Nuclear Meltdown Watch

[JackRiddler]

Thank you SLAD for the videos. I saw the C-SPAN thing when it aired and agree that it is essential viewing. & Dismaying.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=31466&start=585#p391957

[pepsified thinker]

(I've been dabbling in this thread--haven't read all pages/posts--so sorry if this was already posted)

I'm wondering about the U.S. having a wider evac zone than the Japanese authorities, and now this with the Japanese Defense Minister saying they're going on input from the U.S. re use of freshwater. Why the discrepency re evac zone? (that's not so hard to figure--U.S. can afford to play it safe/be conservative in estimating damage/danger) But additionally, why say that their using freshwater because the U.S. pushed them to do it? Does the Defense Minister want to show that local officials have their heads up their @sses for not using freshwater? Does he want to downplay the idea of needing freshwater by passing it off as only a concern for the nervous-nelly U.S.? --???--

Also, what's the U.S. officialdom's roll in this situation? How are their interests different from those of the various Japanese players?

all from same AP article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/26/us-assists-japan-nuclear-plant-fresh-water_n_840938.html

Defense Minister Yoshimi Kitazawa said late Friday that the U.S. government had made "an extremely urgent" request to switch to freshwater. He said the U.S. military was sending water to nearby Onahama Bay and would begin water injections early next week.

The Pacific Command confirmed Saturday that barges loaded with freshwater were dispatched to Fukushima.

Temperatures have stabilized in one unit, Unit 1, since the switch to freshwater, Nishiyama said Saturday.

(emphasis added)


U.S. Navy's barge YOGN-115, back, is towed by Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force's multi purpose support ship off the coast of Isumi, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, Saturday, March 26, 2011. The barge carrying 1.04 million liters (275,000 gallons) of fresh water departed Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY) Friday to support cooling efforts at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Yomiuri Shimbun, Yasushi Kanno)

U.S. Naval Barges Bring Fresh Water To Assist With Cooling At Japan Nuclear Plant

SENDAI, Japan -- U.S. naval barges loaded with fresh water sped toward Japan's overheated nuclear plant to help workers who scrambled Saturday to stem a worrying rise in radioactivity and remove dangerously contaminated water from the facility.

Workers at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have been pumping seawater in a frantic bid to stabilize reactors that went haywire after a tsunami knocked out the complex's crucial cooling system earlier this month.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. is now rushing to inject the reactors with fresh water instead amid concerns about the corrosive nature of the salt in seawater, Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency said at a briefing Saturday.

The switch was the latest tactic in frantic efforts to gain control of the nuclear power plant located near the coast, 140 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.

Low levels of radiation have been seeping from the plant since a magnitude-9 earthquake and the ensuing tsunami on March 11, forcing an evacuation of families living within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the plant.

Elevated levels of radiation have been found in raw milk, sea water and 11 kinds of vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower and turnips, prompting several countries to halt some food imports from Fukushima region.

Tap water in several areas of Japan, including Tokyo, also measured at levels two times higher than the government standard for infants, who are particularly vulnerable to cancer-causing radioactive iodine.

On Friday, nuclear safety officials revealed that they suspected a breach in one or more of the plant's units, possibly a crack or hole in the stainless steel chamber around a reactor core containing fuel rods or the concrete wall surrounding a pool where spent fuel rods are stored.

Suspicions were aroused when two workers suffered skin burns after unexpectedly encountering water that was 10,000 times more radioactive than levels normally found in the units, NISA said.

Such a breach could mean a much larger release of radioactive contaminants. The most likely consequence would be contamination of the groundwater, experts said.

Following the announcement, government officials urged families in a voluntary evacuation zone between 12 and 19 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) from the plant to leave on their own.

Radioactivity was on the rise in some units due to contaminated water, Nishiyama said Saturday.

"It is crucial to figure out how to remove contaminated water while allowing work to continue," he said, acknowledging that the discovery would set back delicate efforts to get the plant's cooling system operating again.

Workers have begun pumping radioactive water from one of the units, Masateru Araki, a TEPCO spokesman, said Saturday.

Plant officials and government regulators say they don't know the source of the radioactive water. It could have come from a leaking reactor core, connecting pipes or a spent fuel pool. Or it may be the result of overfilling the pools with emergency cooling water.

