Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor

[Soutpeel]

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.kyodo...1/03/79494.html

déjà vu

[webfact]

Radiation levels 'decline' following cooling operations

Radiation levels were confirmed to have declined at the Fukushima nuclear plant after water was dumped from the sky and sprayed on it from the ground

News Desk

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Publication Date : 19-03-2011

Radiation levels were confirmed to have declined Friday (March 18) at the Fukushima No 1 nuclear power plant after water was dumped on one of its reactors from the sky and sprayed on it from the ground, the plant's operator said.

Two Ground Self-Defence Force helicopters and five Self-Defence Forces (SDF) special fire and rescue engines, as well as a high-pressure water cannon truck from the Metropolitan Police Department, were deployed Thursday (March 17) to cool a temporary storage pool for spent nuclear fuel rods at the No 3 reactor of the nuclear plant on the border of Okumamachi and Futabamachi in Fukushima Prefecture.

Six SDF fire engines resumed blasting the reactor with water shortly before 2 pm Friday and worked for about 45 minutes, the defence ministry said. Fears are high that large amounts of radiation could leak from the overheated fuel rods.

Radiation levels continuously recorded at two places inside the power station declined Friday morning from the day before, according to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry. However, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said in a morning press conference that the effect of Thursday's water application could not yet be confirmed. "The storage pool definitely has water, but the amount has not been confirmed," he said.

Authorities are also studying dumping water on the No 1 reactor, Edano said.

White smoke was still rising from the No 3 reactor near the storage pool on Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Tokyo Fire Department dispatched 139 firefighters to the nuclear plant Friday with 30 vehicles, including ladder trucks and chemical fire engines, to aid the SDF's mission.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said it has almost completed laying new power lines to the No 2 reactor to restore electricity to the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) designed to cool reactors and other systems.

The fire department said the 30 units it had sent included a Hyper Rescue squad, trained for radioactive accidents and other major disasters, to the power station. Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara dispatched the firefighters in response to a request from Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

One large ladder truck is capable of spraying water from about 40 metres above the ground, while an elevating squirt truck can blast 3.8 tonnes of water per minute from a height of 22 metres by remote control, the fire department said. These high positions will allow water to be sprayed onto the storage pool, which is in the upper part of the reactor building. Other vehicles include a hose layer to extend hose lines.

A hose layer carries 72 hoses, which can be connected to "Super Pumper" trucks to build a long-distance pumping system. The system is designed so water can be pumped from the sea or a river as much as two kilometres away to maintain a constant supply to the engines, according to the fire department.

Firefighters wore radiation protection suits during the operation but they had to leave their vehicles to actually spray water. "We're working carefully and keeping an eye on the radiation counts," a senior fire department official said.

The fire department sent 28 firefighters including Hyper Rescue squad members to spray water on the No 1 reactor last Saturday, a day after the earthquake hit the Tohoku region. But after the building housing the No 1 reactor was destroyed by a hydrogen explosion, the firefighters returned to Tokyo. The ministry said a high-pressure water cannon truck from the US Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo also joined the operation, operated by Tepco-related company employees.

The SDF added two more engines to the 11 vehicles it had already dispatched. SDF members who worked in Thursday's operation would be replaced by other members called up from bases around the country.

Radiation measured off of SDF members who participated in Thursday's operations were several millisieverts, levels that pose no risk of health damage, the ministry said.

'Effect of water unknown'

The nuclear safety agency said the effect of Thursday's water spraying operation is still unknown despite the fact that radiation levels decreased afterward.

Radiation near the west gate of the plant, about 1.1 kilometres from the No 3 reactor, was 314.5 microsieverts per hour at 7 am Thursday, immediately before the helicopter operation, but had decreased to 309.7 microsieverts per hour at 3:30 pm, just before the fire engines joined the fray.

After the fire engines had completed their work for the day, radiation was at 289.0 microsieverts per hour at 11 pm and 281.1 microsieverts per hour at 4 am Friday. At 8 am Friday, the count was 270.5 microsieverts, according to the agency.

Restoring power to reactors

Efforts also were accelerating Friday to restore the plant's ability to cool down the reactors via electricity from outside power lines, with workers aiming to power the plant's No 1 and No 2 reactors within the day.

Tepco initially plans to activate the residual heat removal pump, which is part of the ECCS.

