Posted on 03/15/2011 8:13:35 AM PDT by SE Mom
lol. Yeah, good book. I read it in HS and I won’t say how long that was either :)
Next 24 Hours Critical for Plant - Note, title doesn't match article content (WSJ)
Estimates compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nuclear power watchdog group, suggested there were some 800 tons of spent fuel at the six reactors at Fukushima. Unit 4, where some 250 tons of used fuel are stored, "remains a major safety concern," the Atomic Energy Agency said on Thursday. The group said it had no information about the current level of water in the spent fuel pool at reactor 4. "No water temperature indication from the unit 4 spent fuel pool has been received since 14 March, when the temperature was 84 °C," the agency added. "No roof is in place."
Futhermore, from the same WSJ artice:
On Friday, David Lochbaum, director of UCS’s Nuclear Safety Project, told journalists that if the spent fuel problem wasn’t brought under control, it could lead to a fire. Heat and smoke from the fire “would carry [radioactive materials] higher into the air,” where it could enter the jet stream.
Partly based on how events at Chernobyl unfolded, the watchdog group’s scientists suggested that the fallout would then extend to several hundred miles around the Fukushima site, with some radioactive “hotspots” further away. Currently, “there aren’t many barriers between the [nuclear] material and the environment. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be a good outcome,” said Dr. Lochbaum.
Yah. There's a lot who think this thing is over. I'm not convinced. They can't get that power line hooked up because everytime they send those guys in there, the rads are too much for them to handle.
I'm amazed at the change in attitude around here. Radiation isn't important any more???? Govt's lying aren't important anymore? 150,000 aborted babies is important but 150,000 japanese trapped in their homes eating radiation for dinner isn't important.
Oh well. Everybody thinks I'm crazy anyways. But this thing ain't played out yet.
YEs! Thanks Steve- that’s him. It was his attitude as much as what he said- he just seemed so cavalier - saying things like the landscape of northern Japan will be changed forever - apparently from the dead zone, which he seemed to imply would be a good deal larger than the 12 mile boundary. It may have just been me- but I thought the China syndrome remark was pretty irresponsible. And scary.
Here’s something to warm the heart:
Ichiro Suzuki still hasn’t offered any public comment about the ongoing crisis in Japan, but the message he sent on Friday will certainly go a lot further than any press conference remarks or a prepared statement of concern ever would.
The Seattle Mariners great will donate 100 million yen to the relief efforts stemming from last week’s earthquake and tsunami. Using today’s conversion rate, the amount equates to about $1.23 million — or roughly 7 percent of the $18 million he’ll make playing baseball in Seattle this year.
Well, I'm with you... :)
I am going try to stick with the facts as long as I can, and withhold opinion. :)
That said, in one of the helicopter flyover videos, the narrator pointed out a bright light emanating from the storage pool. It looked a lot like an electric arc. Since there is no power, I wonder if it could be exposed fuel rods reacting. I also wonder what that means, and if water will stop the reaction if that is what it is?
Anyway, as Glen Beck likes to say, the truth has no agenda.
A 20-something daughter interviews her nuclear engineer father:
http://georneys.blogspot.com/
Daily (approx) interviews.
Informative and kinda cute too.
Japan’s Prime Minister Says Crisis Remains ‘Very Grave’
Engineers worked overnight to restore power to two reactors at the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant in a bid to get cooling systems running again. By March 20, the weather may take emissions toward the capital, 135 miles (220 kilometers) south of the station, Austria’s meteorological center said, using data from the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty Organization. At current levels, the radiation isn’t dangerous beyond the immediate vicinity of the plant, the center said.
“The situation at the power plant is still unpredictable,” Kan said at a press conference in Tokyo yesterday. “But we’re making our utmost effort to control it, and we’ll surely overcome this crisis.”
Clip
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it may finish reconnecting a power line to the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors by this morning. The electrical link would be used to restart pumps needed to protect fuel rods from overheating. It’s possible the water pumps, damaged in the tsunami, might not work even with power, said an official from Tepco, as the company is known.
good sources of info (no particular order)
something awful
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3396817
tickerforum
http://tickerforum.org/akcs-www?post=182121&page=1
iaea
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html
asahi shimbun
http://www.asahi.com/english/newsfeatures.html
mainichi daily news
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/
japan times
kyodonews
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/japan_nuclear_crisis/
georneys
NHK english
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/
nhk english ustream
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk-world-tv
tepco
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html
nei
the spf (spent fuel pool) nice graphics from nyt
hazards of storing spent fuel
TOKYO—Crucial efforts to tame Japan's crippled nuclear plant were delayed by concerns over damaging valuable power assets and by initial passivity on the part of the government, people familiar with the situation said, offering new insight into the management of the crisis.
