Nuclear meltdown in Japan reactor?

[Intense]

TOKYO — Conditions at a crippled nuclear power plant deteriorated further today, with a Japanese nuclear safety official saying that the water inside the waste fuel storage pool for a damaged reactor may be boiling.

Hidehiko Nishiyama told reporters that "we cannot deny the possibility of water boiling" in the spent fuel storage pool at the facility.


If the water boils, it could evaporate, exposing the rods. The fuel rods are encased in safety containers meant to prevent them from resuming nuclear reactions, nuclear officials said, downplaying the risk of that happening.
But they acknowledged that there could have been damage to the containers. They also confirmed that the walls of the storage pool building were damaged.


A fire, explosions and other damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant following a massive earthquake and tsunami on Friday have triggered Japan's worst nuclear crisis since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.


Nishiyama, an official in the Economy Ministry, which oversees nuclear safety, avoided commenting on the potential risks from rising temperatures caused by a failure in the systems that keep the spent fuel rods cool. He said the plant's operator is considering what to do about the problem.


The Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant caught fire earlier today and is believed to have caused a release of dangerous levels of radioactivity in the immediate area. Elevated radioactivity readings in surrounding regions were not high enough to pose a health threat, the government said.


Unit 4 was not operating at the time of the tsunami, but its backup power systems failed afterward, preventing cooling systems from working properly. Three reactors already have been wrecked by explosions and nuclear officials confirmed that temperatures in two other reactors that had been shut down for inspections were also rising.

JAPAN: Nuclear reactor danger escalates | The Daily Times | delmarvanow.com

 

[Intense]

By ERIC TALMADGE and MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press
SOMA, Japan (AP) - Water levels dropped precipitously Monday inside a Japanese nuclear reactor, twice leaving the uranium fuel rods completely exposed and raising the threat of a meltdown, hours after a hydrogen explosion tore through the building housing a different reactor.

Water levels were restored after the first decrease, but the rods remained partially exposed late Monday night, increasing the risk of the spread of radiation and the potential for an eventual meltdown.

The cascading troubles in the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant compounded the immense challenges faced by the Tokyo government, already struggling to send relief to hundreds of thousands of people along the country's quake- and tsunami-ravaged coast where at least 10,000 people are believed to have died.

Later, a top Japanese official said the fuel rods in all three of the most troubled nuclear reactors appeared to be melting.

Of all these troubles, the drop in water levels at Unit 2 had officials the most worried.

"Units 1 and 3 are at least somewhat stabilized for the time being," said Nuclear and Industrial Agency official Ryohei Shiomi "Unit 2 now requires all our effort and attention."

Workers managed to raise water levels after the second drop Monday night, but they began falling for a third time, according to nuclear agency official Naoki Kumagai. They are now considering spraying water directly on container to cool it.

In some ways, the explosion at Unit 3 was not as dire as it might seem.

The blast actually lessened pressure building inside the troubled reactor, and officials said the all-important containment shell - thick concrete armor around the reactor - had not been damaged. In addition, officials said radiation levels remained within legal limits, though anyone left within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the scene was ordered to remain indoors.

"We have no evidence of harmful radiation exposure," deputy Cabinet secretary Noriyuki Shikata told reporters.

Fukushima prefectural officials said, however, that 190 people have been exposed to some radiation from the plant. Nuclear safety officials said monitoring devices around the plant briefly showed radiation levels six times the legal limit, but they have since gone down.

On Saturday, a similar hydrogen blast destroyed the housing around the complex's Unit 1 reactor, leaving the shell intact but resulting in the mass evacuation of more than 185,000 people from the area.

Officials were clearly struggling to keep ahead of the crisis and prevent a worst case scenario: a complete reactor meltdown.

Meltdown threat rises at Japanese nuclear plant - Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports

 

[Douger]

If you live on the west coast I recommend you do something totally insane.
Listen to Terral.
Spend a couple of weeks on the east side of the Rockies. It'll be fun and might save your life. If not ? It'll still be fun.
Remember. All governments are run by psychopathic , lying, motherfuckers.
If you believe the Japs or the murkins, you're a fool.