-- ANN 2011-03-19

[jfchandler]

Foreign businesses shift out of Tokyo due to quake fallout

Asahi.com -- Foreign companies have begun shifting their Japanese headquarters from Tokyo amid repeated aftershocks, disrupted transport stemming from rotating blackouts and the crisis at a nuclear power plant more than 200 kilometers north of the capital.

MORE: http://www.asahi.com...1103180214.html

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[ETatBKK]

Fukushima and Ibaraki high radiation level than normal

general public annual exposure about 1,000 microsievert per year. in some villages, it was the radiation level received in just last 2 days

Mar 19, 09.00h JST, radioactive materials start falling onto the ground. trends of the radiation level being monitored :

Iidate village ( north of nuclear plant ), 19.40mSv /hour

Fukushima City ( north of nuclear plant ), 9.8mSv /hour

Minami Souma ( north of nuclear plant ), 2.99mS /hour

Ibaraki City of Kanto prefecture ( south ), 0.956mSv /hour

Nasu City of Tochigi prefecture ( south ), 0.91mSv /hour

( trend of increasing 0.05-0.06mSv /hour )

福島や茨城、通常より高い放射線量　値は前日とほぼ同じ

translated : www.asahi.com Mar 19, 2011 at 10.49h JST

//Edit: (1) Above radiation values are µSv, not mSv -->

(2) Direct link to source: http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0319/TKY201103190130.html

Edited March 19, 2011 by Maestro
Added edit notes

[jfchandler]

6 days on, govt still looking for aid supply plan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

March 18, 2011

Criticism of the government's ineffectual provision of aid is growing as hundreds of thousands of evacuees wait for supplies to arrive six days after a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami slammed the Tohoku region.

http://www.yomiuri.c...10317004454.htm

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[vont]

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

To translate nuclear activities on live tv interview adequately,

requires a person who have extensive personal experiences and

have been interacting in the scientific communities for many years,

in addition to proficiency in English almost at the diplomatic level.

Otherwise, it would be like listening to the many of the Thai deputy ministers answering interviewers' questions live on TV,

you won't know what they mean exactly.

They know the words, the vacabularies but then when these words are strung together into sentences,

it is very difficult trying to make out what exactly do these respondents mean in their answers.

With the degree of politeness of the Japanese, I would only assume that it would be even multiplied difficult to decode the meanings in English. imho :jap:

Such as, a few days before.... the radiation leak was not sufficient to hurt human being.

And last night.... the radiation amount is sufficient to kill a human.... NOW THAT IS WHAT MOST WOULD CALL--translation at its best.... :jap: :jap:

[jfchandler]

N-mishap team ready to depart from U.S.

Satoshi Ogawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Defense Department is preparing to dispatch an expert team trained to operate in areas contaminated with radiation, should the situation deteriorate at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, it was learned Thursday.

Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, told a press conference that 450 members of the team were "making preparations" for a dispatch order to Japan.

Willard also said another team comprising nine nuclear experts left for Japan on Thursday as an advance group. This group is trained to deal with terrorist activities involving nuclear arms and related problems on the U.S. mainland, he said.

MORE: http://www.yomiuri.c...10318005212.htm

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[ETatBKK]

Greater Danger Lies in Spent Fuel Than in Reactors

Years of procrastination in deciding on long-term disposal of highly radioactive fuel rods from nuclear reactors are now coming back to haunt Japanese authorities as they try to control fires and explosions at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

source : New York Times, Mar 17, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/asia/18spent.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=world

[jfchandler]

ETat, the term "mSv" is for MILLI-sievert...of which 1 is equal to 1000 MICRO-sieverts...

I'm assuming the various numbers you list below are MICRO-sievert...the smaller unit.. not Milli-sieverts.

The symbol for micro-sievert looks like a "u" with a little squiggly on the bottom -- not mSv.

Fukushima and Ibaraki high radiation level than normal

general public annual exposure about 1,000 microsievert per year. in some villages, it was the radiation level received in just last 2 days

Mar 19, 09.00h JST, radioactive materials start falling onto the ground. trends of the radiation level being monitored :

Iidate village ( north of nuclear plant ), 19.40mSv /hour

Fukushima City ( north of nuclear plant ), 9.8mSv /hour

Minami Souma ( north of nuclear plant ), 2.99mS /hour

Ibaraki City of Kanto prefecture ( south ), 0.956mSv /hour

Nasu City of Tochigi prefecture ( south ), 0.91mSv /hour

( trend of increasing 0.05-0.06mSv /hour )

福島や茨城、通常より高い放射線量　値は前日とほぼ同じ

translated : www.asahi.com Mar 19, 2011 at 10.49h JST

[jfchandler]

Tsunami topped 15 meters on Sanriku coast

The Yomiuri Shimbun

March 19, 2011

The tsunami that devastated the Sanriku coast after last week's massive earthquake reached heights of more than 15 meters, according to investigations by the Port and Airport Research Institute.

