Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor

[ozpharlap]

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's top government spokesman says a partial meltdown is likely under way at second reactor affected by Friday's massive earthquake.

 

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Sunday that radiation at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima briefly rose above legal limits, but it has since declined significantly.

 

Three reactors at the plant lost their cooling functions in the aftermath of quake and tsunami because of a power outage.

 

Some 170,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the area within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the plant.

 

The plant is 170 miles (270 kilometers) north of Tokyo.

 

APP

[ozpharlap]

A second explosion has occurred at one of Japan's nuclear power plants.

 

About 200 people have treated for possible exposure to radiation and another 600 residents within 20km of the plant were ordered to stay indoors.

 

Japan's nuclear safety agency said the blast, at the number three reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, was believed to be caused by hydrogen.

 

Live pictures from Japanese television showed large plumes of smoke rising from the building.

 

The explosion at the plant, which is 250km northeast of Tokyo, had raised fears of a mass radiation leak, but authorities later confirmed the reactor container was likely undamaged.

 

The chief government spokesman Yukio Edano, citing information from the plant operator TEPCO, said the reactor had not been breached and confirmed there was a "low possibility" of major radiation. The drama unfolded as Japanese news outlets reported a 3m-high tsunami was heading for Japan's northeast coast.

 

Sirens went off in the town of Soma as the order to evacuate went out over the public address systems.

 

The wave was reported by a fire department helicopter and the sea was reportedly seen retreating off Iwate prefecture in the northeast of Honshu island, a phenomenon that occurs before a tsunami hits.

 

But authorities have now cancelled the tsunami threat, with the Meteorological Agency saying there's no current risk of another deadly wave hitting Japan's north-eastern coast.

 

Today's explosion at the Fukushima No. 1 plant follows an explosion at the same plant on Saturday, which knocked out the roof and walls of one of the reactors and triggered growing fears Japan may suffer a nuclear meltdown.

 

Reports said that earlier on Monday, a cooling pump at the Tokai nuclear power plant failed.

 

A spokesman at the plant, which is located 120km from Tokyo, confirmed though that an additional pump was working and cooling the reactor.

 

Japan Atomic Power Company spokesman Masao Nakano told AFP: "Our seawater pump, powered by a diesel generator, stopped because of the tsunami and we then manually stopped one of our cooling systems.

 

"But the other cooling systems and other pumps are working well, and temperatures of the reactor have continued to fall smoothly."

 

A state of emergency was reported at the Onagawa nuclear power plant after radioactivity readings exceeding allowed levels in the area.

 

Authorities claimed the three reactor units at the Onagawa nuclear power plant were "under control" and later told the U.N. nuclear watchdog that radioactivity levels "at the site boundary" of the plant had returned to normal.

 

Local media reports said on Saturday three residents living close to the Fukushima No. 1 plant were found to be exposed to radiation after spending a long time outside awaiting rescue.

 

The government was quick to try to quell fears on Saturday, saying the explosion did not rupture the container surrounding the reactor itself.

 

Authorities have declared an evacuation zone within a 20km radius of the plant and evacuated 210,000 people.

[LizardKing]

Uh, not really. If you want to know all there is to know about the science (in layman's terms) of the Fukushima problems and the outcomes without the hyperbole and drama, try here.

 

The gist? An executive summary of the above link.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

[color:purple]* The plant is safe now and will stay safe.

 

* Japan is looking at an INES Level 4 Accident: Nuclear accident with local consequences. That is bad for the company that owns the plant, but not for anyone else.

 

* Some radiation was released when the pressure vessel was vented. All radioactive isotopes from the activated steam have gone (decayed). A very small amount of Cesium was released, as well as Iodine. If you were sitting on top of the plants’ chimney when they were venting, you should probably give up smoking to return to your former life expectancy. The Cesium and Iodine isotopes were carried out to the sea and will never be seen again.

 

* There was some limited damage to the first containment. That means that some amounts of radioactive Cesium and Iodine will also be released into the cooling water, but no Uranium or other nasty stuff (the Uranium oxide does not “dissolve†in the water). There are facilities for treating the cooling water inside the third containment. The radioactive Cesium and Iodine will be removed there and eventually stored as radioactive waste in terminal storage.

 

* The seawater used as cooling water will be activated to some degree. Because the control rods are fully inserted, the Uranium chain reaction is not happening. That means the “main†nuclear reaction is not happening, thus not contributing to the activation. The intermediate radioactive materials (Cesium and Iodine) are also almost gone at this stage, because the Uranium decay was stopped a long time ago. This further reduces the activation. The bottom line is that there will be some low level of activation of the seawater, which will also be removed by the treatment facilities.

 

* The seawater will then be replaced over time with the “normal†cooling water

 

* The reactor core will then be dismantled and transported to a processing facility, just like during a regular fuel change.

 

* Fuel rods and the entire plant will be checked for potential damage. This will take about 4-5 years.

 

* The safety systems on all Japanese plants will be upgraded to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami (or worse)

 

* I believe the most significant problem will be a prolonged power shortage. About half of Japan’s nuclear reactors will probably have to be inspected, reducing the nation’s power generating capacity by 15%. This will probably be covered by running gas power plants that are usually only used for peak loads to cover some of the base load as well. That will increase your electricity bill, as well as lead to potential power shortages during peak demand, in Japan.

