Japan - Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Crisis - Units 1 - 6 Reports, News, Graphics - March 11 - March 16

[sharon sanders]

machine translation -

The primary cooling water Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1
1 hour 46 minutes 3 twitter tweet on May 13 (NHK-click and leave the site)

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 of the TEPCO nuclear fuel is dissolved first in the country "meltdown," also occurs, followed by the explosion of air and buildings, including the release of radioactive material, TEPCO 12 extraordinary measures taken to cool in the night water reactors.

The Unit 1 nuclear power plant Fukushima Daiichi, after the automatic stop of the day 11, followed by state 冷Yasenai reactors, 12 are caused to fission uranium fuel "Cs" or "iodine" around radioactive materials that was detected in the nuclear fuel is dissolved first in the country "meltdown" occurred. Furthermore, because the pressure is too high into the reactor containment vessel, TEPCO, 2:00 pm from the 12th, was also released to the outside air containing radioactive material in the containment building of nuclear reactors hydrogen and oxygen combine to explode, the walls of the building collapsed.

TEPCO among measures can not be secured easily in cool water and power outages, 12 at 8:00 pm, took the unusual step for a lot of chill water reactors. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is to prevent corruption and the reactor containment vessel, made a work filled with water to cool the containment using pump trucks and the SDF. The work of nuclear fuel that does not respond again, is that boric acid was placed to absorb the neutrons.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20110313/t10014635191000.html

[Laidback Al]

Re: Japan - NHK reports "Meltdown" and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1

Nuclear power plant "meltdown" is a Level 4

Japan's first nuclear power plant in the No. 1 Fukushima Daiichi, melting of nuclear fuel in a nuclear reactor "meltdown" on what happened, the ministry's Nuclear Safety Agency is an international standard that indicates the seriousness of the situation assessed against the results, 12 years ago, occurred in Tokai-mura, Ibaraki Prefecture JCO criticality accident as "Level 4" allegedly determined.

Accident on a nuclear facility, an international evaluation standards NISA INES = 8 to be evaluated at Level 7-0 of the seriousness of the situation based on the International Nuclear Event Scale Radiation has become. 12, has been detected radioactive material such as iodine and cesium that fission of uranium fuel in the No. 1 nuclear power plant Fukushima Daiichi TEPCO seep become hot fuel "meltdown" that happened the first time in Korea NISA for the equivalent amount if there is a substantial release of radioactive material damage and fuel ▽ ▽ eight levels of "Level 4" and determined. This evaluation 12 years ago, occurred in Tokai-mura, Ibaraki JCO criticality accident at the same level of uranium processing facility, NISA said, "I say an earthquake caused, as a result, fuel it will melt, he believes that high levels of alarming incidents, "I said.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20110313/k10014635421000.html

[Laidback Al]

Re: Japan - NHK reports "Meltdown" and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT)

How bad is a level 4 event?

How bad is the nuclear accident in Japan? By SCOTT DISAVINO, Reuters

NEW YORK - The Japanese nuclear safety agency rated the damage at a nuclear power plant at Fukushima at a four on a scale of one to seven, which is not quite as bad as the Three Mile Island accident in the United States in 1979, which registered a five. But what does that mean?
. . .

The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, or INES, ranges from one to seven with the most serious being a seven referred to as a ?major accident?, while a one is an ?anomaly?. The scale is designed so the severity of an event is about ten times greater for each increase in level.
The Chernobyl explosion in the Ukraine in 1986, the worst nuclear power accident ever, was rated a seven. . . .

http://www.torontosun.com/news/world.../17592906.html

[Laidback Al]

Re: Japan - NHK reports "Meltdown" and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT)

Sea water used for cooling down the reactor

The Tokyo Electric Power Company is using sea water as an emergency coolant in its quake-damaged reactor at Fukushima Number One Power Plant.

The massive earthquake on Friday caused a breakdown of cooling systems that could cause temperatures in the reactor to rise to uncontrollable levels.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano disclosed on Saturday that the company is pouring sea water into the containment vessel of the reactor. Sea water is readily available as the plant is close to the sea.

Edano said the company is mixing boric acid with the water to help absorb neutrons to slow nuclear fission.

Edano added that government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has endorsed the procedure.
Self-Defense Force troops, who are actually in charge of the cooling process, are using pump trucks and other methods to inject the sea water. They say the work started on Saturday evening will be completed on early Sunday.
Sunday, March 13, 2011 01:03 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/13_01.html

[JimO]

Re: Japan - NHK reports "Meltdown" and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT)

That is not good news. Using sea water is a last resort because it will render the reactor useless and those things aren't cheap. It should work, however, to prevent a meltdown and catastrophic release of radioactive elements, provided that the containment vessel has not cracked or otherwise failed.

The other concern with respect to using sea water is that it means their normal water source is unavailable. Hopefully their closed-loop cooling system is still intact. Otherwise, the water they use to cool the reactor could be contaminated with radiation and there will be a problem with storage of the millions of gallons of water it will take to keep the reactor cool.

