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Title: Japan struggling to 'cool down' nuclear plant, minister says
Source:
CNN
URL Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/11/japan.nuclear/index.html
Published: Mar 11, 2011
Author: CNN
Post Date: 2011-03-11 13:46:01 by go65
Keywords: None
Views: 14410
Comments: 23
Tokyo (CNN) -- Officials ordered an evacuation Friday of residents living near a Japanese nuclear power plant, saying there has been no sign yet of leaks but indicating a struggle to "cool down" the facility. An 8.9-magnitude earthquake led to cooling problems at one nuclear power plant and a fire at another, both of which were close to the quake's epicenter, government officials said. Late Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters that people within 2 to 3 kilometers (1.2 to 1.8 miles) of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant had been told to leave the area. Those farther away - - within 3 to 10 kilometers -- were asked to stay home. Japan's Kyodo News Agency estimated that the evacuation order directly affected about 3,000 people. "This is a precautionary instruction for people to evacuate," Edano said. "There is no radioactive leakage at this moment outside of the facility." U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told him there was no evidence so far of radiation leaks from nuclear reactors because of the earthquake and tsunami, an assertion also made by Edano earlier in the day. Yet Edano said the Fukushima Daiichi reactor "remains at a high temperature" because it "cannot cool down." Kyodo reported Friday that the radiation level was rising in a turbine building at the plant.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 22.
#1. To: All (#0)
they may have to release radioactive vapor to avoid a meltdown. Terrible situation.
I want to make a Godzilla joke but it's not funny.
No Nukes! Nuclear power is never a good idea.
The news agency also reported Saturday that Japan's nuclear safety agency ordered the power company to release a valve in the Fukushima Daiichi plant's "No. 1" reactor, in order to release growing pressure. This comes amid Kyodo's reports, citing the same Japanese agency, that radiation levels were 1,000 times above normal in the the control room of that facility's "No. 1" reactor.
German TV N24: Japanese gov says it´s possibly already a meltdown happening, evacuating 20km around the plants.
RE: Nuclear Power plant Onagawa on fire, Fukushima malfunctions The Japanese are masters of obfuscation. They are covering up like crazy. Everything they've said about the unstable reactors has been a lie so far. They say no radiation, then radiation is detected etc. They don't want to lose face Internationally, and this is a recipe for disaster. They said on NHK that the explosion didn't damage the reactor, it was just the 'walls falling down'. This is getting surreal. "...there is nothing as dreamy and poetic, nothing as radical, subversive, and psychedelic, as mathematics." ~ Paul Lockhart. Watch California get nervous about their nukes. 8D
This lady knows what she's talkin' about. Been following her for well over 5 years now. ;} "I just analyzed the video of the Japanese nuclear power plant blowing up. It was a nuclear explosion. What I saw, and you can see very, very briefly is the first wave of energy shooting upwards, at a 45 degree angle from the #1 nuclear core: it is an extremely fast moving energy wave shaped like a bow, shoving the atmosphere ahead of it. No smoke. Just a deformation in the atmosphere. Then the smoke wells up. We are definitely in a nuclear meltdown catastrophe, one that many of us fretted about in the past, worried and for good reason, about the wisdom of setting down nuclear power plants in one of the world’s least geologically stable countries." emsnews.wordpress.com/201...ore-collapses/#more-10392
And I don't ever recall: 'Only after the 'Outer Containment building explodes will the real danger begin.' I keep remembering how long the chernobyl story took to come out. While there's a camera on this one. And who are they giving iodide to if they've evac'ed everyone. And just the dead in that 1 train, all dead, lifts the death toll by 100 at least. Latest, zerohedge "Post Sat Mar 12, 2011 10:59 am by mcgowanjm Some smart guys over at ZeroHedge. Looking for 'CPL' from last nite. Soem engineers trying to calm people down, then this: by Stuck on Zero on Sat, 03/12/2011 - 10:05 #1044201 Breaching the containment structure is a DISASTER! That's the last protection in the event of meltdown. Downplay it all you want that's a mess. Also, any force large enough to blow three feet of reinforced concrete apart must have also damaged internals to the reactor building. It means all the coolant spray heads in the roof are knocked out and stean carrying radictive particles is free to roam the countryside. What's worse is that only a breach of the primary coolant lines could have caused this much damage. They can try filling what remains of the dome with water but how will they circulate it? Worst of all, the radiation levels are high enough now that they can't get workers in to make temporary patches. