Emergency at Japanese Nuclear Plants

[Richard Myers]

Japanese nuclear authorities say that there is a high possibility that nuclear fuel rods at a reactor at the Daiichi plant in Fukushima prefecture may be melting or have melted, Jiji news agency has reported.

The news on Saturday comes as authorities battle to contain rising pressure in other nuclear reactors affected by the massive earthquake which triggered a tsunami, killing at least 613 people.

A state of emergency has been declared for five nuclear reactors at two different sites in Fukushima, located about 250 kilometres northeast of greater Tokyo.

Kyodo and Jiji news reported on Saturday that Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima No. 1  plant "may be experiencing nuclear meltdown," but the country's nuclear safety commission said that the meltdown as a possibility at this point.

Steam containing low-level radiation were released to relieve pressure and tens of thousands of residents have been evacuated from surrounding areas.
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Radiation 1,000 times above normal was detected in the control room of one plant, although authorities said levels outside the facility's gates were only eight times above normal, spelling "no immediate health hazard".

The 8.9 quake and the tsunami cut the supply of off-site power to the plant and diesel generators intended to provide back-up electricity to the cooling system.

"The events that occurred at these plants, which is the loss of both offsite power and onsite power, is one of the rarest events to happen in a nuclear power plant, and all indications are that the Japanese do not have the situation under control," "Edwin Lyman, a nuclear expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a US-based nonprofit organisation, said.

'No Chernobyl possible'

However, Naoto Sekimura, a professor at the University of Tokyo, said a major radioactive disaster was unlikely.

"No Chernobyl is possible at a light water reactor. Loss of coolant means a temperature rise, but it also will stop the
reaction," he said.

"Even in the worst-case scenario, that would mean some radioactive leakage and equipment damage, but not an explosion. If venting is done carefully, there will be little leakage. Certainly not beyond the 3 km radius."

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan said securing the nuclear plants were Japan's top priority. Early on Saturday morning, he left on a helicopter ride to Fukushima to assess the situation at the plants operated by Tokyo Electric Power, and in other areas in the disaster zone.  source

[Richard Myers]

There was an explosion at one of Japan's nuclear power plants.  Six million homes -- more than 10 percent of Japan's population -- were without electricity following the disaster, CNN quoted Japan's ambassador to the United States saying.   Infrastructure damage is slowing rescue operations.

Our prayers are with those suffering in this huge disaster.  Radioactive fallout has now been added to the dangers facing survivors and rescue workers. Winds could carry the fallout over Tokyo, but now the winds are reported taking the smoke away from land and out to sea.

Over a hundred aftershocks continue, many over 6.0. The weather is cold in the area with snow forecast. Less than one percent of Japan is professed Christian. There are Seventh-day Adventist Churches in Japan. We pray for our brothers and sisters, that they be used as witnesses for Christ to a people who are being shaken greatly.

[Mimi]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.nuclear/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1


(CNN) -- An explosion sent white smoke rising above a nuclear plant where a massive earthquake and tsunami crippled cooling systems in northeastern Japan, the country's chief Cabinet secretary said Saturday.

Four workers were injured after the blast at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters. It was not immediately clear where the blast occurred inside the plant, or what caused it.

The roof of a reactor at the plant collapsed following the explosion around 3:30 p.m., Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported, citing Tokyo Electric Power Company.

One expert said the explosion was "clearly a serious situation," but may not be related to problems inside the plant's nuclear reactor.

Other effects of the tsunami may have caused the blast, said Malcolm Grimston, associate fellow for energy, environment and development at London's Chatham House.

[Mimi]

"This is a situation that has the potential for a nuclear catastrophe. It's basically a race against time, because what has happened is that plant operators have not been able to cool down the core of at least two reactors," said Robert Alvarez, a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington.  Same article as above.

[Mimi]

(CNN) -- An explosion at an earthquake-damaged nuclear plant was not caused by damage to the nuclear reactor but by a pumping system that failed as crews tried to bring the reactor's temperature down, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Saturday.

The next step for workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant will be to flood the reactor containment structure with sea water to bring the reactor's temperature down to safe levels, he said. The effort is expected to take two days.

Radiation levels have fallen since the explosion and there is no immediate danger, Edano said. But authorities were nevertheless expanding the evacuation to include a radius of 20 kilometers (about 12.5 miles) around the plant. The evacuation previously reached out to 10 kilometers.

[LindaRS]

At least two other nuclear plants are in trouble in Japan.

[Ed Sutton]

http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/energy/nuclear/explainer-what-went-wrong-in-japans-nuclear-reactors

explaining

[Mimi]

The BBC: Japan has raised the alert level at a stricken nuclear plant from four to five on a seven-point international scale for atomic accidents.

The crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi site is now two levels below Ukraine's 1986 Chernobyl disaster.