Japan Earthquake

Japan Earthquake | Page 1940

@bo I take all my advice from holidayhypermarket. :-)
by lillymunster 7/16/2011 2:47:43 AM

@lilly a wise choice
by bo 7/16/2011 2:48:06 AM

@bo What a joke. Wait, I am not laughing.
by Mid Valley 7/16/2011 2:48:09 AM

66 years ago today the first nuclear weapon was exploded upon the Earth, in New Mexico. The Trinity Test.
by bo 7/16/2011 2:52:29 AM

How can TEPCO claim the units are in 'cold shutdown' when the temps are still high, and the cooling system is definitely under (continual) maintainance??!! Shutdown (nuclear reactor)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. Please improve this article to make it understandable to non-experts, without removing the technical details. (April 2011)

In a nuclear reactor, shutdown refers to the state of the reactor when it is subcritical by at least a margin defined in the reactor's technical specifications. Further requirements for being shut down may include having the reactor control key be secured and having no fuel movements or control systems maintenance in progress.

The shutdown margin is defined in terms of reactivity, frequently in units of delta-k/k (where k is taken to mean k-effective, the effective multiplication factor) or occasionally in dollars (the dollar is a unit equal to the change in reactivity needed to go from critical to prompt critical). Shutdown margin can refer either to the margin by which the reactor is subcritical when all control rods are inserted or to the margin by which the reactor would be shut down in the event of a scram. Hence, care must be taken to define shutdown margin in the most conservative way in the reactor's technical specifications; a typical research reactor will specify the margin when in the cold condition, without xenon. Under this specification, the shutdown margin can be simply calculated as the sum of the control rod worths minus the core excess.

Minimum shutdown margin can be calculated in the same way as shutdown margin, except that the negative reactivity of the most reactive control rod and non-scramable rods is ignored. This definition allows the reactor to be designed so that it remains safely shut down even if that most reactive control rod becomes stuck out of the core.

A reactor is in cold shutdown when, in addition, its coolant system is at atmospheric pressure and at a temperature below 200 degrees Fahrenheit (approx. 95 degrees Celsius).[1] This temperature is low enough that the water cooling the fuel in a light water reactor does not boil even when the reactor coolant system is de-pressurized.
by M.I.A. 7/16/2011 2:58:17 AM

A reactor is in cold shutdown when, in addition, its coolant system is at atmospheric pressure and at a temperature below 200 degrees Fahrenheit (approx. 95 degrees Celsius).[1] This temperature is low enough that the water cooling the fuel in a light water reactor does not boil even when the reactor coolant system is de-pressurized
by M.I.A. 7/16/2011 2:59:19 AM

@M.I.A. they are being extremely liberal with "cold shutdown".

Well actually they are just making things up.
by lillymunster 7/16/2011 3:00:54 AM

@you Next press release will be that everyone can go home because TEPCO is in cold shutdown.
by lillymunster 7/16/2011 3:01:44 AM

Fascinating article on the origins of the nuclear industry in Japan: search.japantimes.co.jp
by bo 7/16/2011 3:14:30 AM

@lillymunster I like the way y'all hold their feet to the fire. Stay on their backs, the slime...
by M.I.A. 7/16/2011 3:15:08 AM

Don't know if people know of this website, but it has a ton of information. It is put together by some friends of mine at the University of Chicago: lucian.uchicago.edu
by bo 7/16/2011 3:22:52 AM

From the article Bo posted on nuclear history:
"In 1960, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, consisting mostly of companies in the nuclear power business, was ordered by the Science and Technology Agency to prepare a cost estimate. They concluded that in the worst-case scenario, the government could face ¥3.7 trillion in liability claims. At the time, the national budget was about ¥1.7 trillion.

The government hid the report's details for 40 years, until they came to light in 1999 during Diet questioning."
by lillymunster 7/16/2011 3:24:26 AM

I had not heard this one before: Negligent practices caught up with Kepco in August 2004 when a steam pipe at the Mihama No. 3 reactor ruptured, scalding four workers to death. The pipe had been heavily corroded and had never been inspected in its 28 years of operation.
by lillymunster 7/16/2011 3:36:44 AM

@lilly I was also stunned to realize that the Mainichi was founded by a Class-A war criminal. I mean, I knew they were conservative, but....
by bo 7/16/2011 3:42:54 AM

@bo That is quite the read. The sausage making behind the scenes of things like this are usually more telling that the usual history accounts.
by lillymunster 7/16/2011 3:47:18 AM

Agreed.
by bo 7/16/2011 3:49:25 AM

nite all!
by lillymunster 7/16/2011 4:02:16 AM

Good night lilly! See you tomorrow.
by bo 7/16/2011 4:02:56 AM

TOKYO, July 16 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Meat from 42 cows shipped from a beef cattle farm in Fukushima Prefecture where straw fed to cows was found contaminated with high levels of radioactive cesium has been distributed to at least 28 of Japan's 47 prefectures, according to surveys by local authorities by Saturday.
Of the 28, the meat was sold to consumers and likely eaten in 11 prefectures, including Akita, Ibaraki, Nagano, Aichi and Kagawa.