But a breach in the chamber surrounding the core reactor seemed "more likely," Nishiyama said.

Tests of seawater just outside one unit tested some 1,250 times higher than normal, probably from both airborne radiation released from the reactors and contaminated water leaking into the sea, he said, adding that there was no immediate health risk.

Such levels are unlikely to pose a direct health risk to humans because they would not be expected to drink seawater or swim near the plant in these circumstances. This can affect the immediate marine environment, but the vast expanse of the sea will help dilute high levels of radiation.

The switch to cooling reactors with freshwater was necessary because of fears salt and other contaminants in sea water were clogging up pipes and coating the surface of reactor vessels and fuel rods, hampering the cooling process, NISA said.

Defense Minister Yoshimi Kitazawa said late Friday that the U.S. government had made "an extremely urgent" request to switch to freshwater. He said the U.S. military was sending water to nearby Onahama Bay and would begin water injections early next week.

The Pacific Command confirmed Saturday that barges loaded with freshwater were dispatched to Fukushima.

Temperatures have stabilized in one unit, Unit 1, since the switch to freshwater, Nishiyama said Saturday.

The nuclear crisis has compounded the challenges faced by a nation already overwhelmed by the disaster and devastation wrought by the tsunami.

Japanese soldiers and U.S. Marines were still clearing away debris so they could keep searching for bodies and bury the dead. The official death toll stood at 10,151 Saturday, with more than 17,000 listed as missing, police said. The final death toll was expected to top 18,000.

Hundreds of thousands whose homes were destroyed still have no power, no hot meals and, in many cases, have not showered in two weeks.

"It's still like I'm in a dream," said Tomohiko Abe, a 45-year-old machinist who was in the devastated coastal town of Onagawa trying to salvage any belongings he could from his ruined car. "People say it's like a movie, but it's been worse than any movie I've ever seen."

Government spokesman Yukio Edano said Friday that people living in the voluntary evacuation zone were safe from radiation as long as they stayed indoors. But he advised residents to leave due to a shortages in supplies to the area.

"If the current situation is protracted and worsens, then we will not deny the possibility of (mandatory) evacuation," he said.

The U.S. has recommended that people stay 50 miles (80 kilometers) away from the plant.

One Fukushima government official said some commercial trucks were refusing to enter the area because of radiation fears, resulting in a shortage of goods.

"We are not ordering people to leave. But we have told residents that we will help you leave voluntarily," Takeshi Ishimoto said.

___

Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writers Shino Yuasa, Jeff Donn, Mayumi Saito and Jean H. Lee in Tokyo, and Jay Alabaster in Onagawa, also contributed to this report.

[23]

Sorry. Couldn't cut and paste this.

http://www.irsn.fr/FR/popup/Pages/irsn- ... 2mars.aspx

[seemslikeadream]

Sorry. Couldn't cut and paste this.

http://www.irsn.fr/FR/popup/Pages/irsn- ... 2mars.aspx

a couple screen shots

[23]

I'm impressed with your graphical capabilities, slad.

Good show.

I wonder, however, if the southern hemisphere will eventually be affected.

Every graphical representation that I've seen, thus far, only shows the northern hemisphere being affected.

Guess that's why some folks are considering SA, if the shit hits the fans.

[jingofever]

From Kyodo News:

NEWS ADVISORY: Pool of water at No.2 reactor may be from reactor core: safety agency

NEWS ADVISORY: Over 1,000 millisieverts per hour found in water at No.2 reactor

NEWS ADVISORY: 10 mil. times normal level of radioactivity in water at No.2 reactor

[seemslikeadream]

Radioactivity soars in Japan reactor
Workers evacuated from a plant building after high doses of radiation were detected.
Last Modified: 27 Mar 2011 05:07
Email ArticlePrint ArticleShare ArticleSend Feedback


Radiation at a hobbled nuclear plant in Japan was 10 million times more than normal, officials said.

Workers were evacuated on Sunday from the reactor building in Fukushima to prevent exposure, the plant's operator said.

The high radiation levels were detected at reactor number 2 in water that had accumulated in the turbine housing unit, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the plant's operator, said.

Officials said the high levels of radiation was probably caused by leakage from reactor vessels.