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near this old 1971 reactor. Which is a nice summary of my quotes above. And just where is all of that now radioactive seawater going. I'm looking at China Syndrome, with water table polluted. Looking forward to being proven wrong. "More on Japan’s atomic emergency from Edwin Lyman, a nuclear expert for the Global Security Programme at the Union of Concerned Scientists: The events that occurred at these plants, which is the loss of both offsite power and onsite power, is one of the rarest events to happen in a nuclear power plant, and all indications are that the Japanese do not have the situation under control. Japanese authorities are trying to avoid the cooling system failure from turning into catastrophe by venting radioactive gas and evacuating people, he explains. The calculation at this point is that if you reduce pressure now by venting, you’re reducing the risk of a catastrophic rupture, which could lead to an increase in radiation of thousands of times what it would be through the vents. But a severe aftershock could undermine these efforts, a possibility that has laid bare a fatal flaw in readiness for the scenario that is now playing out in Japan. I don’t think any regulatory agency anywhere takes into account the possibility of repeated severe aftershocks (at least one 6.8 last nite). Nuclear experts believe that the situation was out of control from the time the battery systems and diesel units used to power the coolant had shutdown. There is no potential way in which such units can be revived in 24 hours. Japan was staring at a Nuclear explosion and we thought things could not get worse than this." dawnwires.com/politics/co...l-dead-radiation-leakage/
In 1950 coal supplied half of Japan's energy needs, hydroelectricity one-third, and oil the rest. In 1988 oil provided Japan with 57.3% of energy needs, coal 18.1%, natural gas 10.1%, nuclear power 9.0%, hydroelectic power 4.6%, geothermal power 0.1%, and 1.3% came from other sources. By 2001 the contribution of oil had declined further to 50.2% of the total, with further rises in the use of nuclear power and natural gas.[7] Japanese eco-nuts (TM) didn't like hydroelectric dams or smoke from coal power plants, so they opted for clean nuke power. It was far too sensible to use Japan's abundant coal and hydro resources. Oh no, they wanted to build nuke plants on top of a hyperactive earthquake zone. Well I hope the eco-nuts have enjoyed the clear skies and happy fishes, because their chickens have come home to roost. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. It's a great tragedy that the sane people in Japan, were caught up in the eco-nuts folly.
Note that Not One Single Dirty Fuckin Hippy or like minded Scientist is being allowed near a microphone. But fucking Nazi's like Gingrich? McCain? Lieberman? Come on Down! You don't know shit, but who cares!!! We'll Cover!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA The Nation of Japan is now melting down: " * by Cognitive Dissonance on Sat, 03/12/2011 - 11:47 #1044486 In cases such as this expect the public announcements and explanations from "authorities" to be two or three steps behind the actual events. In a strange dance played by people who wish to cover up or diminish bad news, as events progress what was previously considered to be too explosive to be admitted to is now considered acceptable because circumstances have become even worse. Often the authorities are themselves in denial about the severity of the problem and they are bargaining with themselves as to what to tell the public. This is why we often find out after the fact that things were much worse much earlier than we were told. Some of it is cover up, some outright denial and bargaining." You then have the 'Public Reaction": Assumption that what the State is saying is 2 steps behind the Actual. The Public takes matters into it's own hands.
FuckYouShima scheduled for permanent shutdown February. Extended for another 10 years. What could possibly go wrong. Hey! Who wants to build a nuke!!!!!! The Cesium just lasts 80 days and really doesn't go anywhere after initial exposure.
