Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor

[Lite Beer]

Radioactive cesium over legal limit found in fish off Japan's Fukushima.

TOKYO, April 10 (Xinhua) - Radioactive cesium exceeding the legal limit for consumption was found Saturday in young sand lance sampled off Fukushima Prefecture in northeastern Japan where a troubled nuclear plant is located.

One of the four sample fish had a level of cesium of 570 becquerels per kilogram on Thursday about 1 kilometer off the city of Iwaki, and the other three measured 480 to 500 becquerels, Kyodo News reported Sunday. The limit is 500 becquerels under Japan's Food Sanitation Law.

The samples were taken after the species was found contaminated off Ibaraki Prefecture, although fishermen have voluntarily refrained from fishing off Fukushima, according to Kyodo. (Xinhua)

-- TNA 2011-04-10

[Chopperboy]

Why are the Japanese so calm in the face of nuclear crisis?

Fear of being accused of spreading "false rumors." Since the outbreak of the nuclear crisis, expressions of huu-hyo (false rumor) and hu-kinshin (indiscretion) appear frequently throughout the Japanese media. A voice that claims the seriousness and the danger of the nuclear crisis is considered to be "spreading huu-hyo" and criticized as hu-kinshin to be a ringleader that enlarges damages caused by the crisis.

An apology from a publisher is one example. The weekly magazine AERA placed on its cover a picture of a man wearing a full-face mask with filters and protective suits, with the headline "Radiation is coming." The cover page intended to convey seriousness of the nuclear disaster, according to the publisher.

However, this event resulted in an apology and resignation of a representative, after the magazine received complaints that they were escalating damages from huu-hyo and intentionally aggravating public fear.

The spread of two words of huu-hyo and hu-kinshin, has, on the whole, functioned to horrify people to argue about the nuclear danger, to discourage to raise their voices against nuclear energy and, in the end, to lead people to go quiet on the nuclear issue.

The people in Japan should, of course, garner praise for their strength, patience, and discipline.

However, the calmness of the Japanese on the nuclear crisis cannot be praised because it is the representation of their passivity, shyness, and indifference to the core problem of nuclear power generation.

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/apr/10/calm-patience-not-virtues-in-dealing-with-issues/?partner=yahoo_feeds

[Chopperboy]

With the tsunami comming Ishizawa, 55, raced to the plant’s central gate. But a security guard would not let him out of the complex. A long line of cars had formed at the gate, and some drivers were blaring their horns.

“Show me your IDs,’’ Ishizawa remembered the guard saying, insisting that he follow the correct sign-out procedure. And where, the guard demanded, were his supervisors?

“What are you saying?’’ Ishizawa said he shouted at the guard. He looked over his shoulder and saw a dark shadow on the horizon, out at sea, he said.

He shouted again: “Don’t you know a tsunami is coming?’’

Ishizawa,is one of thousands of untrained, itinerant, temporary laborers who handle the bulk of the dangerous work at nuclear power plants here and in other countries, lured by the higher wages offered for working with radiation.

Collectively, these contractors were exposed to levels of radiation about 16 times as high as the levels faced by Tokyo Electric employees last year, according to Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. These workers remain vital to efforts to contain the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plants.

Interviews with about a half-dozen past and current workers at Fukushima Daiichi and other plants paint a bleak picture of workers on the nuclear circuit: battling intense heat as they clean radiation from the reactors’ drywells and spent-fuel pools using mops and rags, clearing the way for inspectors, technicians, and Tokyo Electric employees, and working in the cold to fill drums with contaminated waste.

http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2011/04/10/temporary_nuclear_laborers_paid_little_for_taking_big_risk/

[Chopperboy]

The problems are so far "beyond the design capacity" of the plant that the Japanese are working in uncharted territory, said Michael Friedlander, a former senior operator at U.S. nuclear power plants.

"No nuclear power plant has ever considered the inability to get on long-term core cooling for more than a week, much less three weeks," Friedlander said.

"You have to get the recirculation system up and functioning so they can cool that water in the normal way," said Gary Was, a nuclear engineering professor at the University of Michigan and a CNN consultant. Normal cooling systems don't require the massive amounts of water -- around 7 metric tons (1,850 gallons) per hour -- now being poured into the reactors. "That's a big problem," Was said.