Japanese engineers have struggled to pump radioactive water from the plant 240 km north Tokyo two weeks after it was hit by an earthquake and tsunami.

Engineers trying to stabilise the plant had to pump out radioactive water after it was found in buildings housing three of the six reactors.

Meanwhile, tests by the Japanese nuclear safety agency revealed levels of radioactivity up to 1,850 times the usual level in seawater offshore the crippled plant compared to 1,250 measured on Saturday.

"Ocean currents will disperse radiation particles and so it will be very diluted by the time it gets consumed by fish and seaweed," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a senior agency official.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, George Dracoulis, head of Nuclear Physics department at Australian National University, said that, "They have to map the areas, see where the radiation is and sample the sea life and that would determine what they do in the future."

The nuclear crisis has overshadowed a big relief and recovery effort from the magnitude 9.0 quake and the huge tsunami it triggered on March 11.

Official death toll from earthquake and tsunami now stands at 10,489, with the number of missing put at 16,621. Nearly a quarter of a million people are living in shelters.

'Failure of communication'

On Thursday, three workers were taken to hospital from reactor Number 3 after stepping in water with radiation levels 10,000 times higher than usually found in a reactor. That raised fear the core's container could be damaged.

An official from TEPCO said, "the radiation exposure on Thursday occured because there was bad sharing of information".

"We have to apologise. We want to make efforts to share information within the company."

TEPCO said experts still had to determine where to put some of the contaminated water while engineers were still trying to fully restore the plant's power.

And that it was using fresh water instead of seawater to cool down at least some of the reactors after concern arose that salt deposits might hamper the cooling process.

George Dracoulis said that "The issue with using sea water is that it is corrosive, salt in water can become activated and it can cause further contamination."

Two of the plant's reactors are now seen as safe but the other four are volatile, occasionally emitting steam and smoke. However, the nuclear safety agency said on Saturday that temperature and pressure in all reactors had stabilised.

The government has said the situation was nowhere near to being resolved, although it was not deteriorating.

"We are preventing the situation from worsening - we've restored power and pumped in fresh water - and making basic steps towards improvement but there is still no room for complacency," Yukio Edano, the chief cabinet secretary told a news conference on Saturday.

More than 700 engineers have been toiling in shifts but there's no end in sight.

'Serious emergency'

Radiation levels 40 per cent higher than the yearly limit for the general public have been detected just over 30k from the Fukushima plant.

The government has not told residents outside the 30km radius of the plant to evacuate, or even to stay indoors.

The science ministry says a reading of 1.4 millisieverts was taken on Wednesday morning in Namie Town northwest of the plant.

Someone staying outdoors for 24-hours at that location would exceed the annual limit of one millisievert. The limit is based on a recommendation by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.

The science ministry obtained the reading after monitoring 10 locations outside the 30km zone following reports that relatively high levels of radiation were found outside that area.

Exerts say the amount of radiation detected does not pose a health risk. But they advise residents in the area to stay alert for any possible rise in radiation levels, because the power plant is not likely to stop releasing radiation any time soon.

Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told the New York Times that the emergency "is a very serious accident by all standards" and could go on for weeks.

The IAEA has sent new teams to Japan to monitor radiation and assess contamination of food.

Prolonged efforts to prevent a catastrophic meltdown at the 40-year-old plant have also intensified concern around the world about nuclear power.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, said it was time to reassess the international atomic safety regime.

[eyeno]

Ok vanclosekid. You just got my hero of the day for that google earth 3D eye candy radiation deal there Pachube you found over at zerohedge. That is too cool for school.

[seemslikeadream]

Japan: Huge radiation spike at plant was a mistake
Measurement of at 10 million times higher than normal 'not credible,' plant official says

TOKYO — Emergency workers struggling to pump contaminated water from Japan's stricken nuclear complex fled from one of the troubled reactors Sunday after reporting a huge increase in radioactivity — a spike that officials later apologetically said was inaccurate.

The apology came after employees fled the complex's Unit 2 reactor when a reading showed radiation levels had reached 10 million times higher than normal in the reactor's cooling system. Officials said they were so high that the worker taking the measurements had withdrawn before taking a second reading.
On Sunday night, though, plant operators said that while the water was contaminated with radiation, the extremely high reading was a mistake.

