that radiation leak is serious enough to kill people

By David Derbyshire

Last updated at 8:55 PM on 18th March 2011

• Officials admit they may have to bury reactors under concrete - as happened at Chernobyl
• Government says it was overwhelmed by the scale of twin disasters
• Japanese upgrade accident from level four to five - the same as Three Mile Island
• We will rebuild from scratch says Japanese prime minister
  
• Particles spewed from wrecked Fukushima power station arrive in California
• Military trucks tackle reactors with tons of water for second day
  

Overwhelmed: Tokyo Electric Power Company Managing Director Akio Komiri cries as he leaves after a press conference in Fukushima

The boss of the company behind the devastated Japanese nuclear reactor today broke down in tears - as his country finally acknowledged the radiation spewing from the over-heating reactors and fuel rods was enough to kill some citizens

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency admitted that the disaster was a level 5, which is classified as a crisis causing 'several radiation deaths' by the UN International Atomic Energy.

Officials said the rating was raised after they realised the full extent of the radiation leaking from the plant. They also said that 3 per cent of the fuel in three of the reactors at the Fukushima plant had been severely damaged, suggesting those reactor cores have partially melted down.

After Tokyo Electric Power Company Managing Director Akio Komiri cried as he left a conference to brief journalists on the situation at Fukushima, a senior Japanese minister also admitted that the country was overwhelmed by the scale of the tsunami and nuclear crisis.

He said officials should have admitted earlier how serious the radiation leaks were.

Continues:

http://www.dailymail...ill-people.html

LaoPo

This is so typically Japanese.

Are we supposed to sympathise with this guy for whitholding information now that he's crying as he announces it?

Having lived in Japan for a year, this does not surprise me at all. They should bring someone in from the US to to take over this situation. The way the Japanese works doesn't bode well for emergency situations. As we are seeing.

[JulianLS]

For those people trying to fix the 10171 error at TV, this info might be useful:

On clicking the attachment link in post #1695, the following link is opened;

/forum/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=135328

(I have remove the http and TV website address to avoid it being displayed as a link)

This code seems as if it is in "attach" instruction not a "download" instruction???? If clicking the link tries to attach rather than download, it is not surprising to get a "no permission" error.

Edited March 19, 2011 by JulianLS

[Crushdepth]

RT @Reuters: FLASH: Japan nuclear safety agency says Fukushima No. 4 reactor roof is cracked

I guess that was the reason for the upgrade to level 5? Pathetic that it took them this long to tell t he public. What else are they covering up?

[brahmburgers]

Though the damage reports were downplayed by authorities, in many other countries it would have been worse in that regard. In Russia or any Arab country or most African countries, there would likely have been a news blackout - as much as authorities there could control dissemination. In most countries, there would not have been geiger counter read-outs made public, and it's doubtful even photos from afar would have been permitted. In recent months, in Greece, foreigners were jailed for just pointing a camera at an international airport runway, and in Iran, foreigners were jailed for walking near a remote border line. Japan has likely downplayed some details on its nuclear problem, but they're quite open when compared to how most country's authorities would handle a similarly dire scenario. Burma, N.Korea and Zimbabwe probably wouldn't even have press conferences. As for Thailand? ....somewhere in between.

[geriatrickid]

It is simplistic to claim a coverup. I don't think they knew the extent of damage at the time and in Japanese fashion thought they could overcome any obstacles. Yes, they delayed, but the reality is what would raising the alert to 5 or 6 or 7 achieve? People are going to die and there is nowhere for most of the refugees to go, nor is there a way of transporting them. I am not being cynical as in a couple days I will be flying in close proximity to Japan. And yes, I'm wondering. I hope EVA uses a polar route that takes me over Korea and Russia and doesn't come in on the Pacific side as it usually does.

[jfchandler]

Good morning everyone...

As mentioned in one of the earlier posts early this morning, NHK is reporting that some workers at the TEPCO plant already have reached the 100 millisievert radiation exposure level -- which is one marker for increased cancer risk.

NHK also reported that radiation levels inside the plant have been running at the 10 mSv per plevel near Reactor No. 1 and about 15 mSv per hour near the Reactor No. 2 -- the areas where a lot of the work is occurring aimed at restoring electrical power.

A Reuters report last night said the company had adopted a standard for worker exposure of not more than 100 mSv per hour, and not more than 250 mSv per year (or essentially cumulative in this case).

As for the question above about water spraying, that activity isn't occurring continuously. The firefighters there have been doing that usually in about two rounds each day, each round typically taking about a half hour.

The latest round occurred very early Sat morning by the Tokyo Fire Department units pumping water from the ocean nearby onto Reactor No. 3, and NHK is reporting they're planning another round around noon Japanese time today / 10 am Thai time.

Even if TEPCO is successful at restoring power to the No. 1 and 2 reactors today as promised, NHK reported that they still face a myriad of other issues with a variety of pumps and other electrical equipment within the reactors that is believed to have been damaged by water from the tsunamis...

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

NHK reports death toll now exceeding 7,000 and more than 20,000 people still listed as missing.

[jfchandler]

Saturday morning images from NHK:

Reactors steaming/smoking on Sat. morning

Graphic of plans for laying new electrical lines into the reactors, with No. 1-4 shown at the bottom.

NHK graphic showing the route of the electrical line thru Reactors No. 1 and 2, along with hourly radiation levels there in millisieverts.

Example of the radiation protective suits being worn by TEPCO workers at the reactors.