Satoshi Sato, a Japanese nuclear industry consultant, called the current line of attack a "waste of effort." Plant instruments are likely damaged and unreliable because of the intense heat that was generated, and pumping more water into the reactors is only making the contamination problem worse, he said.

"There is no happy end with their approach," Sato told CNN. "They must change the approach. That's something I'm sure of 100 percent."

[James3212]

So they finally decided to move the water and process it ... i don't know why they had to dump the radioactive water in the ocean then just few days ago then...

It seems like they should read these forums because they seem to not bring in the portable pumps when I was suggesting it before and seems like they have just decided to transport the rest of the water to the waste processing plant... Kinda late after you already dumped couple of tons in the sea and poisoned the fish but better late than dump it all in the ocean of course... anyways as far as i know, big fishes eat the smaller ones & the radioactivity was 300 times over the limit near fukushima... 9 times over the limit 15kms away... so I think some fishes will eat a lot of cesium or plutonium... Wonder what will happen to Japanese and/or Russian fisheries soon when people (if) find more of these fishes and stop eating fish out of precaution... But its not just all about economy, its about our world... I have a lot to say on this but i think many might be not interested as some don't seem to care about nature...

To me it is really bad that humans did all the nuclear tests making parts of world non-accessible and harming the nature... I really would like to see them cleanup the mess that they made but i think that its not that easily possible now when they dumped tons of water.... I think international community should fine the company and make them responsible to clean the ocean but i cant even imagine how would they do this... seems like the water is dumped for good and who knows what will be the after effects of this.... one thing is shown as evidence already... radioactive fish found... now who knows who know what happens to the people that eat the exposed fishes or even other bigger fishes that eat less radioactive fish... i guess time will tell again... but we really need to proceed in advancing the medicine and alternative power ... that is my opinion ... and we shouldn't be building nuclear power plants ... especially since they don't seem to be able to completely remove the nuclear waste and treat all people in case of a disaster and clean the plants and animals of harmful elements...

Anyways... back to TEPCO... It seems to me that by using common sense lots of these problems could be avoided... It just looks like that of course, I'm not an expert but they seem to be doing exactly what i was thinking just very delayed and after several huge mistakes mostly caused by delay i guess... Seems to me that if they were experts they would prevent the hydrogen explosions on time as well i suppose... Just its so sad to see what is happening with Japan and the world contamination right now on the seas, land and air and I'm surprised that they are not putting much thought into this, or it really seems like they don't...

On a side note... Germany's Wild Boar Contamination

Edited April 10, 2011 by James3212

[unblocktheplanet]

Despite govts scaremongering over "terrorism" to this generation, I have never felt afraid. "Terrorism" comes, of course, in all shapes and guises and has been with us from the birth of human history.

However, I have always felt afraid of nuclear weapons and their corollary, nuclear power. (After all, without nuke plants, where would govts get the plutonium to build bombs.)

Since Fukushima, I know I've been way too complacent in fighting against nukes. It has now become obvious that these plants are the real nuclear terrorists. They have the real capacity to end life on earth, very slowly and painfully.

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

A low estimate from an argubly biased source, the International Atomic Energy Agency, claims:

...that only 56 people have died as a direct result of the radiation released at Chernobyl and that about 4,000 will die from it eventually...

Higher estimates from sources with less of a vested interest:

...The International Agency for Research on Cancer, another UN agency

<snip>

So a cancer research organisation has less of a vested interest? Please, katana, that is a good one!

[atsiii]

Japan urges more people near nuke plant to leave(AP) – 6 hours ago

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's government says it is urging even more people to evacuate the area around the crippled nuclear plant that has been spewing radiation since a tsunami swamped its cooling systems a month ago.

People living within 12 miles (20 kilometers) already have been ordered to leave because of radiation concerns. Other people farther out had been advised to stay indoors.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Monday that residents of five additional communities, some more than 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the plant, are being urged to leave within a month.

Of course they are only "urging" people to leave. After all, if they evacuated them, they would end up having to pay some form of compensation. If--upon urging--they leave voluntarily, they likely will not receive future compensation.

