Japan Earthquake

Japan Earthquake | Page 1516

@Meretisa From what I remember the containment is at least cracked, possibly worse. The yellow cap might be gone and TEPCO has admitted it has melted down like the others. Hard to get good info since they can't get inside the containment itself and the rest is under rubble. It behaves as if there is still a core and RPV etc. there, it is just an epic mess. I personally think the MOX involved is why it is still more volatile than the others, like the steam shows
by lillymunster 6/6/2011 3:11:27 AM

@lillymunster all I'm wondering is that if it really did blow, would they tell us now or wait til they get things more under control? just a thought that's been bothering me since I watched it blow. it just doesn't feel like they are telling us everythign about it.
by Meretisa 6/6/2011 3:12:57 AM

archive.greenpeace.org It is almost certainly due to the scale of controversy of the last plutonium transport, that the Japanese nuclear industry have instructed Cogema that they wish the transport to be made from the commercial port NOT the military port. In reality it would be more appropriate for this plutonium transport to be made from a military harbour. For the simple reason that the 221kg of plutonium in this imminent transport is direct-use, nuclear weapons material, as classified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It would take only 1-3 weeks for this material to be converted into over 60 nuclear weapons, if a political decision was taken to do so.

Given the level of security already involved in the past week, the attempt by Cogema and TEPCO to pretend that this plutonium is not a direct security and proliferation threat is not credible. Plutonium is plutonium. archive.greenpeace.org
by Tenzing via Archive.greenpeace.org 6/6/2011 3:13:09 AM

@all 8/9/2000: RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES COOPERATION WITH JAPAN ON MOX FUEL RESEARCH
On 9 August 2000 Vedomosti reported that the Russian government has approved collaboration between Russian and Japanese scientists in the field of producing MOX fuel from weapons-origin plutonium. According to the article, cooperative projects include research and development in the areas of MOX fuel production for BOR-60 and BN-600 fast neutron reactors and thermal neutron reactors; electric pyrochemical reprocessing of MOX fuel; and closed nuclear fuel cycle for BOR-60 and BN-600 reactors.
[Natalya Neymysheva, "Plutoniy zamedlennogo deystviya," Vedomosti online edition, http://www.vedomosti.ru, 9 August 2000.] {Entered 5/2/2001 OC}

9/5/2001: SRIAR AND JNC SIGN AN AGREEMENT ON MOX RESEARCH
On 5 September 2001 VolgaInform reported that the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (SRIAR) and the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) had signed an agreement to conduct joint research on vibrocompacted MOX fuel. According to the agreement, SRIAR will build an experimental line for the production of granulated fuel and fuel rods. For additional information on SRIAR-JNC cooperation in the area of MOX research, see the 5/18/99 entry in the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (SRIAR) file.
["Ulyanovsk. Novyye razrabotki v sfere mirnogo ispolzovaniya oruzheynogo plutoniya nachalis v dimitrovgradskom GNTs RF NII atomnykh reaktorov," VolgaInform, http://www.volgainform.ru/, 9 September 2001.] {Entered 10/2/2001 DK} {Modified 7/23/2002 DA}
6/2002: MOX FUEL TEST IN BELOYARSK REACTOR PROVES SUCCESSFUL
The Japan Nuclear Fuel Cycle Development Institute reported that it had successfully completed a 22-month experiment on burning MOX fuel made of 60kg of Russian weapons plutonium in the core of the Beloyarsk BN-600 fast reactor. Compacted granular fuel was used instead of conventional pellets.
[Atoms in Japan, June 2002; in "Japan reports progress in burning Russian weapons plutonium," Uranium Information Centre bi-monthly newsletter online edition, No. 4, http://www.uic.com.au/news.htm, July-August 2002.] {Entered 8/19/2002 DA}

10/1/2002: COOPERATION BETWEEN JAPAN AND RUSSIA CONTINUES ON BN-600 VIPAC OPTION
Based on earlier successful irradiation tests (see 6/2002 entry below), the Japan Nuclear Fuel Cycle Development Institute (JNC) is continuing its joint research with Russia in areas involving the development of Vibro-Packed (Vipac) fuel technology for manufacturing MOX fuel and burning it in Russia's BN-600, fast breeder reactor. The JNC believes that this option's technical feasibility and the fact that it would dispose of plutonium faster than burning it in VVER-1000 reactors will make it a viable alternative for Russian plutonium disposition.
[Science & Technology Journal, October 2002, pp. 20-21; in "JNC Offers Russia Technology to Dispose Dismantled Nuclear Arms Plutonium," FBIS Document JPP20021112000008.] {Entered 11/26/2002 CB}

www.nti.org
by smoss 6/6/2011 3:16:46 AM

@lillymunster , on the licence you posted uranium was shipped from Areva NP Inc. in Richland, WA.
by Peter Melzer 6/6/2011 3:16:52 AM

