Japan Earthquake

Japan Earthquake | Page 1193

a worker said that they feel like kamikaze fighters - in a heroic way.
by Edano 5/15/2011 5:34:22 PM

tepco does not hand out a worker list to the public. nobody really knows the names of the workers.
by Edano 5/15/2011 5:35:26 PM

nancy.. it was established that there was some sort of periodicity on the temp increase and then some sort of quenching and steam release,,, timed with the EQ's is another variable that should be factored in .. I kinda think that it could tend to upset the frequency and shake things up that are on a delicate edge of being another problem
by dean 5/15/2011 5:36:02 PM

@Peter Melzer - If this one goes on for years(2mo so far and just a PR campain they haven't accomplished anything, at least at Chernobyl they attacked it with everything they had) like I predicted it might it doesn't matter if you live next to the safest plant in the world as poisening of the Pacific ocean and the food chain, the accumulation of cesium in the northern hemisphere's topsoil means that we'll all be F'ed @UKVal - questioning who "they" really are. If it was a known group like Greenpeace then sure I would sign, but your talking to the most paranoid person on scribble, so I have my doubts. Sorry.
by Lethbridgean 5/15/2011 5:37:05 PM

@all, a couple of notes on activities on the TBS cam The steam events seem to happen between 12 noon and 4pm CST (3am JST to 6am JST). TBS cam does zoom and pan around 7pm CST (9am JST) for about 45minutes and sometimes at 9pm CST (11am JST)
by Nancy 5/15/2011 5:38:02 PM

@elainekirk 'Unit 2, 3 & 4 ponds are about 12 x 10 metres, with 1240, 1220 and 1590 assemblies capacity respectively (unit 1 is about 12 x 7 m, 900 assemblies). Unit 4 pond contains a total 1331 used assemblies (783 plus full fuel load of 548), giving it a heat load of about 3 MW thermal, according to France's IRSN, which in that case could lead to 115 cubic metres of water boiling off per day, or about one tenth of its volume. Unit 3's pool contains 514 fuel assemblies, unit 1 has 292 and unit 2 has 587, giving it a heat load of 1 MW. There is no MOX fuel in any of the ponds.
Two of the reactor unit ponds (2 & 4) were unusually full before unit 4 core was unloaded in November, since there was little spare space (only for 465 assemblies) in the central fuel storage pond on site. Thus there was a lot more fuel in the reactor ponds with correspondingly high heat loads and cooling requirements than might have been the case.
Moving the used fuel from reactor ponds to central storage involves loading it under water into casks which are lowered down and trucked the short distance (see RH side of cutaway diagram above). It requires access from the service floor and the use of cranes which were damaged in the hydrogen explosions.

The central fuel storage on site near unit 4 has a pond about 12 x 29 metres, 11 m deep, with capacity of 3828 m3 and able to hold 6840 fuel assemblies. Its building is about 55 x 73 m. (There are 6375 assemblies in the undamaged central pool storage on site, with very low decay heat, and 408 in dry cask storage - utilized since 1995 for used fuel no longer needing much cooling.) ' www.world-nuclear.org
by UKVal 5/15/2011 5:38:46 PM

Stuph: vleeptron.blogspot.com
12 March 2011
topical, informative: SCRAM = Safety Control Rod Axe Man
Wikipedia:

SCRAM

A scram or SCRAM is an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor – though the term has been extended to cover shutdowns of other complex operations, such as server farms and even large model railroads (see Tech Model Railroad Club). In commercial reactor operations, this emergency shutdown is often referred to as a "SCRAM" at boiling water reactors (BWR), and as a "reactor trip" at pressurized water reactors (PWR).[1]

Mechanisms

In any reactor, a SCRAM is achieved by a large insertion of negative reactivity. In light water reactors, this is achieved by inserting neutron-absorbing control rods into the core, although the mechanism by which rods are inserted depends on the type of reactor. In PWRs, the control rods are held above a reactor's core by electric motors against both their own weight and a powerful spring. Any cutting of the electric current releases the rods. Another design uses electromagnets to hold the rods suspended, with any cut to electric current resulting in an immediate and automatic control rod insertion. A SCRAM rapidly (less than four seconds, by test on many reactors) releases the control rods from those motors and allows their weight and the spring to drive them into the reactor core, thus halting the nuclear reaction (by absorbing neutrons) as rapidly as possible. In BWRs, the control rods are inserted up from underneath the reactor vessel. In this case a hydraulic control unit with a pressurized storage tank provides the force to rapidly insert the control rods upon any interruption of the electric current, again within four seconds. A typical large BWR will have 185 of these control rods. In both the PWR and the BWR there are secondary systems (and often even tertiary systems) that will insert control rods in the event that primary rapid insertion does not promptly and fully actuate.
by dean 5/15/2011 5:39:51 PM

