Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor

[Lite Beer]

Two missing workers found dead in Japan nuclear plant

Tokyo - Two missing workers in the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant have been found dead at the site, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported Sunday, citing the operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO).

The victims had been reported missing since an explosion March 11 at the plant after a magnitude-9 earthquake.

The disaster at the nuclear station occurred when the cooling system's failed after the site was hit by a tsunami caused by the quake.

TEPCO workers continued efforts Sunday to seal a leak of highly contaminated water into the ocean.

They were using chemical polymers to block the flow of radioactive water from a 20-centimetre crack in a pit where cables are stored near reactor number 2, local media reported.

The attempt to seal off the leak with cement had failed, prompting the company to call on more experts in Tokyo, the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Data from national science agencies showed that radioactive iodine registering at levels twice approved standards had been found in seawater 40 kilometres from the damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor.//DPA

-- The Nation 2011-04-03

[Lite Beer]

Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano says it could be several months before radiation stops leaking from Fukushima nuclear plant./RT@SkyNewsBreak

[JetsetBkk]

Fukushima fearmongers are stealing our Jetsons future

Hysteria now completely disconnected from reality

As the situation at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powerplant slowly winds down, the salient facts remain the same as they have been throughout: nobody has suffered or will suffer any radiological health consequences. Economic damage and inconvenience resulting from the quake's effects on nuclear power have been significant, but tiny in comparison to all other human activities – the nuclear power plants in the stricken region have suffered less damage and caused less trouble to local residents than anything else that was there.

Despite this background, the details of which are now largely uncontested, hysteria continues to grip large sections of the news media and the internet.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/31/fukushima_panic_breaks_completely_free_of_facts/

How come this publication " the Register " doesn't have a single unkind word to say about the nuclear power industry ?

<snip>

I don't actually know, but the site is a well respected "techy / IT" site.

But maybe they don't have too many unkind words because of some basic facts: the plants are over 30 years old, they were never designed to withstand the earthquake of that magnitude let alone the biggest tsunami in living memory.

So maybe preventing a meltdown was a triumph, maybe dealing with the tens of thousands of dead from the tsunami should be more on peoples' minds than a nuclear plant that has so far caused the deaths of two workers from an explosion.

Maybe this site likes to separate fact from hype.

And they are not alone. Here's an article from another fairly well respected site - The Guardian - in the UK:

Why Fukushima made me stop worrying and love nuclear power

A crappy old plant with inadequate safety features was hit by a monster earthquake and a vast tsunami. The electricity supply failed, knocking out the cooling system. The reactors began to explode and melt down. The disaster exposed a familiar legacy of poor design and corner-cutting. Yet, as far as we know, no one has yet received a lethal dose of radiation.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/21/pro-nuclear-japan-fukushima

I'm sure in the weeks and years to come there will be deaths directly attributable to this incident, and the current 50 workers at Fukushima who believe they will all die soon are probably the bravest 50 people in the world right now.

But let's not believe all the garbage being written by scribblers whose main aim in life is to get you to click on their web sites.

[JetsetBkk]

I saw a close up TV shot of one of the reactor buildings last night.

The one with the several meter wide hole in the side.

There was smoke or steam coming out the hole.

As they zoomed in, there appeared to be large flakes like snow wafting about.

What the heck would that be ???

sorry no link to actual footage.

Pete

Well that would be the snow, then.

Thanks for your reply.

It wasn't snowing...

the stuff wafting around seemed to be coming out of the hole.

Pete

Weather at Fukushima for last month (a long way from the actual nuclear site) was mostly around freezing:

http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/JAXX0010?month=-1

Occam's Razor - the simplest answer is probably the right one.

[Peterphuket]

Seems like the worlds largest concrete pump is on it's way to Japan...

The pump was moved Wednesday from the construction site in Aiken County to a facility in Hanahan, S.C., for minor modifications, and will be trucked to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where it will be picked up by the world's largest cargo plane, the Russian-made Antonov 225, which will fly it to Tokyo.

http://chronicle.aug...te?v=1301580247

I thought this also had to be a Aprils fool joke

noting the pump makers name Putzmiester.... ?????

Putz in yiddish is

'(American Jewish), jerk, fool, simpleton (vulg. penis)'

Meister in German is 'master' as in master craftsman, ton meister etc.

In German,

Putz

m , -es no pl a dated (=Kleidung) finery

(=Besatz) frills and furbelows pl

in vollem Putz erscheinen to arrive all dressed up in one's Sunday best

So I guess this makes sense, but on April 1st it did give me pause.

