Japan Earthquake

Japan Earthquake | Page 2103

www.asahi.com

Japanese Researcher Says Reactor 3's Fuel Melted Twice, Dropped to Containment Vessel

www.nukene.ws
by Edano via Asahi 8/8/2011 9:52:14 AM

@elainekirk the last link seems to be interesting fort cooper fort calhoun los alamos ....
by Edano 8/8/2011 9:54:03 AM

According to Tanabe, the amount of water from March 21 to 24 was only about 11 to 32% of what was needed to remove the decay heat, and within one day the melted fuel would attain the melting temperature again.

Tanabe thinks this massive "re-melting" caused the release of a large amount of radioactive materials into the environment which caused a spike in air radiation in wide areas of Tohoku and Kanto including Tokyo, and most of the re-melted fuel dropped from the RPV to the Containment Vessel.The article doesn't say what Tanabe thinks has happened to the melted fuel that dropped onto the Containment Vessel since.But the article does say this:東電は原子炉圧力容器底部の温度が低下した状態（冷温停止）を事故収束の目標としているが、炉心の大半が溶けて格納容器に落下しているなら、収束に向けた工程表に影響する可能性もあるTEPCO hopes to have a "cold shutdown" where the temperature at the bottom of the RPV is low [below 100 degrees Celsius] as the target for winding down the nuclear accident. But if the fuel core is mostly melted and has dropped down to the Containment Vessel, it may affect the "roadmap".No kidding. Yes it may. Where have you been, Asahi, for all these months?
by Edano 8/8/2011 9:56:04 AM

@Edano
I aded it to your pin :)
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 9:56:32 AM

www.asahi.com

Tanabe's chart (from Asahi article) plotting the air radiation level (in microsieverts/hour) shows a spike on March 21. It rained that day in Toky
by Edano via Asahi 8/8/2011 9:58:39 AM

(tokyo is the light blue curve)
by Edano 8/8/2011 9:59:54 AM

@Edano something has to break tepco's hold on the authorities before anything can move on it seems they are like lapdogs roadmap never kleft the start line
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 10:01:23 AM

@elainekirk i cannot say that this study surprises me, but it makes me happy to see that at least anyone cares about where the corium is now.
by Edano 8/8/2011 10:10:09 AM

@Edano this is true it is a struggle for the Japanese on twitter to keep awareness people just think it is all over
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 10:13:32 AM

www.houseoffoust.com

okay, the time tanabe says it melted down to the bottom is march 20-24, that is the time we saw black smoke from #3. so this is not really new to us either. we knew about that rad spike as well.
by Edano via Houseoffoust 8/8/2011 10:18:46 AM

translate.google.com
translation - The launch of the Sony battery capacity 2.4 kilowatts. Available in over 10 years, being able to charge substantially completed in two hours. Expected market price is about 200 million yen.
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 10:19:30 AM

to sum it up, i think tanabe is correct. it corresponds to the data we have. i hope anyone listens to him.
by Edano 8/8/2011 10:19:52 AM

@Edano so valuable having all this saved
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 10:20:05 AM

@Edano I will tweet the Japanese link see if we can get it doing the rounds
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 10:20:54 AM

@elainekirk yep.
by Edano 8/8/2011 10:21:12 AM

@Edano ah the link is english do you know a Japanese one
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 10:22:15 AM

@elainekirk www.asahi.com
by Edano 8/8/2011 10:23:08 AM

from march 17 to march 24 tepco only sprayed water into #3 with the putzmeister. this wasn't enough, of course. on march 25, the freshwater cooling began. another hint that corresponds to tanake's study.
by Edano 8/8/2011 10:25:35 AM

@Edano good to have some more meat to add to the data strengthens the argument and shows that at best tepco are withholding information
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 10:27:23 AM

very interesting. going to add tanake's data to the plots.
by Edano 8/8/2011 10:34:56 AM

I have spread the link
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 10:39:04 AM

www.houseoffoust.com

when i look at the temp plot, #3 could have melted through secondary containment in may. the temps went really high.
by Edano via Houseoffoust 8/8/2011 10:41:18 AM

ex-skf.blogspot.com same story
by Edano 8/8/2011 10:44:05 AM

Contaminated Water Treatment: AREVA's Unit is Back, Kurion Is Still Down

Submitted by NukeNe.ws on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 01:40

First, about AREVA's pump that feeds chemicals:

According to NHK Japanese (8/7/2011) who cannot mention names of the companies as a public broadcaster,

福島第一原発では、７日午前８時すぎに汚染水の浄化設備のうち、フランス製の装置で汚染水に処理用の薬剤を流し込むポンプが停止したうえに予備のポンプも動かず、浄化設備全体の運転が停止しました。

The pump for the chemicals for the treatment for the contaminated water stopped in the French-made system [AREVA] stopped at 8AM on August 7. The backup pump failed to start, and the entire treatment system shut down.

東京電力では、薬剤の粘りけが強いためにポンプに負荷がかかって停止したものとみて、薬剤を流す力を調整したうえで午後３時半すぎに運転を再開しましたが、予備のポンプが動かなかった理由は分かっていません。

According to TEPCO, the viscosity of the chemicals were too strong, putting too much pressure on the pump. TEPCO adjusted the flow of the chemicals and restarted the pump at 3:30PM. The reason why the backup pump didn't work is still unknown.And Kurion's pumps are still offline, according to NHK.

