Japan hit by 8.9 earthquake w/tsunami

'Slow-moving nightmare' unfolds at Japan plant - World news - Asia-Pacific - msnbc.com

 

US issues 50mile recommendation

quote: Based on its own analysis, the United States recommends that American citizens move at least 50 miles away from the stricken nuclear reactors in Japan, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday. The change in the U.S. advice is a break from the recommendation by the Japanese government, which has told people to evacuate to at least 12 miles away from the damaged reactors and to stay indoors if between 12 and 19 miles away.
U.S. breaks from Japan on evacuation zone around stricken reactors - CNN.com

 

It's safe to assume the NRC chief has access to classified images.

quote: The chief of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that all the water is gone from one of the spent fuel pools at Japan's most troubled nuclear plant, but Japanese officials denied it.
NRC: No Water in Spent Fuel Pool of Japan Plant - ABC News

quote:
So why is it that the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has warned: "The possibility of re-criticality is not zero"?
If you are in any doubt as to what this means, it is that in the company's view, it is possible that enough fissile uranium is present in enough density to form a critical mass in the cooling pond - meaning that a nuclear fission reaction could start in the building, outside the containment shield that surrounds the actual reactor.
If it happened, this would lead to the enhanced and sustained release of radioactive materials - though not a nuclear explosion.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12762608

 

MIT NSE Nuclear Information Hub

I hope this isn't a repost, but I'd hope that the people at MIT know what they're talking about. They have a running blog at MIT NSE Nuclear Information Hub (http://web.mit.edu/nse/) | Information about the incident at the Fukushima Nuclear Plants in Japan hosted by http://web.mit.edu/nse/ :: Maintained by the students of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering a. It seems like a legit site run by MIT as MIT Department of Nuclear Science & Engineering has a link to it.

 

I sincerely doubt that any sort of serious radiation hazard exists for the US. Unlike the closed and secretive former Soviet Union, this is happening in full view of the world

World governments, including China, South Korea, Australia, the US and Canada will do whatever necessary to keep this event as localized as possible

That said, i have no doubt a 50 km radius around the Fukushima plant will become intensely radioactive much as an immediate area around Chernobyl did.

Those who are now on site, and flying the helicopters overhead, should be considered brave and selfless heroes. They will suffer from Chronic Radiation Syndrome

Unfortunately, the only way to truly repair the cooling systems is to hope that some heroes step up. It's a one way suicide mission

 

Japan is a major economic partner and this evacuation will not be done unless there is real danger.

quote:U.S. to help Americans leave Japan - World news - Asia-Pacific - msnbc.com
But a hastily organized teleconference with officials from the State and Energy Departments underscored the administration's concerns. The travel warning extends to U.S. citizens already in the country and urges them to consider leaving. The authorized departure offers voluntary evacuation to family members and dependents of U.S. personnel in Tokyo, Yokohama and Nagoya and affects some 600 people.
...
White House spokesman Jay Carney sought to minimize any rift between the two allies, saying U.S. officials were making their recommendations based on their independent analysis of the data coming out of the region following Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami.
"I will not from here judge the Japanese evaluation of the data," Carney told reporters. "This is what we would do if this incident were happening in the United States."
"We believe radiation levels are extremely high," he said.

 

We are still way short on information. First, my thanks to Trebuchet for sending some money over, as he said he has done.

What have we got? Six reactors at Fuku1 that remain only slightly controllable. A variety of heroic efforts to add water. What is lacking for me (an perhaps you can help? ) is the understanding whether there is a means to lift isotopes above the lower troposphere. Without that, most of the bad stuff has an about 100km downwind footprint.

Chernobyl burned much hotter via the graphite rod fire, and got (perhaps a few % of) its core into the stratosphere. But I cannot see that mechanism happening here?

The Iodine 131 isotope has been released (but how much?) and more probably in the future (but how much?). THis is the only motivation to take KI pills. Nonetheless such pills are selling very well. Even in the US; youse guys are just getting too freaky for me.

But to be fair, I read today that Chinese (in Shanghai at least) are panic-buying salt because it is iodized and "might help". Now, if your blood pressure is 80/50, you can consume massive quantities of salt with no negative health impacts. Higher than that, it is pure wackiness.

It has been said before at PC that focussing on these blown reactors much detracts from the real obvious problems. About 1/2 millions survivors in Fukushima and northward are in shelters now, cold and short on supplies. This is the most pressing matter that I can see. BTW rain and snow limit the spread of radioactive isotopes in the troposphere. A good and bad thing.

