CNN: Cooling system fails in another reactor at Japanese nuclear plant

[jaxx]

#
2333: More details on the reported blast at Fukushima's reactor 2. The explosion is feared to have damaged the reactor's pressure-suppression system, Kyodo says. It adds that "radiation tops legal limit" after the explosion.

[RoyGBiv]

Somewhat off-topic, but I really wish news agencies would start using Universal time exclusively when reporting anything non-local. And I'd support a constitutional amendment to prevent news outlets from referring to the general time of day (morning, afternoon, evening).

Some would have a bit of trouble adjusting, yes, but they would adjust, and it would cut down tremendously on this confusion that is generated about when things happened and in what order.

[yowzayowzayowza]

Possible causes of the explosions? fuel assembly failure? gas accumulations? Haven't seen a good overview of that yet....

eta: listening to it again, sounds more like gas.

[nofurylike]

Clarifying Japan's Nuclear Reactor Disaster

http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/n...saster.pdf

*

ABCs of Japan's Nuclear Reactor Disaster

http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/nucl...aster.html

*

All Things Nuclear

http://allthingsnuclear.org/tagged/Japan_nuclear

***

rushing through right now, needing to catch up on what is happening. thank you all for keeping the information coming here!

DFP family

[There Is No Spoon]

"
March 14, 2011, 11:07 PM EDT

...

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the vessel containing the radioactive core of the plant’s No. 2 reactor was damaged in a blast today and radiation levels could harm public health. Sea water is being pumped to cool the three reactors and the fire at a fourth unit wasn’t due to any internal problem at that reactor, Edano said.

Asia’s biggest utility said the containment chamber of the No 2 reactor may be damaged after blast and radiation leakage is possible. The explosion occurred around 6:14 a.m. local time near a suppression chamber that controls pressure in the reactor core, and its cause is being investigated, Tokyo Electric said.

Radiation Level

As of 10.22 a.m. local time, 400 millisieverts of radiation were detected at the No. 2 and No. 3 reactors, Edano said. That’s 20 times the annual limit for nuclear industry employees and uranium miners, according to the World Nuclear Association. A radiation dose of 100 millisieverts a year is the lowest level at which any increase in cancer is evident, the London-based WNA said on its website."

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03...rsens.html

[yowzayowzayowza]

[nofurylike]

Factbox: Airlines' response to Japan quake, radiation fears
Mar 15, 2011

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/1...HW20110315

(Reuters) - Following are responses from airlines from several countries following Japan's earthquake and tsunami and subsequent crisis at a nuclear power complex.

Japan's government warned that radioactive levels had become "significantly" higher around an earthquake-stricken nuclear power plant on Tuesday

-snip-

UNITED STATES

-- Two major U.S. airlines with big transpacific operations, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc, said that they were not canceling flights and that operations were continuing as normal.

-- Boeing Co said on Tuesday it had no plans to evacuate employees from Japan and expected no major impact on suppliers after Japan's earthquake.

-snip-

###

[nofurylike]

Fears of health risks rise in Japan as radiation increases, residents warned to stay indoors
By Marilynn Marchione (Canadian Press)
March 15, 2011

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadia...Id=6250886

Fears about health risks rose dramatically in Japan Tuesday with news of a greater radiation release and renewed warnings to remaining residents within 30 kilometres (19 miles) to stay indoors.

Japanese officials said that more radiation was released at a nuclear plant disastrously damaged by last week's tsunami. Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation had spread from four reactors.

"The level seems very high, and there is still a very high risk of more radiation coming out," he said.

Thyroid cancer is the most immediate risk, and the Japanese government made plans to distribute potassium iodide pills to prevent it. Worse case scenarios — lots of radioactive fallout — can lead to other cancers years later.

-snip-

###

[nofurylike]

(03-14-2011 08:42 AM)There Is No Spoon Wrote:  

(03-14-2011 08:38 AM)jaxx Wrote:  #
1426: Mr Goto says his greatest fear is that blasts at number 3 and number 1 reactors may have damaged the steel casing of the containment vessel designed to stop radioactive material escaping into the atmosphere. More to follow.

#
1431: More from Japanese nuclear engineer Masashi Goto: He say that as the reactor uses mox (mixed oxide) fuel, the melting point is lower than that of conventional fuel. Should a meltdown and an explosion occur, he says, plutonium could be spread over an area up to twice as far as estimated for a conventional nuclear fuel explosion. The next 24 hours are critical, he says.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

from up thread:

"1422: Japanese engineer Masashi Goto, who helped design the containment vessel for Fukushima's reactor core, says the design was not enough to withstand earthquakes or tsunamis and the plant's builders, Toshiba, knew this."

(emphasis mine)

it seems this man ought to know.
and it seems, imho, that he might be having a guilt crisis.

but he is not ignorant.

[jaxx]

I am trying to piece information together.
#'s 1 2 & 3 have had explosions.
#4 (which was "down" when the crisis hit) had a fire in the concrete that has been put out.
#4 is overheating...so down is never down, and cooling it becomes necessary.
#'s 5 & 6 are in the same position as #4 (they were also "down") but need cooling.

Anyone keeping up....is this where we are at the moment?

