The Remnant Online
News => Japanese Nuclear Plant Meltdown => Topic started by: Mimi on March 12, 2011, 04:11:47 PM
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CNN is reporting: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.quake/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1
Shirakawa, Japan (CNN) -- A meltdown may be occurring at one of the reactors at a damaged nuclear power plant in northeast Japan, a government official said Sunday morning, sparking fears of a widespread release of radioactive material at a time when rescuers are frantically scrambling to find survivors from Japan's strongest-ever earthquake.
A state of emergency has been declared for three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility, the same place where an explosion late Saturday injured four people. A meltdown is a catastrophic failure of the reactor core, with a potential for widespread radiation release.
Toshihiro Bannai, an official with Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency, expressed confidence that efforts to contain the crisis would be successful.
Meanwhile, a second reactor at the same facility failed shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday, the Tokyo Electric Power Company said, according to TV Asahi. The power company said that it was having difficulty cooling the reactor and may need to release radioactive steam in order to relieve pressure.
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ABC News is reporting 300 bodies found along the coast and 88,000 people missing: See Video of Report (http://abcnews.go.com/International/fukushima-emergency-reactor-japan-earthquake-tsunami/story?id=13120666)
In all, cooling systems have failed at six of the reactors at two Fukushima nuclear plants...According to Japan's NISA -- an independent agency -- the only thing that could have caused the explosion was a meltdown of the reactor core, but the government has maintained there was no meltdown.
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There is discussion of "sealing" a nuclear reactor in Japan. It is being reported that they are saying time is running out to take measures to prevent a widespread release of high levels of radiation.
"Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said there might have been a partial meltdown of the fuel rods at the No. 1 reactor at Fukushima. Engineers were pumping in seawater, trying to prevent the same happening at the No. 3 reactor, he said in apparent acknowledgment they had moved too slowly on Saturday.
"Unlike the No.1 reactor, we ventilated and injected water at an early stage," Edano told a news briefing.
The No. 3 reactor uses a mixed-oxide fuel which contains plutonium, but plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said it did not present unusual problems.
Asked if fuel rods were partially melting in the No. 1 reactor, Edano said: "There is that possibility. We cannot confirm this because it is in the reactor. But we are dealing with it under that assumption."
He said fuel rods may have partially deformed at the No. 3 reactor but a meltdown was unlikely to have occurred.
"The use of seawater means they have run out of options," said David Lochbaum, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists Nuclear Safety Project.
TEPCO said radiation levels around the Fukushima Daiichi plant had risen above the safety limit but that it did not mean an "immediate threat" to human health." source (http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/japan-earthquake/4762588/Scramble-to-avert-meltdown-after-Japan-earthquake-tsunami)
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Japan's nuclear crisis intensified Sunday as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple reactor meltdowns and more than 180,000 people evacuated the quake- and tsunami-savaged northeastern coast where fears spread over possible radioactive contamination.
Nuclear plant operators were frantically trying to keep temperatures down in a series of nuclear reactors - including one where officials feared a partial meltdown could be happening Sunday - to prevent the disaster from growing worse.
But hours after officials announced the latest dangers to face the troubled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, including the possibility of a second explosion in two days, there were few details about what was being done to bring the situation under control.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Sunday that a hydrogen explosion could occur at the complex's Unit 3, the latest reactor to face a possible meltdown. That would follow a hydrogen blast Saturday in the plant's Unit 1, where operators attempted to prevent a meltdown by injecting sea water into it. source (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_EARTHQUAKE_NUCLEAR_CRISIS?SITE=CACHI&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT)
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Later Monday, fuel rods at a separate reactor in the plant were fully exposed after it lost its ability to cool down, officials said. The exposure raises the risk of the unit overheating and adds to fears of a potential third explosion at the plant. source (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/14/japanese-official-damaged-reactor-fuel-rods-temporarily-exposed/)
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The government spokesman has just revealed in a press conference that the small 50 worker crew working to stop the meltdown has evacuated the plant. There was no explanation as to what would happen next.
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It is now reported that the Fukushima nuclear plant workers have returned to work.
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There is a limit to how much radiation a Japanese worker can be exposed to. This was apparently why the workers evacuated the plant. The government today increased the limit and the workers returned.
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I am wondering when the IAEA (http://www.iaea.org/) will take over this plant. There is a history of covering up plant deficiencies by Tokyo Electric Power Company which manages the Fukushima Daiichi facility.
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In an interview with a Japanese expert on the Fukushima plant, it was explained that this crisis is different from Chernobyl in that Fukushima has containment vessels. When asked about the storage of spent fuel outside of the containment vessels, he said that the spent fuel was cooler and there are gaps between the rods and a large volume of water in the storage ponds.
He did not address the issue as to what will happen if water is not kept in these storage ponds.
