Japan Earthquake

Japan Earthquake | Page 2445

Fukushima plant crisis could erupt if water injection stops for 38 hrs

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. has released an estimate that says if water injection at its stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant stops, its fuel rods could start melting in 38 hours, causing radioactive substances to spew out.

The utility said, however, it can resume watering at the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors in three hours at the most in case the plant is hit by another earthquake and tsunami matching the scale of the March 11 disaster that caused their core meltdowns.

The estimate said the temperature of the fuel, now believed to have solidified at the bottom of the reactors' pressure vessels, would rise about 50 C each hour and reach its melting point of 2,200 C in about 38 hours.

The reactors would then start emitting massive amounts of radioactive substances, raising the radiation level around the plant's premises above 10 millisieverts, the benchmark for prompting an order to evacuate.

In the estimate, TEPCO did not assess the likelihood of any melted fuel dropping through the pressure vessels into the containment vessels shrouding each reactor.

In the case any one part of the current system used to pump water into the crisis-hit reactors is lost, TEPCO said it can resume watering in about 30 minutes by activating emergency pumps installed at an elevated position. In the event of multiple functions were lost, the utility projected it would require about three hours to resume injecting water.

TEPCO official Junichi Matsumoto said the utility would inject boric acid if there were a concern of a nuclear chain reaction. But he said the likelihood of such a reaction occurring was small because the condition within the reactors has changed as the fuel was damaged.

(Mainichi Japan) October 2, 2011
mdn.mainichi.jp
by audi-tek 10/3/2011 1:20:44 AM

the only new release anywhere is ths gov one translate.google.co.uk unless of course a Japanese version is out back to google I go
by elainekirk 10/3/2011 1:22:42 AM

@audi-tek thanks..
by skibboy 10/3/2011 1:23:36 AM

speedi shows rising rad levels in fukushima. now 31 mSv/hr. www.bousai.ne.jp
by Edano 10/3/2011 1:25:41 AM

@skibboy You are welcome...
by audi-tek 10/3/2011 1:27:59 AM

@Edano blue skies and the state of the air around those units...they don't match
by elainekirk 10/3/2011 1:29:03 AM

@all GE nuclear fuel unit outlines changes to regulator
af.reuters.com
by smoss 10/3/2011 1:40:54 AM

@all Radioactive water found beneath Georgia nuclear Plant Hatch Radioactive water has been found underneath a nuclear power plant in southeast Georgia, but officials said Friday that the leak does not pose an immediate threat to public health and is unlikely to contaminate any drinking water.

www.ajc.com
by smoss 10/3/2011 1:49:08 AM

@all Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (interesting content) bos.sagepub.com
by smoss 10/3/2011 1:58:24 AM

@smoss The NRC really came down on GE hard.
by lillymunster 10/3/2011 2:11:51 AM

@smoss I cannot find any news updates on tepco or go.jp I will try again in the morning g'night @all
by elainekirk 10/3/2011 2:12:24 AM

@elainekirk Goodnight, sweet dreams :)
by M.I.A. 10/3/2011 2:14:28 AM

@all (This is a couple of days old, and I believe we have seen the stills...) In Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power has hindered recovery operations is the radiation from the explosion debris scattered on site. Of these, small debris and dust in order to absorb, "a giant vacuum cleaner" is now being introduced.
by smoss 10/3/2011 2:19:52 AM

huh? Though months have passed, the situation at Fukushima Daiichi is not yet under control; it seems that the worst has happened, however, with no additional discharge of radioactive materials and the unlikely development of this in the future bos.sagepub.com Didn't they just say that horrible things would happen if water injection stopped? What if unit 4 falls over and spills its load? Isn't the place stil spewing fresh i-131 all the time into the air and water, just smaller amounts than when it melted down?
by artnuke 10/3/2011 2:31:02 AM

Holy shoot. No US plants have any provision for long term AC power loss? Even if terrorists cut off power? "In the Nuclear Safety Commission’s regulatory guide for the safety review process, the clear assumption was that, when all emergency generators were lost at one unit, power could be sent from other units on the same site. The life of the backup batteries—eight hours—was long compared with the time required to restore the alternating current (AC) power supply, which it was assumed would be restored within just a few hours. In fact, this regulatory guide does not even consider a total AC power loss as a design-basis event: “No particular considerations are necessary against a long-term total AC power loss, assuming that the emergency AC power system is reliable enough.”
by artnuke 10/3/2011 2:31:07 AM

