Japan: 9.0 Earthquake-Tsunami-Nuclear Reactor Status #4

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The pictures of the mangled mess that was once nuclear reactors reminds me of that commercial about U-Verse - where the tangled mess of wires is always complaining.
 
nursebeeme said:
I have started seeing people tweeting/nicknaming the power restoration to the nuclear plant as "operation extension cord"
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I know I shouldn't giggle at a time like this, but that's funny. :innocent:
 
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20257-why-fukushima-daiichi-wont-be-another-chernobyl.html


Excerpt:
So why couldn't a runaway reaction happen at Fukushima Daiichi?
The Chernobyl reactor had a fundamentally different design to those at Fukushima Daiichi. Chernobyl ran on unenriched uranium, which is a fairly weak nuclear fuel. In order to use it, the reactor was designed in a way that made it easier for the nuclear reaction to accelerate. This allowed it to generate useful amounts of power, but it also left it vulnerable to running out of control.

Fukushima Daiichi runs on more powerful fuels than Chernobyl did, mostly enriched uranium. In contrast to the Ukrainian reactor, its design minimises the nuclear reaction unless its human operators boost it. "You have to actually try to make it go," Bluck says.

and

However, the company operating Fukushima Daiichi has now said that, for the fuel pond at reactor 4, "the risk of recriticality is not zero", meaning a nuclear chain reaction could restart in the rods. Quite how this has come about is unclear. But adding boric acid to absorb the neutrons should stop the reaction before it starts.
 
tehcloser said:
So, am I alone in thinking: a.) they don't KNOW what's about to happen, because of "uncharted territory" and all. OR b.) they do KNOW and it's really bad and they are trying to control panic. Because I'm really getting tired of waiting on someone to just go ok, here is what we know, you can make your own decisions about what to do.
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I think they are releasing info in controlled doses. When we've swallowed a bit of bad news, they feel they can dole out a bit more.

Remember the Gulf Oil Spill. There was no leak. There was a potential for a leak. There might be a leak. There was a small leak, but minimal impact. The impact could be worse than first thought.

I believe we're seeing the same spoonfeeding of info now.
 
Kyodo news agency has published the latest report on the condition of the Fukushima No. 1 plant.
Reactor No. 1 - Operation suspended after quake, cooling failure, partial melting of core, vapor vented, building housing reactor damaged Saturday by hydrogen explosion, seawater being pumped in.
Reactor No. 2 - Operation suspended after quake, cooling failure, seawater being pumped in, fuel rods fully exposed temporarily, vapor vented, building housing reactor damaged Monday by blast at reactor No. 3, damage to containment vessel feared, potential meltdown feared.
Reactor No. 3 - Operation suspended after quake, cooling failure, partial melting of core feared, vapor vented, seawater being pumped in, building housing reactor damaged Monday by hydrogen explosion, high-level radiation measured nearby on Tuesday, plume of smoke observed Wednesday and presumed to have come from spent-fuel storage pool, severe damage to containment vessel unlikely, seawater dumped over pool by helicopter yesterday, water sprayed at it from ground.
Reactor No. 4 - Under maintenance when quake struck, fire Tuesday possibly caused by hydrogen explosion at pool holding spent fuel rods, abnormal temperature rise in spent-fuel storage pool, fire observed Wednesday at building housing reactor, pool water level feared receding, renewed nuclear chain reaction feared.
Reactors No. 5, 6 - Under maintenance when quake struck, water temperatures in spent-fuel storage pools increased to about 64 C yesterday.
Spent-fuel storage pools at all reactors - Cooling functions lost, water temperatures or levels unobservable at reactors No. 1 to 4.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world/magnit...an/story-e6frfkyi-1226019903430#ixzz1Gs8Iusuh
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.....
 
I've been reading this thread since the beginning but haven't posted yet. It's all to overwhelming! My grandson was born last week. My daughter's ob is from Japan. She hadn't heard about the quake until she got to the delivery room and we were watching the news. She turned to me and asked where in Japan. I told her and she said her husband was in Southern Japan. She did end up leaving and another ob delivered the baby.