[atsiii]

http://edition.cnn.c...n.quake/?hpt=T1

Magnitude 6.6-quake jolts Japan coast

(CNN) -- Fires burned in northeastern Japan Monday evening after a powerful earthquake shook the region, sending a landslide into Iwaki City, authorities said. A preliminary estimate put the quake's magnitude at 7.1, which was later lowered to 6.6, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Residents in Tokyo also felt the jolts. A tsunami warning issued by Japan's Meteorological Agency was canceled.

Edited April 11, 2011 by atsiii

[atsiii]

http://www.businessw...tepco-says.html

External Power at Fukushima Plant Cut by Earthquake, Tepco Says

April 11 (Bloomberg) -- External power sources for the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors at Japan's Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant were cut after an earthquake struck today, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. The injection of water into the three units, powered by the outside electricity, was halted, an official at the utility told reporters today in a televised briefing.

ATS-- I read elsewhere that the power for the cooling pumps has now been reconnected.

Edited April 11, 2011 by atsiii

[elcent]

A goof read at NYT - The man who baby-sits Chernobyl http://www.nytimes.c...yl.html?_r=1

CHERNOBYL, Ukraine —

...

Water cannot be allowed to touch the thing that is deep inside the reactor: about 200 tons of melted nuclear fuel and debris, which burned through the floor and hardened, in one spot, into the shape of an elephant's foot. This mass remains so highly radioactive that scientists cannot approach it. But years ago, when they managed to place measurement instruments nearby, they got readings of 10,000 rem per hour, which is 2,000 times the yearly limit recommended for workers in the nuclear industry.

...

This version is the official justification for spending nearly a billion EUR to build a new roof for Chernobyl, mostly financed by the EU.

But the report "der Millionensarg" (in German) casts serious doubts on the official version, as well as on the usefulness of such construction.

The report (by ZDF if I remember well) shows that the radiation level inside the chernobyl reactor are relatively low, that the "elephant foot" is not as radioactive as expected, because there is almost no nuclear fuel left. The theory is that most (over 90%) of the fuel was expelled into the atmosphere by the explosion and fires, while the offical version says 97% is still inside. But if it is inside, where is the radiation?

Elcent, watch the report if you got a chance.

You should be able to find it as a download.

Where's the radiation? - The melting mass has probably burned through and is wandering down. No matter how thick you make the containing vessel, after more than 20 years it has surely melted through any protective cover. The radiation may be going on far beyound surface already. Lets hope that there's no groundwater around.

[elcent]

TEPCO president apologizes, one month later

The president of the operator of Japan's quake-damaged nuclear plant has visited Fukushima and apologized for the nuclear accident overwhelming the area.

Masataka Shimizu, the head of Tokyo Electric Power Company, visited the Fukushima government on Monday, exactly one month after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the company's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Shimizu apologized to people in and outside Fukushima Prefecture, saying his company has added to their physical and mental burdens with the nuclear crisis.

He also said he regrets not meeting local residents first of all to offer an apology. He said he failed to do so because he was overwhelmed by handing the accident from Tokyo.

He also said he was sorry that Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato had refused his request to meet and receive an apology directly.

Turning to reparations, Shimizu said he is well aware that a large number of people have suffered damage over a wide area. He said his company will do its utmost to compensate them based on the government's guidelines, when they are compiled.

Shimizu declined to comment on how he himself would take responsibility for the problems, saying he must now concentrate on overcoming the company's worst-ever crisis.

He added that he expects to see the ruined No. 1 through No.4 reactors at the power plant to be decommissioned.

Monday, April 11, 2011 18:02 +0900 (JST

Smokers in many countries will be fined when they smoke in certain places depending on the respective country's laws. If some company with a "powerful" lobby behind like the nuke-lobby - nothing happens.

Unit 1 - 4 will be decommissioned. - That strikes me after one month.

Has anybody noticed that only numbers of measured radiation are only from TEPCO and outside, from the govt. > It's like having a murderer investigate his own case, sorry to say that, but it is like this. There must be independed agencies measuring the radiation and control/check the company. Everything else id bound to fail for a reasonable progress.

