ScribbleLive

Japan readies own robot to probe crippled nuclear plant...
"Recognized as the world leader in robotic technology, Japan will finally deploy its own robot at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant after relying on U.S.-made versions to do all the work.

The Quince, equipped with an arm, a camera and sensors, is set to survey radiation levels, temperatures and other conditions inside reactor buildings.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. has used PackBots, manufactured by U.S. company iRobot Corp., to measure radiation levels and other data in reactor buildings and take photographs. But Japan is known for its advanced robotic technology, and the current crisis at Fukushima No. 1 is a chance to utilize it and gain experience in a real-life disaster situation." www.asahi.com

Thanks, @Reed. Methinks the "delay" in deploying them just now may be attributed to the possibility that they needed time to harden and custom-fit these things, because they don't come off-the-shelf or production shops Fukushima-ready.

> @Reed, citing Asahi News: Japan readies own robot to probe
> crippled nuclear plant...

@Reed. Does this plan hold water - either figuratively or literally?

@ALBLEE The article discusses the amount of time that it will take to train operators to use the robots. I hope that some unbeholden operator/contractor starts to disclose some data soon to the list of banned journalists both domestic and foreign.
@Scilla Not any way one looks at it. Imagine the consequences if there is an earthquake...all that mass and pressure would destroy what precarious containment there is now.

@Mark Dolar That's pretty good. I think they have more monitors than when I saw it last time. Just pulling out the calc and doing some yearly totals and you say whoa, then maybe look at a few more and say that's not that bad. So it really is where you are and what's happening with the environment. The Japanese government is going to have a hard time with people trying to live in many of those places and their return in a few months is just not sound. I can say though, I do believe the data on that one.

@dean Hey dean, what's up? I think that it's pretty easy to recieve a Sv a year or more in the 10km zone, after that it becomes a little more managable. I wouldn't live in 100 mi. of the place for any long stretch.

@VeenOui One thing I noticed on the other map of this is how
hot the plumbing is..to be expected I suppose. This one's a little easier to read on the scrib.

@radioguy Out in the pasture!:) You know they're native to Texas? Only two nuts that are.

Check out the one debris pile they say was 900 before they cleared it. That probably was parts of spent fuel rods to be that hot.

“I don’t think the end of Fukushima accident is in sight”
rt.com
Philip White, from the Citizen's Nuclear Information Center, says that the situation is Fukushima is worse than the plant's owners are willing to admit.
Asked if the Tokyo Electric Power Company was reliable, White replied, “I would not be surprised about anything with TEPCO. There are many people in government who are closely affiliated with TEPCO one way or another,” he stressed. “And the bureaucracy has never been strictly monitoring them. There are few areas that are still uncertain and we think they might be covering up some details, but I think all of this will come out as time goes by. At this stage it is more a matter of the analysis that they put on their data, they minimize the seriousness in their statements, they don’t fully wish to recognize just how serious [the situation] is.”
“The [Japanese] government has proven that it is not interested in giving free and open access to the [Fukushima] site or the information coming out of there,” he said, adding that briefings on the situation “are only open to a selected group of Japanese media organizations – and foreign media and independent journalists are being excluded from those meetings.”

Anyone read the TEPCO data from the News release posted earlier? There were some terminology I didn't understand for values.... 0.0E- 0 means 0.0X10 to the -0 .... so the data for subdrain in unit 2 on the 22nd for I-131= 5.3E+02 that means 5.3X10to the 2nd power... bq/l or cm3. They are only putting out data on I 131 Cs-134 and Cs-137 does this mean anything to any of you?

@carabnr You're correct on the translation. Simply put...the C-134&137 is now at a level 250 times the previous reading, and the I-131 is 12 times higher than the previous measurement. The fact that they're only reporting those three means that they do not wish to report the other radionuclides that must be present for whatever reason.

Thanks all the amounts get confusing.

Considering the relative half-lives of Iodine and Cesium, the fact that each set of successive reported data doesn't seem to show decreasing levels of Iodine vis-a-vis Cesium tends to say that Iodine and Cesium continue to be exuded as the days go by and, so, by inference, also all those other unstated isotopes.

@ALBLEE Ciao!
@carabnr @dean When they start multiplying previously reported figures by 250...well, that simply says that things have changed and not for the good !

Dazzright, @carabn, and so assuming there is no new Iodine release, Iodine would be reduced by half with each 8 days that pass, so if the successive Iodine reports don't show the 8-day downward trend, it means new Iodine keeps being exuded. And so, why are we not surprised, right?

By carabn:
> Hmm. Says here I-131 has an 8 day 1/2 life...

Would really be good to keep a tight watch of tech and news information (authorized or, especially, unauthorized) generated from the upcoming Quince Fukubot expeditions. Lurkers with the juice, if apprehensive about posting here directly, can contact scribblers (lotsa email addresses pinned upstairs) and we'll be glad to help out.

Zia jian, Alblee

Just reading the last NISA report (4/25) www.nisa.meti.go.jp Is someone can explain me why the Iodine131 radioactivity concentration in unit 2 sub drain pit stay at the same level from 4/16 to 4/23?