Japan Nuclear Crisis Part III

[LovintheWhiteFluff]

Very disturbing since readers of the WSJ are supposedly some of our more "enlightened" citizens.

I worked on Wall Street and can safely say that a lot of them are really good at what they do since they spend 12 hours a day doing it, but some are off their rockers on other subjects.

[Amped]

I worked on Wall Street and can safely say that a lot of them are really good at what they do since they spend 12 hours a day doing it, but some are off their rockers on other subjects.

Those are readers comments, it's an unmoderated forum that anyone can post a comment on. Not WSJ staff.

[LovintheWhiteFluff]

Those are readers comments, it's an unmoderated forum that anyone can post a comment on. Not WSJ staff.

Who said it was Wall Street Journal staff? I worked on "Wall Street" in NYC, not for the WSJ. I was referring to the readership.

[Hailstorm]

Kyodo:

BREAKING NEWS: Strong quake jolts Fukushima Prefecture

BREAKING NEWS: Workers at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant ordered to evacuate (14:19)

[LovintheWhiteFluff]

6.3 but apparently was felt more due to depth as the shocks were 6- in a couple places.

http://www.jma.go.jp...391-121407.html

[JoMo]

yeah they can't get a break due to all the aftershocks.

[LovintheWhiteFluff]

yeah they can't get a break due to all the aftershocks.

They actually did get a break. They had very little in the way of earthquakes for 5 days. I thought it was declining since aftershocks usually go for about a month. Now it's starting up again but stronger ones. Here is a list. You can see at the bottom on the 5,6,7,8, and 10th they had few quakes.

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/quake_singen_index.html

[Hailstorm]

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine embassy has decided to move ahead of Japanese officials by extending the exclusion zone for Filipinos in the devastated Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

In an interview with ANC, Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manolo Lopez said the embassy is asking Filipinos to move outside a 50-kilometer radius from the nuclear plant that was crippled in March due to a 9-magnitude earthquake and a subsequent tsunami.

On Tuesday, Japan upgraded its nuclear emergency to alert level 7 as workers in the plant try to control overheating reactors. The accident is now at par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which also reached the highest alert level.

Chief government spokesman Yukio Edano has already expressed concern about radiation “hot spots” even outside the 20 kilometer exclusion zone.

Lopez said there are about 1,000 Filipinos within the 50 kilometer radius. In tandem with the Philippine government, the embassy is ready to evacuate those in the said area.

He expects, however, not all may decide to evacuate.

“We’ll try our best. We’ll do what we can. When we started evacuating a month ago, when the tsunami struck, quite a number opted to remain. We have no idea right now [if it would be difficult to persuade the rest to leave].”

Some of the Filipinos have already established their lives there, by marrying Japanese nationalities, he explained.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/04/12/11/pinoys-asked-move-much-farther-fukushima-plant

[SP]

Nuclear engineer runs an experiment with a piece of an actual fuel rod.

http://fairewinds.com/

Fantastic experiment to demonstrate what has occurred inside the reactors.

[Isopycnic]

Nuclear engineer runs an experiment with a piece of an actual fuel rod.

http://fairewinds.com/

Same guy with an update of pool "4".

http://fairewinds.com/it/content/new-images-reveal-nuclear-fuel-rack-exposed-air

[janetjanet998]

Kyodo: BREAKING NEWS: Released radioactivity comes mostly from No. 2 reactor blast March 15

I'm confused.

I thought 2 was the one that didn't have an explosion out of the 4

[dan11295]

I'm confused.

I thought 2 was the one that didn't have an explosion out of the 4

2 did not have a hydrogen explosion blowing off the outer containment structure, but there was an explosion believed to be in the reactor area.

This site has a good rundown of radiation levels in various locations in Japan, including within Fukushima Prefecture.

Key pieces of data are the time when the key radiation releases occurred versus the lifetimes of the key isotopes emitted. Main spikes were on 3/15-16, 24 days before the last update on those readings, 4/9. Most of the radiation as I understand it is from I-131 and Cs-137. I-131 has a half-life of 8 days. This means now only 1/8 of any I-131 emitted in this spike has now decayed. This would imply that a significant percentage of the radiation levels now observed is from Cs-137, which has a 30 year half-life. This article states that soil analsys by Kyoto University finds the 80% of the observed contamination is from Cs-137.