Just got up. Probably not new to here, but anyway 'Two Other Reactors Suffer Serious Damage'
online.wsj.com
by Panserbjorne9 edited by elainekirk 5/15/2011 5:39:54 PM

I think when we have the public website ready we should put together a daily update of some of the plant data, rad readings at the plant, water, nearby and distant, and maybe some commentary about what changed for that day? A routine consistent set of information might be useful both to us to track trends and as a public service if we make it understandable. People get bits of complicated information tossed at them from various sources and just can't process it to see what it means.
by Nancy 5/15/2011 5:41:44 PM

@Lethbridgean -your choice. It's always a risk, but it's 1 I'm prepared to take - it may help the children in Japan
by UKVal 5/15/2011 5:42:23 PM

vleeptronz.blogspot.com
by dean 5/15/2011 5:42:35 PM

agree @ Nancy
by dean 5/15/2011 5:42:57 PM

hi panser
by dean 5/15/2011 5:43:10 PM

@Nancy agreed
by UKVal 5/15/2011 5:43:18 PM

@Panserbjorne9 Hi - thanks for info -it was posted earlier, but it's good to repost as the next shift arrives
by UKVal 5/15/2011 5:44:18 PM

@panser thanks they are certainly churning the info out now that asahi www.asahi.com have put the thumbscrews on them !!
by elainekirk 5/15/2011 5:45:33 PM

@Panserbjorne9 : ah, they only mean #2 and 3. well, not really news.
by Edano 5/15/2011 5:47:26 PM

@Nancy Re: steamshows, the first one was at 1:17am or some such and the next night's smokeshow was 2:20am? Maybe those were the unplanned ones. And they all seem to end with only lingering steam before the sun rises around 5am.
by radioguy 5/15/2011 5:47:29 PM

my tippycam pic is black but still live I think. Is yours the same?
by UKVal 5/15/2011 5:47:35 PM

This too? Japan left with no choice but to widen nuke evacuation zone www.heraldsun.com.au
by Panserbjorne9 5/15/2011 5:47:50 PM

@UKVal yes
by radioguy 5/15/2011 5:48:03 PM

RadioGuy and I have the site started, we have the behind the scenes technology installed. We are working on the site organization and structure along with getting the group name and graphics ready. I will try to get a document out soon that explains how we are arranging information and categories to make sure what we are doing meets group expectations. When we get close to putting in basic content we will let people know so they can assist in data gathering for those bits. Then start working on assigning logins for people to author and get an agreed process for publishing group articles & documents. I am thinking a section to list new news articles similar to what we had been doing on the FAQ, along with these urgent updates if something happens and a daily update as I just mentioned. We think there will also be a setup where people can have their own "diary" section.
by Nancy 5/15/2011 5:49:02 PM

@Panserbjorne9 They keep telling people they are going to work to get them back home asap and wonder if they are giving people false hope that will keep them in limbo longer.
by Nancy 5/15/2011 5:50:03 PM

@radioguy @Nancy good on yer both!
by UKVal 5/15/2011 5:50:23 PM

Maybe they decided to play it without the lights. Or maybe they did the quick Christo Pink Fuku Baggies installation and the light is just all inside the Hello Kitty Baggies by now.
by radioguy 5/15/2011 5:50:40 PM

@elaine.. here is some testing for seismic on control systems www.iasmirt.org
by dean 5/15/2011 5:51:14 PM

@radioguy i saw it go dark - crept over tippycam from the left
by UKVal 5/15/2011 5:51:38 PM

@radioguy LOL
by Panserbjorne9 5/15/2011 5:51:53 PM

I must rest.. will be back later
by dean 5/15/2011 5:51:59 PM

@radioguy could be daylight will reveal 4 hello kitty bags...
Have you ever heard of pelvic floor collapse???
by UKVal edited by elainekirk 5/15/2011 5:52:15 PM

@UKVal, Camera got bagged, not fuku
by WolfDK 5/15/2011 5:52:50 PM

@dean hope you are back soon
by elainekirk 5/15/2011 5:53:45 PM

Who turned the lights off on TBS feed ?
by Veenie 5/15/2011 5:54:28 PM

@WolfDK maybe so & with a hello kitty bag too - how ironic that'd be
by UKVal 5/15/2011 5:54:32 PM

@Veenie ahh! your new image is freaking me out
by UKVal 5/15/2011 5:55:20 PM

@UKVal, its early morning so it should NOT be black, see tepco cam for reference
by WolfDK 5/15/2011 5:55:58 PM

@UKVal That didn't answer my question
by Veenie 5/15/2011 5:56:11 PM

Teppy cam also reveals plenty of steam
by WolfDK 5/15/2011 5:56:58 PM

@Veenie My puppy looks like your avatar first thing in the morning, except the snout is about a meter long and has a big black apparently fish-eyed nose on the end of it.
by radioguy 5/15/2011 5:57:00 PM