Japan Earthquake

Japan Earthquake | Page 718

I'll stay with sheared in the explosion. Dug into that Article on radioactivity in water dumped into the sea less than thought -- turns out it was "only" 150 billion becquerels vs the 170 billion (yes billion) that they expected to dump.
by Markfm 4/15/2011 3:04:28 PM

(This is the number for the "low level" water intentionally dumped, nothing to do with the unplanned leaks.)
by Markfm 4/15/2011 3:05:22 PM

New cryptome images! It will probably be tonight before I have zoom in and tweaked images done. Lots of images of debris at ground level. These might help figure some of that out cryptome.org
by Nancy 4/15/2011 3:12:21 PM

US lifts voluntary evacuation advisory for Japan www3.nhk.or.jp (They still urge staying out of the 80km radius)
by Markfm 4/15/2011 3:15:41 PM

@mark this gets more surreal by the day !
by elainekirk 4/15/2011 3:17:30 PM

Should have image work on the new batch done tonight. Need to be out of the office for a while today.
by Nancy 4/15/2011 3:20:39 PM

The real feel-good story for today: Japan takes step towards ordinary life as Disneyland reopens www.reuters.com
by Markfm 4/15/2011 3:23:28 PM

Radioactive cloud reaches Malaga Spain www.euroweeklynews.com
by Bobby1 4/15/2011 3:24:24 PM

@nancy that will be something to look forward to thank you
by elainekirk 4/15/2011 3:26:45 PM

will be gone until this afternoon.
by Nancy 4/15/2011 3:35:55 PM

Friday, April 15, 2011 Shiogama resumes tuna catches Kyodo SHIOGAMA, Miyagi Pref. Bid prices shot up at an auction at the Shiogama fish market held shortly after the catches were unloaded.
In the 30-minute auction, a 65.8 kg big-eye tuna hit the highest price of 5,800 per kg, nearly double the usual 3,000, market sources said. search.japantimes.co.jp
by Tenzing 4/15/2011 3:40:39 PM

Friday, April 15, 2011

Fuel rod fragments at bottom of vessels
No meltdown risk if cooling efforts continue

By KANAKO TAKAHARA Melted fuel rod fragments have sunk to the bottoms of three reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant and could theoretically burn through the pressure vessels if emergency water-pumping operations are seriously disrupted, the Atomic Energy Society of Japan said Friday. search.japantimes.co.jp
by Tenzing 4/15/2011 3:45:41 PM

@Tenzing The cesium-infused tuna costs extra I guess?
by jay 4/15/2011 3:48:05 PM

@momof3:Welcome! I'm interested in you thoughts on why levels being raised in regards to' the big hospitals and etc'.
by MaryW 4/15/2011 3:49:28 PM

@MaryW-The drinking water testing in Philadelphia is showing elevated levels of Iodine 131. The officials stated it was "twice as high" last summer but they never really publicly commented on it at that time. They are stating since it was high last year, it could not be the result of the situation in Japan alone. Philly has numerous large hospitals, etc. and there was some statement saying maybe the elevated iodine 131 was coming from waste from patients being excreted into the water system. However, rainwater testing in PA at one of the nuclear sites in the area came back a week or two ago with nearly 100 picoCuries per liter in *rain* water. If it was patient waste getting into the water system, how can they account for PA's high #s in rainwater?
by momof3 4/15/2011 3:54:27 PM

@momof3 I really don't understand why they attribute the higher levels being due to patients' excreting. Other that, patients having high levels of Iodine 131 in them, which I assume, Is not a norm.
by MaryW 4/15/2011 4:00:28 PM

@LM: Just catching up on news for my day. The Kyodo News article, 'Melted nuclear likely settled at bottom of crippled reactors', made me think, yeah, and the reactors have cracks in them. Also, did the salty sea water contribute to the 'melt' settling at the bottom? Or is this a normal occurrence in a melt down??
by MaryW 4/15/2011 4:08:53 PM

@mary w It happened here and they suggested it was chemotherapy patients though as a per head of population figure I cannot see chemopatients having that large an effect personally
by elainekirk 4/15/2011 4:09:09 PM

@elainekirk Well that may then be possible. The hospitals that specialize in cancer care, example, St Judes Children Hospital,
by MaryW 4/15/2011 4:11:13 PM

@MaryW, patients may be treated with I-131 for thyroid cancer.
by Peter Melzer 4/15/2011 4:11:49 PM