If that is the case observed radiation will decay only very slowly from here on out. At current levels, the total dosage in Iidate Village would hit the 350 mS/lifetime criteria used for relocation after Chernobyl in about 6.5 years. It would be expected that there will be some further reduction in total dosage in the coming months, but at some point it will "level out".

[johnc]

I'm confused.

I thought 2 was the one that didn't have an explosion out of the 4

I think they didn't want another hydrogen explosion so probably didn't vent reactor 2 as aggressively as they did reactors 1 and 3. They ended up with an explosion in the suppression pool area (that torus thingy at the bottom). Immediately after the explosion they noticed that radiation levels went up, so they suspected a breach, and I believe that's when they decided to pull their employees from the site.

[Clinch Leatherwood]

Mess as many of us thought. It's a slow motion train wreck that will only slowly be contained in the years ahead. Time is on their side sort of which is a good thing.

Amazing they kept it from getting much worse considering what the country endured and how poorly prepared they were.

[Hailstorm]

2 did not have a hydrogen explosion blowing off the outer containment structure, but there was an explosion believed to be in the reactor area.

This site has a good rundown of radiation levels in various locations in Japan, including within Fukushima Prefecture.

Key pieces of data are the time when the key radiation releases occurred versus the lifetimes of the key isotopes emitted. Main spikes were on 3/15-16, 24 days before the last update on those readings, 4/9. Most of the radiation as I understand it is from I-131 and Cs-137. I-131 has a half-life of 8 days. This means now only 1/8 of any I-131 emitted in this spike has now decayed. This would imply that a significant percentage of the radiation levels now observed is from Cs-137, which has a 30 year half-life. This article states that soil analsys by Kyoto University finds the 80% of the observed contamination is from Cs-137.

If that is the case observed radiation will decay only very slowly from here on out. At current levels, the total dosage in Iidate Village would hit the 350 mS/lifetime criteria used for relocation after Chernobyl in about 6.5 years. It would be expected that there will be some further reduction in total dosage in the coming months, but at some point it will "level out".

However, the radiation level in Iidate Town is currently only 6 µSv per hour and is declining as we speak; the chart below vividly indicates this. This is way below the 11.5 µSv per hour benchmark that would accumulate to an annual dose of 100 mSv, which is the level at which an increased risk in long-term cancer is observed. Moreover, the last time Iidate Town saw a dose rate of at least 11.5 µSv per hour was on March 25. In fact, according to that whole site's collection of charts, none of the towns in all the prefectures outside the nuclear plants' gates come close to that critical 11.5 µSv per hour threshold level at the current moment.

[Mt.Zoniac]

Hum.....that Energy News site (enenews.com) which is publishing outrageous radiation claims seems to have popped into existence around March 16, few days after the Fukushima disaster occurred. It's registration is only valid until next year. Interestingly, it was associated with previously-existing sites who changed domain names and moved registrars from Phoenix to several other areas - Florida, Utah, and also connected tangentially to Plano, Texas. It claimed itself to be associated with a R&D outfit from the Netherlands or vicinity.

Phoenix and Plano sealed it. I now declare it a FAKE. Go drink the rainwater.

[winterymix]

http://www.epa.gov/japan2011/data-updates.html

[snywx]

http://youtu.be/Ax7TQMMn_GQ

I cant imagine what the radiation levels are within the plant grounds..

[Hailstorm]

http://youtu.be/Ax7TQMMn_GQ

I cant imagine what the radiation levels are within the plant grounds..

Those citizens absorbed around 5% of the typical annual radiation in just a few hours.

[Mt.Zoniac]

Didn't see them wearing any protective gear. Rad levels were creepy.....and those poor animals. Geez.

[jburns]

Those citizens absorbed around 5% of the typical annual radiation in just a few hours.

So not very high then, considering the situation and the extremely low amount of typical average annual radiation exposure.

[Hailstorm]

So not very high then, considering the situation and the extremely low amount of typical average annual radiation exposure.

Well, the highest reading they took when they got within 1.5 kilometers of the plant was 112 µSv per hour. These levels are not threatening to their health in any form since they left the evacuation zone after a few hours; however, those stranded animals and livestock can have an increased risk of cancer should they stay near the plants for a month or two.

[AmyB]

Latest happenings, robots sent in to check the scene:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/19/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html?hpt=T2

Excerpt from article:

Tokyo (CNN) -- A robot probe found sauna-like conditions inside the No. 2 reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant but lower levels of radiation than in other damaged units, the plant's owner reported Tuesday.