[midas]

Yet, as far as we know, no one has yet received a lethal dose of radiation.

But who can possibly say for sure ?

Cancer

Many people think of radiation burn as the most severe effect, but there are a variety of cancers that are caused even by mild exposure. The radiation side effects depend upon the volume of absorbed radiation by the body.

Thyroid cancer is definitively linked to ionized radiation exposure, as is leukemia and lymphoma. Cancers such as skin, lung, breast and brain cancers may not develop for years, but can be connected to radiation.

Edited April 3, 2011 by midas

[elcent]

Radioactive water continues to leak

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says there has been no change in the amount of radioactive water seeping from the Fukushima nuclear plant after a polymer absorbent was injected into a cracked pit.

Tokyo Electric Power Company found on Saturday that contaminated water was leaking into the ocean from the 20-centimeter crack in the concrete pit.

On Sunday, the utility firm used a polymer absorbent to try to stop the leak of radioactive water.

The government's nuclear agency said the injection of the chemical began shortly after 1:40 PM, but it cannot confirm if there has been a decline in the amount of contaminated water leaking into the ocean.

The agency added that sawdust and newspapers were also used, but the absorbent did not reach the pipe. Engineers are now trying to mix the substance with the water.

The agency plans to continue monitoring the situation until Monday to see if there is a positive result.

Sunday, April 03, 2011 19:38 +0900 (JST)http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/03_22.html

[Organicpete]

Weather at Fukushima for last month (a long way from the actual nuclear site) was mostly around freezing:

http://www.weather.c...XX0010?month=-1

Occam's Razor - the simplest answer is probably the right one.

Fair enough, thanks for clearing that up for me

Pete

[elcent]

Edano wants inquiry into Fukushima accident

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has indicated that an independent body should be set up to investigate the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The top government spokesperson was asked about the accident at a news conference on Sunday. Edano replied that an objective investigation should be carried out as soon as possible to prevent a recurrence.

He said experts from the Nuclear Safety Commission and other Japanese organizations have been working on the problem. He added that the government wants to quickly launch an inquiry that will not interfere with the efforts to bring the situation under control.

Edano said he believes that the inquiry should be conducted by a third-party institution with a high level of objectivity and independence. He said it should involve the government, the plant's operator and the Nuclear Safety Commission.

Sunday, April 03, 2011 18:39 +0900 (JST)

One aside.

It's going to take months before the leakage can be stopped.

[elcent]

Just to get an idea what high radiation can do. In Chernobyl the deadly radiation was 4 - 6000 mSv within a very short time.

[kimincm]

Anybody here worked in the nuclear industry,if so,an insight into your credentials would be handy,otherwise it could just be 'panic and mayhem' from panic merchants,I think it's time to panic but would like it ftom somebody who knows what their on about.

[JetsetBkk]

Just to get an idea what high radiation can do. In Chernobyl the deadly radiation was 4 - 6000 mSv within a very short time.

I don't understand the link between that video of a helicopter crashing and high radiation. Can you explain?

[elcent]

Anybody here worked in the nuclear industry,if so,an insight into your credentials would be handy,otherwise it could just be 'panic and mayhem' from panic merchants,I think it's time to panic but would like it ftom somebody who knows what their on about.

You can find many reference links from nuclear scientists here, some are pro and some anti nuclear.

[elcent]

Just to get an idea what high radiation can do. In Chernobyl the deadly radiation was 4 - 6000 mSv within a very short time.

I don't understand the link between that video of a helicopter crashing and high radiation. Can you explain?

The immediate priority was to extinguish fires on the roof of the station and the area around the building containing Reactor No. 4 to protect No. 3 and keep its core cooling systems intact. The fires were extinguished by 5:00, but many firefighters received high doses of radiation. The fire inside reactor 4 continued to burn until 10 May 1986; it is possible that well over half of the graphite burned out.^[6]:73 The fire was extinguished by a combined effort of helicopters dropping over 5,000 metric tons of sand, lead, clay, and boron onto the burning reactor and injection of liquid nitrogen. The Ukrainian filmmaker Vladimir Shevchenko captured film footage of an Mi-8 helicopter as it collided with a nearby construction crane, causing the helicopter to fall near the damaged reactor building and killing its four-man crew.^[33]

From eyewitness accounts of the firefighters involved before they died (as reported on the CBC television series Witness), one described his experience of the radiation as "tasting like metal," and feeling a sensation similar to that of pins and needles all over his face. (This is similar to the description given by Louis Slotin, a Manhattan Project physicist who died days after a fatal radiation overdose from a criticality accident.)^[The explosion and fire threw hot particles of the nuclear fuel and also far more dangerous fission products, radioactive isotopes such as caesium-137, iodine-131, strontium-90 and other radionuclides, into the air: the residents of the surrounding area observed the radioactive cloud on the night of the explosion.