 

[martybegan]

By ERIC TALMADGE and MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press
SOMA, Japan (AP) - Water levels dropped precipitously Monday inside a Japanese nuclear reactor, twice leaving the uranium fuel rods completely exposed and raising the threat of a meltdown, hours after a hydrogen explosion tore through the building housing a different reactor.

Water levels were restored after the first decrease, but the rods remained partially exposed late Monday night, increasing the risk of the spread of radiation and the potential for an eventual meltdown.

The cascading troubles in the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant compounded the immense challenges faced by the Tokyo government, already struggling to send relief to hundreds of thousands of people along the country's quake- and tsunami-ravaged coast where at least 10,000 people are believed to have died.


Later, a top Japanese official said the fuel rods in all three of the most troubled nuclear reactors appeared to be melting.

Of all these troubles, the drop in water levels at Unit 2 had officials the most worried.

"Units 1 and 3 are at least somewhat stabilized for the time being," said Nuclear and Industrial Agency official Ryohei Shiomi "Unit 2 now requires all our effort and attention."

Workers managed to raise water levels after the second drop Monday night, but they began falling for a third time, according to nuclear agency official Naoki Kumagai. They are now considering spraying water directly on container to cool it.

In some ways, the explosion at Unit 3 was not as dire as it might seem.

The blast actually lessened pressure building inside the troubled reactor, and officials said the all-important containment shell - thick concrete armor around the reactor - had not been damaged. In addition, officials said radiation levels remained within legal limits, though anyone left within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the scene was ordered to remain indoors.

"We have no evidence of harmful radiation exposure," deputy Cabinet secretary Noriyuki Shikata told reporters.

Fukushima prefectural officials said, however, that 190 people have been exposed to some radiation from the plant. Nuclear safety officials said monitoring devices around the plant briefly showed radiation levels six times the legal limit, but they have since gone down.

On Saturday, a similar hydrogen blast destroyed the housing around the complex's Unit 1 reactor, leaving the shell intact but resulting in the mass evacuation of more than 185,000 people from the area.

Officials were clearly struggling to keep ahead of the crisis and prevent a worst case scenario: a complete reactor meltdown.

Meltdown threat rises at Japanese nuclear plant - Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports

The main issue i have with all these articles is all the hedging, "might have happened", "chance of", "increased the risk". "maybe cesium 137". The only hard information we get is some of the radiation readings, and even those are not telling the whole story. you are not getting dose/length information, or the radionucleotide breakdown of what they are detecting.

I guess that is what we have to deal with when our information comes from 24 hour news media, but the lack of specifics makes me hesitant to postulate what is actually happening.

 

[KissMy]

Looking at power production on a risk reward basis there have been fewer deaths from nuclear energy than coal, oil, natural gas, hydro-electric.

 

[Intense]

By ERIC TALMADGE and MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press
SOMA, Japan (AP) - Water levels dropped precipitously Monday inside a Japanese nuclear reactor, twice leaving the uranium fuel rods completely exposed and raising the threat of a meltdown, hours after a hydrogen explosion tore through the building housing a different reactor.

Water levels were restored after the first decrease, but the rods remained partially exposed late Monday night, increasing the risk of the spread of radiation and the potential for an eventual meltdown.

The cascading troubles in the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant compounded the immense challenges faced by the Tokyo government, already struggling to send relief to hundreds of thousands of people along the country's quake- and tsunami-ravaged coast where at least 10,000 people are believed to have died.


Later, a top Japanese official said the fuel rods in all three of the most troubled nuclear reactors appeared to be melting.

Of all these troubles, the drop in water levels at Unit 2 had officials the most worried.

"Units 1 and 3 are at least somewhat stabilized for the time being," said Nuclear and Industrial Agency official Ryohei Shiomi "Unit 2 now requires all our effort and attention."

Workers managed to raise water levels after the second drop Monday night, but they began falling for a third time, according to nuclear agency official Naoki Kumagai. They are now considering spraying water directly on container to cool it.

