Japan Earthquake

Japan Earthquake | Page 2596

@dean Closing comments in the article indicate that the presence of Gadolinium increased the likely hood of positive feedback with recriticality: It is of the greatest importance to learn whether the feedback, if criticality were reached,
would be positive or negative and to take appropriate steps to assure negative feedback.
The addition of the gadolinium certainly provided a source of positive feedback and
compensating by adding cadmium should be considered. The continued leakage of the
sarcophagus over the past six years since the first near critical or critical condition occurred
might have increased the water content to the point of overmoderation with positive
feedback potential from that as well. The avoidance of positive feedback is of course a
requirement in all modern deployable nuclear reactor designs, and the same conditions
should be established if at all possible for the Chernobyl4 rubble. www.osti.gov
by smoss 11/2/2011 5:39:47 PM

fuku, like chernobyl is VERY UNSTABLE and unpredictable,,, changes in mass, configuration etc all throw curves into the game
by dean 11/2/2011 5:39:59 PM

@dean Thank you for your input, I really appreciate it!
by smoss 11/2/2011 5:40:48 PM

yw @smoss, we've heard recently of the fission gas products suggesting fissions are occuring.... if you look back down to this mornings conversation we see that fissions occur even when reactors are shutdown, the control rods keep the Keff <1 so, it's not surprising to hear of what TEPCO announced..
by dean 11/2/2011 5:42:50 PM

typically they have fission chambers with in the core to give the state of neutron population "counts per second" on the recorder correlates to the number or neutrons/sec that are in the core...
by dean 11/2/2011 5:44:00 PM

in addition, the fuel pellets are most likely corroding and I believe will breech spontaneously over time which will generate fission products, increase in activity and radiation levels which will could be sensed by instruments if any of them are left or by monitoring the effluent and air
by dean 11/2/2011 5:46:04 PM

@smoss.. that was a great find on that article..
by dean 11/2/2011 5:46:21 PM

@dean Caught that in last nights dialogue, that's what initiated a quick search into Chernobyl. Was wondering if there were issues with that reactor that might offer parallel or insight into Fukushima :-)
by smoss 11/2/2011 5:46:42 PM

i wonder that nuke technology is still based on 1940/50's theories, like the bohr and rutherford model and einstein's bunch of theories. as if we had never discovered quants and quarks in the meantime. (just a silly thought)
by Edano 11/2/2011 5:48:49 PM

indeed @ Edano..
by dean 11/2/2011 5:49:52 PM

@Edano,, I wonder what new equations einstein would dream up for behavior in reactors at fuku... he may say. E=mc2 and scratch his head
by dean 11/2/2011 5:51:09 PM

you wouldn't like to drive a 1950's car today.
by Edano 11/2/2011 5:51:39 PM

@dean@Edono On that note, the Scientific American is hosting a live blogging event tonight with Brian Greene!
by smoss 11/2/2011 5:52:20 PM

true.. with a 5000 hp ENGINE as a modern day upgrade
by dean 11/2/2011 5:52:24 PM

www3.nhk.or.jp @Edano did you see the video here
by dean 11/2/2011 5:58:55 PM

@dean i will watch.
by Edano 11/2/2011 6:00:37 PM

@atl.. I have doc appointment.. will return.. ty to all
by dean 11/2/2011 6:02:59 PM

Areva suspends African uranium mine news.smh.com.au

Out to stimulate the economy - back later this afternoon
by lillymunster 11/2/2011 6:03:00 PM

@lillymunster buy german products ;)
by Edano 11/2/2011 6:03:51 PM

Google translate

Tuesday, 01 November 2011
Radioactivity apparently escapes in the northeast Atlantic from sunken nuclear waste barrels. According to the german ARD magazine "Report Mainz". The editorial appeals to the Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR), the 15 governments belong to - including Germany. Accordingly, there is an elevated concentration of plutonium-238 in water samples from the area where the barrels were sunk. The signs indicate that the barrels leak.
The environmental group Greenpeace called for measurements in the areas where the nuclear waste has been dumped. The Federal Environment Ministry however sees no reason to do this. The measured concentrations would result in harmless nanosievert uptake levels during fish consumption, stated the Ministry. According to Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the International Atomic Energy Agency, 9 States had sunk in 15 areas in the north Atlantic, until 1982 a total of 114.726 tons of nuclear waste in 222.732 barrels.
www.n-tv.de
by Liz 11/2/2011 6:37:46 PM