After reaching land, the tsunami collided with coastal mountains, and the water was pushed up to heights of more than 20 meters, the institute said. Experts believe it was one of the largest tsunami to ever hit Japan.

The institute began examining the ports in the tsunami zone Wednesday. At Onagawa Port, investigators discovered wreckage atop a three-story building near the ocean. Windows had been broken all the way up the side facing the sea, leading investigators to estimate the height of the tsunami at over 15 meters high.

MORE: http://www.yomiuri.c...10318004192.htm

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[TheWalkingMan]

Bungling, cover-ups define TEPCO

By Yuri Kageyama

TOKYO —

Behind Japan’s escalating nuclear crisis sits a scandal-ridden energy industry in a comfy relationship with government regulators often willing to overlook safety lapses.

Leaks of radioactive steam and workers contaminated with radiation are just part of the disturbing catalog of accidents that have occurred over the years and been belatedly reported to the public, if at all.

In one case, workers hand-mixed uranium in stainless steel buckets, instead of processing by machine, so the fuel could be reused, exposing hundreds of workers to radiation. Two later died.

http://japantoday.com/category/commentary/view/bungling-cover-ups-define-tepco

Yeah, the boys at TEPCO were never transparent with details.

TheWalkingMan

[jfchandler]

Morgues, crematoriums overwhelmed

The Yomiuri Shimbun

March 19, 2011

Municipalities in quake-hit areas are struggling to cope with massive numbers of dead bodies that are overwhelming makeshift morgues and local crematoriums.

In short supply of dry ice and body bags for preserving the bodies until cremation, some local governments are considering burials, a practice that is not common in Japan. However, officials are having problems securing land for the purpose.

"How many more bodies must we receive?" a city official lamented as he looked over a sports center in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, that is being used as a temporary morgue.

http://www.yomiuri.c...10318005182.htm

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[ETatBKK]

CORRECTION - it is microsievert μSv as per original text unit that Asahi.com 'マイクロシーベルト'

sorry I typed into a wrong notation.

ETat, the term "mSv" is for MILLI-sievert...of which 1 is equal to 1000 MICRO-sieverts...

I'm assuming the various numbers you list below are MICRO-sievert...the smaller unit.. not Milli-sieverts.

The symbol for micro-sievert looks like a "u" with a little squiggly on the bottom -- not mSv.

Fukushima and Ibaraki high radiation level than normal

general public annual exposure about 1,000 microsievert per year. in some villages, it was the radiation level received in just last 2 days

Mar 19, 09.00h JST, radioactive materials start falling onto the ground. trends of the radiation level being monitored :

Iidate village ( north of nuclear plant ), 19.40mSv /hour

Fukushima City ( north of nuclear plant ), 9.8mSv /hour

Minami Souma ( north of nuclear plant ), 2.99mS /hour

Ibaraki City of Kanto prefecture ( south ), 0.956mSv /hour

Nasu City of Tochigi prefecture ( south ), 0.91mSv /hour

( trend of increasing 0.05-0.06mSv /hour )

福島や茨城、通常より高い放射線量　値は前日とほぼ同じ

translated : www.asahi.com Mar 19, 2011 at 10.49h JST

[powderpuff]

Outside power source won't be available soon

The government says an outside power source is unlikely to be available at theFukushima Daiichi nuclear plant for some time, although electricity is urgentlyneeded to cool the reactors.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said on Friday that the installation ofpower cables at the Number One and Number 2 reactors is expected to becompleted on Saturday. The operation to add power cables at the Number 3 andNumber 4 reactors is likely to end on Sunday.

This is the type of crap one would expect from officials of the Japanese government. Paragraph 2 is not connected to paragraph 1.

"If you can't dazzle them with brilliance baffle them with bullshit. Just issue a non stop series of press releases. Been seen to be doing something even if it is utter nonsense.