[Anne]

Re: Japan - NHK reports "Meltdown" and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT)

TEPCO

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11031301-e.html

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="720"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"> Press Release (Mar 13,2011)
Plant Status of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (as of 2am March 13th)</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">

All 6 units of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station have been shut down.

Unit 1(Shut down)
- Reactor has been shut down. However, the unit is under inspection due to
the explosive sound and white smoke that was confirmed after the big
quake occurred at 3:36PM.
- We have been injecting sea water and boric acid which absorbs neutron
into the reactor core.

Unit 2(Shut down)
- Reactor and Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System have been shut down.
Current reactor water level is lower than normal level, but the water
level is steady. After fully securing safety, we are preparing to
implement a measure to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment
vessels under the instruction of the national government.

Unit 3(Shut down)
- Reactor has been shut down and we continue injecting water by High
Pressure Core Injection System. After fully securing safety, we are
preparing to implement a measure to reduce the pressure of the reactor
containment vessels under the instruction of the national government.
- Currently, we do not believe there is any reactor coolant leakage
inside the reactor containment vessel.

Unit 4 (shut down due to regular inspection)
- Reactor has been shut down and sufficient level of reactor coolant to
ensure safety is maintained.
- Currently, we do not believe there is any reactor coolant leakage inside
the reactor containment vessel.

Unit 5 (outage due to regular inspection)
- Reactor has been shut down and sufficient level of reactor coolant to
ensure safety is maintained.
- Currently, we do not believe there is any reactor coolant leakage inside
the reactor containment vessel.

Unit 6 (outage due to regular inspection)
- Reactor has been shut down and sufficient level of reactor coolant to
ensure safety is maintained.
- Currently, we do not believe there is any reactor coolant leakage
inside the reactor containment vessel.

Casualty
- 2 workers of cooperative firm were injured at the occurrence of the
earthquake, and were transported to the hospital.
- 1 TEPCO employee who was not able to stand by his own with his hand
holding left chest was transported to the hospital by an ambulance.
- 1 subcontract worker at important earthquake-proof building was
unconscious and transported to the hospital by an ambulance.
- The radiation exposure of 1 TEPCO employee, who was working inside the
reactor building, exceeded 100mSv and was transported to the hospital.
- 4 workers were injured and transported to the hospital after explosive
sound and white smoke were confirmed around the Unit 1.
- Presence of 2 TEPCO employees at the site are not confirmed

Others
- We measured radioactive materials inside of the nuclear power station
area (outdoor) by monitoring car and confirmed that radioactive
materials level is higher than ordinary level. Also, the level at
monitoring post is higher than ordinary level. We will continue to
monitor in detail the possibility of radioactive material being
discharged from exhaust stack or discharge canal. The national
government has instructed evacuation for those local residents within
20km radius of the periphery because it's possible that radioactive
materials are discharged.

- We will continue to take all measures to restore the security of
the site and to monitor the environment of the site periphery.

</pre>
</td></tr></tbody></table>

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Japan - NHK reports &quot;Meltdown&quot; and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT)

Japanese Nuclear Reactor Flooded With Seawater to Avoid Meltdown
3/12/11 at 5:30 PM

Japanese officials flooded the Daiichi nuclear reactor with seawater in a last-ditch effort to avoid a nuclear meltdown of the reactor's core, after today's explosion at the plant escalated the crisis in Japan caused by an earthquake and tsunami. Robert Alvarez, former senior policy adviser to the U.S. secretary of energy, called the flood of sea water mixed with boron "a Hail Mary pass." He explained: "My understanding is that the situation has become desperate enough that they apparently don't have the capability to deliver fresh water or plain water to cool the reactor and stabilize it and now, in an act of desperation, are having to resort to diverting and using sea water."

...

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/03/reactor.html

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Japan - NHK reports &quot;Meltdown&quot; and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT)

Tokyo Electric Tries to Cool Unstable Reactors, Avert `Three Mile Island'
By Yuji Okada, Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuriy Humber - Mar 12, 2011 5:17 PM ET

...


The utility began injecting sea water and boric acid to cool its Fukushima Dai-Ichi No. 1 reactor, according to a statement today. The station lost power needed to keep the reactor core cool after a March 11 earthquake, the largest ever recorded in Japan.

The ?likelihood of success should be fairly high,? Dale Klein, a professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said of the seawater flooding. ?This should have been part of their overall strategy to keep the core covered and cooled.?

...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-12/tokyo-electric-tries-to-cool-unstable-reactors-avert-three-mile-island-.html

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Japan - NHK reports &quot;Meltdown&quot; and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT)

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

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[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Japan - NHK reports &quot;Meltdown&quot; and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT)

Official: 'We see the possibility of a meltdown'

Tokyo (CNN) -- A meltdown may be under way at one of Fukushima Daiichi's nuclear power reactors in northern Japan, an official with Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told CNN Sunday.

