Japan Nuclear Crisis Part III

[eyewall]

http://www.cnn.com/2....html?hpt=hp_t2

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has detected the highest radiation levels at the facility since the initial earthquake and tsunami five months ago, a company spokesman said Tuesday. The ultra-high levels of radiation were measured Monday afternoon on the grounds of the facility, between reactors No. 1 and 2, Tokyo Electric Power Company spokesman Naoki Tsunoda. The lethal radiation was found at the bottom of a ventilation tower.

The power company immediately cordoned off the area and is currently investigating the cause of the high radiation and how it will affect the recovery work at the plant, Tsunoda said.

The radiation levels -- 10,000 millisieverts per hour -- are high enough that a single 60-minute dose would be fatal to humans within weeks.

[NaoPos]

http://www.cnn.com/2....html?hpt=hp_t2

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has detected the highest radiation levels at the facility since the initial earthquake and tsunami five months ago, a company spokesman said Tuesday. The ultra-high levels of radiation were measured Monday afternoon on the grounds of the facility, between reactors No. 1 and 2, Tokyo Electric Power Company spokesman Naoki Tsunoda. The lethal radiation was found at the bottom of a ventilation tower.

The power company immediately cordoned off the area and is currently investigating the cause of the high radiation and how it will affect the recovery work at the plant, Tsunoda said.

The radiation levels -- 10,000 millisieverts per hour -- are high enough that a single 60-minute dose would be fatal to humans within weeks.

whew! wonder if it has anything to due with the core breaching to the exterior surfaces in and around the plant?

[AmyB]

whew! wonder if it has anything to due with the core breaching to the exterior surfaces in and around the plant?

i wondered the same.. i'm trying to remember off the top of my head, but i think reactor #1 reached criticality again for a short time, and there was a story about the blue beam and by-products of fission found within the area of that beam.. not sure if that was ever confirmed though.. either way, that's a pretty high level they found..

[crossthread]

http://www.cnn.com/2....html?hpt=hp_t2

The radiation levels -- 10,000 millisieverts per hour -- are high enough that a single 60-minute dose would be fatal to humans within weeks.

That 10,00 Millisieverts per hours was the highest the instruments could read.. It's maybe much higher than that...

[AmyB]

Been a while since I've read anything.. this popped up yesterday:

Plutonium Found 40km from Japan's Fukushima Plant

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44751982/?fb_ref=s%3DshowShareBarUI%3Ap%3Dfacebook-like&fb_source=home_multiline

Small amounts of plutonium believed to have escaped from Japan’s tsunami-crippled nuclear plant have been detected in soil more than 40km away, say government researchers, a finding that will fuel already widespread fears about radiation risk.

The discovery came as authorities lifted evacuation advisories on other towns near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power station in the north-east prefecture of Fukushima, saying radiation readings showed they were safe for residents.

[Ginx snewx]

Been a while since I've read anything.. this popped up yesterday:

Plutonium Found 40km from Japan's Fukushima Plant

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44751982/?fb_ref=s%3DshowShareBarUI%3Ap%3Dfacebook-like&fb_source=home_multiline

Small amounts of plutonium believed to have escaped from Japan’s tsunami-crippled nuclear plant have been detected in soil more than 40km away, say government researchers, a finding that will fuel already widespread fears about radiation risk.

The discovery came as authorities lifted evacuation advisories on other towns near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power station in the north-east prefecture of Fukushima, saying radiation readings showed they were safe for residents.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/world/asia/radioactive-hot-spots-in-tokyo-point-to-wider-problems.html

TOKYO — Takeo Hayashida signed on with a citizens’ group to test for radiation near his son’s baseball field in Tokyo after government officials told him they had no plans to check for fallout from the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Like Japan’s central government, local officials said there was nothing to fear in the capital, 160 miles from the disaster zone.

Toshiyuki Hattori, chief of the Tachikawa city Nishiki-cho Sewage Treatment Plant, stands surrounded by radioactive contaminated sludge in an underground storage space filled beyond its capacity.