[jfchandler]

Jfc note: Cabinet Sec. Edano was asked about this at yesterday's news conference by the Shimbun reporter, and Edano kind of denied it.. not exactly...but kind of... in usual government speak fashion... I'd be inclined to believe there's some truth to it.

Govt 'rejected U.S. offer to help cool damaged reactors'

The Yomiuri Shimbun

March 19, 2011

The government turned down a U.S. offer of technical help to cool overheating nuclear reactors in Fukushima Prefecture soon after last week's massive earthquake because it believed the offer was "premature," The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

The reactors have since been hit by several explosions and radiation has leaked out. Some observers believe this could have been prevented if the government had accepted the U.S. offer.

In a related development, the decision to use two Ground Self-Defense Force helicopters to pour tons of water on the damaged No. 3 reactor Thursday was made "under strong pressure" from Washington, according to sources.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an executive of the Democratic Party of Japan said the U.S. offer was made just hours after reactors at Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant had been damaged by the magnitude-9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that pummeled the Tohoku region on March 11.

http://www.yomiuri.c...10318005145.htm

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[JulianLS]

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

Judging by the state of the site, it's likely to take days rather than hours to get the power to where it is needed. Photos show quite severe damage to the infrastructure, primarily it seems from the explosions that occurred earlier. If many repairs need to be undertaken, alas that means more radiation exposure to the workers.....

[ETatBKK]

as discussed earlier, TEPCO confirmed there are about 300 'subcontractors' working on site working. sadly these may be the plan of 'disposable' personnel

Judging by the state of the site, it's likely to take days rather than hours to get the power to where it is needed. Photos show quite severe damage to the infrastructure, primarily it seems from the explosions that occurred earlier. If many repairs need to be undertaken, alas that means more radiation exposure to the workers.....

[jfchandler]

Interesting comment from a senior U.S. Navy commander, Admiral Willard, Pacific commander, on how U.S. forces aren't necessarily abiding by the U.S. 50 mile exclusion area around the Fukushima reactors:

ADM. WILLARD: Yeah, the exclusion zone has been established for United States personnel. And while the 50-mile limit is a -- is a good idea for much of the humanitarian assistance and disaster response effort that is currently ongoing, we, when necessary, will conduct operations inside that radius when they're in support of the Japanese defense forces.

So while U.S. citizens are constrained from operating in there, my forces are not when they're needed to conduct humanitarian assistance, disaster response or logistics support to our Japanese friends or to our own forces or any other forces that we happen to be supporting.

So we will make excursions in that area as necessary, recognizing that the plume that is of such concern is blowing out to sea the vast majority of the time. And the forces that I have operating on the ground, while they have monitoring equipment and they carry in many cases personal dosimetry, have not been detecting activity in the area in which we've been conducting the relief operations for the Japanese people that were displaced.

Pacific Commander Briefs Media on Humanitarian Relief Operations in Japan

Department of Defense Transcript

Posted: March 18, 2011

http://www.c7f.navy....3-march/042.htm

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[pedro01]

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.

I will answer. Let me first qualify by telling you that I run a subsidiary of a Japanese multinational here in Thailand. I have lived there for a year and I have also lived in the US. I still spend at least a month a year in the US but less time in Japan. Still I am working with Japanese on a regular basis and have done for the last 13 years.

You are of course right that all governments lie - but that isn't really the issue. The Japanese have an odd corporate culture. One that is best summed up in the word 'groupthink'.

In Japan, people don't take credit nor blame. They will also do their utmost to avoid putting a colleague in the situation where they may take credit or blame. Decisions are made in meetings and outsiders are mostly unwelcome. If you have a good idea and put it forward in a meeting in Japan it will be dismissed immediately, this is done to help prevent you being blamed later on. What you have to do is put out the seed of the idea and let the group develop it. If they don't go your way, best forget about it. So - in Japan, it takes an incredibly long amount of time to get through a meeting even for the simplest of decisions. Any farang that spends time out there will tell how frustrating this was - as they didn't know how to play the game at first. In regular business planning, it's doing the Japanese OK. In an emergency situation, this is going to be a terrible burden.

In the US, they are more inclined to bring in specialists, they will hammer an issue out with everyone totally comfortable putting their ideas out there. They will fight and argue, get angry, kiss and make up and come to a decision having weighed up the pros and cons. Not only that, they will also plan for the worse and implement a plan as well as backups if the main plan does not work. In the face of new information, the Americans will alter their plans. They are more agile.

What will take days to decide in Japan will take hours in the US.