According to Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the International Atomic Energy Agency, 9 States had sunk in 15 areas in the north Atlantic, until 1982 a total of 114.726 tons of nuclear waste in 222.732 barrels.
by Edano 11/2/2011 7:49:52 PM

Radioactive materials detected in Tokyo Bay

Waste water discharged into Tokyo Bay from a cement plant has been found to contain radioactive cesium at much higher levels than the government-set limit for disposal.

The plant in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, uses ash from incinerators in the prefecture to produce cement.

The Chiba government says the plant operator checked waste water discharged from the plant into Tokyo Bay once in September and once in October.

It found radioactive cesium at levels of 1,103 becquerels per kilogram, and 1,054 becquerels per kilogram respectively.

The levels are 14 to 15 times higher than the limit set by the country's Nuclear Safety Commission.

The water had been used to clean filters which remove toxic materials from ashes.

The operator stopped discharging the waste water on Wednesday. The prefectural government has launched a survey of the seawater of Tokyo Bay near the plant.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011 22:08 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Edano 11/2/2011 7:56:27 PM

Fukushima delegation visiting Chernobyl

Local government officials and researchers from Fukushima Prefecture are now in Belarus to learn how residents dealt with radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.

The delegation comprising about 30 people is on a 6-day trip to the former Soviet republics of Belarus and Ukraine, which were heavily contaminated in the accident.

Yuko Endo, the mayor of Kawauchi Village near the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, is among the members.

On Tuesday, the group met Belarusian Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations Alexander Goncharov. They heard about what decontamination measures have been taken and how the health of local residents is being monitored.
Mayor Endo asked Belarusian officials what local municipalities need to do to prepare for the return of residents to affected areas.

A Belarusian official replied that participation of local residents is indispensable in the policymaking process, and that information needs to be provided for that purpose.

Endo said he wants to speak with people in Belarus about their lives after returning home. For those who cannot return, he said he wants to find out what is standing in the way.

The group is to visit the Chernobyl plant, a hospital where thyroid cancer patients are being treated and other facilities.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011 09:49 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Edano 11/2/2011 7:58:57 PM

Xenon suggests possible nuclear fission

A nuclear energy expert says the presence of xenon in the No.2 reactor leaves open the possibility that localized and temporary fission could still occur.

Professor Koji Okamoto of the University of Tokyo Graduate School says substances from melted fuel that could undergo fission are probably scattered around, but are unlikely to react.

He says, however, that neutrons from radioactive materials could react with the uranium fuel and other substances.

Okamoto says a self-sustaining chain reaction that creates criticality is unlikely to happen because huge amounts of boric acid have been poured into the reactor.

He adds that these neutrons must be closely monitored to make sure fission does not take place.

The professor also referred to a plan by the government and TEPCO to achieve a state of cold shutdown by the end of the year. He says that if fission reactions are not under control, it would not be a cold shutdown.

Okamoto says TEPCO must locate the melted fuel inside and outside the reactor in order to prevent further reactions.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011 10:24 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Edano 11/2/2011 8:01:26 PM

Shortcomings in nuclear safety assessment found

The organization in charge of assessing the safety of Japan's nuclear plants has admitted it allowed nuclear fuel rods to pass quality checks using a faulty manual.

The manual was borrowed from the Japanese manufacturer of the rods.

The Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization conducted the checks in 2008 on 4 sets of fuel rods for reactors.

The government-backed organization says it approved 3 of the 4 sets even though the manual said the rods were 3 to 5 centimeters shorter than the actual length of 4 meters.

It says the examiners failed to notice the mistakes as they did not closely check the manual beforehand.

Industry watchdog, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, says it will order the organization to correct these shortcomings and improve its screening procedures.