[23]

I believe that we have at least one Oregonian who pitches his virtual tent here.

http://www.huliq.com/10282/japan-radiat ... g-industry
Japan radiation killing sea life, warning for Oregon coast fishing industry

NEWPORT, Ore. – While the U.S. Department of Energy said in public statements that there are “no significant quantities of radiological material” deposited on West coast beaches, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it was time to reassess the international atomic safety regime; meanwhile, there’s growing fears here in Newport and other West coast fishing communities that Japan’s radiation will spread from its coast to here.

As Japan’s nuclear reactors continue leaking radiation into the atmosphere and, in turn, have obliterated centuries-old fishing ports in the Tsunami-hit city Kamaishi, this news has prompted growing fears here in Newport and other coastal fishing towns that radiation could find its way here. For example, a hard wind blowing post-Tsunami wind came sliding down over the Newport beach Saturday morning greeting a lone bike rider on usually packed beaches that are now filled socked in waste from Japan. The woman biker said she’s fears rabid dogs that are roaming the low sand dunes called “denes” where toxic water and dead sea life collect along sandy tracks. And, this against a backdrop of zero Spring Break tourists being seen on what’s traditionally the busiest Saturday of the early spring season.

Biker spots trouble along the beaches, with new fears from Japan that local fishing could be impacted

Meanwhile, the bike rider reports “swirls of greasy sea water is washing up” this morning along this stretch of central Oregon coast beaches.

At the same time, locals have been treated to a clear blue horizon after evenings of disturbing flaming-orange and red sunsets that locals say are “not so much beautiful,” but “sort of scary because of what’s happening with the radiation in Japan.”

The Japanese public television featured new reports Saturday morning that Tokyo’s 13 million residents are under recent measurements of “ambient radiation of 0.22 microsieverts per hours. The Japanese Health Ministry stated that this is “six times normal for Tokyo.”

Also, the World Nuclear Association said it cannot predict where the radiation from Japan will eventually wind up because precise radiation detection both in and over the Pacific is “not possible at this time” due to wind and ocean currents that can change.

At the same time, nearly a half million Japanese people remain in shelters with no safe drinking water or food, while the air along Japan’s northeast coast is suspect of high levels of radiation drifting downwind toward the West coast of America, stated officials with the World Nuclear Association.

Here in Newport, a commercial fishing community, there’s “real compassion” for the Japanese fishing industry that is losing its industry to radiation killing fish off the coast.

In a Japanese TV interview, a fisherman in the Tsunami-bashed city of Kamaishi noted how his fellow fishermen lost their fishing equipment, boats and ships, docks and fishing infrastructure, while noting that “we will probably get out of the business.”

Japanese media is also reporting that the latest radiation scare in its waters have also “destroyed aqua farms for abalone, sea urchins, oysters, scallops and seaweed. In turn, officials say this loss accounts for “more than 80 percent of the revenue of the region's fisheries.”

Moreover, new radiation tests on Saturday showed “iodine 131 levels in seawater 30 km (19 miles) from the coastal nuclear complex had spiked 1,250 times higher than normal, but it was not considered a threat to marine life or food safety,” stated a news release from Japans Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

News that Japan’s radiation crisis has now spread to the Pacific has heighten international concern over Japanese seafood exports, and fish exporters here in Newport are equally worried that the fear of radiation spreading worldwide may tarnish the reputation of the local fish that buyers may view as tainted by radioactive particles.

Newport and West coast dogs reported to be acting strange in the wake of the recent Tsunami

Oregon authorities have issued new strong warning to keep humans and pets away from all dead sea life found on any Oregon coast beach, “as they could become infected by a disease that’s hitting the population in this area.”

While radiation levels are viewed as safe right now along Oregon and other West coast beaches, there have been new warnings about a disease called “leptospirosis,” that more recently infected California sea lions with by the hundreds.

Officials said the disease can spread to humans and dogs who come in contact with an infected sea lion or other dead sea life that’s in mass after the recent quake in Japan triggered massive amounts of questionable debris along West coast beaches.

In the meantime, those who walk their dogs along coastal beaches have been warned about dogs reported to be ill with unknown causes; while, at the same time, other local pet owners fear their dogs – that sniff and eat various beach stuff that intrigues them while foraging around for bones and other objects – are possibly suffering the same fate at three nuclear power workers at Fukushima, Japan, who’ve been exposed to high levels of radiation, stated Japan’s nuclear safety agency on Saturday.