Snip
The plant's operator—Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco—considered using seawater from the nearby coast to cool one of its six reactors at least as early as last Saturday morning, the day after the quake struck. But it didn't do so until that evening, after the prime minister ordered it following an explosion at the facility. Tepco didn't begin using seawater at other reactors until Sunday.
Tepco was reluctant to use seawater because it worried about hurting its long-term investment in the complex, say people involved with the efforts. Seawater, which can render a nuclear reactor permanently inoperable, now is at the center of efforts to keep the plant under control.
Snip
"This disaster is 60% man-made," said one government official. "They failed in their initial response. It's like Tepco dropped and lost a 100 yen coin while trying to pick up a 10 yen coin."
The government turned down a U.S. offer of technical help to cool overheating nuclear reactors in Fukushima Prefecture soon after last week's massive earthquake because it believed the offer was "premature," The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The reactors have since been hit by several explosions and radiation has leaked out. Some observers believe this could have been prevented if the government had accepted the U.S. offer.
In a related development, the decision to use two Ground Self-Defense Force helicopters to pour tons of water on the damaged No. 3 reactor Thursday was made "under strong pressure" from Washington, according to sources.
Maybe he needs to check out any and all connections between the govt and Tepco. They seemed to tag-team slowing the whole process down.
Japan Update: Cooling Resumed at Reactors 4 & 5 at Fukushima (Some good news)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2691213/posts
> Japan Update: Cooling Resumed at Reactors 4 & 5 at Fukushima (Some good news)
>
> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2691213/posts
Woops, looking like a writing error.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2691213/posts#11
Tepco was reluctant to use seawater because it worried about hurting its long-term investment in the complex, say people involved with the efforts. Seawater, which can render a nuclear reactor permanently inoperable, now is at the center of efforts to keep the plant under control.
Snip
"This disaster is 60% man-made," said one government official. "They failed in their initial response. It's like Tepco dropped and lost a 100 yen coin while trying to pick up a 10 yen coin."
This may actually be good news in disguise if true. The good side is that we now have much more information on how robust a BWR nuclear reactor complex is. Also, it underlines the importance of several key measures, such as much better offshore geological study, much higher seawalls, better training for station blackouts, better handling of spent fuel pools, better safeguards for spent fuel pools, better communication between utilities and government agencies during a big disaster, better communication and cooperation between nations during disasters involving nuclear power plant crises, better standardization of response at the international level, etc.
All this is likely to come out in studies that will soon follow. Some of it seems so obvious that a lot of the NPPs don't have to wait for the studies and can start implementing improvements almost immediately.
From this point of view, it could be considered one hard-@ss safety shakeout test of the nuclear power concept. Without this crisis, we would really be in the soup if something worse than a 9.0 in a relatively remote area with 3000 miles of Pacific Ocean to help dissipate the mistakes were to happen.
Fukushima can be regarded as a wake up call that the nuclear power industry benefits from to help it achieve better safety standard improvements.
I do not understand why you are saying that Japan does not have in defense in depth plans?
Plan A: On any abnormal occurrence, Scram reactor. Worked as designed (even with a 9.0 Earthquake)
Plan B: On Loss of Off-site Power (LOOP), auto-start Diesel Generators . Work as designed (even with a 9.0 Earthquake)
Plan C: On Loss of Diesels, run on Battery Backup for up to 8 hours to allow time for restoration of power or new generators to be brought in. Worked as designed (even with a 9.0 Earthquake and Tsunami)
Since the surrounding infrastructure was damaged by the earthquake and tsunami, logistics for assistance from outside the power plant could not support restoration of power, they went to Plan D:
Plan D: On loss of ability to provide power to circulate water through heat exchangers, feed in emergency seawater supply to make up for evaporation. Note that this is a last, last ditch effort since it can have a good bit of chemical effects on the nuclear pressure boundaries that would take a lot of effort to determine and/or repair to allow for future full power operation
Generally speaking, this is the standard defense in depth that is considered in the design of a nuclear power plant of Western design (here in the US or in Japan). As an engineer, it still impresses me that the designs and construction of nuclear power plants show the robustness to tolerate much greater than the design basis events.
The photo actually shows the reactor pressure vessel with it's head removed (note that it is round). The number and size of bolts provides a good feeling for the pressure it is designed to hold.
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