@Nancy Found this archived piece on the MOX history at Fukushima. archive.greenpeace.org
by LM 6/6/2011 3:17:41 AM

@Meretisa Of course we are getting half the story, this is TEPCO standard BS mode. I don't see any reason to think the containment structure or the RPV are "gone". The outer building is complete toast and at risk of more falling down. I would guess the inner parts of the containment are pretty wrecked. I just don't see anything factual that says 3 is completely gone.
by lillymunster 6/6/2011 3:21:54 AM

It is late I gotta go. Morning comes waay to early.
by lillymunster 6/6/2011 3:23:06 AM

@lillymunster ok. I'll stop worrying for today then. :P lol
by Meretisa 6/6/2011 3:24:41 AM

@lillymunster night
by Meretisa 6/6/2011 3:24:54 AM

@Nancy It looks like the 32 assemblies were installed in the core with the other 28 belonging to Tepco stored in Europe and meant for the Kashiwazaki-kariwa-3 reactor. I don't think there's any MOX in 3's SFP.
by LM 6/6/2011 3:26:01 AM

@lillymunster Night!
by LM 6/6/2011 3:26:33 AM

@all From a document dated 1997: "Over 140 pounds of plutonium was presumed to be "held up" in Japan's small pilot MOX plant a few years ago when the plant was short that amount of plutonium after operating five years. But since measurements of plutonium held up in process can be off by 25 to 30 percent, the IAEA required Japan to clean out the plant to prove the plutonium was there." Did Japan actually have a functioning pilot MOX fabrication program prior to 1997? www.nci.org
by smoss 6/6/2011 3:53:50 AM

I have to go out I wont be back for about 2hrs...........any one want to try posting so you dont get stuck in mod while I am gone?
by Angie 6/6/2011 3:56:17 AM

@Angie yes please (great they still seem to be playing nice with you for now.-Angie)
by smoss edited by Angie 6/6/2011 3:57:14 AM

Night Angie..Night all!
by LM 6/6/2011 3:58:39 AM

@LM Night LM
by Angie 6/6/2011 3:58:56 AM

@all MOX fuel pellet lot numbers with falsified data
An Investigation into the Falsification of Pellet Diameter Data in the MOX Demonstration Facility at the BNFL Sellafield Site and the Effect of this on the Safety of MOX Fuel in Use
***Provides lot numbers for BNFL MOX fuel assemblies that were under scrutiny, and are evidently still in Japan.*** www.hse.gov.uk
by smoss 6/6/2011 4:00:36 AM

@LM Good Night @Angie Thanks
by smoss 6/6/2011 4:01:08 AM

@all Of the three MOX deliveries made to Japan between 1999-2001, one batch was
returned to the UK and sits in Sellafield; one batch was loaded into a reactor after 10 years of
storage and six months later Fukushima-daiichi unit 3 exploded, and is currently undergoing partial
fuel melt down. The third batch remains in storage at the Kashiwazaki-kariwa reactor site, likely to
remain so indefinitely. All other MOX loadings that have occurred since, are now under threat.
www.nuclearconsult.com
by smoss 6/6/2011 4:19:47 AM

@all Bye for now
by smoss 6/6/2011 4:31:39 AM

Japan PM Kan to step down by August: report sns.mx
by Veenie 6/6/2011 4:41:28 AM

Wind direction and speed around Fukushima I between March 11 and March 25, 2011 : agora.ex.nii.ac.jp Linked from (in English) agora.ex.nii.ac.jp
by Ian 6/6/2011 5:35:37 AM

Found this VERY interesting especially considering the date- May 10, 2011 Only on May 5th 2011 further details emerged of serious safety problems at the AREVA MOX plant
construction site at SRS.8 Two of the NRC safety reviewers for the project have revealed that the
NRC has taken shortcuts on safety to avoid delaying the construction. Work on the facility was
allowed to begin, they say, before some of the most essential questions were fully answered. They
have been particularly concerned about the danger of chemical explosions, the adequacy of the
ventilation and radioactive waste disposal systems and the way the plutonium will be tracked as it is
processed.
Alex Murray, the lead chemical process engineer on the NRC review team, has said that he was
removed from the project in 2007, after he repeatedly warned that safety plans to prevent a
chemical explosion risk specific to this type of plant were inadequate and could lead to a significant
release of radioactive material.
After Murray was reassigned, the NRC hired a chemical engineering professor from the Georgia www.nuclearconsult.com
by ch 6/6/2011 5:36:29 AM

@ch Sorry you were stuck!! I hope you werent there to long!
by Angie 6/6/2011 5:36:52 AM

