Meltdown may be under way at Fukushima nuclear reactor

[loreen]

Meltdown may be under way at Fukushima nuclear reactor, official with Japan's nuclear safety agency tells CNN

[thickcash_amo]

Damn! Its getting really crazy over there.

[loreen]

I don't think it's going to be as bad as Cernobyal, but damn.

[seeandsee]

really damn, stop power plants, jesus Tesla made us clean water energy and we use this shit just for them to make millions, omg

[Tanker]

it it happens it will be huge its got 100X the power of chernobyl and there are 4 separate reactors in trouble at various sites

[Tanker]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,2889362.story

[Tanker]

Fukushima Power Plant, Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) diagram

fukushima-boiling-water-reactor-bwr-basic-diagram

Update,
The Washington Post reports that a second nuclear reactor in the Fukushima power plant is also affected. The plant has a total of six reactors. Reports only a few hours left on battery power for cooling systems.

Update,
Clarification from NHK Wolrd News Japan… a second location, Fukushima II, not far from the Fukushima I nuclear power plant, is also experiencing cooling problems. The government’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said equipment failures have made it impossible to cool 3 of the plant’s 4 reactors. (Translation: ‘impossible’ is not a good word).

Update,
Reuters is now reporting that Tokyo Electric Power Company has lost ability to control pressure at some of the reactors at its Fukushima II (Daini) plant nearby the Daiichi power plant (Fukushima I), both suffering from core cooling problems. If battery power at Fukushima II is depleted before AC power is restored, the plant will stop supplying water to the core and the cooling water level in the reactor core will drop.

Update,
Kyodo news reports that the cooling system has now failed at three nuclear reactors at Fukushima II, and the coolant water temperature has reached boiling level.

Update,
Kyodo news reports, “the operator of the two plants in Fukushima Prefecture is set to release pressure in containers housing their reactors under an unprecedented government order, so as to avoid the plants sustaining damage and losing their critical containment function.” …”the action would involve the release of steam that would likely include radioactive materials”

Update,
From Kyodo news, Japan, URGENT: Concerns of core partially melting at Fukushima nuke plant. The core at Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant’s No. 1 reactor may be partially melting, the nuclear safety agency said Saturday.

Reuters, Japan authorities: TEPCO plant fuel rods may have melted -Jiji, …could develop into a breach of the nuclear reactor vessel and the question then becomes one of how strong the containment structure around the vessel is and whether it has been undermined by the earthquake

Update,
Reuters, An explosion was heard and smoke was seen at the Tokyo Electric Power Company Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, Jiji news agency quoted the police as saying on Saturday.

Outer structure of building that houses reactor at Fukushima plant appears to have blown off – NHK by Reuters_TonyTharakan at 3/12/2011 8:12:43 AM12:12 AM

Tepco says explosion may have been hydrogen used to cool Fukushima plant – Kyodo; Tepco says 4 people taken to hospital after reported explosion, no word on condition – Jiji

Update,
From The Associated Press, An explosion at a nuclear power station Saturday destroyed a building housing the reactor…the explosion destroyed the exterior walls of the building where the reactor is placed, but not the actual metal housing enveloping the reactor.

In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded and caught fire, sending a cloud of radiation over much of Europe. That reactor – unlike the Fukushima one – was not housed in a sealed container, so there was no way to contain the radiation once the reactor exploded.

[~Ray]

it's been a while since we've seen one of those.

[loreen]

Originally Posted by Tanker

it it happens it will be huge its got 100X the power of chernobyl and there are 4 separate reactors in trouble at various sites

You just contradicted yourself

[woj]

it's starting to not look good

[halfpint]

Well I hope it holds for the Japanese people and for any country that it will effect if it does go up. The Japs dont need any more disasters I think they have had more than their share right now

[Vendot]

Its not called FUK-U-SHIMA for nothing.

Do you know what SHIMA means?

Think Hiroshima! Theyre trying to prove something.

[grumpy]

damn, its weird to see how you guys from the US bring the news here and the europeans

From the US it every time like the world is ending and the European is more..lets get our fact straight.

[_Richard_]

they're assuming the possibility of a meltdown, now they're testing the atmosphere for radiation

[_Richard_]

and there is another blast. ffs.

[loreen]

Meltdown doesn't necessarily mean contamination.

[loreen]

NEW: "The situation is under control," a prime minister's office spokesman says.

Probably there are men there that haven't slept since the quake..

[loreen]

State of emergency declared at Japan's Ongawa nuclear plant; excessive radiation levels recorded, IAEA says.

[kaori]

Originally Posted by loreen

State of emergency declared at Japan's Ongawa nuclear plant; excessive radiation levels recorded, IAEA says.

Yup - but TEPCO is saying it's not the reactor itself, it's radiation leakage from another plant...

[Overload]

Originally Posted by loreen

I don't think it's going to be as bad as Cernobyal, but damn.

its just been in the news: IF it blows up it WILL be MUCH worse than chernobyl ... why? because that reactor is using PLUTONIUM and not only URANIUM

[TripleXPrint]

Chernobyl was BAD, real bad. This would be a lot worse and as someone already pointed out, there are 4 different reactors in play. In Chernobyl only one reactor had a meltdown and see the damage it did below.

