News Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, & Nuclear Disaster

[Cairan]

Yeah, this is starting to look like a VERY bad day... For us in North America and Europe, here's the map of the jet stream... if substantial releases occur... I doubt they'd get picked up by it but you never know...

http://squall.sfsu.edu/gif/jetstream_norhem_00.gif

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, twice above normal is just the question - normal is 1020 psig at normal operation. 2000 psig should be already terrible close to the mechanic fail limits.

EDIT: According to a Greenpeace expert, the pressure is currently just 50% above normal.

 

[SiberianTiger]

If I remember the story correctly, once a Russian navy nuclear submarine was supplying town ashore with electricity during months of power outage. If only the Japanese could bring their navy to get a current necessary to powr up their control lines... But again, there's "no such cord".

 

[Eli13]

If I remember the story correctly, once a Russian navy nuclear submarine was supplying town ashore with electricity during months of power outage. If only the Japanese could bring their navy to get a current necessary to powr up their control lines... But again, there's "no such cord".

Japan doesnt operate any nuclear submarines....

 

[Cairan]

Meltdown might have started. Hang on people, this is going to get nasty...

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/12_38.html & http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/12_45.html

The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says 2 radioactive substances, cesium and radioactive iodine, have been detected near the Number One reactor at the Fukushima Number One nuclear power station.

The agency says this indicates that some of the metal containers of uranium fuel may have started melting. The substances are produced by fuel fission.

...

The power station's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, began to vent air from the reactor container at 9AM on Saturday.

Under the plan, 2 valves close to the container would be opened manually, but radiation level on the second valve was found higher than expected.

The operation has been suspended because of the possibility that workers could be exposed to radiation. The utility is reportedly studying how to open the valve by replacing workers at a short interval, or using electric remote control.

 

[Wishbone]

Just how many molten cores have we got on our hands?

 

[tl8]

Not sure at this stage.

It appears the situation might have stabilised a bit, but still very little information.

They have started cooling using fire engines which I hope could be enough.

Edit: Some of the core may have melted but has hopefully stopped

Officals are expecting small leakages of radiation but not big ones.

 

[Notebook]

BBC News reporter says he was stopped by police 60Km from the power-station.

Not sure if this is just to help the evacuation, or if the zone has increased.

N.

 

[Notebook]

BBC News is reporting an 'explosion' at Fukushima, not sure if its a venting yet.


BBC is quoting NHK as saying workers have been injured, and damage to " a buildings roof". Not
clear if its new damage, or from the earthquake.

Dosen't sound good.

N,

 

[jinglesassy]

I am just hoping that there isnt a full nuclear meltdown at this point.

 

[Belisarius]

NHK now showing photos of the No1 reactor with part of the wall collapsed. [Correction: The whole structure gone] They say three [correction: 4] workers have been injured in an explosion.
The meltdown is happening.

 

[Keatah]

Some guy sitting in my office is spreading a rumor that the disaster is somehow caused by the Moon passing an unusually low perigee. I wonder, how scientific is that?

Ahh yes, I was waiting for the moon/solar positions to come into the discussion. It would seem to make sense. Sure things could have been in delicate balance prior to the quake, and the moon/sun positions could have just exacerbated it.

The space.com gang is going on this discuss two-forty! The author thinks there is no like, the readers think there is. http://www.space.com/11105-supermoon-didnt-trigger-japan-earthquake.html

I say since I was playing with my planetarium programs on 10x speed, I must have done something to cause this..

 

[IronRain]

Oh god.. meltdown..

---------- Post added at 09:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:49 AM ----------

officials now reporting possible meltdown

 

[tl8]

The roof has collapsed. So not quite an explosion.

No official reports of a full meltdown.

 

[IronRain]

The roof has collapsed. So not quite an explosion.

No official reports of a full meltdown.

If you see the explosion it doesn't look like only the roof collapsed..
Still the officials doesn't report a full meltdown, but they do report a possible meltdown

---------- Post added at 10:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:59 AM ----------

Smoke is gone. The roof and the walls are comletely gone. Only the skeleton of the building is still intact

 

[Sky Captain]

It looks like the pressure vessel has blown up taking a ractor building with it. In any case the whole site probably is contaminated with lethal radiation levels

---------- Post added at 11:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:21 AM ----------

video of an explosion

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/asia_pacific/

 

[IronRain]

Radiation leak confirmed, still no complete meltdown confirmed

 

[Urwumpe]

That is really bad now. Controlled release of steam does not blow the roof, this was at least a hydrogen explosion. The accident is still rated as INES 6, on the same level as back then in Mayak, but I doubt that it won't get uprated by the new situation.

Officials say that the explosion happened outside the reactor vessel, but this is pretty much doubtful. If you have such amounts of hydrogen in the containment already (A BWR does not have much other stuff outside the reactor vessel), the reactor must be badly. The pressure holder could be the alternative weak spot there, but this one is pretty close to the reactor and should be inside the inner containment as well.

 

[Wishbone]

Even a bomb does not disassemble _completely_. Lord, please help the Japanese.

 

[Belisarius]

Meanwhile they're extending the 10km evacuation alert to the Plant No 2, which seems to be going critical as well.

Now looking at BBC footage of the explosion - major incident, very big plume of grey-brown smoke.

Explosion video shows high-speed blast wave going upward preceding the release of smoke.

Here's the video:

1023 GMT: Evacuation zone extended to 20km radius around both No 1 and No 2 plants.