Wind Map around Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Google Maps Tiling) : agora.ex.nii.ac.jp
by Ian 6/6/2011 5:37:48 AM

Hey, people in WA, you might want to watch this !
www.youtube.com
by Veenie 6/6/2011 5:42:47 AM

Is anyone else of the opinion that the best thing to do at this point might be ceasing water injections into the RPVs? At this point, I think the overflow of contaminated water presents a far larger threat to the overall stability of the complex than the melted fuel.
by Hank Scorpio 6/6/2011 6:13:06 AM

I was looking back over things posted tonight, and noticed the picture you had of #3 reactor and the cutaway drawing. Please look at the picture of #3 closely.... Notice the 4 struts holding the side of the building up on the bottom. According to the cutaway, that should be the Torus outside wall there ???? But the Torus is ROUND, #3's wall is square !!!! Might this not have been the same GE BWR reactor as the others? or was it something totally different ? This could possibly answer some of the questions you posed earlier about a nuclear weapon there. Where better to hide or manufacture a nuclear weapon than at a nuclear reactor plant. If a foreign country was checking radiation levels around the country for hidden nuclear weapons, they could not detect anything at the plant because they would just get the radiation from the reactors.
by wtm 6/6/2011 6:45:57 AM

@wtm I also looked at the picture again, but I think if you would be right this would really mean that the whole reactor is gone from #3 because it should be visible above the torus. Some posts ago Nancy et al. agreed, that this is likely not the case. I don't know but perhaps we are looking on what is still there of the spent fool pool? But I am far from knowing the reactor design, am mostly just lurking here.
by andrea 6/6/2011 7:22:18 AM

@Andrea, no what I am saying, is it does not look like the cutaway of the BWR reactor ?? Could it be some different type of reactor?
by wtm 6/6/2011 8:01:03 AM

GOt to get to bed, nite all !
by wtm 6/6/2011 8:01:33 AM

@andrea There are schematics of the reactors at Fukushima on a link pinned up.
by Pedro Jesus 6/6/2011 8:52:29 AM

TEPCO tests filtering system at Fukushima plant

Tokyo Electric Power Company is testing a filtering system to decontaminate highly radioactive water that continues flooding outside the reactors of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

TEPCO is checking to ensure the system works properly ahead of putting it into use on June 15th.

www3.nhk.or.jp
by Angie 6/6/2011 9:05:14 AM

Fukushima students enjoy indoor swimming

While concerns remain over the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, students from elementary schools in the region enjoyed swimming at an indoor pool to avoid possible radiation.

Two elementary schools in Tamura City started swimming classes on Monday using a city-run indoor pool located 20 kilometers from the school.

After the nuclear accident, 29 local municipalities have banned outdoor swimming classes at elementary and junior high schools to minimize the effects of radiation on children.
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Angie 6/6/2011 9:06:39 AM

Soil sampling begins in Fukushima

Japan's science ministry has begun a prefecture-wide examination in Fukushima to check for radioactive contamination in the soil from the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The ministry began taking soil samples on Monday as part of efforts to produce a map outlining radiation contamination in the prefecture. The study involves direct sampling of soil for the first time. Until now, the ministry has been measuring soil contamination from airplanes.

www3.nhk.or.jp
by Angie 6/6/2011 9:07:31 AM

" Until now, the ministry has been measuring soil contamination from airplanes."
I am gobsmacked ....nope I cannot find words...
by elainekirk 6/6/2011 9:17:49 AM

@elainekirk Yep probably a stupid question but how the hell do you measure the soil..........While you are in a plane in the sky?????????
by Angie 6/6/2011 9:19:26 AM

@elainekirk Another bad translation from Japanese, I guess. It doesn't make any sense.
by Pedro Jesus 6/6/2011 9:28:16 AM

@pedro It doesn't but it does say direct sampling for the first time so I believe that they haven't been using actual soil samples intil now
by elainekirk 6/6/2011 9:32:16 AM

@elainekirk But TEPCO has analysed soil samples from Fukushima before. That data is available on their website. It doesn't make any sense.
by Pedro Jesus 6/6/2011 9:34:23 AM

@pedro this is the government of GOJ whose idea of clearing playgrounds is to remove the top layer - remove a second layer - replace top layer - place under layer atop the new bottom-that-was-top layer
by elainekirk 6/6/2011 9:42:06 AM

@elainekirk My head is spinning already. :S
by Pedro Jesus 6/6/2011 9:47:05 AM

Aerial Measurement System (A.M.S.)
www.slideshare.net

globaltechfirm.com
by Reed via Globaltechfirm 6/6/2011 10:05:12 AM

"The ministry began taking soil samples on Monday...the study involves direct sampling of soil for the first time."
...about time!
by Reed 6/6/2011 10:09:39 AM