Reports: Japan to raise alert level of nuke crisis

chron.com ^ | 11 April 2011 | AP Story

[smokingfrog]

TOKYO — News reports say Japan has decided to raise the severity level of the crisis at its tsunami-stricken nuclear power plant to 7 — the highest level and equal to the 1986 disaster at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union.

Quoting sources at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Kyodo News agency and public broadcaster NHK both said Tuesday that NISA would raise the severity level of the nuclear radiation disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant to 7 from the current 5.

[Iris7]

Fukushima Daiichi has been raised from a level 5 to a Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale 7 by the Japanese government.

A bit of belated honesty, eh?

[Cold Heart]

Radioactive rain in Boise but it’s been ok’d/sarc

[Nuc 1.1]

The truth was out for all to see when when the reactor buildings blew up. When the zirconium clad turns to zerconium oxide and gives off hydrogen the core is toast. I think the Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System could have saved those reactors. It would have required two modifications but it was probably doable. I believe we could have made the modifications in the United States and I believe the Japanese could have also.

[JohnKinAK]

Where are all the posters that said this was “no big deal, it would all be under control in a few hours, not even a 3-mile island incident”,where have all of you gone? Who is the idiot now?

[Kartographer]

Just more fear mongering! Everything is just fine nothing to see, please move along.

[smokingfrog]

The situation is so bad that experts and government officials aren't even sure how many months it will take to bring the plant under control.

...highly radioactive water believed to be leaking from somewhere deep inside the troubled reactors has flooded the basements of their turbine buildings, hindering any attempts to repair the damage.

Experts agree that plugging the leaks and removing the toxic water are currently the top priorities as they embark on the long and unpredictable path to ending the crisis.

"The leakage (from the reactors) has to be stopped. Leaking means the water inside the reactors is decreasing. So the water has to be replenished, and then it leaks again. This cycle has to be stopped," said Hisashi Ninokata, professor of nuclear reactor engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

The water that came into contact with the fuel rods has been leaking into the turbine buildings. The basement floor of reactor No. 2's turbine building is especially contaminated.

[Iris7]

Thanks for your post.

I immediately looked up “Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System”. I can see that this would work if the RCIC survived the earthquake and tsunami and had enough gravity head to function without circulating pumps. If pumps were needed (they are), but the RCIC cooling tank adequately large and “high enough up”, one could, before the batteries ran out, bypass the isolation heat exchangers and connect directly to the primary containment, circulating by gravity (would take some big pipes). Some big activated charcoal and ion exchange filters on the cooling tank vents and one would have a much more reasonable outcome than at Fukushima Daiichi........

In any case, I never liked the emergency diesel backup for plant power. Also one must, in a place like Fukushima, plan on Richter 11 earthquakes and tsunami in proportion. Many of the US plants are not safely sited, in my opinion.

Again, thanks for your post. Looking forward to your musings as time goes on.

[Iris7]

Thanks for your very good link. The Japanese have a doable plan here. Highly recommended article.

Professors Ninokata and Koyama have the guts of plan that can be made to work. More power to them. Nice to see that some folks who know what they are doing have arrived at the party.

[tsowellfan]

Where are all the posters that said this was “no big deal, it would all be under control in a few hours, not even a 3-mile island incident”,where have all of you gone? Who is the idiot now?

Remember the "lead suits" they accused us of wearing in their condescending way whenever we asked them a question about something we had heard just reported on the news?

They're wearing them now.

[red flanker]

Many people have stop listening to the press and any subject that is even tangential to leftist/green causes should have a "Drudge-like" siren:


Caution - Attencion! - Achtung - This news has fews facts or if any, likely to be liberally warped by the political viewpoints of the 'reporters'

Meanwhile, there will be many more deaths by uv radiation (as much as 60,000), coal and oil byproduct pollution deaths. Just consider the prospects for mass starvation and worldwide unrest by mis-allocation of food for fuel.

Compared on a factual and historical basis, I think most educated people will take nuclear energy and continued research into atomic energy programs over the alternatives for the foreseeable future.

[justa-hairyape]

Gee, and just yesterday the NY Times ran a story quoting Obama Administration officials as saying the situation is under control and will not get any worse. That did not even last a day. Whatever an Obama Administration official states, believe the opposite !