[CaptainHowdy]

Groovy Times ...

[dyna mo]

chernobyl did not have a several foot thick concrete encasement around the core, like this plants do.

big difference

[TeenCat]

japanies have to get their shit together, if not them, who else? go japanies go!

[SomeCreep]

Originally Posted by loreen

Meltdown may be under way at Fukushima nuclear reactor, official with Japan's nuclear safety agency tells CNN

These things happen. Everything will turn out fine.

[loreen]

Fresh white smoke rose again Monday from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, with public broadcaster NHK citing nuclear and industrial safety agency officials as saying an explosion had occurred at the facility's No. 3 reactor.

The wall of the No. 3 building collapsed as a result of the blast, according to the report. The explosion was likely caused by a buildup of hydrogen gas, similar to what had happened Saturday at the same nuclear plant's No. 1 reactor.

[glowlite]

Originally Posted by loreen

Meltdown doesn't necessarily mean contamination.

In this case it does.

[loreen]

Originally Posted by glowlite

In this case it does.

Why?

8char

[TheDA]

"Japanese engineer Masashi Goto, who helped design the containment vessel for Fukushima's reactor core, says the design was not enough to withstand earthquakes or tsunamis and the plant's builders, Toshiba, knew this."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

[loreen]

Japan has asked the U.S. for cooling equipment, the NRC chairman says.

[Amputate Your Head]

Nuke 'em till they glow, shoot 'em in the dark.

[Fob]

how hard would it be to fly in some cooling equipment? just dump ice on it!!

[PR_Glen]

Originally Posted by Fob

how hard would it be to fly in some cooling equipment? just dump ice on it!!

ice would be the equivalent of pissing on the sun... so no.

[borked]

Here's a very interesting and sane analysis of events, even if it does smell of a publicity stunt to win public opinion in face of the building of new reactors there...

[borked]

what I don't understand in this whole nuclear reactor setup is this....

Principle of nuclear energy:
1. nuclear rods are 'ignited' so to speak to go into a radiaactive energetic decay.
2. This energy is transmitted to water that is heated up to steam to turn turbines that generate electricity.
3. To shut off a nuclear reaction occurring inside the rods, you dump in "sponges" to mop up all the isotopes that permit the reaction to occur, shutting down the reaction occuring in the rods.

Once this has happened, there is little-to-zero chance of a chernobyl event, since no more nuclear reactions are occurring. Which is what happened a minute or two after the earthquake.

Now, these rods are still hot, frikken hot and need the time to cool down. The water they are in is still being boiled to super-heated steam. Temperature such that the nitrogen in the air in the vessel becomes radioactive nitrogen (N-16), which isn't very dangerous as its decay live is in the order of seconds. The water vapour though is under so much pressure that it breaks down to the gaseous hydrogen and oxygen (the explosion after venting).

So what I don't get is why the venting mechanism wasn't designed to take the gas out to sea? Why vent into the atmosphere, when a pipe running all 200 metres out to sea (or even further) could have dissolved that short-lived radioactive material into the sea water. No more explosion risk, no more gas cloud...

Or, why try to cool something that is like 1000oC with H20 at 25oC when you could cool it with something like liquid N2 (-160oC or thereabouts) and vent the N-16 gas into the sea, or liquid argon (whatever that temp is) and again vent whatever the short-lived argon radioactive isotope is out to sea too?

Basically, why vent into the air and have wind transmit it to people when you could vent out to the sea and keep it contained? OK, no fishing for a season, but shit, that's better than a gas surely?

Why is it these nuclear reactors are often located on the coast anyway if they don't use the sea as a safety net?

[loreen]

Good news:
1. Cooling efforts are "somewhat effective," TEPCO says
2. Radiation levels down but still high, nuclear safety agency says

Hopefully tomorrow they'll put the energy system back on and it will work...

[Scott McD]

Originally Posted by loreen

Good news:
1. Cooling efforts are "somewhat effective," TEPCO says...

Reminds me of the daily BP announcements with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill...

[sperbonzo]

Originally Posted by borked

Here's a very interesting and sane analysis of events, even if it does smell of a publicity stunt to win public opinion in face of the building of new reactors there...

Very interesting article.


.

[loreen]

"Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency on Friday raised the level for the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant from a 4 to 5 -- putting it on par with the 1979 incident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island.

According to the International Nuclear Events Scale, a level 5 equates to the likelihood of a release of radioactive material, several deaths from radiation and severe damage to a reactor core." (CNN)

Yet, my friend from Japan says things are pretty much back to normal in Tokyo, they trust the authorities and as long as they don't tell them the population is in danger they are positive everything will turn out fine... She also has no intention on leaving Japan, saying she feels more secure there than on any other part of the world...

[loreen]

Japanese officials reported a huge jump in radioactivity — levels 10 million times the norm — in water in one reactor unit at a tsunami-damaged nuclear plant Sunday, forcing workers to evacuate and again delaying efforts to control the leaking complex.

These guys don't get any breaks...