With Toshiba's SARRY not even in the test run yet and Kurion offline, the contaminated water treatment is done by Toshiba's oil separation unit - AREVA's co-precipitation decontamination unit - Hitachi's desalination by reverse osmosis - AREVA and Toshiba's evaporative concentration unit (new). Decontamination is totally dependent on AREVA's unit for now.Snippets that I pick up from Twitter and some Japanese magazine articles interviewing anonymous high-level managers at Fukushima I Nuke Plant indicate that the workers have almost given up on having Kurion and AREVA units run without frequent problems, and are pinning their hope on Toshiba's SARRY. But they do say they are impressed with AREVA's unit's ability to decontaminate. When it is working, that is.
www.nukene.ws
by Edano 8/8/2011 10:46:34 AM

img.scoop.it

33 microsieverts per hour detected in drain of kindergarten - Minami-Soma to decontaminate all areas

MINAMI-SOMA, Fukushima--The government of Minami-Soma has revealed a plan to decontaminate all radiation-polluted areas of the city in cooperation with a University of Tokyo laboratory, with the exception of places inside the no-entry zone. "Because the central government hasn't made progress on decontamination, the city government will do what it can on its own," Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai said. According to the city government, radioactive contamination in the city will be measured from the sky by using helicopters and other means. The city government will then map the contamination--showing which buildings and soil have high levels of radiation--and implement specialist cleaning in highly radioactive areas, based on advice from the center's experts. In an example of the kind of location that would be subject to specialist decontamination, 33 microsieverts of radiation per hour have been detected in a drain at a kindergarten inside the evacuation preparation area. In places with relatively low radiation levels, the city government plans to use high-pressure sprays to wash the walls of primary and middle schools, kindergartens and other public facilities. It plans to replace surface soil in schoolyards.
Source: www.yomiuri.co.jp, via Twitter search for Radiation
www.nukene.ws
by Edano 8/8/2011 10:50:27 AM

@all strange flashesh on both cams, could it be lightnings ?
by DT 8/8/2011 10:51:12 AM

@DT just looking
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 10:54:20 AM

It looks like it is lightnings. What's your oppinion, @elaine?
by DT 8/8/2011 10:55:04 AM

@DT trying to be open minded - electrical shorting - lightening - armaggedon?
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 10:56:08 AM

I'm sure it is lightnings, because the whole day it was rainy and foggy there.
by DT 8/8/2011 10:57:05 AM

And now I can hear ot JNN cam that it is raining. (sorry hit enter too soon)
by DT 8/8/2011 10:57:54 AM

@DT can you hear any thunder
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 10:58:12 AM

@elaine, no actually
by DT 8/8/2011 10:58:39 AM

@DT smaller flashes above 3/4 dont look like lightening
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 10:59:21 AM

Study says nuclear fuel at Fukushima reactor possibly melted twice

TOKYO, Aug. 8, Kyodo

Fuel inside one of the reactors at the crippled nuclear complex in Fukushima Prefecture, which was believed to have been kept cool at the bottom of the pressure vessel after its core suffered a meltdown, has possibly breached the vessel after melting again at the bottom of the vessel, an expert's study showed Monday.

The study by Fumiya Tanabe, an expert in nuclear safety, said most of the fuel at the No. 3 reactor may have fallen into the containment vessel underneath, and if so, the current method used to cool the reactor would need reviewing, which could force the plant operator to revise its schedule to contain the five-month-old disaster.

The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. earlier said the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors' cores are assumed to have suffered meltdowns, although the melted fuel is believed to be kept cool and solidified at the bottom of each reactor pressure vessel after water was injected into the vessel as an emergency measure.
english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano 8/8/2011 10:59:50 AM

@elaine, can we see somewhere what is the weather now there?
by DT 8/8/2011 10:59:59 AM

No Fukushima workers listed by subcontractors overexposed to radiation

TOKYO, Aug. 8, Kyodo

None of about 70 workers listed by subcontractors involved in work to bring the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant under control have been exposed to radiation above the government-set maximum allowable limit of 250 millisieverts, according to a document recently obtained by Kyodo News.

The document -- a table of data on workers' radiation exposure -- was compiled by subcontractors based on information of each worker's exposure to radiation and other data sent from Tokyo Electric Power Co.

It lists names of workers and their employers, kinds of work they engaged in, daily amounts of exposure divided by length of work, traveling time and waiting time, and accumulated amounts of exposure.
english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano 8/8/2011 11:00:37 AM

english.kyodonews.jp

U.N. chief Ban encourages crisis-hit evacuees in Fukushima

FUKUSHIMA, Japan, Aug. 8, Kyodo

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon visited Fukushima Prefecture on Monday to express solidarity for Japan, encouraging evacuees who remain displaced from their homes almost five months since the March 11 earthquake and subsequent nuclear crisis.

Ban also met with high school students and visited tsunami-devastated sites.

At a gymnasium where about 300 people are taking refuge, Ban, accompanied by his wife, shook hands with the evacuees one by one. Speaking in Japanese, the former South Korean foreign minister offered words of encouragement such as ''The world is with you,'' and ''It must have been hard after the quake, but please hang in there.''
english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano via English.kyodonews.jp 8/8/2011 11:04:59 AM

Kan voices readiness to quit after Diet passage of key bills

TOKYO, Aug. 8, Kyodo
english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano 8/8/2011 11:06:24 AM

''The world is with you,'' and ''It must have been hard after the quake, but please hang in there'', Kan !!!
by Edano 8/8/2011 11:07:02 AM

@Edano so in other words the guesstimates say that after 5 months they don't think any workers have been exposed to the phenominally high 250msv annual limit set by the government for extreme emergencies
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 11:07:04 AM

@Edano well that'll make them feel better yet another bod coming in and telling them it is all gonna be fine....what more could they want
by elainekirk 8/8/2011 11:08:54 AM