I don't think that one can handle a copter well after being exposed t0 very high radiation.

all the other helicopter pilots and crews that flew over the reactor died within a matter of weeks

check out the book "voices from chernobyl" - it's an oral history of the disaster if this sort of thing interests you.

[elcent]

A sobering graphical video ...

http://www.snotr.com...ay_and_Deformed

http://www.alexievich.info/knigi/VOICES_FROM_CHERNOBYL.pdf Voices from Chernobyl full download in .pdf format

Edited April 3, 2011 by elcent

[animatic]

Just to get an idea what high radiation can do. In Chernobyl the deadly radiation was 4 - 6000 mSv within a very short time.

I don't understand the link between that video of a helicopter crashing and high radiation. Can you explain?

Yes, what link?

The helicopter rotors clearly hit cables in the air and break off.

Unless you are saying the pilot got fast onset radiation sickness and that's why he hit the cables?

Edited April 4, 2011 by animatic

[midas]

Anybody here worked in the nuclear industry,if so,an insight into your credentials would be handy,otherwise it could just be 'panic and mayhem' from panic merchants,I think it's time to panic but would like it ftom somebody who knows what their on about.

an insight into this regarding implications for seafood would be useful too

Japanese Government Official Reveals Awful Truth: It Could Take Months To Stop Radioactive Leak

as one person commented :-

"Guess I won't be buying that Alaskan salmon anymore or the Canned Tuna

I guess for the rest of my life. I mean that cesium and plutonium have half lives of thousands of years and millions of years respectively "

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-april-3-2011-4#ixzz1IWJDXt71

Edited April 4, 2011 by midas

[elcent]

Just to get an idea what high radiation can do. In Chernobyl the deadly radiation was 4 - 6000 mSv within a very short time.

I don't understand the link between that video of a helicopter crashing and high radiation. Can you explain?

Yes, what link?

The helicopter rotors clearly hit cables in the air and break off.

Unless you are saying the pilot got fast onset radiation sickness and that's why he hit the cables?

This footage was witheld until the 90s. It's most likely that there was a fast onset of radiation sickness. Voice records have never been published. Why's that?

It was prettu much over after 2 weeks in Chernobyl.

The Japanese accident has not even unveiled to its fullest. It takes months to stop the leakings and other stuff that are not published yet. We only getting fed with data of lower risks. Wonder where the magics are rooted.

[elcent]

Japan can't reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25%

Vice Minister of the Environment Hideki Minamikawa says it will be hard for Japan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as it previously said.

Japan had said it would cut emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 if major emitting countries participate in the same framework.

On Sunday, Minamikawa made the remarks to reporters in Bangkok, Thailand, in consideration of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan. The power plant was hit by the tsunami caused by the magnitude 9 earthquake on March 11th.

Minamikawa said the accident will have a big effect on Japan's greenhouse gas reduction target. He also said the target was made on the assumption that 8 or 9 nuclear reactors would be in operation by 2020.

But the Vice Minister of the Environment added that the issue must be studied based on a long-term vision, after the Fukushima Daiichi plant is stabilized.

Monday, April 04, 2011 06:49 +0900 (JST)

They can, even people have to be educated not to buy any and all Japanese products.

[elcent]

Edano: Radiation leak into sea must be stopped

Japan's top government spokesperson says the leak of radioactive water into the ocean from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant must be stopped as soon as possible.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano expressed concern on Monday about the cumulative effects on the sea of possible long-term radiation leakage from the plant.

He said he is urging Tokyo Electric Power Company, the plant's owner, to act quickly to prevent the spread of contamination in the sea.

Edano said he has instructed the utility to undertake multiple operations to stem the leak, including blocking the leakage route on the ground and containing the radioactive water from the ocean side.

Monday, April 04, 2011 13:16 +0900 (JST) http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/04_15.html

[elcent]

TEPCO still trying to identify leak

Tokyo Electric Power Company is still not sure how highly radioactive water is flowing into the ocean from its damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex.

TEPCO had thought it was coming from a crack in a concrete pit at the facility.

On Monday workers poured a white liquid into a tunnel leading to the pit. The operation was undertaken to determine the exact route the water is taking from the pit near the plant's Number 2 reactor to the ocean.

But the utility firm says the white liquid did not flow into the pit and that the contaminated water must be following other routes.