"There is a possibility, we see the possibility of a meltdown," said Toshihiro Bannai, director of the agency's international affairs office, in a telephone interview from the agency's headquarters in Tokyo. "At this point, we have still not confirmed that there is an actual meltdown, but there is a possibility."

Though he said engineers have been unable to get close enough to the core to know what's going on, he based his conclusion on the fact that they measured radioactive cesium and radioactive iodine in the air Saturday night.

"What we have seen is only the slight indication from a monitoring post of cesium and iodine," he said. Since then, he said, plant officials have injected sea water and boron into the plant in an effort to cool its nuclear fuel.

We have some confidence, to some extent, to make the situation to be stable status," he said. "We actually have very good confidence that we will resolve this."

A state of emergency has been declared for it and two of the other five reactors at the same complex, he said. Three are in a safe, shut-down state, he said. "The other two still have some cooling systems, but not enough capacity."

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.quake.nuclear.failure/?hpt=T1

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Japan - NHK reports &quot;Meltdown&quot; and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT)

To make matters worse;

Emergency declared at second nuclear reactor in Japan
By Blast Magazine Newsroom

The Japanese nuclear safety agency has reported a nuclear emergency at a second reactor in the same complex where an explosion had occurred earlier, the Associated Press is reporting.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said early Sunday, local time, that there was a malfunction in the cooling system at Unit 3 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The agency was informed of the situation by Tokyo Electric, the utility which runs the plant.

...

http://blastmagazine.com/the-news/world-news/emergency-declared-at-second-nuclear-reactor-in-japan/

[sharon sanders]

Re: Japan - NHK reports &quot;Meltdown&quot; and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT)

machine translation -

Water work in the No. 3 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
55 min 8:00 3 twitter tweet on May 13 (NHK leaves the site and click)

枝 野 the press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary, Unit 3 on TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, as there are no means to send the water to cool the reactor, for the country "emergency" report stating that it has made For, to reduce the pressure of the reactor, and to work out the air, apparently for doing that work to pump water reactors.

In it, Chief Cabinet Secretary 枝野 is No. 3 on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Co. for the national "emergency" on the report stating that it has made, "the No. 3 reactor, since the water outage To reduce the pressure from the pressure vessel and removing the working gas, to the work of water supply for water pumps and more. Some of the gas containing radioactive material effect on the degree of body but that can be managed while ensuring the safety of the reactor if a series of work done, "he said. The Chief Cabinet Secretary 枝野 has been done in the No. 1 nuclear power plant Fukushima Daiichi, about working to cool in water reactors, "The impact of the earthquake, but some parts not always reliable figures on total water level have been confirmed have been performed as the ability of a pump supplying water. At the moment, just part of the furnace is filled with water at least part of the fuel is already being covered with water The situation is reasonably determined that. At this time, the number of monitoring radioactivity, that change is not seen, "he said. In addition, Chief Cabinet Secretary 枝野 at a press conference "of residents were evacuated by bus, the results of measurements 9, is a situation where there is potential for exposure. For people this surface, such as skin and clothing In fact that is contaminated, and removed it, making it get to promote health checks to verify the absence of internal exposure. that expert's decision, to stay in condition attached to the surface of what these If major damage to health is that it does not, "he said. The Secretary 枝野 the "refuge from the nuclear power plant first, and within 10 km, which left 114 people. 180,000 20 kilometers from 10 kilometers, has started to evacuate early in the morning today. No. The two nuclear power plants, three kilometers from the evacuation is completed, about 10 kilometers, has started to evacuate 30,000 from early morning, "he said.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20110313/t10014637231000.html

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Japan - &quot;Meltdown&quot; and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT) - now Unit 3 not cooling

Here's a site explaining how Japan currently deals with it's nuclear waste:

http://www.japannuclear.com/nuclearpower/program/waste.html

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[Emily]

Re: Japan - &quot;Meltdown&quot; and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT) - now Unit 3 not cooling

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ry?id=13120888

Radiation Dangers Heightened at Japanese Nuclear Plant
Evacuees Exposed to Radiation; Nuclear Expert Recommends Emergency Distribution of Potassium Iodine to Children Within Range of Reactor

By MICHAEL S. JAMES, DANIEL ARNALL, CHRIS VLASTO and MATTHEW MOSK
March 12, 2011

CDC information on radiation exposure and health.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/

Potassium iodide discussed here.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/healtheffects.asp

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Japan - &quot;Meltdown&quot; and release of radioactive material at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 (LEVEL 4 EVENT) - now Unit 3 not cooling

Japan's TEPCO: air release starts at No.3 reactor

TOKYO, March 13 | Sat Mar 12, 2011 8:06pm EST

TOKYO, March 13 (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) , Japan's largest electric utility, said on Sunday it had started releasing air from a reactor container vessel at the No.3 reactor of its Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

Japan's nuclear power safety agency said earlier in the day that the emergency cooling system was no longer functioning at the No.3 reactor, after the plant was damaged in a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami on Friday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/13/japan-quake-ventilation-idUSLJE7E301820110313

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