And now another plant is in trouble:
[10:39 a.m. ET, 11:39 p.m. Tokyo] A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant in Onagawa, Japan, where excessive radiation levels have been recorded following Friday's massive earthquake, the United Nations' atomic watchdog agency said Sunday. Authorities have told the agency that the three reactor units at the Onagawa plant "are under control." Thank you, and the 'cloud of intel' for want of a better phrase is thinking the same. I was just trying to find Onogawa. So we've got FU1, FU2, Daiichi, and Onogawa. At least 6 reactors in trouble, 3 'leaking (god, that reminds me of USbp using the word 'spill') and 2 in meltdown. That we know of. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Chernobyl_radiation_map_1996.svg/1000px-Chernobyl_radiation_map_1996.svg.png Put that map over each reactor. NE Japan will be unable to grow food at a minimum. The Suburbs of N Tokyo to the tip of Honshu. The Battle of Chernobyl/BBC 2 hr vid times 6. And I continue to believe the Soviets did a lot better job than they are given credit for. ;}
Not to worry, like BP they have magic steel "containment domes" that will prevent anything from escaping. They say that if you stood outside the gates of fuckusakie for a year it would be perfectly safe. So they're going to Spackle up the cracks, and reload the reactors. Also some ABWR's (ADVANCED Boiling Water Reactors) should be coming on line soon. Who needs clean coal power plants, when they have such advanced technology, and foolproof backup systems?
#23. To: hondo68 (#22)
(Edited)
Head's Up, MegaDoom: Detail of Nuke BWR/GE diagram: Only gravest danger would justify an evacuation at such a moment. The viability of US emergency plans at densely populated reactor sites may have to be reexamined to determine whether they can be implemented in the context of a nuclear accident precipitated by a natural disaster. This was always a theoretical possibility. Now it’s real.” coalgeology.com/japan-earthquake ... sis/15737/ However, Tokyo Electric has reported that the water level in the Unit 3 reactor still remains more than 2 meters (6 feet) below the top of the fuel, exposing about half the fuel to air, and they believe that water may be leaking from the reactor vessel. When the fuel is exposed to air it eventually overheats and suffers damage. It is likely that the fuel has experienced significant damage at this point, and the authorities have said they are proceeding on this assumption. One particular concern with Unit 3 is the presence of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel in the core. MOX is a mixture of plutonium and uranium oxides. In September 2010, 32 fuel assemblies containing MOX fuel were loaded into this reactor. This is about 6% of the core. I have done considerable analysis on the safety risks associated with using MOX fuel in light-water reactors. The use of MOX generally increases the consequences of severe accidents in which large amounts of radioactive gas and aerosol are released compared to the same accident in a reactor using non-MOX fuel, because MOX fuel contains greater amounts of plutonium and other actinides, such as americium and curium, which have high radio-toxicities. allthingsnuclear.org/post/384265 ... a-reactors allthingsnuclear.org/post/382404 ... ma-reactor Top of the reactor is sheet metal.
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#2. To: go65 (#1)
#5. To: Godwinson (#2)
#7. To: Ferret Mike, mcgowanjm (#5)
[7:45 p.m. ET, 9:45 a.m. Tokyo] Œ79;Potentially dangerous problems cooling radioactive material appear to have cropped up at another of the Tokyo Electric Power Company's nuclear plants. Kyodo reported Saturday the power company alerted authorities that the cooling system at three of the four units of its Fukushima Daini plant – which is different from the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, nearby in northeastern Japan in the Fukushima prefecture – has failed.
#9. To: go65 (#7)
#10. To: All (#9)
#11. To: All (#10)
#12. To: mcgowanjm (#11)
#13. To: hondo68 (#12)
#16. To: mcgowanjm (#13)
Electricity production in Japan by source.
Japan—primary energy use Fuel 1950 1988 2001[7] Coal 50% 18.1% 16.8% Hydro 33% 4.6% 4.0% Oil 17% 57.3% 50.2% Natural gas - 10.1% 13.6% Nuclear - 9.0% 14.4% Other - 1.3% 1.0%
#17. To: hondo68 (#16)
#18. To: All (#17)
#19. To: mcgowanjm (#18)
[10:39 a.m. ET, 11:39 p.m. Tokyo] A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant in Onagawa, Japan, where excessive radiation levels have been recorded following Friday's massive earthquake, the United Nations' atomic watchdog agency said Sunday.
Authorities have told the agency that the three reactor units at the Onagawa plant "are under control."
#20. To: go65 (#19)
And now another plant is in trouble:
#22. To: mcgowanjm (#20)
3 'leaking (god, that reminds me of USbp using the word 'spill')
Replies to Comment # 22.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 22.
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