8.8 Richter earthquake hits Japan: Tsunami, nuclear meltdown, many dead

Rollyco

Team Tomoe
Oct 4, 2007
3,556
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Fukushima 1: Evacuation Incomplete, Government Reponse Slow

According to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) of the Ministry of Economy and Industry (MITI), regarding the evacuation of residents within the 10 km radius of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant, as of 11:30 AM, about 30% of 2,000-2,100 residents of Okuma-cho in Fukushima Province, which is located in the aforementioned danger zone, are yet to be evacuated, based on a report from Okuma-cho. Futaba-cho has also reported that about 20% of the 2,000 residents in danger are yet to be evacuated. There is a possibility that some of them have left on their own, without the knowledge of the municipal officials.

Source: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20110312/k10014622581000.html

Meanwhile, NHK says that 80,000 are now to be evacuated from the areas potentially subject to exposure to radioactive material; that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism has chartered so far only 60 buses for that purpose and will have to arrange for many more; and moreover that there are people in the potentially threatened areas for whom refuges have yet to be found by the government, and the government is just telling them to stay indoors until their refuges are ready...
 

Rollyco

Team Tomoe
Oct 4, 2007
3,556
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I don't have a translation for this one. Google translate seems to suggest that estimated radiation levels in the surrounding 10km radius could be 20-50 times the maximum permitted. Anyone?
福島第一原発1号炉で計画されている,格納容器の圧力を下げるための放射能放出は「重大事故」のレベルになることが明らかになった.

NHKラジオでは,10km圏内の被曝線量は20-50mSv(ミリシーベルト)になると保安院ら試算していることを伝えている.これは,一般人の年間の制限値である1mSvの20-50倍に達する.

第二原発でも,1・2・4号炉の圧力抑制プールの水の温度が100℃を超え機能喪失しているために,放射能の放出を行なう模様.

source: http://www.cnic.jp/modules/news/article.php?storyid=997
 

s3ph1roth

New Member
Oct 5, 2009
10
0
I don't have a translation for this one. Google translate seems to suggest that estimated radiation levels in the surrounding 10km radius could be 20-50 times the maximum permitted. Anyone?


source: http://www.cnic.jp/modules/news/article.php?storyid=997

The reactor is planned in Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant 1, the release of radioactivity to reduce the containment pressure is "major accidents" that result in an revealed levels.

NHK on the radio, 10km dose within the 20-50mSv (mSv) is telling them that the estimates will NISA. This is a limit of 20-50 times the annual public 1mSv Reached.

In the second nuclear power plant, due to loss of function 1.2.4 ℃ 100 more than the suppression pool water temperature of the reactor, made ​​the release of radioactivity pattern.

hope that'll help
 

CoolKevin

Nutcase on the loose
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Mar 30, 2007
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been keeping an eye on the news, just heard there is an explosion at one of the reactors, at the moment unconfirmed
 

Rollyco

Team Tomoe
Oct 4, 2007
3,556
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Explosion at Fukushima 1: Several Workers Injured

12 March 2011, 16:52

According to the Fukushima office of Tokyo Electric Power, a sound of explosion was heard at Unit 1 of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant around 3:30 PM. A plume of smoke was seen ten minutes later. Several workers have been reportedly injured.

The Fukushima office says that the smoke appeared to arise between the reactor building and the turbine building. However, it has been unable to confirm its exact location. The number of the injured, the degree of their injuries, any change in the measurement of radioactivity outdoors, whether or not the reactor container has been damaged are all unknown. The water level of the reactor has not shown any abnormal decrease. Two Tokyo Electric Power workers, and two employees of the company's collaborator, appear to have been taken to hospital.

Source: http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0312/TKY201103120437.html
 

greenbrain

Support AKIBA-ONLINE
Aug 4, 2008
204
29
This could be really bad news... the containment wall is the last line of defense against a meltdown, and part of it has been destroyed.



Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/japan-quake-idUSL3E7EC07M20110312

Right. A While ago i saw explosion of nuclear power plant. I'm very worry about radiation, especially not only japan but also pacific island. Maybe also USA AND KOREA.....

Please check wind direction. Support to JAPAN. So precious NATION JAPAN. Please................
 

gyoza ramen & a beer

Active Member
Feb 20, 2009
548
33
just heard there is an explosion at one of the reactors, at the moment unconfirmed

Confirmed. Youtube video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg4uogOEUrU


BBC report here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12720219

"Huge blast at Japan nuclear power plant

12 March 2011 Last updated at 04:21 ET

A massive explosion has struck a Japanese nuclear power plant after Friday's devastating earthquake.

A huge pall of smoke was seen coming from the plant at Fukushima and several workers were injured.

Japanese officials fear a meltdown at one of the plant's reactors after radioactive material was detected outside it...

Television pictures showed a massive blast at one of the buildings of the Fukushima 1 plant, about 250km (160 miles) northeast of Tokyo.

A huge cloud of smoke billows out and large bits of debris are flung far from the building.

Japan's NHK TV showed before and after pictures of the plant. They appeared to show that the outer structure of one of four buildings at the plant had collapsed after the explosion."
 

guy

(;Θ_Θ)ゝ”
Feb 11, 2007
2,079
43
Watching the news. TEPCO representitives say they will not comment on the cause of the explosion or the possibility of leaked radioactive material until they have collected more data; but at the same rate they refuse to confirm that there was an explosion, or which building was affected. TEPCO is only confirming that 4 workers were injured and have been taken to a hospital; and that "the sound of an explosion" was heard (at 15:36 local time) and shortly after one building was compromised. This despite video of what was clearly a blast, and detailed photography which clearly reveals which specific building was compromised.