A schnauzer puppy named “buggers,” is now seriously ill, and several other Newport dogs who frequent the local beach are also said to be sick and acting crazy.

The problem is some of the beaches are still littered with decaying sea life, building bits and pieces -- thought to be from Japan’s recent quake that triggered massive Tsunami waves that hit Newport and other West coast beaches – are reported to be “very ill” by their owners who’ve queried local health officials about the safety of taking pets for their usual walks along the beach.

At the same time, local dog owners point to recent “crazy reactions” by their pets after returning to run on the Newport area beaches after almost two weeks of being kept off the coast due to recent Tsunami warnings and massive amounts of “questionable” debris that may be from Japan.

“They usually don’t act like this,” said one local dog owner with desperation in his voice. “It’s as if their whining about something not right around here.”

Meanwhile, there's no good news from Japan these days.

"Atmospheric radiation levels are monitored constantly, and are now reaching other places in the world,” stated a spokesperson for Japan Japan’s health ministry on Saturday.

[eyeno]

While radiation levels are viewed as safe right now along Oregon and other West coast beaches, there have been new warnings about a disease called “leptospirosis,” that more recently infected California sea lions with by the hundreds.

That, and that CDC article I posted...timing. Guess we will start having stories of super germs killing things on the coast, because of course its not that radiation...(eye roll)

[seemslikeadream]

Fukushima-Related FOIA Request: Full Data Sought on Radiation Levels That Led To Call for 50-Mile Evacuation Radius for Americans in Japan
Three groups – Friends of the Earth, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and Physicians for Social Responsibility – announced Friday that they have filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to get to the bottom of what led the U.S. government to call for a 50-mile evacuation radius for Americans near the Japanese reactor crisis in Fukushima.

The nuclear plant at Fukushima has been the sight of a tense radiological crisis since the reactor was crippled as a result of the massive earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan.

On March 16, Gregory Jazcko, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) told Congress that he was recommending the 50-mile evacuation radius.

The scope of the recommended evacuation is highly unusual and suggestive of extraordinarily high radiation levels in excess of those reported to the public in Japan and the United States, the three groups behind the FOIA action say. In the United States, nuclear reactor licensees and local governments are only asked to provide for evacuation out to 10 miles.

As concerns grow about food and water contamination in Japan, the three groups filing the FOIA request are seeking to determine the answer to this key question: What made Jaczko exceed the limits of his own agency's regulations by five times?

The FOIA requests filed with the NRC and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are available online. The three groups say they are not satisfied that the summary provided so far by the DOE at provides the full picture of the scale of the radiation.

"By recommending a 50-mile evacuation zone for U.S. residents, NRC Chairman Jaczko gave a strong signal that the Fukushima accident was much worse than reported by the Japanese government and the utility," says Michael Mariotte, executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, which is located just outside Washington. "We believe that he was getting information about the severity of the accident from airborne radiation measurements taken by U.S. Department of Energy aircraft. But neither DOE nor the NRC has published those measurements in full."

As the FOIA request explains, the three groups "seek expedited release" of the requested information, "so that they may timely inform their members and the general public about the unfolding events at the Fukushima reactors, including the significance of the public health and environmental threat posed by radiation releases from the Fukushima reactors. Requesters believe that requested disclosures will do a great deal to fill currently existing information gaps and resolve inconsistencies in the currently available reports about the severity of the Japanese radiological releases."

The groups also contend that expedited release of the information is justified in order to allow them to participate in and comment on any proceedings the federal government may undertake to evaluate the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident, including the 90-day review of the safety of U.S. reactors recently announced by the NRC. According to the FOIA request letter, a better understanding of the severity of the Fukushima releases is "essential to Requesters' ability to evaluate and participate in any such review."

[Peachtree Pam]

TEPCO official: Levels of radioactivity in No. 2 “exceeded the upper reading limit of the gauge.” (VIDEO)
March 27th, 2011 at 02:44 PM
http://enenews.com/tepco-official-admit ... auge-video

(I don't know how to post a video)

[anothershamus]

Here you go Peachtree Pam

[ninakat]