Says greatest contamination footprint was NW on March 15. That is day after unit 3 had its dirty explosion, and the day of the Unit 4 explosion I think. Figure 1 shows a map of the cesium-137 contamination levels around Fukushima (US Department of Energy, 2011). The circles and arcs show different distances (20, 30, 60, and 80 kilometers) from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. It appears that the wind was blowing in a northwesterly direction when the largest on-shore releases occurred. These releases apparently occurred on March 15.7 bos.sagepub.com
by artnuke 10/3/2011 2:42:41 AM

@artnuke What is your educational backgroud
by smoss 10/3/2011 2:50:10 AM

@artnuke backgroud = background...It might help me to understand your perspective better...
by smoss 10/3/2011 2:50:59 AM

@all Japan - Worried families at Minamisoma Hospital near Fukushima nuclear plant youtu.be
by smoss 10/3/2011 3:07:42 AM

@all Will say "bye" for now...be well!
by smoss 10/3/2011 3:10:27 AM

@smoss G'night!
by M.I.A. 10/3/2011 3:11:04 AM

bump
by Edano 10/3/2011 7:48:25 AM

english.kyodonews.jp

Radiation counters installed at Fukushima schools
A worker installs a radiation counter at a playground of an elementary school in the city of Fukushima on Oct. 3, 2011. The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry is proceeding with a project to install unattended counters that measure radiation levels in the air every 10 minutes for prompt and real-time announcements at all elementary schools in Fukushima Prefecture, except for the exclusion zone and areas under the central government's evacuation directive, in the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. (Kyodo) english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano via English.kyodonews.jp 10/3/2011 7:56:14 AM

english.kyodonews.jp

'Eco Taxi' stand in Tokyo
Photo shows an ''eco Taxi'' stand for eco-friendly taxies using electric or hybrid vehicles, set up in front of JR Tokyo Station on Oct. 3, 2011, the day the stand opened. (Kyodo) english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano via English.kyodonews.jp 10/3/2011 7:58:37 AM

as long as they use nuke and other fossil energy, you cannot call them "eco-friendly". makes me laugh. they are just "electric-industry-friendly".
by Edano 10/3/2011 8:00:53 AM

"Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes" a danaers' gift, a trojan horse.
by Edano 10/3/2011 8:06:40 AM

english.kyodonews.jp

Protests against housing project for civil servants
Protesters gather in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, on Oct. 3, 2011, ahead of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's visit to the construction site of a controversial housing project for public servants in the city which has drawn flak as an example of wasteful government spending. (Kyodo) english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano via English.kyodonews.jp 10/3/2011 8:14:54 AM

english.kyodonews.jp

Noda to freeze housing project for civil servants
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (C) speaks to reporters in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, on Oct. 3, 2011, after seeing a construction site for a controversial housing project for public servants in the city which has drawn flak as an example of wasteful government spending. Noda instructed Finance Minister Jun Azumi later in the day to freeze the 10.5 billion yen project. (Pool Photo by Kyodo News)(Kyodo) english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano via English.kyodonews.jp 10/3/2011 8:16:58 AM

english.kyodonews.jp

Pronuclear incumbent wins in Hokkaido mayoral election
Yuji Kamioka, the mayor of Iwanai town, Hokkaido, known as an advocate of restarting idled reactors at a nearby nuclear power plant, celebrates his reelection on Oct. 2, 2011, after seeing off the challenge of antinuclear candidate Miyuki Oishi. Kamioka secured a third four-year term after pledging stricter oversight of Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomari nuclear plant. (Kyodo) english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano via English.kyodonews.jp 10/3/2011 8:18:04 AM

i don't understand it.
by Edano 10/3/2011 8:20:23 AM

@Edano Indeed, electric cars are not at all «clean». If you consider the source of electricity that they use and also the environmental damage that lithium mining impacts, they are hardly any eco-friendly than a petrol car. But they help displace the pollution from the big cities to more remote areas where the health impact is far less. I don't think electric cars are the solution for now but they could be in the future and it's a technology worth developing.
by Pedro Jesus 10/3/2011 8:33:00 AM