The reason the head of Tepco is crying is NOT because of the deaths he has contributed towards. He is crying because he is having to admit to failure. His feelings are about his self, how he will be viewed by friends, colleagues and family. I would not be at all surprised if he commits suicide. He has lost face and this is something to be avoided at all costs.

[jfchandler]

BTW, to any of the military oriented folks out there, I've been looking for a good, comprehensive recap of the extent of the U.S. military involvement in the relief and/or reactor operations. It's been hard to find. So if anyone has seen such a recap, please do post it here...

In typical military fashion, I'm finding scores of announcements about this ship or that unit moving here or doing this or that... but not much in the way of an overview.

And as for the reactor efforts:

US Navy Provides Pumps to Assist in Reactor Cooling Effort

By Commander, Naval Forces Japan Public Affairs

Posted: March 18, 2011

YOKOSUKA, Japan - The U.S. Navy has provided five high-capacity pumping systems to Japan's Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Group Nuclear Asset Management Department to assist in the effort to cool the core of the damaged No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant.

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan (March 17, 2011) - U.S. Airmen from the 374th Logistics Readiness Squadron load U.S. Navy pumps onto a forklift. The materials will be utilized by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force to assist and provide disaster relief and humanitarian assistance to Japan as directed in support of Operation Tomodachi. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Andrea Salazar)

The five pumps came from the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Emergency Ship Salvage Material (ESSM) locker located in Sasebo, Japan. The pumps were picked up from the Air Mobility Command (AMC) erminal at Fukuoka International Airport on Wednesday evening and flown via U.S. Air Force C-17 to Yokota Air Base.

One U.S. Salvage Engineer and one Navy Master Diver from the CTF-73 staff in Singapore accompanied the pumps to Yokota where they met up with Japanese Civil Defense personnel to provide training on the equipment. The pumps will then be transported by the Japanese to the reactor site sometime Thursday.

http://www.c7f.navy....3-march/040.htm

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

NHK is reporting this morning that TEPCO has managed to provide a stable power source for the fuel rod cooling pools in Fukushima Daiichi Reactors 5 and 6, indicating that those pools now are being cooled.

[jfchandler]

Reuters confirmation of the NHK report regarding Reactors 5 and 6:

Working inside a 20 km (12 miles) evacuation zone at Fukushima, nearly 300 engineers got a second diesel generator attached to No. 6 working just after 4 a.m. [saturday JST], the nuclear safety agency said. They then used that power to restart cooling pumps on No. 5. Reactor No. 6 is drawing power from a second diesel generator.

"TEPCO has connected the external transmission line with the receiving point of the plant and confirmed that electricity can be supplied," the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, said in a statement.

Another 1,480 meters (5,000 feet) of cable are being laid before engineers try to crank up the coolers at reactor No.2, followed by numbers 1, 3 and 4 this weekend, company officials said.

"If they are successful in getting the cooling infrastructure up and running, that will be a significant step forward in establishing stability," said Eric Moore, a nuclear power expert at U.S.-based FocalPoint Consulting Group.

http://www.reuters.c...E72A0SS20110319

I guess I should add, keep in mind that Reactors 5 and 6 were relatively less damaged than the other reactors, haven't suffered any post-quake explosions like the others, and were shut down at the time of the quake for maintenance.

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[canuckamuck]

That is very good news for Japan. They need a few more of these victories.

[jfchandler]

Add from Reuters:

Engineers successfully attach a power cable to the outside of the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant in a first step to help cool reactors and stop the spread of radiation.

- Further cabling inside under way before an attempt to restart water pumps to cool overheated fuel rods. Once power is restored, the next stage will be to check equipment is working and not damaged before trying to crank up the coolers at reactor No. 2, followed by 1, 3 and 4.

- Engineers using diesel generators for less critical reactors No. 5 and No.6 reactors.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-japan-quake-snapshot-idUSTRE72D8LW20110319

[ETatBKK]

hope they get it done as soon - the electric supply is as critical as the water supply !

a big step forward to the solution !!

Working inside a 20 km (12 miles) evacuation zone at Fukushima, nearly 300 engineers got a second diesel generator attached to No. 6 working just after 4 a.m. [saturday JST], the nuclear safety agency said. They then used that power to restart cooling pumps on No. 5. Reactor No. 6 is drawing power from a second diesel generator.