Then came the test result: the level of radioactive cesium in a patch of dirt just meters from where his 11-year-old son, Koshiro, played baseball was equal to those in some contaminated areas around Chernobyl.

The patch of ground was one of more than 20 spots in and around the nation’s capital that the citizen’s group, and the respected nuclear research center they worked with, found were contaminated with potentially harmful levels of radioactive cesium.

It has been clear since the early days of the nuclear accident, the world’s second worst after Chernobyl, that that the vagaries of wind and rain had scattered worrisome amounts of radioactive materials in unexpected patterns far outside the evacuation zone 12 miles around the stricken plant. But reports that substantial amounts of cesium had accumulated as far away as densely populated Tokyo have raised new concerns about how far the contamination had spread, possibly settling in areas where the government has not even considered looking.

The government’s failure to act quickly, a growing chorus of scientists say, is potentially exposing many more people than originally believed to potentially harmful radiation. It is also part of a pattern: Japan’s leaders have continually insisted that the fallout from Fukushima would not spread far, or pose a health threat to residents, or contaminate the food chain. And officials have repeatedly been proved wrong by independent experts and citizens’ groups that conduct testing on their own.

“Radioactive substances are entering people’s bodies from the air, from the food. It’s everywhere,” said Kiyoshi Toda, a radiation expert at Nagasaki University’s faculty of environmental studies and a medical doctor. “But the government doesn’t even try to inform the public how much radiation they’re exposed to.

The reports of hot spots do not indicate how widespread contamination is in the capital; more sampling would be needed to determine that. But they raise the prospect that people living near concentrated amounts of cesium are being exposed to levels of radiation above accepted international standards meant to protect people from cancer and other illnesses.

Japanese nuclear experts and activists have begun agitating for more comprehensive testing in Tokyo and elsewhere, and a cleanup if necessary. Robert Alvarez, a former special assistant to the United State Secretary of Energy and a nuclear expert, echoed those calls, saying the Defense Project’s measurements “raise major and unprecedented concerns about the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster

[AmyB]

it'll be at least 5-10 years before the first cases directly related to the accident will start to show up.

i fear an entire generation of children are going to have serious health issues for the rest of their lives..

i haven't thought to check arnie's site, here's what i found a few minutes ago:

http://fairewinds.com/content/evidence-neutron-leakage-fukushima-nuclear-plant-measurements-radioactive-35s-california

[Amped]

it'll be at least 5-10 years before the first cases directly related to the accident will start to show up.

i fear an entire generation of children are going to have serious health issues for the rest of their lives..

i haven't thought to check arnie's site, here's what i found a few minutes ago:

http://fairewinds.co...-35s-california

Kind of Like the 9-11 workers. We got toxic stuff here in Frederick, MD to. Not radioactive but still some disturbing conduct our own gonvernment covering it up.

In Frederick last week, Clifford Mitchell, with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, told residents that the number of diagnoses among those living within two miles of the base from 1992 through 2008 — the only period for which the state has data – did not differ significantly from those for Frederick County or Maryland as a whole.Those findings echoed earlier reports. White disputes them.

He says his team — a group of varying size that he says has grown at times to as many as 10 paid professionals and up to 40 volunteers — has counted hundreds of cancer cases not listed in the state registry.

They include one family that has lost 17 members to cancer, and another that has lost 11. White says his team has found 1,200 cancers in two ZIP codes alone and 118 on a single street: Shookstown Road, which runs along the southern edge of Area B.

[aslkahuna]

Kind of Like the 9-11 workers. We got toxic stuff here in Frederick, MD to. Not radioactive but still some disturbing conduct our own gonvernment covering it up.

Governments are the same the world over it seems-they care not about their own people.

Steve

[Ginx snewx]

Governments are the same the world over it seems-they care not about their own people.