Thursday, November 03, 2011 02:44 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Edano 11/2/2011 8:04:01 PM

muppet show ?
by Edano 11/2/2011 8:07:42 PM

Bottle, radium-tainted soil removed in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward

TOKYO, Nov. 3, Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano 11/2/2011 8:11:02 PM

NY Times on fission www.nytimes.com
by bojack54 11/2/2011 8:11:03 PM

wouldn't 3-5 centimeters throw off reactor operation? I assumed tolerances were pretty exact?
by lillymunster 11/2/2011 8:11:03 PM

@Edano I think the sofa is made in US, the tile sample of course, China. Do I get points for having a German car? :-)
by lillymunster 11/2/2011 8:15:30 PM

@lillymunster yes ;)
by Edano 11/2/2011 8:16:02 PM

From the NYT article:
Tokyo Electric does not deny the possibility that the fuel may have burrowed into the ground, but its officials say that “most” of the fuel likely remains within the reactor, albeit slumped at the bottom in a molten mass.
by lillymunster 11/2/2011 8:21:09 PM

I think maybe some more break it to me gently news coming?
by lillymunster 11/2/2011 8:21:31 PM

@lillymunster yes, there are more and more slight hints.
by Edano 11/2/2011 8:23:31 PM

@Edano @lillymunster I think teoco are preparing the way to quiting fuku
by elainekirk 11/2/2011 8:25:29 PM

@elainekirk how could they quit?
by lillymunster 11/2/2011 8:37:10 PM

@lillymunster well I am following the business side and just the stories of #2 last night caused a 6+% drop in shares, now that ain't normal , methinks when the government study of their finances concludes in feb..... many subcontractors have not had contracts renewed when they finish march/april that will be a big drop in the workforce, does anybody think fuku will be so clean by then that they can get by without the turnover of men they need at the moment
by elainekirk 11/2/2011 8:41:52 PM

@elainekirk right, they are looking to be hitting a wall financially. What would happen then if TEPCO becomes defunct? Who would manage the plant?
by lillymunster 11/2/2011 8:49:23 PM

Do we have additional sources on the contracts being not renewed and all the other belt tightening? I believe what the workers say is happening, just wondering how public this is.
by lillymunster 11/2/2011 8:50:24 PM

@lillymunster ooo I can try to find out
by elainekirk 11/2/2011 8:58:48 PM

Tokyo, Oct. 28 (Jiji Press)--Embattled Tokyo Electric Power Co. <9501> on Friday submitted a special business rehabilitation plan to the government in order to obtain financial aid for its nuclear accident compensation from a public-private body that was set up to back up the payments.
The Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund will provide the financial assistance within November once Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yukio Edano approves the turnaround plan, which was drawn up jointly by TEPCO and the body.
The government-supervised framework aimed at ensuring adequate compensation payments by the power supplier would thus start operating about eight months after the firm's Fukushima No. 1 power plant was stricken by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
TEPCO earlier on Friday asked the body for about 900 billion yen of aid to cover the nuclear accident compensation, larger than the initially envisaged 700 billion yen.
The hike in the requested amount reflects the firm's projection that the value of compensation that should be paid by the end of March 2012 is likely to balloon to around one trillion yen. jen.jiji.com
by elainekirk 11/2/2011 9:03:26 PM

@bojack54 Just tuned in and read the NYT article. WOW. Two things hit me: "The developments added to the disquiet over handling of information related to the disaster. For almost two months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, disaster, both company and government officials declared it was unlikely any meltdown had occurred at all at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear complex, finally conceding that the fuel had indeed slumped and had likely breached containments in three reactors." YAY!! And "But even in their most dire assessments, some experts had not expected even bursts of re-criticality to occur, because it was unlikely that the fuel would melt in just the right way — and that another ingredient, water, would be present in just the right amounts — to allow for any nuclear reaction. If episodes of fission at Fukushima were confirmed, Mr. Koide said, “our entire understanding of nuclear safety would be turned on its head.” As well it should be!
by M.I.A. 11/2/2011 9:05:32 PM

people have asked previously about how much was offered for evacuee accomodation etc and this doc from MLHW dated Oct 14th gives a pretty clear run down of the situation www.mhlw.go.jp
by elainekirk 11/2/2011 9:07:53 PM