In some ways, the explosion at Unit 3 was not as dire as it might seem.

The blast actually lessened pressure building inside the troubled reactor, and officials said the all-important containment shell - thick concrete armor around the reactor - had not been damaged. In addition, officials said radiation levels remained within legal limits, though anyone left within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the scene was ordered to remain indoors.

"We have no evidence of harmful radiation exposure," deputy Cabinet secretary Noriyuki Shikata told reporters.

Fukushima prefectural officials said, however, that 190 people have been exposed to some radiation from the plant. Nuclear safety officials said monitoring devices around the plant briefly showed radiation levels six times the legal limit, but they have since gone down.

On Saturday, a similar hydrogen blast destroyed the housing around the complex's Unit 1 reactor, leaving the shell intact but resulting in the mass evacuation of more than 185,000 people from the area.

Officials were clearly struggling to keep ahead of the crisis and prevent a worst case scenario: a complete reactor meltdown.

Meltdown threat rises at Japanese nuclear plant - Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports

The main issue i have with all these articles is all the hedging, "might have happened", "chance of", "increased the risk". "maybe cesium 137". The only hard information we get is some of the radiation readings, and even those are not telling the whole story. you are not getting dose/length information, or the radionucleotide breakdown of what they are detecting.

I guess that is what we have to deal with when our information comes from 24 hour news media, but the lack of specifics makes me hesitant to postulate what is actually happening.

The main issue you might want to consider is the depth of the out of control downward spiral here. This is probably the most damaging Natural Disaster of our lifetime, compounded by the threat to 6 Nuclear Reactors. The fact that there is question in the first place, where there should be none, is a warning in itself. Remove the Politics, the justification to defend Nuclear Power, and watch. The breakdown of Infrastructure has crippled Japan, this will take years to sort out and piece together. To down play what is happening is to put more people at risk. That is just as irresponsible as inciting Panic. The best we can do is witness and tell the truth about what we see. Would you want to be misinformed or told the truth???

 

[Liability]

We ARE getting some information about dosages of radiation. And the reports are not good. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/asia/15nuclear.html

In a number of news blurbs from Japanese news agencies, dosage that is considered "acceptable" for a full year has been reported getting emitted there at a rate of ten times that level -- PER HOUR.

 

[martybegan]

By ERIC TALMADGE and MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press
SOMA, Japan (AP) - Water levels dropped precipitously Monday inside a Japanese nuclear reactor, twice leaving the uranium fuel rods completely exposed and raising the threat of a meltdown, hours after a hydrogen explosion tore through the building housing a different reactor.

Water levels were restored after the first decrease, but the rods remained partially exposed late Monday night, increasing the risk of the spread of radiation and the potential for an eventual meltdown.

The cascading troubles in the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant compounded the immense challenges faced by the Tokyo government, already struggling to send relief to hundreds of thousands of people along the country's quake- and tsunami-ravaged coast where at least 10,000 people are believed to have died.


Later, a top Japanese official said the fuel rods in all three of the most troubled nuclear reactors appeared to be melting.

Of all these troubles, the drop in water levels at Unit 2 had officials the most worried.

"Units 1 and 3 are at least somewhat stabilized for the time being," said Nuclear and Industrial Agency official Ryohei Shiomi "Unit 2 now requires all our effort and attention."

Workers managed to raise water levels after the second drop Monday night, but they began falling for a third time, according to nuclear agency official Naoki Kumagai. They are now considering spraying water directly on container to cool it.

In some ways, the explosion at Unit 3 was not as dire as it might seem.

The blast actually lessened pressure building inside the troubled reactor, and officials said the all-important containment shell - thick concrete armor around the reactor - had not been damaged. In addition, officials said radiation levels remained within legal limits, though anyone left within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the scene was ordered to remain indoors.

"We have no evidence of harmful radiation exposure," deputy Cabinet secretary Noriyuki Shikata told reporters.

Fukushima prefectural officials said, however, that 190 people have been exposed to some radiation from the plant. Nuclear safety officials said monitoring devices around the plant briefly showed radiation levels six times the legal limit, but they have since gone down.