Edited April 11, 2011 by elcent

[unblocktheplanet]

Der Millionensarg (use Google Translate)http://www.videogold.de/die-katastrophe-von-tschernobyl-der-millionensarg-dokumentation/

Into Eternity (2010)

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/6100410/Into.Eternity.2010.DVDRip.XviD-KAFFEREP.TPB.torrent

[unblocktheplanet]

Japan expands nuclear evacuation zone as new quake hits (Reuters)

http://www.rawstory....new-quake-hits/

Oopsie!

[unblocktheplanet]

Radioactivity in the Ocean: Diluted, But Far from Harmless (Yale)

http://e360.yale.edu..._harmless/2391/

Japan's Radioactive Ocean (Mother Jones)

http://motherjones.c...dioactive-ocean

Radioactive Fish and Birds (Mother Jones)

http://motherjones.c...s-dangers-japan

Edited April 11, 2011 by unblocktheplanet

[ronz28]

Its now a considered to be a Level Seven Nuclear Disaster.

http://enenews.com/japan-officially-raises-fukushima-to-level-7-same-as-chernobyl-translation

[brahmburgers]

Radioactivity in the Ocean: Diluted, But Far from Harmless (Yale)

http://e360.yale.edu..._harmless/2391/

Japan's Radioactive Ocean (Mother Jones)

http://motherjones.c...dioactive-ocean

Radioactive Fish and Birds (Mother Jones)

http://motherjones.c...s-dangers-japan

Mother Jones magazine, out of San Francisco, has always been miles ahead of the others in the assessment dept. Hundreds of times over past decades, they've come out with reports that governments/businesses have denied, and it's later proven that MJ was correct, and the government/business heads were covering up. Their investigative reporting is second to none.

The knock-on affects of dumping radioactivity in the air and water will go on and on for decades, and it will effect people worldwide - some more and some less. It's more than an economic catastrophe for many people (farmers, fisherman, etc). Among other things, it's a case of a relatively few people (TEPCO heads and gov't/political/biz big shots) polluting a significant part of the planet with their selfish and ill-thought-out nuclear plans.

[brahmburgers]

there was a faulty link for one of the Mother Jones articles. Here's the correct link for their 'Radioactive Oceans' report.

BB's note: if you think Japanese officials are screwing up (in planning/siting their N plants, and their attempts at problem solving nuclear mess) - just wait until Thailand has a major problem with one or more of their planned 5 nuclear plants.

[animatic]

Level 7....and dirctly on the sea in spring time...

it has really hit the fan.

And this also from Mother Jones

http://motherjones.c...dioactive-ocean

Japan's Radioactive Ocean

Whatever pathways the Fukushima poisons take, they will certainly alter the springtime blossoming of Japan's ocean, starting with the phytoplankton and working up the foodweb. As for the effects on the rest of the world ocean, it's a matter of how much, how far, and for how long Fukushima's newborn radionuclides go sailing.

( ah you beat me to it mai bpen rai)

Edited April 12, 2011 by animatic

[Crushdepth]

Kyodo said the government's Nuclear Safety Commission had estimated that, at one stage, the amount of radioactive material released from the reactors had reached 10,000 terabequerels per hour of radioactive iodine 131 for several hours, which would classify the incident as a major accident according to the INES scale.

Kyodo did not say when the big increase in radiation had happened but quoted the commission as saying the release had since fallen to under one terabecquerel per hour.

SMH

Yet another example of the government failing to report problems until well after the fact. Raising the severity to level 7 at this stage seems a bit odd. Perhaps there is some more bad news coming that we don't know about yet?

Level 7 is "Major release of radio­active ­material with widespread health and environmental effects r­equiring implementation of planned and extended ­countermeasures".

[brahmburgers]

Perhaps it's time for damage control to try to do more to try to keep radioactive water from reaching the ocean.

The tanker idea mentioned pages earlier is interesting. Has there been action on that in Japan? Since the immediate zone around the plant is and will likely continue to be a dead zone for decades, perhaps they could dig a sink hole on the landward side of the plant. Transfer the most radioactive water to percolate there. It's not a cure-all solution, but it may be the lesser of the hazardous options currently available.