 

If you want to stay informed, please forget the usual media outlets and consult the following websites:

[/color]

* http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_reactors_1203111.html

* http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/12/japan-nuclear-earthquake/

* http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2011/03/11/media-updates-on-nuclear-power-stations-in-japan/

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Considering it this a 40 year old unit, and the design specs were exceeded by 5x (designed for an 8.2 quake, this was 8.9; Richter scale is logarithmic), and by ~0.5M in height of the tsunami (designed for 6.5M), it is damn impressive that this is a minor thing, generally speaking. No lasting contamination, and only one person (a plant worker) who has any radiation damage at all.

 

Instead of being a ding on nuclear's record, it should be a plus. We will now take the lessons learned here and apply them to new reactors.

[Flashermac]

 

U.S. West Coast in Path of Fallout

 

 

“If There Were a Reactor Meltdown or Major Leak at Fukushima, the Radioactive Cloud Would Likely be Blown Out … Towards the US West Coastâ€

 

 

Agence-France Presse notes:

 

California is closely monitoring efforts to contain leaks from a quake-damaged Japanese nuclear plant, a spokesman said Saturday, as experts said radiation could be blown out across the Pacific.

 

***

 

“At present there is no danger to California. However we are monitoring the situation closely in conjunction with our federal partners,†Michael Sicilia, spokesman for California Department of Public Health, told AFP.

 

“California does have radioactivity monitoring systems in place for air, water and the food supply and can enhance that monitoring if a danger exists,†he added.

 

***

 

Experts have suggested that, if there were a reactor meltdown or major leak at Fukushima, the radioactive cloud would likely be blown out east across the Pacific, towards the US West Coast.

 

***

 

“The wind direction for the time being seems to point the (nuclear) pollution towards the Pacific,†said Andre-Claude Lacoste of the French Nuclear Safety Authority, briefing journalists in Paris on the Japanese crisis.

 

***

 

Earlier the NRC said it was “examining all available information as part of the effort to analyze the event and understand its implications both for Japan and the United States.â€

 

The winds could shift at any time, blowing radiation into Tokyo or other parts of Japan.

 

However, even if the prevailing winds remain off-shore – towards California and Washington – those American states are still a long way away. As AFP notes:

 

While US nuclear experts acknowledged the seriousness of Japan’s reactor crisis, some stressed that taking steps in the United States such as distributing iodine tablets — which prevent iodine 131 from being absorbed into the body — would be “vastly premature.â€

 

“It’s a big ocean. These (radiation) releases are essentially going to be at ground level,†said Ken Bergeron, a physicist who has worked on nuclear reactor accident simulation.

 

“We should not confuse it with health issues in the United States.â€

 

Japan is roughly 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) from the US West Coast.

 

But while the great distances make the risk of radiation exposure to Californians and Washingtonians small, it is not zero.

 

 

For example, pollution from Chinese coal factories routinely hits California. For example, Mongabay noted in 2008:

 

Previous studies have documented that dust from Asia — especially from deserts and industrial regions of China — routinely crosses the Pacific Ocean on prevailing winds to sully the air over the western U.S.

 

And see this and this.

 

As as the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory wrote last December:

 

About a third of the airborne lead particles recently collected at two sites in the San Francisco Bay Area came from Asia, a finding that underscores the far-flung impacts of air pollution and heralds a new way to learn more about its journey across vast distances.

 

In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the California Air Resources Board tracked variations in the amount of lead transported across the Pacific over time.

 

***

 

It’s well known that particles and other aerosols cover long distances through the Earth’s atmosphere. But the details of this transport, such as that of the lead particles’ 7,000-mile journey from the smokestacks of China to the west coast of North America, are largely unknown.

 

 

 

Link

 

 

[Nervous God]

I'm with LK = waaa waaa waaa LA

[ozpharlap]

Oh, I concur, it is just Green Peace & green politicians here in Oz making these claims, together with the modern lazy plagiaristic media that beat it up ... they don't quote that in regards to the worse nuclear accident, Chernobyl, only 50 people died, most of them in the initial blast.

[Coss]

Whilst the footage of the plant's explosions are dramatic, I note that the language of the reporting is "estimated", "likely", "possible", "potential", no facts anywhere.

 

Japan needs to release facts.

 

Iran TV went as far as saying that it "could" be as bad as Chernobyl where "10s of thousands" died.

 

What a load of snot.

 

Doctors don't get paid to lie, how come journalists do?

[Hugh_Hoy]

I think, overall, the media has been quite responsible in it's reporting. Generally, if facts are not known, it has been pretty forthright about it. Terms like "possible" have often been very guarded and accompanied by "expert" opinions as to likelihood.

 

Given the three main calamities (earthquake, tidal wave, damage to nuclear facilities), there are bound to be a lot more unknowns than facts. The best that can be reported are estimates and possible scenarios. As time passes, pertinent information will become more tangible and concrete.

 

HH

[Specialist]

LK, if you and I happen to meet at a Friday night meeting, your first beer is on me.

 

Thanks for putting it into plain language and proper perspective.

 

[Coss]

Well I'm seeing inflammatory stuff, like "Japan crisis: third explosion raises spectre of nuclear nightmare"

 

On the other side of the coin, NHK is probing the "company" man and he won't let one iota of information loose, this "looks" like covering up, even though, he's trying to tow the company line.