As a temporary measure, the utility firm is considering setting up silt barriers near a water intake pipe for the Number 2 reactor to prevent radioactive elements from spreading in the ocean.

The utility company has also been removing radioactive water from the basements of the turbine buildings for two of the plant's reactors.

The radioactive water in the condensers for the two reactors is being transferred to storage tanks. As soon as the condensers are emptied, the water from the reactor will be drained into them to allow work to begin to restore the reactors' cooling systems.

Work to remove the water began on Sunday at reactors Number 1 and 2. A similar operation will start at the Number 3 reactor on Monday.

Monday, April 04, 2011 12:26 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/04_12.html

I always thought they pumped it directly into the ocean to get free space for the high radioactive waters and before temporary containers were made available.

I remember the reports of franatic pumpings even when there was no storage yet.

[elcent]

Govt did not reveal high level radiation estimate

It has been learned that the Japanese government withheld the release of computer projections indicating high levels of radioactivity in areas more than 30 kilometers from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The estimates were made on March 16th following explosions at the plant by an institute commissioned by the government using a computer system called SPEEDI. The system made its projections on the assumption that radioactive substances had been released for 24 hours from midnight on March 14th, based on the available data.

But the government was reluctant to reveal the SPEEDI projections, and did not release them until March 23rd.

The released data showed that higher levels of radioactive substances would flow over areas to the northwest and southwest of the plant.

The estimates showed that the radiation would exceed 100 millisieverts in some areas more than 30 kilometers from the nuclear plant if people remained outdoors for 24 hours between March 12th and 24th.

That is 100 times higher than the 1 millisievert-per-year long-term reference level for humans as recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.

The Nuclear Safety Commission says it did not release the projections because the location or the amount of radioactive leakage was not specified at the time.

Professor emeritus Shigenobu Nagataki of Nagasaki University, says the government should release more data about the dangers of possible radiation exposure and draw up evacuation plans and other measures together with residents.

Monday, April 04, 2011 12:38 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/04_10.html

just the tip of cover ups.

[atsiii]

http://edition.cnn.c...clear.reactors/

Workers Install Ocean Silt Fence...

As they mull other ways to cut off the leak at its source, workers will install a silt fence along a damaged sea wall surrounding the plant, Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency said Monday. The aim of this screening, which is usually used to halt erosion at construction sites, is to prohibit the spread of radioactive particles into the sea

Workers also have injected a dye tracer into the water to allow them to track the dispersal of such particles, the spokesman added. Addressing the issue quickly is critical because officials believe it is one source of alarmingly high levels of radiation spotted in seawater near the plant, as well as in nearby groundwater. "This situation has continued for a long time," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Monday. "We need to stop the release into the seawater as soon as possible ... The soil contamination also needs to be stopped."

In some cases, authorities don't even know how much radiation is getting out. After some high-profile errors while offering regular radiation measurements on seawater, groundwater and the air, little new information has been released since Thursday. One reason is that the dosimeters being used don't go above 1,000 millisieverts per hour, Junichi Matsumoto, an executive with the plant's owner Tokyo Electric Power Company, told reporters Sunday.

In the Pacific Ocean itself, the last reported measurement (from Thursday) of seawater taken 330 meters (361 yards) offshore were said to have levels of iodine-131 at 4,385 times above the standard and cesium-137 at 527 times beyond normal. Experts say the latter radioactive isotope may be a greater concern because it persists longer, taking 30 years to lose half its radiation -- compared to an eight-day half-life for the iodine-131 isotope.

Plugging the external leak is job one, in order to prevent the outflow of radiation into the Pacific. But it may not be the most difficult, or important, task ahead.Authorities still have to figure out how the tainted water got into the concrete shaft in the first place. The water had to come from somewhere, potentially traveling across melted-down nuclear fuel in the reactor's core before somehow reaching the outside. Nishiyama, the nuclear safety official, said Sunday that the working theory is that water injected in recent weeks into the No. 2 reactor to help cool its nuclear fuel rods somehow got out. "We were assuming and hoping (that water) would stay in the containment vessel as vapor after being cooled," he said. "However, it may have flowed into the building, and then the trench."

Finding out why and how that happened -- and, more so, what to do about it -- promises to be "exceptionally challenging," said physicist James Acton, with the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment think tank. To do so, officials must inspect a complicated array of pipes inside the dangerous radioactive environment inside the containment buildings, according to Acton. He is familiar with Japanese nuclear plants, having examined one rocked by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in 2007.