Reactor No. 2 is believed to be leaking water, thousands of tons of which are filling the basement of its turbine plant and utility tunnels. A robot inserted into the unit's reactor building Monday found temperatures up to 41 degrees Celsius (106 F) and humidity ranging from 94-99 percent, the Tokyo Electric Power Company reported Tuesday.

Those conditions fogged up the lenses of the probe's cameras, forcing operators to withdraw the device after a few minutes, company officials said. But the radiation levels were low enough that workers might be able to re-enter the building for short periods of time, Tokyo Electric officials said.

The robot clocked a radiation level of 4.1 millisieverts per hour -- less than 10% of the amount found in the No. 1 and No. 3 reactor buildings on Sunday. By comparison, the average resident of an industrialized country receives a dose of about 3 millisieverts per year. A CT scan produces just under 7, and a chest X-ray delivers a one-time dose of about .05 millisieverts.

[LovintheWhiteFluff]

Arnie Gundersen questions TEPCO and the Japanese government's story.

[Arnost]

Arnie Gundersen questions TEPCO and the Japanese government's story.

Arnie Gunderson may not be exactly objective in this case: linky

[ApacheTrout]

You are linking to a smear job to discount anything Mr. Gunderson has testified about Vermont Yankee. Mr. Gunderson is an extremely straight shooter with a documented track record of being right about activities at Vermont Yankee. He deals in facts, period. His services to the Vermont legislature and the citizens of Vermont have been invaluable during the debate about whether to renew Vermont Yankee's license.

Arnie Gunderson may not be exactly objective in this case: linky

[NaoPos]

I have a buddy of mine that works for an industrial rescue team. he's currently working up at limerick. Apparently, from what he's telling me, the current ongoing project up there has hit a snag due to "concentrated levels of iodine that can be traced to the japanese nuclear crisis" in some of the below surface concrete.

Now, don't be alarmed. this shouldn't come as any news due to the whole rainwater debacle/hype from a month ago. He said levels are safe, but special equipment due to regulations and osha and all that good stuff.

[AmyB]

I have a buddy of mine that works for an industrial rescue team. he's currently working up at limerick. Apparently, from what he's telling me, the current ongoing project up there has hit a snag due to "concentrated levels of iodine that can be traced to the japanese nuclear crisis" in some of the below surface concrete.

Now, don't be alarmed. this shouldn't come as any news due to the whole rainwater debacle/hype from a month ago. He said levels are safe, but special equipment due to regulations and osha and all that good stuff.

i'm a little confused by this.. iodine has a half life of 8 days, and the levels in rainwater aren't enough to be of large concern.. how can there be concentrated levels for fukushima that far away and that long after it's traveled?

just a question.. passes the time since there's been no news of note on fukushima in what, a week now?

is no news really good news? i guess now that the majority of information on what's gone on is out there, not much left to talk about. would be nice to know how they are doing, what kind of progress they've made in the last week..

[ApacheTrout]

i'm a little confused by this.. iodine has a half life of 8 days, and the levels in rainwater aren't enough to be of large concern.. how can there be concentrated levels for fukushima that far away and that long after it's traveled?

just a question.. passes the time since there's been no news of note on fukushima in what, a week now?

is no news really good news? i guess now that the majority of information on what's gone on is out there, not much left to talk about. would be nice to know how they are doing, what kind of progress they've made in the last week..

There could be several reason. The one-time dose of radiation could have been high. Eight days later, half is gone. Another 8 day, 1/2 of the remaining amount is gone, and so on. Or the radiation is on-going at a constant rate and maintains a steady level over time. There could be other reasons, but those are the two that I've come up with based on understanding of the 1/2 life decay process.

[AmyB]

There could be several reason. The one-time dose of radiation could have been high. Eight days later, half is gone. Another 8 day, 1/2 of the remaining amount is gone, and so on. Or the radiation is on-going at a constant rate and maintains a steady level over time. There could be other reasons, but those are the two that I've come up with based on understanding of the 1/2 life decay process.

I just found it interesting that the iodine from Fukushima is holding up a project almost half the world away. I'm going to take a guess and say it takes 3-4 days for air to travel from Japan to (I'm assuming Limerick, PA.) If that's the case, it's either a high level of iodine or a really iodine-sensitive project if it's being affected that far away.. just something to think about..