[jfchandler]

Adds from The Associated Press:

Though the power line reached the complex Friday, making the final link without setting off a spark and potentially an explosion means methodically working through badly damaged and deeply complex electrical systems at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant on Japan's northeast coast.

"Most of the motors and switchboards were submerged by the tsunami and they cannot be used," said Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

Operators of the plant, which have prompted global worries of radiation leaks, hope to have power reconnected to four of the complex's six units on Saturday, and another on Sunday. However, even once the power is reconnected, it is not clear if the cooling systems will still work.

-------------

Edano also said Tokyo was asking Washington for additional help, a change from a few days ago, when Japanese officials disagreed with American assessments of the severity of the problem.

----------

"In hindsight, we could have moved a little quicker in assessing the situation and coordinating all that information and provided it faster," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Friday.

----------

Additionally, the United States also conducted overflights of the reactor site, strapping sophisticated pods onto aircraft to measure radiation aloft. Two tests conducted Thursday gave readings that U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman said reinforced the U.S. recommendation that people stay 50 miles (80 kilometers) away from the Fukushima plant. Japan has ordered only a 12-mile (20-kilometer) evacuation zone around the plant.

American technical experts also are exchanging information with officials from the Tokyo Electric Power Co. which owns the plants, as well as with Japanese government agencies.

http://staging.hoste...-03-19-00-26-35

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

IAEA today posted this very good chart recapping the details and status of the Daiichi reactors:

http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

[Soutpeel]

In the US, they are more inclined to bring in specialists, they will hammer an issue out with everyone totally comfortable putting their ideas out there. They will fight and argue, get angry, kiss and make up and come to a decision having weighed up the pros and cons. Not only that, they will also plan for the worse and implement a plan as well as backups if the main plan does not work. In the face of new information, the Americans will alter their plans. They are more agile.

And the US is the only "western" country who operates this way ?

Go and look at what happened at 3 mile Island as regards mis-information, lies, confusion etc and tell me that was any different to what is happening in Japan currently, granted the cultural approach maybe different, but the net result is the same.

At least with the Japanese, Chinese executives take the "honourable" approach to when they "loose face" or are caught out doing some thing wrong", either suicide, or execution (in the case of the chinese), there are quite a few US executives who could have benefited from this approach through the years....

I have no wish to turn this into a US bashing rant...but to quote an old blues song...."before you accuse me, take a look at yourself"

[Max2010]

I live in Japan. I just want to give some updates for people here who might have friends and family here. Other than the most effected areas of Sendai, Miyagi, Iwate prefectures (states), everything is getting back to normality here. There is no panic buying though some food is not availabe. No break-ins. No violence, We can buy water. We have gas shortages (it took me an hour to line up for 15 liters of gas) and electricity is being rationed (3 hours a day). We are working and the schools are opened. My state is helping out the people who lost their homes by opening up as many public arenas as possible. Everyone is doing their bit. Since this Saitama Super Arena is near our apartment, we are also doing volunteer work to keep the kids busy. Though many foreigners and Japanese left the country, my family and I have no plans to leave unless we are told so by the Japanese government. I trust the ability of the professionals from many countries who are trying to cool the rods by spraying them with water from the Fire Engines and helicopters. There are many other things done behind the scenes to solve this problem. The electricity has been restored in the effected reactors through outside connection, so within 24-48 hours they should be able to run the pipes with water to cool the rods in the pool faster and reduce radioation levels. There is no significant radiation increase other than around the Nuclear Site as is in Chernobyl, Ukraine (yes, it is still radioactive there) at the moment. The people living near the site have been evacualted and the radiation released is not high enough to risk our health for now. Both Tokyo and the prefectures around Fukushima have reported radiation of under 1 millisiervert as of today. We are still experiencing earthquakes and the aftershocks. We are getting an average of 4 a day in my city. The effected areas have been snowing non-stop most of the week hampering rescue efforts. 7000 people have since lost their lives, over 15000 are still missing and presumed dead. I am confident that the situation will improve significantly at the Nuclear Site by next week. Thank you for your support and good wishes.

Max2010

[elcent]

There's a great live map (you need to zoom in to see details of specific areas or places) The range is from 0 - 749 nGy/h

Not surprisingly, Miyagi and Fukushima are completely N/A, as every single reading is Under Survey, also known as censored.nGy/h (nano- Grays per hour)Ishikawa is reported also as Under Survey.

http://www.targetmap.com/viewer.aspx?reportId=4870