So please may we focus on the larger matter? But while doing so, what is the status of the 4 reactors at Fukushima 2, a few km S on the coast? Brings me to my major beef; that Japan is disclosing information way too sowly. This allows wackies to dominate the info flow. Not good.

Far-field radiological measurements? China posts readings daily on the ministry of environmental protection website (now in English ) Nothing exciting to report from there. I have not found similar from south Korea; a bit closer.

A few months later, I imagine that TEPCO will have to do some concrete entombment at Fuku 1 and possibly at Fuku 2. Some of the people heroically spraying water at Fuku 1 now, will perhaps be dead. Near field fish catch will need to be monitored, and some will not be saleable. Fish coming out now have not yet had the chance to get 'hot'. Eat hearty! The main thing is that Japan Fukushima and north of there will need rebuilding at the cost of many billions.

The only other thing I can add concerns the 40 or 50 or 180 heroes doing the water thing at Fuku 1. The larger number seems correct; crews are being rotated according to sleep schedules.

 

Not true.
TEPCO is reporting the pressure of nuclear reactor is within normal range, then the fuel rods are safe.
The part of the outer container has been damaged.

The target was unit #3.
Last night, they sprayed water from ground to the unit #3 using fire truck.

You don't have to worry about pilots health.
They are working within a standard exposed dose, 100 mSv(milli-sievert).
The results of after mission was 1 mSv level.

Ken@Japan

 

FYI again,
You can view the current radiation level at following site.

Ken@Japan

 

As was said by a man with some understanding of the beast...

"Squirt guns against a forest fire"



Be safe Ken...

 

At least the radiation numbers in Ken's source are reasonable for a limited time. I wouldn't choose to live in one of the high fallout areas though.

 

Report says enough people are fleeing to clog up the freeways...

quote:Japan nuclear plant: no quick getaway for thousands trying to flee the radiation zone - Telegraph
On Thursday the cars were moving in the opposite direction as thousands of Japanese ignored their government's advice and began to flee south from Fukushima, the little-known Japanese town that, like Chernobyl, has now given its name to a nuclear disaster.

But if "flee" suggests speed, that would be to mislead: for mile after mile the cars barely moved above walking pace as they inched south from Nasushiobara, the last town north of Tokyo before you enter the wrong side of the 50-mile exclusion zone designated by Britain and the US

 

The destroyed rods in the reactors are quite manageable to eventually clean up. It's slow and expensive, but was done at TMI extremely methodically with robots. Same will be true here. All the contamination that remains in the control rod pools will be handled the same way. Robotic removal over a long period of time. Very safe on this aspect of the clean up. Please remember what was accomplished with the BP well being stopped with robots.

The real issue is all the contamination spread by fire, water runoff, and explosive debris. This may or may not be handled robotically. With the winds blowing offshore most of the time, the downstream contamination will be rather localized.

Manual cleanup will probably provide very good money (if handled correctly) to have a series of one time volunteers, heavily instrumented in real time, go in and perform operations not accomplishable by robots. Their exposures should be a lot less than a CAT scan and the money would be good, so no shortage of volunteers would occur. Most of the time the effort would not to clean up contamination, but to put covers or material over contaminated areas to stop spreading so later robotic actions could follow up.

So while this natural disaster side effect will be hyped up (and understandably so) its solvable to a very large degree despite the mood getting too carried away.

 

Not when the nuclear fuel is still cooking at thousands of degrees melting everything in contact. Cleaning up is what you do after the crisis is over.

Nuclear fallout over hundreds of sq miles cannot be cleaned up practically speaking.

 

U.S. Nuclear Industry Questions 50-Mile Radius
U.S. Nuclear Industry Questions 50-Mile Radius - WSJ.com
"WASHINGTON—The U.S. nuclear-power industry is questioning the "scientific basis" of the Obama administration's decision to evacuate U.S. citizens and military personnel within a 50-mile radius of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan.

The Obama administration's 50-mile evacuation policy made headlines Wednesday because it went beyond Japan's decision to impose a 12-mile evacuation zone, suggesting the U.S. did not agree with Japan's assessment of risks in the area.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Nuclear Energy Institute spokesman Steve Kerekes said the U.S. nuclear industry has "questions about the scientific basis" of the administration's actions. "

Ken@Japan

 

All true. However, at the end of the crisis, the amount of "fallout" from this is virtually insignificant to what the US covered itself in intentionally back in the 1950s and 1960s.