There was a comment from one news station suggesting that the explosion might have occured at the building which contains the turbines rather than the reactor, but TEPCO will not confirm this (despite now having several hours to conduct an investigation). For reference, reactors are generally built deeper into the ground within their own buildings and not at surface level; however if a reactor containment vessel is already breached, the enclosing building is the last line of containing radioactive material from freely escaping into the atmosphere.



I've got a very bad impression that TEPCO is woefully unprepared for emergency response, and that there is no central leadership for handling the situation. They seem caught between following PM Kan for making decisions (who is not an expert on nuclear safety), and relying on international assistance [and international assistance is there to assist, not to provide leadership on managing the crisis].

In the meantime, evacuation has been increased to residents within 10km of both plants. Most residents within the 10km distance of Plant 1 had already evacuated following the original procedure. However, the original procedure only included residents within 3km of Plant 2; now that the radius has been increased, there are still many residents who haven't been able to evacuated. Helicopters are now being sent to assist in air evacuations.

There are reports that journalists trying to get to Fukushima to cover the situation are now being stopped by police as far away as 60km away from the plants.

Meanwhile, TEPCO representitives continue to insist that they don't know anything and therefore can't provide any concrete information...
 

guy

(;Θ_Θ)ゝ”
Feb 11, 2007
2,079
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A guest on BBC has now speculated that the explosion may have been caused by the released of pressurized steam, rather than an explosion of the reactor containment vessel. An explosion of the containment vessel is pretty much the worst case scenario, where the core radioactive material would be openly dispersed into the atmosphere. In the case of steam, radioactive material could also be released, but would be considerably less because the core containment vessel would have contained most of the material. However, the exact amount of radioactive material in the steam is unknown, so it is not clear of current evacuation procedures are adequate.

Of course, this is still all speculative because no authorities (TEPCO or otherwise) have provided any information about the blast.
 

redrooster

赤いオンドリ - 私はオタクです!
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Sep 25, 2007
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there are news in Germany that the radioactivity in the environment of Fukushima 1 is already 20 times as high as normal. Caesium has been detected.

And the cooling system of a second reactor block at Fukushima 1 is damaged too.
 

guy

(;Θ_Θ)ゝ”
Feb 11, 2007
2,079
43
there are news in Germany that the radioactivity in the environment of Fukushima 1 is already 20 times as high as normal. Caesium has been detected.

Yes, reports are indicating radiation levels of over 1000 mSv. 1 hour of exposure to that level of radiation is equivalent to 1 year's worth of exposure to "normal amounts" of radiation.

For those who are not familiar with nuclear power reactions, cesium is not a normal byproduct of a controlled reaction. Instead, the detection of cesium indicates that the fuel rods have breached the water coolant line (exposed to air within the reactor containment vessel) and are undergoing uncontrolled reactions (the precursor to a meltdown).

We can therefore guess that the water level has dropped and that fuel rods are now exposed, but TEPCO continues to deny having any information, so our best guess is still only speculative.

Because of the high radiation levels, TEPCO has decided to put its workers on rotation to minimize their individual exposure to radiation. Despite keeping the safety of the workers in mind, I fear that this decision may cause the process to slow down even more, in a situation where time is absolutely critical.

To get a better understanding of the scale of the problem: a nuclear reactor, under normal conditions, takes at least 48 hours to cool down properly. Inoperable pumps will of course lengthen that time. However, as fuel rods become exposed, their temperatures will increase (with increased uncontrolled reactions), which will only require even more cooling and thus an even longer amount of time.
 

redrooster

赤いオンドリ - 私はオタクです!
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Sep 25, 2007
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the evacuation area radius around Fukushima 1 and 2 just has been widened from 10 kilometers to 20 kilometers around the atomic power plants.
 

aquamarine

I Know Better Than You
Mar 19, 2007
4,556
127
Over 230 dead, over 1000 missing - Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants Core 1 Explodes - 20km evacuation area in the midst of evacuating.
 

Rollyco

Team Tomoe
Oct 4, 2007
3,556
34
We can therefore guess that the water level has dropped and that fuel rods are now exposed
No guessing required, NISA confirmed it well before the explosion. See post #56.

Partial meltdown (at least) is a accurate description of the state of Unit 1.
 

redrooster

赤いオンドリ - 私はオタクです!
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Sep 25, 2007
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people from the German THW (technical help squad) are already at Tokyo airport to try to help whereever they can, yet the guides who could be able to support them by translation and car driving have increased their bill / fee for their support from ~ 200 Euro/day up to ~ 2000 Euro/day. That´s wartime profiteer behavior...
 

Freedom Kira

Rawr™
Jun 19, 2009
317
41
Man, this is ridiculous. From what I could tell, when the power plant was initially hit, and even several hours later, with proper management it would have survived. Where are the engineers?

Edit: Oh man, did the grid get knocked out? All you members from Japan suddenly went offline.
 

aquamarine

I Know Better Than You
Mar 19, 2007
4,556
127
UPDATE - Police are driving through the neighborhoods on the loud-speaker suggesting that those of us in Tokyo are being advised to keep a few extra bottles of water by our bed tonight