On Saturday, a similar hydrogen blast destroyed the housing around the complex's Unit 1 reactor, leaving the shell intact but resulting in the mass evacuation of more than 185,000 people from the area.

Officials were clearly struggling to keep ahead of the crisis and prevent a worst case scenario: a complete reactor meltdown.

Meltdown threat rises at Japanese nuclear plant - Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports

The main issue i have with all these articles is all the hedging, "might have happened", "chance of", "increased the risk". "maybe cesium 137". The only hard information we get is some of the radiation readings, and even those are not telling the whole story. you are not getting dose/length information, or the radionucleotide breakdown of what they are detecting.

I guess that is what we have to deal with when our information comes from 24 hour news media, but the lack of specifics makes me hesitant to postulate what is actually happening.

The main issue you might want to consider is the depth of the out of control downward spiral here. This is probably the most damaging Natural Disaster of our lifetime, compounded by the threat to 6 Nuclear Reactors. The fact that there is question in the first place, where there should be none, is a warning in itself. Remove the Politics, the justification to defend Nuclear Power, and watch. The breakdown of Infrastructure has crippled Japan, this will take years to sort out and piece together. To down play what is happening is to put more people at risk. That is just as irresponsible as inciting Panic. The best we can do is witness and tell the truth about what we see. Would you want to be misinformed or told the truth???

Downplaying in the area of effect is one thing, and as far as we know, the Japanese authorities are taking every precaution possible. My concern is that in the rush to report things we are NOT getting the truth.

As an engineer who is not directly responsible for mitigating this, my gut reaction is to wait for the report that will inveitably be published before making any judgments on the viability of nuclear power.

 

[Old Rocks]

If anyone of these reactors goes into a full meltdown, and spew significant radiation into the atmosphere, enough that people die, and many are sickened, the reaction worldwide will not be friendly to the nuclear industry.

 

[Old Rocks]

Looking at power production on a risk reward basis there have been fewer deaths from nuclear energy than coal, oil, natural gas, hydro-electric.

Well, let's hope that in two weeks this is still true.

 

[editec]

They're evacuating people within a 19 mil radius of the reactor?

Sounds kinda GRIM, doesn't it?

 

[martybegan]

We ARE getting some information about dosages of radiation. And the reports are not good. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/asia/15nuclear.html

In a number of news blurbs from Japanese news agencies, dosage that is considered "acceptable" for a full year has been reported getting emitted there at a rate of ten times that level -- PER HOUR.

We still need the type of particle being emitted, as this directly relates to the duration of the radioactivity, and what excactly is being released from the plants.

You also need duration information, as a continous reading of .4 sievert is alot different than a .4 sievert spike, followed by a quick return to readings in the milisievert range.

 

[Old Rocks]

That there have been so few -if any -lives lost in Japan (so far) as a result of nuclear plant damage - after an 8.9 quake -seems to indicate that nuclear plants are pretty safe.

But the greenwackoffs/lib-media don't want good news -they want complete meltdowns with huge loss of life to further their agendas.

What a lowlife lying bastard you are.

s0n.........Ive always said you have the political IQ of a lawnmower spark plug. Guessing your Mom nursed you to 4 years old. You trust anything s0n.......as long as its hysterical.

Go away. This is a serious discussion about a serious subject. No one needs the interjections of an idiot child troll.

 

[Liability]

We ARE getting some information about dosages of radiation. And the reports are not good. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/asia/15nuclear.html

In a number of news blurbs from Japanese news agencies, dosage that is considered "acceptable" for a full year has been reported getting emitted there at a rate of ten times that level -- PER HOUR.

We still need the type of particle being emitted, as this directly relates to the duration of the radioactivity, and what excactly is being released from the plants.

You also need duration information, as a continous reading of .4 sievert is alot different than a .4 sievert spike, followed by a quick return to readings in the milisievert range.