@maryw-they are suggesting it is due to a cancer treatment facility or similar medical facility that would for ex. treat thyroid patients. I am wondering if it is a result of all the hydrofracking going on in PA by the natural gas industry here. www.nytimes.com The current gov. here does not tax the natural gas companies and there is very little regulation. My public water treatment facility fessed up recently to having treated water from a fracking operation, but only released that info well after the fact (a year or two later if I remember correctly). I am still researching whether fracking-related groundwater contamination could cause the elevated iodine 131 levels seen in rain water in this area.
by momof3 4/15/2011 4:13:03 PM

Everything we flush into our water systems end up in our water.
by MaryW 4/15/2011 4:13:56 PM

@Markfm As far a the U.S. lifting voluntary evac., I think that is a nod, a smoothing of ruffled feathers, a reward (if you will) for the Japanese letting the NRC take over planning.
by marie rich 4/15/2011 4:14:34 PM

@momof3 : And 3-mile Island event occurred where?
by MaryW 4/15/2011 4:14:39 PM

It would be hugely "inconvenient' in PA to even mention a possible connection to the fracking operations. The current governor is totally in bed with the industry to a disgusting degree. I'm sure it would be political suicide for anyone to acknowledge that this could have anything to do with fracking.
by momof3 4/15/2011 4:15:02 PM

@marie rich I totally agree with that
by MaryW 4/15/2011 4:15:07 PM

@maryw-
by momof3 4/15/2011 4:15:12 PM

sorry, @maryw-TMI is near Harrisburg, PA, which is maybe 2 hours from Philadelphia.
by momof3 4/15/2011 4:15:43 PM

@MaryW I wish I knew more about these processes because I feel like we're definitely not getting the full story. My question is..if the vessels have cracks how can the slag be evenly distributed on the bottom? I would think that uneven pressure from water leakage would cause an uneven distribution of the fuel. Maybe one of our experts can answer that!
by LM 4/15/2011 4:15:45 PM

If the rod eices are 'granulated' on the bottom, instead of a big lump like Chernobyl, why wouldn't they be shaken up and repositioned by tremors?
by marie rich 4/15/2011 4:17:32 PM

@momof3 So that explains the reason the population in that area has increased levels of iodine-131 and who knows what other high levels in them.
by MaryW 4/15/2011 4:19:02 PM

@Marie rich Great point. I forgot they're saying it's granulated. The other question is ..how do they know it's granulated?
by LM 4/15/2011 4:20:12 PM

You have all the control rods rising from the bottom, so a lot of natural blockages. Unless they started in a lump they likely wouldn't manage to merge into one. (wild guess)
by Markfm 4/15/2011 4:20:30 PM

There is also a large air base (Willow Grove) in the area. Operations were moved elsewhere fairly recently. I have no idea if that could play a part.
by momof3 4/15/2011 4:21:21 PM

Though since that's the same report saying #3 is fully submerged, 180 degrees off of the twice daily reports on plant parameters showing WL at -2200+, overall I have zero faith in what it contains.
by Markfm 4/15/2011 4:21:58 PM

@maryw-Well, the iodine 131 would theoretically have come (per their conjecturing) from the treatment of patients *with* iodine 131. I don't think they are suggesting the typical, healthy, non cancer patient population is excreting 131. It still doesn't account for the elevated rainwater levels in the area.
by momof3 4/15/2011 4:23:08 PM

What is situation with Control rooms ? except they Had light.
by Maxi 4/15/2011 4:23:20 PM

@momof3 : Look how many years after the Chernobyl event and they are still making new discoveries on its effects .
by MaryW 4/15/2011 4:28:31 PM

One of the Philly area water facilities that tested with high levels of iodine 131 was the East Falls facility. They found elevated levels in the Schuylkill www.myfoxphilly.com Excelon's Limerick nuclear facility pulls water from the Schuylkill as part of their operations www.paenvironmentdigest.com
by momof3 4/15/2011 4:28:48 PM

@Markfm I know you watch the daily data closely (thanks). Didn't they at one time quantify how much water they were dumping- oops, "dousing", on the various units? Seems I recall one day seeing 180tons on unit 4. If that's so, when did they stop reporting amts. Did they stop reporting so that no one could figure out how very much water there continues to be?
by marie rich 4/15/2011 4:29:07 PM

April 3 was when they stopped including it in the standard reports, based on the data files at the Brazil university.
by Markfm 4/15/2011 4:33:11 PM

Hi @Marie + Mark do you recall an invoice the other day?
by elainekirk 4/15/2011 4:34:08 PM

Invoice? No billing statement received.
by Markfm 4/15/2011 4:34:56 PM

@Markfm I just knew you'd know. Is that when the NRC took over? @elaine, do you mean the fuel invoice (I think) which you posted
by marie rich 4/15/2011 4:34:57 PM