Steve

Which is puzzling because we are all one. Never understood how Govt workers would put their own families at risk.

[Amped]

Governments are the same the world over it seems-they care not about their own people.

Steve

This is the same thing as the Tabacco companies trying to deny that smoking caused cancer. They don't want the lawsuits and they don't want to admit how badly they ****ed up to the public or even to themselves.

[AmyB]

It's business and politics.. simple as that.

There are a few coal-burning power plants, three I can think of immediately, two of them in Somerset, Mass.

One of the plants is on the Taunton River and the surrounding neighborhood has lost many people to cancers. The plant refuses to take responsibility for the cancers.

Same with the tobacco companies, their business is to sell a product and make money. There may be some personal guilt but the bottom line is most important. The money paid out in lawsuits was pocket change to them.. they know they will always have customers, and if they lose a few to cancer, there are likely a handful more that will take their place..

Government is a whole different kind of animal..

All of it is shameful, but we're more fortunate here than most countries..

[ArtRosen]

Are they still pouring water into the containment unit to make sure it doesn't blow?

We had 3 nuclear meltdowns... actually melt throughs. A meltdown is when it melts down to the floor. This seeped beyond the floor into the ground... hence melt through. And yet the world could care less. The apathy of the world is incredible to watch.

[Amped]

Are they still pouring water into the containment unit to make sure it doesn't blow?

We had 3 nuclear meltdowns... actually melt throughs. A meltdown is when it melts down to the floor. This seeped beyond the floor into the ground... hence melt through. And yet the world could care less. The apathy of the world is incredible to watch.

We lost intrest in May or June

Most of the radiation leak into the atmosphere occured in March - April, but sea water is still being contaminated. I just sure hope in never happens here, but I think we are just as vulnerable as Japan if not more because we have more Nuclear plants.

[aslkahuna]

On a related note, in a recent issue of EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, scientists tracking the debris field in the North Pacific from the tsunami are saying that the leading edge of it should reach the US West Coast around March 2012.

Steve

[Low Pressure Lunacy]

Which is puzzling because we are all one. Never understood how Govt workers would put their own families at risk.

I have found a lot of the people in the Gov. offices are actually decent people, some are pathological liars, but mostly it is the decision makers that are influenced by the corporations that are so detrimental to our world. I found this quote below on line, that I feel describes what is going on perfectly. Too bad the majority of decision makers are technically mentally unbalanced, once we demand integrity and sanity from our leaders then things may change for the better, but based on history it will probably never happen.

“It’s said that ‘power corrupts,’ but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable.” - David Brin, 'The Postman"

[catoctin wx]

Kind of Like the 9-11 workers. We got toxic stuff here in Frederick, MD to. Not radioactive but still some disturbing conduct our own gonvernment covering it up.

Do you live in the cancer cluster too?

[catoctin wx]

In a nutshell yes our Nuclear reactors rely on cooling system which rely on pumps and water and electrical power (Apparently not a given at a power plant and makes me wonder if it is safer to keep the plant running to power the cooling pumps during a crisis)

The new generation of nuclear reactors rely on a passive design for the Ultimate Heat Sink rather than pumps. Of course this is in the event of a complete station blackout, but it's better than needing power to cool down the reactor.

[AmyB]

Are they still pouring water into the containment unit to make sure it doesn't blow?

We had 3 nuclear meltdowns... actually melt throughs. A meltdown is when it melts down to the floor. This seeped beyond the floor into the ground... hence melt through. And yet the world could care less. The apathy of the world is incredible to watch.

i didn't do an extensive search and found the article below.

and i'm not entirely sure what kind of response you are looking for with respect to the world's lack of care.. what are they supposed to do?

http://online.wsj.co...3693856820.html

Radioactive Leaks From Fukushima Plant Cut by Half

TOKYO—The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant said Monday that emissions of radioactive materials from the quake-hit plant have fallen by half over the past month, a major step forward in efforts to stabilize the facility and eventually return evacuees to their homes.