[nofurylike]

(03-15-2011 03:08 AM)jaxx Wrote:  I am trying to piece information together.
#'s 1 2 & 3 have had explosions.
#4 (which was "down" when the crisis hit) had a fire in the concrete that has been put out.
#4 is overheating...so down is never down, and cooling it becomes necessary.
#'s 5 & 6 are in the same position as #4 (they were also "down") but need cooling.

Anyone keeping up....is this where we are at the moment?

jaxx!

yes, i have the same number as you do. wild wild wild

a quote from an article i am about to post on this thread:

"It is likely that the level of radiation increased sharply due to a fire at Unit 4," Edano said. "Now we are talking about levels that can damage human health. These are readings taken near the area where we believe the releases are happening. Far away, the levels should be lower."

He said another reactor whose containment building exploded Monday had not contributed greatly to the increased radiation. Edano said that reactor, and another, Unit 3, had stabilized but the status of Unit 2 was unclear.

Temperatures in two other reactors, units 5 and 6, were slightly elevated, Edano said.

###

[nofurylike]

Radiation level soars after Japan nuke plant fire
By Eric Talmadge and Shino Yuasa
"8 minutes ago"
March 15, 2011

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110315/ap_o...earthquake

-snip-

Japanese officials told the International Atomic Energy Agency that the reactor fire was in a storage pond and that "radioactivity is being released directly into the atmosphere." Long after the fire was extinguished, a Japanese official said the pool, where used nuclear fuel is kept cool, might be boiling.

"We cannot deny the possibility of water boiling" in the pool, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, an official with the economy ministry, which oversees nuclear safety.

-snip-

If the water boils, it could evaporate, exposing the rods. The fuel rods are encased in safety containers meant to prevent them from resuming nuclear reactions, nuclear officials said, downplaying the risk of that happening.

But they acknowledged that there could have been damage to the containers. They also confirmed that the walls of the storage pool building were damaged.

-snip-

###

[jaxx]

I remember watching Life After People on the History Channel. One thing that stuck with me was showing a huge pool of spent rods....and them starting to cook after the electricity to cool them was stopped.

Found this about the scene:

Nuclear Meltdown - Super-heated steam pours out of nuclear power plants as spent nuclear fuel boils the water in cooling tanks. Buildings buckle under the intense heat. As radioactive fallout spreads, nearby forests are decimated. Pine trees turn red as chlorophyll is damaged.

Read more: http://ngccommunity.nationalgeographic.c...z1GfIWcNJ1

Don't know why, but I have remembered this, and the pool of rods.

[nofurylike]

(03-15-2011 05:04 AM)jaxx Wrote:  I remember watching Life After People on the History Channel. One thing that stuck with me was showing a huge pool of spent rods....and them starting to cook after the electricity to cool them was stopped.

Found this about the scene:

Nuclear Meltdown - Super-heated steam pours out of nuclear power plants as spent nuclear fuel boils the water in cooling tanks. Buildings buckle under the intense heat. As radioactive fallout spreads, nearby forests are decimated. Pine trees turn red as chlorophyll is damaged.

Read more: http://ngccommunity.nationalgeographic.c...z1GfIWcNJ1

Don't know why, but I have remembered this, and the pool of rods.

omg, wow ...
thank you for telling me about that, jaxx! i had heard a vague reference to that, once, but never realized what i'd heard. wow.

yes, those pools are the storage systems of contention we hear and hear, and argue and argue about.

now, it is being tested out, live.

back to chanting dancing drumming praying ..........

Japan.

o my

[nofurylike]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

1049: Jack Edney in Chiyodaku, Tokyo writes: "Almost all of my friends here in the capital have left Tokyo with their families. They are scared about radiation reaching Tokyo and also many of their parents' companies are taking them either down south, or out of Japan altogether. School has been cancelled and it is all really slow here. I really do hope that I won't have to leave as well."

[nofurylike]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

1107: Prime Minister Naoto Kan has strongly criticised the Tokyo Electric Power Company for its handling of the Fukushima No 1 nuclear plant, according to Japan's Kyodo news. "The TV reported an explosion. But nothing was said to the premier's office for about an hour," a Kyodo News reporter overheard Mr Kan saying during a meeting with company executives. "What the hell is going on?"

[nofurylike]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

1214: Mayu Iwakami, a resident of a suburb of Sendai, tells the BBC World Service that her and her family and neighbours are "try[ing] not to be in a state of hysteria until we actually get the information regarding radiation and a possible evacuation. Until then, we try to keep calm and carry on."

[There Is No Spoon]

Bunch of Tweets seem to be saying that this nuclear crisis is now rated at a level 6 of 7 which would make it the 2nd worst nuclear event to date.

WSJ is reporting that radiation levels are stabilized and that they seem to have things under control for the time being. Fingers crossed.

[nofurylike]

(03-15-2011 06:30 AM)There Is No Spoon Wrote:  Bunch of Tweets seem to be saying that this nuclear crisis is now rated at a level 6 of 7 which would make it the 2nd worst nuclear event to date.

WSJ is reporting that radiation levels are stabilized and that they seem to have things under control for the time being. Fingers crossed.

6 of 7? o my ....

but thank you so much for posting that about "radiation levels are stabilized," TINS!!
yes yes yes! "Fingers crossed"!!
they had said these last 24 hours would be most critical. and they've held through that, at great sacrifice to the workers'.

Japan

[nofurylike]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

1255: The US Federal Aviation Administration says it is prepared to re-route flights to Japan if the nuclear crisis there worsens, Reuters reports.