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There is a limit to how much radiation a Japanese worker can be exposed to. This was apparently why the workers evacuated the plant. The government today increased the limit and the workers returned.
If I were a worker there that would not make me comfortable!
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http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/78387.html estimated percentage fuel rod damage.
http://twitter.com/kourogokui/status/48102691926319104 new power line could help cool reactors
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42103972/ns/world_news-asia-pacific/
http://twitter.com/Tornadoes28 updates feeder link
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He did not address the issue as to what will happen if water is not kept in these storage ponds.
The nuclear experts from the US have said there is no water in them. None. This becomes a game of "who do you believe?"
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How about a little more to be concerned about:
We are looking at SIX reactors. The problems at 1-4 have their effect on 5 and 6.
And....there has now been a statement that there is spent fuel in ALL SIX reactors.
And....the amount of spent fuel being stored is much more than what is in the reactors. Years of spent fuel is stored in the spent fuel pool. :(
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And they are sitting outside of 3 feet of concrete. There is nothing more than a tin roof sitting on those rods according to US experts who say we have many models of this same design here in America.
Well, God knows what is going to happen and He is still in charge. I will sleep well tonight while I pray for those with no beds, no food, no coats ... nothing. We do not have long to wait until we are in the same condition that will be brought on by the time of trouble such as no man has seen since time began. Our turn is coming. "Get ready, get ready," the angels warn.
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Helicopters made four dumps on #3 today. Police Department water cannon trucks will be used to pour water on the spent fuel pools soon. Wind will soon be blowing to the north.
From Interview on NHK:
#3 Vapor is coming out of reactor. We may not have much time.
#4 Confirmed water was found there. So "we have time to think about the next step". The hydrogen explosion could have been caused by
Risk of dropping water is not that great. Pool is 15 meters deep, 2,000 tons of water 7.5 tons of water per drop. 4meters high from bottom of pool. 500-700 tons to cover the spent fuel.
There will be operations today to recover the power source. It may be possible to restore the cooling system.
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CNN - March 21, 2010:
The disaster has killed more than 8,600 people and left more than 13,000 missing, many of them killed as a wall of water rushed following the quake. Ever since, authorities have been work to avert further crisis -- and prevent more deaths -- at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, some 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
Those efforts include a move to possibly encase one or more of the reactors in concrete, a last-ditch effort similar to what was done after the 1986 meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the former Soviet Union -- considered the worst nuclear disaster at a plant.
On Monday, an official with Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency told reporters that tests are expected to be conducted in the afternoon on how to use what he called a "concrete pump engine."
The engine would pump a mix of mortar and water into the reactor's spent nuclear fuel pool and containment vessel, the official said. The pool contains nuclear fuel rods that could give off radioactive material, if exposed and overheated, while the containment vessel is a steel and concrete shell that insulates radioactive material inside.
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Status report: Reactor-by-reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 25, 2011 -- Updated 1721 GMT (0121 HKT)
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/25/japan.nuclear.status/index.html?iref=NS1
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367684/Japan-earthquake-tsunami-Fukushima-nulear-plant-radiation-leak-kill-people.html
The moment nuclear plant chief WEPT as Japanese finally admit that radiation leak is serious enough to kill people
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12881015
Radiation leak outside reactor
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Japan's nuclear regulators raised the severity level of the crisis at a stricken nuclear plant Tuesday to rank it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
An official with the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, speaking on national television, said the rating was being raised from 5 to 7 — the highest level on the international scale.
The official, who was not named, said the amount of radiation leaking from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant was around 10 percent of the Chernobyl accident.
source (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13352506)
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Japanese police sealed off roads leading into an evacuation zone around a radiation-spewing nuclear power plant today to enforce an order meant to keep residents from sneaking back to their homes.
Road blocks with large flashing “Off Limits” signs were set up along major streets leading into the 12-mile zone around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactors, where nearly 80,000 people were hurriedly evacuated after last month’s earthquake and tsunami crippled the plant’s cooling systems. source (http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/apr/22/japan-seals-off-nuclear-area/)
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Tepco: Meltdown at Reactor 1 HOURS After Earthquake ... Reactors 2 and 3 Have Likely Melted Down As Well
Reactors (http://www.zerohedge.com/article/tepco-meltdown-reactor-1-hours-after-earthquake-reactors-2-and-3-have-likely-melted-down-wel)
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Meltdown: What Really Happened at Fukushima? (http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/07/meltdown-what-really-happened-fukushima/39541/)
This is a long article, but it points out the the plant sustained damage in the earthquake which started the meltdowns. Very interesting article.
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Yes, it is. Who was it, the Japanese prime minister or the president who apologized for the "pride" exhibited throughout that disaster? For it was pride and greed that has resulted in the unnecessary deaths of their people. The complete fallout will not be known this side of heaven. What a devastating shame.