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

Man rescued 8 days after quake

SENDAI, Japan, March 19, Kyodo News

A man was rescued Saturday morning from a partially collapsed house in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, eight days after the city was hit by the mega earthquake and tsunami, the Self-Defense Forces said. The man, who is in his 20s, was identified as Katsuharu Moriya. He is unable to speak due to shock and has been transferred to a hospital, the SDF said.

http://english.kyodo...1/03/79516.html

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[ETatBKK]

people behind the Fukushima Dai Ichi nuclear disater - the management team apologises in the press conference yesterday.

( this link only a serach engine preview, the orginial Yahoo Japan image already removed )

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://amd.c.yimg.jp/amd/20110312-00000120-jijp-000-0-view.jpg&imgrefurl=http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl%3Fa%3D20110312-00000120-jijp-soci.view-000&usg=__NA6EaTl7QW9vsMcqxmIA9ojzz7A=&h=450&w=381&sz=43&hl=en&start=103&zoom=1&tbnid=SgEruLK21qgEpM:&tbnh=162&tbnw=134&ei=uhSETZeBD4rOvQPz16DaCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%25E6%259D%25B1%25E4%25BA%25AC%25E9%259B%25BB%25E5%258A%259B%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1266%26bih%3D694%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=13&oei=qhSETd0iwp1x6YntjgM&page=7&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:103&tx=93&ty=95

[jfchandler]

TEPCO to forgo rolling blackouts Sat.

TOKYO, March 19, Kyodo News

Tokyo Electric Power Co. decided not to carry out area-by-area power rationing Saturday for the first time since its introduction Monday on expectations that electricity demand would stay low throughout the day, it said.

With most businesses not operating because of the weekend and warm weather expected Saturday in the Kanto region surrounding Tokyo, heating demand will fall.

TEPCO added, however, that larger-than-expected demand would force the utility to resume the rolling blackouts, which are aimed at coping with electricity shortages caused by the mega earthquake.

Japan has a three-day weekend as Monday is a national holiday, and TEPCO said it will make an announcement a day ahead if it implements power rationing on Sunday and Monday.

http://english.kyodo...1/03/79512.html

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[Soutpeel]

Having lived in Japan for a year, this does not surprise me at all. They should bring someone in from the US to to take over this situation.

I agree, why not bring someone from GE who designed these plants in the first place....

What do you think the US would have said to someone making comments like this during 3 mile island ?.

What actually makes you think the US would be any better at dealing with this ?.....if any "foreign" country should take over the managment of this, it should be the french, who more experience than anyone on matters nuclear

Goverments the world over are lying bast*rds when it comes to things like this, the US, UK etc included, The Japanese goverment has done nothing another goverment wouldnt have done.

[jfchandler]

Efforts to restore cooling function continue at nuke plant

TOKYO, March 19, Kyodo

Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Saturday accelerated efforts to restore lost cooling functions at reactors at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, aiming to reconnect electricity through outside power lines.

Reconnection of the No. 2 reactor is expected to be completed during the day. However, it will still take time to reactivate devices to cool down the reactors and overheating spent fuel pools once electricity is restored as equipment needs to be checked, according to TEPCO, the operator of the crippled plant.

Earlier Saturday, the Tokyo Fire Department joined the operation to cool down the No. 3 reactor by discharging 90 tons of water.

MORE: http://english.kyodo...1/03/79511.html

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[ETatBKK]

great work here - an 'unharmful' melting pot of information here, many thanks . . .

you seem to work around the clock. did you manage to have some sleep ?

Good morning everyone...

[jfchandler]

Japan running out of options to deal with nuke crisis: U.S. experts

WASHINGTON, March 18, Kyodo

Japanese government efforts to deal with the unfolding nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture are ''desperate,'' a group of U.S. nuclear experts said Friday during a panel discussion held at the National Press Club in Washington.

The steps being taken by Japan ''are not steps that are anywhere near the top of the options'' normally available, said Robert Alvarez, a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and an adviser to the U.S. secretary of energy in the 1990s.

Beginning Thursday, Japan has used trucks and helicopters to dump water on the damaged reactors in Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in an attempt to cool their overheating nuclear materials.

MORE: http://english.kyodo...1/03/79504.html

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

I was dreaming of comely Japanese translators...talking about nuclear reactors.

great work here - an 'unharmful' melting pot of information here, many thanks . . .

you seem to work around the clock. did you manage to have some sleep ?

Good morning everyone...

[jfchandler]

Interesting part of a Kyodo News report on how Fukushima is being viewed by residents around the U.S. Three Mile Island reactor.

When the reactor in Unit-2 had a partial core meltdown after a loss of coolant on March 28, 1979, residents were first told by Lieutenant Gov. William Scranton that there was no evidence the released radiation was dangerous.

Kinney was one of the 140,000 who evacuated after then Gov. Dick Thornburgh recommended two days later that pregnant women and preschool children within an 8-km radius of the plant leave.

''That was when all hell broke loose,'' Kinney explained adding that after a siren malfunctioned in the nearby state capitol Harrisburg ''people were running and screaming in the streets.''

The nuclear power industry and local authorities were criticized for their response to the crisis as conflicting reports confused citizens. They were not sure how to react and protect themselves from the radiation danger.

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/79494.html

[jfchandler]

AP Report in the Mainichi Daily News on plutonium and nuclear fuel in the Fukushima reactors:

The Fukushima Dai-ichi site has a considerable number of fuel rods on hand, according to information provided Thursday by Tokyo Electric Power Co., which owns the atomic complex: There are 3,400 tons of fuel in seven spent fuel pools within the six-reactor plant, including one joint pool storing very old fuel from units 3 and 4. There are 877 tons in five of the reactor cores. Officials have said that the fuel in Unit 4's reactor vessel was transferred to its spent fuel pool when the unit was temporarily shut in November.

MORE: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110318p2g00m0dm104000c.html

What a BIG!!!! mess....