A lot of people really resent all that highly radioactive water going in to the world's oceans and food chain. Personally, I don't eat hardly any sea food/products (mainly because of mercury), but most people still ingest items from the sea, including seaweed (sushi, etc).

[Crushdepth]

I think it speaks volumes that they are testing fish for contamination, but not *shellfish* which naturally concentrate this stuff.

[Lite Beer]

Japan raises nuclear crisis to same level as Chernobyl

By Shinichi Saoshiro and Mayumi Negishi.

(Reuters) - Japan raised the severity of its nuclear crisis to the highest level on Tuesday, putting it on a par with the world's worst nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in 1986.

As another major aftershock rattled the earthquake-ravaged east of the country, a fire broke out at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant though engineers later appeared to have extinguished the blaze.

Developments of recent days suggest that the operator of the stricken facility is no closer to restoring the cooling systems at the reactors, which is critical to bringing down the temperature of overheated nuclear fuel rods.

Continued.....http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/04/12/idINIndia-56269520110412

-- Reuters 2011-04-12

[elcent]

it was a top or even ewxeeding a seven from the very beginning. The strategy was/is to delay and therefore make it even worse due to precious time that has been wasted.

the latest fire from today

[elcent]

TEPCO issues apology

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, says it is taking the Nuclear Safety Agency's decision seriously and is deeply sorry for causing trouble and concern.

TEPCO official Junichi Matsumoto acknowledged that a level-7 disaster means a massive release of radiation. - from the very beginning

Matsumoto said he offers his sincerest apologies to people living near the nuclear plant, the residents of Fukushima Prefecture, and all members of the public. He said TEPCO will do all it can to bring the situation under control. - meaning? it's out of control and that since from the beginning

Matsumoto stopped short of releasing details on the exact volume of radiation from the plant, because the utility is still assessing all relevant data. - hiding and lying as usual, and don't forget to come up with another program computer error. - Disgusting!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:56 +0900 (JST)

[elcent]

TEPCO to resume removing contaminated water

The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant expects to resume the removal of highly radioactive water as early as Tuesday, after a one-day delay due to a strong aftershock. - where will it go? - you got it - into the ocean.

Tokyo Electric Power Company will begin pumping contaminated water from the Number 2 reactor and transferring it to a condenser, after checking the safety of equipment. - will never be the case, or else they would have done that loing long before already, they're making up a story again

The radioactive water has been hampering work to restore cooling functions in the damaged reactors.

TEPCO says it also resumed injecting nitrogen into the containment vessel of the No.1 reactor late on Monday night.

The work is aimed at preventing further hydrogen explosions. It was suspended because of the strong quake earlier in the day.

TEPCO now suspects a possible leakage of gas from the containment vessel, as its internal pressure has barely risen over the past few days despite the injection of nitrogen. - probably highly radioactive

Radiation levels around in the area have not changed, however, and the utility plans to continue the injection while monitoring the situation closely.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 13:12 +0900 (JST) http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/12_18.html

[elcent]

Japan Nuclear Radiation In Hawaii Milk At LEAST 600% Above Federal Drinking Water Limits

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

anything else?

[katana]

So a cancer research organisation has less of a vested interest? Please, katana, that is a good one!

And you would believe someone from the nuclear industry, who in the past promised us cheap, efficient, safe electricity, 'too cheap to meter', and then we had Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima?

Good one Jetset lol

[elcent]

I strongy suspect that TEPCO and the Japanese govt have and are releasing highly radioactive water further out in the ocean with a pipelines/whoses as they probably use with their waste.

NEEDS TO BE CHECKED!!!

The Federal drinking water limit is 3 pCi/l and the data clear shows the new Hilo, Hawaii milk simple contained radiation at the following levels:

http://theintelhub.c...g-water-limits/

Edited April 12, 2011 by elcent

[unblocktheplanet]

it was a top or even ewxeeding a seven from the very beginning. The strategy was/is to delay and therefore make it even worse due to precious time that has been wasted.

the latest fire from today

elcent, where is this fire? What are we looking at? Thx.