Meanwhile, officials of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said tests conducted by local governments on meat of five of the shipped cows that had not reached the market showed that the level of cesium was below the government-set limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram for three cows.

Meat of two of the five cows, kept by wholesalers in Tokyo and Yamagata prefectures, measured 650 and 694 becquerels per kg, respectively, the officials said.
by bo 7/16/2011 5:57:22 AM

Japan's Ohi nuclear reactor shuts down after fault

"Japan's Ohi nuclear power station is being shut down, after a technical fault.

Pressure in a safety tank fell for no apparent reason, and although it is now back to normal, the plant's operators said they would "give the top priority to safety and find out the cause".

There was no release of radioactive material.

The closure will compound power difficulties in the wake of March's earthquake and tsunami.

There has been growing public disquiet over the continuing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was damaged by the disaster.

Fukushima continues to leak radioactive material.

Pressure in a tank containing boric acid, which is used to slow down nuclear fission in emergencies, dropped on Friday at Ohi's No 1 reactor.

The pressure levels have since returned to normal, but the reactor will be completely shut down by 2100 (1200GMT)

The reactor, 350 km (220 miles) west of Tokyo, has a capacity of 1.18m kW.

With the closure at Ohi, only 18 of Japan's 54 reactors remain operational.

The Kansai Electric Power Company, which operates Ohi, could not say when the reactor would be restarted."

www.bbc.co.uk
by bo 7/16/2011 6:11:07 AM

@bo morning @bo
by elainekirk 7/16/2011 6:42:53 AM

@elaine good morning!
by bo 7/16/2011 6:49:16 AM

@bo well tepco have drawn us a picture
by elainekirk 7/16/2011 6:49:57 AM

further diagram www.tepco.co.jp
by elainekirk 7/16/2011 6:50:32 AM

Well I have to go run some pre-typhoon errands. Be back in a few hours!
by bo 7/16/2011 6:51:43 AM

@bo take care
by elainekirk 7/16/2011 6:52:04 AM

Oy, so why the riverwater in #1?
by bo 7/16/2011 6:52:05 AM

That's not in the diagram!
by bo 7/16/2011 6:52:18 AM

@bo :) because they fib
by elainekirk 7/16/2011 6:52:33 AM

Doh!
by bo 7/16/2011 6:52:54 AM

@bo is the typhoon still going to skirt you
by elainekirk 7/16/2011 6:53:03 AM

Toshiba water treatment system coming together.. drawings and pics api.viglink.com
by RBeaner 7/16/2011 6:53:39 AM

The models seem like it will be less and less of a hit here, so that is good, but that will also mean that it can stay stronger as it heads East.
by bo 7/16/2011 6:53:39 AM

But we will get strong wind and rain for sure.
by bo 7/16/2011 6:53:54 AM

@bo and that is fuku
by elainekirk 7/16/2011 6:54:08 AM

Exactly. I'd rather we got a stronger hit here, but maybe it will turn out to the sea and spare Fuku.
by bo 7/16/2011 6:54:40 AM

They'll get a lot of rain for sure, which won't help.
by bo 7/16/2011 6:55:07 AM

@bo we can hope
by elainekirk 7/16/2011 6:55:08 AM

@bo our poor oceans
by elainekirk 7/16/2011 6:56:13 AM

Monday is Respect for the Sea day!
by bo 7/16/2011 6:56:57 AM

Maybe they will change it to Our Poor Oceans Day.
by bo 7/16/2011 6:57:11 AM

@bo yes i hope the temporary housing is strong
by elainekirk 7/16/2011 6:58:51 AM

Be back soon.
by bo 7/16/2011 7:01:38 AM

@bo yes prepare well
by elainekirk 7/16/2011 7:02:05 AM

Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is not fully prepared for heavy rain and winds of a typhoon heading towards the country, officials admit.

Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), which runs the plant, said some reactor buildings were uncovered, prompting fears the storm may carry radioactive material into the air and sea.

Typhoon Songda is expected to hit mainland Japan as early as Monday.

Fukushima was heavily damaged by the deadly 11 March quake and tsunami.

www.bbc.co.uk
by elainekirk 7/16/2011 8:49:19 AM