A few thoughts.

1. I'm glad they are evacuation non japanese citizens from the country. They need all the resources (food, water, gas) for their own people. The least we can do is evacuate non essential people. Personally, I'd like to see the whole country evacuated but I know how unrealistic that is.

2. If I lived on the west coast right now, I'd be preparing for the chance of a big quake hitting there. I think there is a much higher risk of that than getting exposed to radiation from Japan.

3. We haven't even begun to evaluate the economic implications of this disaster. The Toyota plant here in WV has already cut back hours to conserve supplies.
 
3.11pm (12.11a, JST): Japan's military says it has sprayed 30 tonnes of water into the building containing Fukushima's reactor No 3, using five water cannon trucks. The operation has now ended for the day, according to NHK.
The military says that while the water reached the inside of the building it is not known whether it got to its target, the storage pool containing spent fuel rods, which could overheat dangerously if not kept covered.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/17/japan-nuclear-crisis-tsunami-aftermath
 
1539: US President Barack Obama is to make a statement on Japan later on Thursday. "I'm going to be making a statement later about Japan, later today, so I'm not going to answer questions now but I'm going to make a statement later," he told reporters at a photo-op with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698
 
Well, now that we ARE going to hear from him, I don't know that I want to. lol.
 
THE Japanese owner of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant falsified safety data and "dishonestly" tried to cover up problems there.

Tokyo Electric Power Co injected air into the containment vessel of Fukushima reactor No 1 to artificially “lower the leak rate”. When caught, the company expressed its “sincere apologies for conducting dishonest practices”.

The misconduct came to light in 2002 after whistleblowers working for General Electric, which designed the reactor, complained to the Japanese government. Another GE employee later confessed that he had falsified records of inspections of reactor No1 in 1989 - at the request of TEPCO officials. He also admitted to falsifying other inspection reports, also on request of the client. After that incident TEPCO was forced to shut down 17 reactors, albeit temporarily.
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/fuk...spection-records/story-fn84naht-1226023073141
 
Since we don't seem to know anything concrete about what could/might/may/maybe happen, what I want to know is how everyone feels. Are you scared crapless? Or do you think this is all much ado about nothing?
 
I'm cautiously pessimistic. ;) Trying not to get too panicked, however.
 
I'm scared for future of our children. But I'm not in a state of panic...
 
tehcloser said:
Well, now that we ARE going to hear from him, I don't know that I want to. lol.
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I hope he doesn't get all pro nuke, political, or cow-tow to the Japanese government... :hand: Just an honest address to a worried public, please.
 
Hopeful One said:
Since we don't seem to know anything concrete about what could/might/may/maybe happen, what I want to know is how everyone feels. Are you scared crapless? Or do you think this is all much ado about nothing?
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I'll put it this way. I am not having fun following this story.
 
I'm not really afraid, I'm concerned. I want to stay on top of the situation as much as possible....My heart is breaking for the people of Japan. I wish we had more answers. At this point I feel like I'm sitting here in a twilight zone waiting for something and not even knowing what that something is.
 
Quiche said:
I hope he doesn't get all pro nuke, political, or cow-tow to the Japanese government... :hand: Just an honest address to a worried public, please.
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Just want to hear the truth on the situation.
 
Maybe it's because I've lived through the 1950s, when this country did its testing of nuclear weapons by detonating H-bombs above ground and the air was filled with carcinogens across the country for days, but I am not a bit worried about present matters. Besides, it cuts into my praying time for those poor people in Japan, who are enduring real hells rather than over-imagined possible ones by people living thousands of miles away.
 
Hopeful One said:
Since we don't seem to know anything concrete about what could/might/may/maybe happen, what I want to know is how everyone feels. Are you scared crapless? Or do you think this is all much ado about nothing?
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I'm devastated for the Japanese-- I worry about the global economy, and I'm cautious about the immediate effects in the US.... and I'm scared that the life expectancy in the northern hemisphere is going to be adjusted downward from this.
 
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