ScribbleLive

After lodging a Freedom of Information request, the ABC has obtained Tokyo Electric Power company's (TEPCO) tsunami and earthquake plan for its Fukushima plant.

Submitted in 2001, it is contained on just a single page, which was accepted by Japan's nuclear regulators.

The document, which was never updated, predicted the highest wave to hit the plant after an earthquake would be 5.7 metres high.
www.abc.net.au
g'night all

@lillymunster LOL

Spent fuel causing headaches for nuclear power plants / The accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has brought to light the cascading problem of spent nuclear fuel that threatens to overwhelm Japan's nuclear power plants. www.asahi.com

@Lilly Facepalm! My 17 year old is taking his time getting his license. I'm kind of glad he is. Unfortunately, I'll have 2 with new permits by the end of this summer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

@Bo Safe ride. Thanks for the Arnie post!

This was interesting and fairly visual from that powergen article below:

Technically, what the plant is undergoing is not a flood but a ''water event,'' as the regulatory commission classifies it. But Fort Calhoun has clearly been outflanked by the Missouri River, first at its front door and now at its back door as well. The only access route to the plant is over a sinuous path of catwalks built over the submerged parking lot and walkways in recent weeks.
...
At Fort Calhoun, where the river has risen gradually, the water is seeping in through sandbag walls, electrical conduits and other places that workers had not thought much about before. There are so many small water pumps running to keep up with the leaks that keeping them supplied with gasoline and diesel requires something akin to a bucket brigade.

Orange plastic fuel cans are rolled on a cart over the catwalks and then handed off to employees who are headed deeper into the plant. Climbing over the sandbags at the entrances, they carry them in, and workers on their way out pick up a few empties and carry them out for refilling.

''We've had water at nuclear plants before, but this is the only time we can recall it to this extent or duration,'' said Jeffrey Clark, an N.R.C. staff member.
...
The river is not expected to get substantially higher, but it may not get lower anytime soon, either. On Monday morning, Mr. Jaczko met with the Army Corps of Engineers but did not get a great deal of encouragement.

''We don't like to give worst-case scenarios anymore because every time it rains, we get a new worst case,'' said Col. Robert J. Ruch, commander of the Omaha District.

Pacific concern over radiation spread / Scientists say radioactive material could spread
Created: Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:19:49 GMT-0700
The Pacific Disaster Centre says the revelation that the contamination from Japan's earthquake crippled nuclear power plant will be more widespread than previously thought is a big concern. australianetworknews.com

That image of plant workers with gas cans scurrying over sandbag barriers in a nuke plant trying to keep a hundred little generators running is a weird mix of silly and terrifying.

@all Hello!

@lillymunster Great find! I am reading it as we speak...

@lillymunster NISA definately recognized some of the concerns that have been discussed on this Board...Pu241 decay to Am241...degradation of the zirco-alloy cladding

@all On the document that @lillymunster posted, I found this footnote on page 3 interesting. (Translated by Google, I will include the text to which the footnote applies) "b. pellet properties (melting point, thermal conductivity, etc.)
Both plutonium and americium dioxide crystal structure dioxide (face-centered cubic fluorite) lattice constant and density is equivalent to the melting point in the range of americium content of 3wt% based on the measured data, the impact on the thermal conductivity I observed, from the content of 0.5wt% or less of americium new MOX fuel long-term storage, the pellets have physical properties do not change the evaluation criteria
I "application for permission to change the fuel mechanical design installation fast breeder reactor research and development center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency Organization" (NISA, 111A-1-Issue 5 of the article (article 111 Committee), Heisei September 2007)" www.pref.fukushima.jp

@all The mention of "fast breeder reactor research and development center" becomes a red flag for me, because the Japanese have been domestically fabricating MOX Fuel assemblies for their FBR. (This is just me thinking outloud in the presence of others :-))

@all I came...I saw...I posted...Good Night!