In its monthly assessment of conditions at the plant, which was heavily damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, Tokyo Electric Power Co. reaffirmed its commitment to a safe shutdown of the plant's three damaged reactors by year's end, which should allow the government to relax evacuation orders for some residents.

Safe shutdown refers to a condition where fuel is sufficiently under control to stop the reactors from heating up.

"It is our mission to allow the earliest possible return of evacuees to their homes," said Yasuhiro Sonoda, a member of parliament responsible for managing the Fukushima crisis.

At least 85,000 residents from areas around the plant are still under mandatory evacuation orders, and the government has said it aims to reduce radiation in those areas to a level safe enough to allow the return of as many people as possible over the next two to three years.

Tepco said that emissions from the plant are now estimated at 100 million becquerels per hour, or one eight-millionth of their peak on March 15, though Tepco officials noted current levels are still higher than normal.

The assessment came after temperatures in the three damaged reactor cores all recently fell below 100 degrees Celsius, stopping radioactive steam from being emitted into the atmosphere.

"Stopping the steam leakage is a major step forward in terms of radiation control," said Tadashi Narabayashi, professor of reactor engineering at Hokkaido University.

Mr. Narabayashi said the focus of stabilization efforts will likely shift to ensuring stable cooling on a long-term basis, with the utility's setting to embark on the disposal of the reactors.

Tepco plans to cover one of the damaged reactors with a giant radiation-resistant polyester sheet by the end of October, while work to suck radioactive dust from the reactors' primary containment vessels is expected to be completed by year's end.

Construction will also start this month on an underground steel barrier along the plant's shoreline to prevent irradiated water in the basements of the reactor buildings from escaping into the Pacific Ocean.

Tepco wants to drain the basements to allow work to resume on the reactors, but as soon as the water is drained, groundwater seeps in through cracks in the concrete walls caused by the earthquake. No specific plan was given Monday on how to deal with the contaminated water except for constructing extra storage tanks.

In a separate assessment on safety measures, Tepco said that the biggest risk to the plant remains another large tsunami, which could destroy water-supply lines and prevent further cooling of the reactors. The company stressed, however, that the availability of multiple water-supply sources, including on-site fire trucks, minimizes the risk.

[Scott747]

Nothing earth shattering as it has always been generally agreed that each of the three reactors had suffered some form of a meltdown. TEPCO has now admitted that reactors #2 and #3 had in essence total meltdowns, though in the typical TEPCO fashion they aren't 100 percent sure.... http://www3.nhk.or.j...lish/24_16.html

They still haven't put up the 'circus tent' over the #1 reactor and I haven't seen anything mentioned about it as of late. It's either a mega sarcophagus or three individual ones for the long term. Supposedly they are testing the level of radiation directly above all three reactors and I'm assuming it's to determine the ability to begin construction once they are somewhat stabilized. In the last week they have entered all three of the reactor buildings but the radiation level is still so high that their time is limited.

They also are in the process of stabilizing the #4 reactor building as there is concern about the SFP and integrity of the building itself. http://www3.nhk.or.j...lish/24_16.html

Work began on Monday at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to reinforce the structure supporting the No.4 reactor's spent fuel pool.

TEPCO's plan calls for building a new concrete structure under the pool to prevent its bottom from falling out. 30 steel columns will be set up on the second floor of the building to support the new structure.

'Circus tent' finally finished at reactor 1 -

[ArtRosen]

Oops!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/11/01/bloomberg_articlesLU0FCU6K50Y2.DTL

Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. detected signs of possible nuclear fission at its crippled Fukushima atomic power plant in northern Japan, raising the risk of more radiation leaks.

The company, known as Tepco, began spraying boric acid on the No. 2 reactor at 2:48 a.m. Japan time in an attempt to prevent accidental chain reactions. Tepco said it may have found xenon, which is associated with nuclear fission, while examining gases taken from the reactor, according to an e-mailed statement today.