Japan hit by powerful earthquake

[Hyan]

Anyway, we've run out of iodine tablets here. It sure sucks eating 5kg of sea salt a day but what can ya do.

[Indalecia]

well, hmph. PWR engineer? I doubt you are with nrc... plant local then? Entergy?

am I even close?

Going off his profile, he might still be in the navy. That uniform isnt very old. (Well I didn't have it before getting out >.>)

[Mojo]

Just saw this video. I don't see how a explosion like this could NOT damage the core.

The core itself is housed in reactor vessel, which is a massive brick of concrete. The reactor vessel is housed inside of a containment building, which is basically a massive block of steel or reinforced concrete. The containment vessel is located inside of the plant building. The explosion occurred in the space between the plant building and containment vessel. It looks much worse than it is because the actual building itself is really only designed to prevent weather fatigue on the concrete/steel. What you see is mostly expanding gases that experience little resistance form the outside of the building. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the reactor suffered more damage from the earthquake itself than that explosion.

[guartz]

The core itself is housed in reactor vessel, which is a massive brick of concrete. The reactor vessel is housed inside of a containment building, which is basically a massive block of steel or reinforced concrete. The containment vessel is located inside of the plant building. The explosion occurred in the space between the plant building and containment vessel. It looks much worse than it is because the actual building itself is really only designed to prevent weather fatigue on the concrete/steel. What you see is mostly expanding gases that experience little resistance form the outside of the building. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the reactor suffered more damage from the earthquake itself than that explosion.

positive air pressure inside the building must have played a minor role in that dramatic scene.

[Kryssan]

Link to Status of Daiichi/Daini as of 1900 Mar 15 provided by JAIF.

Nice picture-like graph w/ estimates on status.

I'd upload it in a spoiler'd attachment as a picture but I can't seem to figure out how that works. Are you allowed to do that on BG? I thought you were. Upload images to BG, I mean. I'd host it on my own server but I'm fairly certain my connection would break with hits.


As to your question guartz, I'm under military contract for until late summer 2012... then it's *finally* back to the civilian world. Exactly 10 years to the day it will be. I can't wait. Before military it was research w/ college, so I guess back then indirectly NRC? My long term fiscal planning wasn't the best back then, hence military option.

I stupidly thought I could continue with Fusion and Plasma sciences (my original field of interest in college) by becoming an officer and getting a billet at NIF or related to NIF, but yeah... that didn't work out, obviously. Just a cog in the machine these days. Including civvy stuff, I've operated at four sites? I think. Maybe five. Depends on what you count as a site, I guess.

[Indalecia]

Knew I smelled an Officer

[Kryssan]

Knew I smelled an Officer

I'm not, that didn't work out like I said. Dropped from officer programs due to 'needs of the Navy'. That should be a familiar phrase no? I'm enlisted. Turns out you don't get to walk away even if things don't go your way, lol. I knew that though, I just didn't expect they wouldn't go my way.

[Indalecia]

They dropped you in charleston for training? And I had a nuke buddy on the Enterprise before he got out, but from what I understand theres a crapload of operators for that damn thing.

[6souls]

#
2327: Minoru Ogoda, a spokesman for the Japanese nuclear safety agency, tells AFP: "We have received information from [the Tokyo Electric Power Company] that the fire and smoke is now invisible and it appears to have gone out of its own accord." An explosion on Tuesday morning damaged reactor 4's building and sparked a fire in its spent fuel storage pond. The reactor had been shut down before Friday's earthquake for maintenance, but its spent nuclear fuel rods were stored on the site.

#
2320: The Japanese government is now saying the fire in reactor 4 is "under control", according to the AFP news agency.

#
2314: A spokesman for the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has said: "At around 0545 today, our employee carrying batteries to the control room discovered smoke billowing from the building of reactor 4 [at Fukushima Daiichi]."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

#4 just doesn't quit.

[guartz]

Well, civvy side, as you call it. It's pretty much employee market right now. A guy with your experience can probably start with 6 figures, at least over at maintenance side.

[Kryssan]

They dropped you in charleston for training? And I had a nuke buddy on the Enterprise before he got out, but from what I understand theres a crapload of operators for that damn thing.

No, they dropped me from the officer program. I wasn't a part of the military's nuclear field at that time. Sort of a transition phase. Like I said, lacked money for college so tried to get an officer program to complete the degree - DILDO (direct input limited duty officer, great acronym though eh) or LDO and they cut the program in the second year. I was part of the cut, so displaced to enlisted. Since I was already going for a nuclear degree with experience working with reactors (granted, a research reactor at that, bah - totally different) they were like 'done deal' and threw me that way. It was a confusing few years.

[Ace-o-fire]

Question, anyone know any charities that are taking blankets and food donations around the tri-state area (NY CT NJ)?

[Indalecia]

No, they dropped me from the officer program. I wasn't a part of the military's nuclear field at that time. Sort of a transition phase. Like I said, lacked money for college so tried to get an officer program to complete the degree - DILDO (direct input limited duty officer, great acronym though eh) or LDO and they cut the program in the second year. I was part of the cut, so displaced to enlisted. Since I was already going for a nuclear degree with experience working with reactors (granted, a research reactor at that, bah - totally different) they were like 'done deal' and threw me that way. It was a confusing few years.

Wish I could say I'm shocked, but guessing time frame was 02-04? Par for the course during those years, sadly.

[Kryssan]

Question, anyone know any charities that are taking blankets and food donations around the tri-state area (NY CT NJ)?

I don't know of anything specific for our area for JP relief, which I assume was what you meant. Hm.

Wish I could say I'm shocked, but guessing time frame was 02-04? Par for the course during those years, sadly.

Dead on.

[Yugl]

The donation probably announce by their agencies, not by themselves. Since the pay for each member in AKB48 is quite low... But so far, there is still no any news that i know that anything happened to any of them yet.

200-250k (Top members) estimate is not that bad annually.

[Olo401]

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/r/movie/

Some smoke or steam rising up on the live feed, not sure what it is yet.

[Eleven19]

I'm getting really tired of turning on CNN and seeing Piers Morgan and Wolf Blitzer on this kind of ... witch hunt to find reasons that U.S. reactors are unsafe. Experts and other scientists keep telling them uhh.. no, we're okay, and they seem not to be able to take no for an answer.

Didn't Blitzer screw something up one or two days ago that someone called him on?

Edit; completely open to being called bullshit on if there IS supposed to be something wrong with ours.

[Salodin]

I hear ours are of a better crop if you will, then the japanese. But I have no idea how or why.

[Boyiee]

I hear ours are of a better crop if you will, then the japanese. But I have no idea how or why.

BECAUSE WE ARE AMERICA, DAMNIT

[Outlaw]

HOLY SHIT Anderson Cooper just showed the scariest first hand video from the tsunami I have seen yet. My heart was in my throat. Some people were running up a hill to where others had fled. Someone fell or something and the others stopped to help. Then finally they picked them up and literally got away from the water by a couple seconds.