The amount of emitted radiation, be it into the water or air, is also unknown. Authorities do believe there had been at least a partial meltdown of nuclear fuel -- thanks to intense heat, at one point, topping 2,700 Celsius (4,800 Fahrenheit) in the No. 1 reactor and 1,800 Celsius (3,200 Fahreinheit) in the Nos. 2 and 3 reactors, according to an analysis from Areva, one of the world's top nuclear energy companies based in France.

Edited April 4, 2011 by atsiii

[atsiii]

More Survivors?

The U.S. Military and Japan Defense Corp were undertaking a large last ditch effort to find survivors this past weekend, culminating today (Monday). Strangely I can't find any mention about the operation online... either positive or negative. Does anyone know if they were able to find anybody else still alive?

Thanks!

[elcent]

More Survivors?

The U.S. Military and Japan Defense Corp were undertaking a large last ditch effort to find survivors this past weekend, culminating today (Monday). Strangely I can't find any mention about the operation online... either positive or negative. Does anyone know if they were able to find anybody else still alive?

Thanks!

They didn't find any people alive but retrieved about 60 dead bodies. Also, divers were not able to see through the mud.

Now it's practically confirmed that TEPCO pumps contaminated water directly into the ocean!!!.

I say, they did it before too. - We and people who work on the issues were lied to and therefore precious time was/is wasted to tackle the real problems. You'll need to translate this from German into English.

Inside the ruins of Fukushima nuclear power plant is radioactive water, which discourages the forces at work. Now, the nuclear power operator Tepco uses a more drastic measure: More than 11,000 tons of contaminated water will be discharged into the sea according to TEPCO. --- "There are no alternatives", Yukio Edona said.

--- (caught lefthanded and now they go for the direct approach, no more hiding and lying possible)

we're sold to this image from "reactor building 2". Just needs to find someone who believes that.

Edited April 5, 2011 by metisdead
Link to foreign language article removed.

[elcent]

NOW CONFIRMED BY THE JAPANESE SIDE. SLOWELY BUT SURE

Low radioactive water to be released to sea - and still I say, they did it before too.

Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to release radioactive wastewater into the sea from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as part of efforts to stabilize the troubled plant.

The utility told a news conference on Monday that it hopes to start releasing 11,500 tons of wastewater from Tuesday at the earliest and that the operation will continue for several days.

The company says the level of iodine-131 in the wastewater is about 100 times the legal limit. But the plant operator says if people ate fish and seaweed caught near the plant every day for a year, their radiation exposure would be 0.6 millisievert. It adds the annual permissible level for the general public is one millisievert. - downplaying facts, never report all the other substances that go with the oh so harmless iodine-131. - DISGUSTING -

Wastewater will be released to make room for highly contaminated water from the No.2 reactor complex.

Radioactive water 100,000 times the normal level in an operating reactor has been found in the turbine building. This is also hampering efforts to cool the damaged reactors.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says the government approved the operation plan, as removing the water from the No.2 reactor is a more urgent matter.

Edano calls the operation an emergency measure to ensure the safety of the plant. He adds that the government told the utility to monitor radioactivity in the seawater and closely track the environmental impact.

Monday, April 04, 2011 18:17 +0900 (JST) http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/04_22.html

[elcent]

Believe it or not. This is for Ripley's museum.

They indeed tried to stop the leaks(picture above) with a mixture of glue, sawdust and hold your breath "newspapers".

Innovative Japan Award for the next 30 years - (PUN INTENDED)

They have nothing invented there, nothing, just made laser-cuts and copied everything. The so called refinements are made through innovations that were sold to them and made it cheaper through mass-production to compete with others.

When there was/is a new innovation large coroporations go to Japan and sell it, especially from the car industry, or otherwise risk conflicts.

Edited April 4, 2011 by elcent

[atsiii]

So... 11,500 tons of radioactive water x 2000 lb/ton / 8.345 lb/gal (fresh water) => +/- 2.7 Million gallons. I guess 11,500 tons sounds much better than between 2.5 to 3.0 Million gallons or 10 Million liters.

I've said it before, but I hope they have explained to the fish that eat plankton near the stricken plant, not to swim outside of the 12-mile evacuation zone where they might risk being caught!

[Robby nz]

A news report from another source says Japan will dump over 10,000 tonnes of low-level radioactive water into the Pacific but It wont do any damage.

[elcent]

A news report from another source says Japan will dump over 10,000 tonnes of low-level radioactive water into the Pacific but It wont do any damage.

... that's what they admit, not to forget to mention what they're/have discharg(ing)ed.

We just have reached another "stable" point of no return, a stable release of dangerous substances that have a halftime period from 8 days to millions of years.

the volume they admit is equal to about 50 000 bath tubs full with water.