That information has been getting reported, too. But the coverage is difficult to find. And I agree with you to the extent that the reporting has been spotty on such matters. For example: Radiation poses health risk in Japan after two new blasts | World | Deutsche Welle | 15.03.2011

A more detailed report along the lines of some of your questions (accuracy is of course not verifiable) is found here: IAEA: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Update March 15

 

[Ravi]

The main issue i have with all these articles is all the hedging, "might have happened", "chance of", "increased the risk". "maybe cesium 137". The only hard information we get is some of the radiation readings, and even those are not telling the whole story. you are not getting dose/length information, or the radionucleotide breakdown of what they are detecting.

I guess that is what we have to deal with when our information comes from 24 hour news media, but the lack of specifics makes me hesitant to postulate what is actually happening.

The main issue you might want to consider is the depth of the out of control downward spiral here. This is probably the most damaging Natural Disaster of our lifetime, compounded by the threat to 6 Nuclear Reactors. The fact that there is question in the first place, where there should be none, is a warning in itself. Remove the Politics, the justification to defend Nuclear Power, and watch. The breakdown of Infrastructure has crippled Japan, this will take years to sort out and piece together. To down play what is happening is to put more people at risk. That is just as irresponsible as inciting Panic. The best we can do is witness and tell the truth about what we see. Would you want to be misinformed or told the truth???

Downplaying in the area of effect is one thing, and as far as we know, the Japanese authorities are taking every precaution possible. My concern is that in the rush to report things we are NOT getting the truth.

As an engineer who is not directly responsible for mitigating this, my gut reaction is to wait for the report that will inveitably be published before making any judgments on the viability of nuclear power.

It's only a flesh wound.

 

[Valerie]

That there have been so few -if any -lives lost in Japan (so far) as a result of nuclear plant damage - after an 8.9 quake -seems to indicate that nuclear plants are pretty safe.

But the greenwackoffs/lib-media don't want good news -they want complete meltdowns with huge loss of life to further their agendas.

 

[Valerie]

 

[martybegan]

We ARE getting some information about dosages of radiation. And the reports are not good. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/asia/15nuclear.html

In a number of news blurbs from Japanese news agencies, dosage that is considered "acceptable" for a full year has been reported getting emitted there at a rate of ten times that level -- PER HOUR.

We still need the type of particle being emitted, as this directly relates to the duration of the radioactivity, and what excactly is being released from the plants.

You also need duration information, as a continous reading of .4 sievert is alot different than a .4 sievert spike, followed by a quick return to readings in the milisievert range.

That information has been getting reported, too. But the coverage is difficult to find. And I agree with you to the extent that the reporting has been spotty on such matters. For example: Radiation poses health risk in Japan after two new blasts | World | Deutsche Welle | 15.03.2011

A more detailed report along the lines of some of your questions (accuracy is of course not verifiable) is found here: IAEA: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Update March 15

The site seems to talk the talk, using the right units, not being hyper-panicky. I'm going to bookmark it.

 

[KissMy]

Looking at power production on a risk reward basis there have been fewer deaths from nuclear energy than coal, oil, natural gas, hydro-electric.

Well, let's hope that in two weeks this is still true.

It will still be true in 2 weeks. All the nuclear power plant reactors that could "melt down" have been de-commissioned for over the past 30 years or have been updated to use a sub critical mass fuel just like this ones in Japan.

A nuclear meltdown is nearly impossible. All that happens in a partial "melt down" is that 1 or 2 fuel rods overheated and deformed. There is no way for white hot molten weapons grade uranium to spill out of the reactor confines to create a huge "Plutonium mushroom cloud".

There are no eyes on these reactors. All info comes from radiation monitoring away from these plants. The media is hyping this because of the lack of real time eyes on certain facts. Just because nobody can give the media definite answers, speculation & fantasy fill the news.

 

[boedicca]

Yes, I've pointed this out a few times myself.

This is Not A Chernobyl Situation. The design and safety features of the plant will likely contain most of the radiation; reports today are that the levels in Tokyo never exceeded safe levels, and are already falling. There is no graphite to burn and spread the radiation for thousands of miles.