More: www.yomiuri.co.jp
by Puc 10/3/2011 9:14:54 AM

No explosion at No. 2 reactor / TEPCO: Only 3 hydrogen blasts occurred at Fukushima N-plant
by Puc 10/3/2011 9:14:57 AM

@Edano the 'accident' and it's effects have been played down in Japan. Tgere are only the wiser ones among the populations near the plant who have any idea of the consequences . Fuku is not news there
by elainekirk 10/3/2011 9:18:21 AM

www.jaea.go.jp
an underground atomic research centre in an earthquake prone country ....
www.jaea.go.jp
by elainekirk via Jaea.go.jp 10/3/2011 10:19:20 AM

Morning! (afternoon - evening)
by lillymunster 10/3/2011 11:07:48 AM

@lillymunster morning
by elainekirk 10/3/2011 11:10:23 AM

Many flaws being pointed out in this doc
Radiological Protection in Geological
Disposal of Long-Lived Solid
Radioactive Waste
docs.google.com
.
e.g.
.
Submitted by Hirokazu Tachikawa, Nuclear Safety Research Association (NSRA)
Document Radiological Protection in Geological Disposal of Long-lived Solid Radioactive Waste

H.Tachikawa, R.Dobashi, O.Tochiyama

Radioactive Waste Disposal Safety Research Center, Nuclear Safety Research Association (NSRA)

First of all, we appreciate the effort that the ICRP Task Group has put into this document. This publication will be a benchmark for geological disposal. However, we have some suggestions for improving this document and have identified some critical issues that we feel should be scrutinized:
tinyurl.com
.
and another response pointing out the flaws
tinyurl.com
by elainekirk 10/3/2011 11:12:07 AM

I know there was a report months about about unit 2 having a big hole in the suppression chamber. How can tepco say there was no hydrogen explosion in 2?
by lillymunster 10/3/2011 11:14:58 AM

@lillymunster because nobody is independently verifying tepco findings so like the disappearing ocean radiation they can say what they want
by elainekirk 10/3/2011 11:18:26 AM

@elainekirk The in house report is pretty pointless. There needs to be in depth investigation by someone without a stake in covering up.
by lillymunster 10/3/2011 11:24:21 AM

@lillymunster exactly it is such a impossible task to wake the people but having said that occupy wall street has kept it's momentum so hopefully we are starting to see an awakening that will mirror in the nuke field
by elainekirk 10/3/2011 11:32:30 AM

this says it is a draft for consultation dated Jan '11 I havent seen it before
Early and late effects of radiation in normal tissues and organs: threshold doses for tissue reactions and other non-cancer effects of 9 radiation in a radiation protection context
www.icrp.org
by elainekirk 10/3/2011 11:42:17 AM

www3.nhk.or.jp

TEPCO forecast 10-meter tsunami

Government documents show that the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant predicted in 2008 that a tsunami over 10 meters high could hit the plant, which was only designed to withstand tsunami of 5.7 meters. But it failed to report this to the government until just before the March 11th disaster.

At the request of NHK, the government on Monday released a simulation report by Tokyo Electric Power Company.

TEPCO had predicted that waves between 8.4 and 10.2 meters high could hit all 6 reactors at the plant in the event of an earthquake similar to one that devastated the area in 1896.
But the prediction was not conveyed to the government's nuclear safety agency until March 7th, just 4 days before the plant was crippled by tsunami.

In the report, TEPCO also said it would begin examining the plant's tsunami-resistance measures in April of this year. It said it planned to deal appropriately with the matter by around October of 2012, when academics were expected to review their tsunami evaluations.

TEPCO official Junichi Matsumoto says the company did not feel the need to take prompt action on the estimates, which were still tentative calculations in the research stage.

But a Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official says it is regrettable that TEPCO did not start work on its tsunami measures right after it made the estimate 3 years ago. He said TEPCO should have called on experts to discuss its calculations in public.

Monday, October 03, 2011 16:46 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Edano via Www3.nhk.or.jp 10/3/2011 11:48:53 AM