Japan hit by powerful earthquake

[Kryssan]

You wanted details? NISA delivers - up to date as of 1400 March 16.

Also, I found this greatly amusing - NISA's 'Responding to a Nuclear Emergency'. I can't really fault them for trying simplicity though.

New reports from TEPCO have them saying that the white smoke from Unit 3 that made them fear for damage to the pressure vessel was most likely actually from the spent fuel pool at that Unit, and that there is a low probability of serious damage to the actual reactor unit.

It seems now that their major focus will be on the fuel pools at Units 3 and 4, because they represent a serious risk for spread of contamination whereas they look to be finally gaining control over the reactor units themselves. Still a big waiting game. NRC, NISA, IAEA personnel have arrived and becoming involved with the planning to stabilize the Daiichi plant.

Not out of the woods obviously, but the end point could be in sight.

sorry, that was too good to leave on the last page.

You have inferior page view settings.

[Cail]

i sorta hate to admit it, but that pic made me laugh

[archibaldcrane]

I just wanted to pop in and remind everyone that 3-mile island had 0 casualties - and the thing about goat's milk being contaminated or whatever...

You know how they test if suspected counterfeit wine made pre-1940 is actually from that period?

It has less carbon-14 in it...because carbon-14 in the air was elevated by nuclear testing.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/po...wines-10-03-24

CONTAMINATION OF EVERYTHING!

You've been watching White Collar

I've never seen the show once. Does this come up?

[Boyiee]

Yeah there is an episode where they try to replicate a bottle of wine from pre 1940, and once the wine is tested they will find/not find carbon14

[Charismatic]

You know, I didn't really care much about the Japan situation... but then I saw this. Now I'm truly sad.

Spoiler: show

http://i54.tinypic.com/vxko3n.jpg

[Kaylia]

^
Divine punishment.

[Not Kuno]

that show sucks so it's ok

[Charismatic]

nah son, k-on's da best

[Zeb]

that show sucks so it's ok

Which makes me wonder how this faired.
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__...oing_Merry.jpg

[aduidarnenye]

I'm starting to get annoyed about the way western media outlets are ramping up the fear and panic in western countries, especially America and Canada, about the nuclear diaster.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...kepills16.html

Nuclear crisis spikes sales of anti-radiation iodine pills

Sales of Geiger counters and potassium iodide supplements that can block some radiation have surged nationwide since Friday, fueled by concerns among some Americans that radiation released from Japanese nuclear plants could spread to the United States.

By Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press

Related

Sales of Geiger counters and potassium iodide supplements that can block some radiation have surged nationwide since Friday, fueled by concerns among some Americans that radiation released from Japanese nuclear plants could spread to the United States.

Potassium iodide supplements — which can protect the thyroid gland if taken before or shortly after a person is exposed to radiation but do not protect other body parts or prevent damage from other radioactive substances — were either sold out or selling quickly Tuesday at several stores.

Troy Jones, president of nukepills.com in Mooresville, N.C., said he has sold 6,500 orders of iodine pills in the last four days. In a normal four-day period, he said, he'd sell only 100. Most of his orders came from customers in Washington state, Oregon and California who want to protect themselves from any Japanese radiation.

Meanwhile, companies that sell Geiger counters have been overwhelmed with orders.

"The phone has been ringing off the hook," said Raphael Karunditu, president of California-based Gamma-Scout. "We have hundreds upon hundreds of orders, and our partner in Germany is talking about thousands of orders at his site."

In Russia, where memory of the very different Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago is strong, media reports said pharmacies in Vladivostok, a major port just west of Japan, had run out of the pills.

Even on the East Coast, some health departments reported increased interest from power-plant neighbors Tuesday: A Pennsylvania hotline that normally gets five to 10 calls a week about storing the pills has fielded 85 such inquiries in the past two days.

I also read a story (which I have since lost the link to) about Illinois government saying that citizens don't need to worry about iodine tablets.

[*Shinzon*]

ABC news has actually been trying to provide a rational explanation of the situation and comparison to the amounts of radiation people are exposed to. Like Granite and Marble being radioactive and crosscountry flights and radiation that one accumulates on those travels. Though considering the kind of people that live in this country, and fox news, I dunno if that does much good lol.

[Dylon]

wow Wolf Splitzer on CNN either found the best troll in the gov't or they are really serious about this. they (the US gov't) said there should be a 50 mile evacuation radius and that its possible that radiation is going to reach the US.

Seriously why does is EVERYONE freaking out but the Japanese people, especially Americans because of all the news stations apparently don't care about the real info that's being released by NHK, i swear if i turn on CNN and i see "Breaking news: Fear of Radiation in America" i'm gonna spam the shit out of their email with the info from this thread because its getting out of control

[kuronosan]

Yea, getting a little tired of the "OMG COULD THE RADIATION REACH US?!?!"

They know it can't. They just keep saying that shit to get people watching and riled up and forget about a) rising gas prices b) inept government c) stupid bitches like Palin.

[Yugl]

Why do you care so much?

[Hyan]

It's not just in the U.S, everywhere really. "What accidents our nuclear plants aren't protected from?" "2.1 Magnitude earthquake reported; -This is a really rare occurrence for this part of the world. Only happens twice a year."

The best one so far has been the header "it's all over" written in red inside a yellow box with a pic of the nuclear plants behind it. Yet the article itself talks about the survivors of the tsunami. It pissed me off so fucking much.

[Kryssan]

The IAEA update notice just released some good information about the status of the temperatures at the fuel pools for Units 4-6.

Read it here.

Also, crossposted:

Temperature of Spent Fuel Pools at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Spent fuel that has been removed from a nuclear reactor generates intense heat and is typically stored in a water-filled spent fuel pool to cool it and provide protection from its radioactivity. Water in a spent fuel pool is continuously cooled to remove heat produced by spent fuel assemblies. According to IAEA experts, a typical spent fuel pool temperature is kept below 25 ˚C under normal operating conditions. The temperature of a spent fuel pool is maintained by constant cooling, which requires a constant power source.

Given the intense heat and radiation that spent fuel assemblies can generate, spent fuel pools must be constantly checked for water level and temperature. If fuel is no longer covered by water or temperatures reach a boiling point, fuel can become exposed and create a risk of radioactive release. The concern about the spent fuel pools at Fukushima Daiichi is that sources of power to cool the pools may have been compromised.

The IAEA can confirm the following information regarding the temperatures of the spent nuclear fuel pools at Units 4, 5 and 6 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant:

Unit 4
14 March, 10:08 UTC: 84 ˚C
15 March, 10:00 UTC: 84 ˚C
16 March, 05:00 UTC: no data

Unit 5
14 March, 10:08 UTC: 59.7 ˚C
15 March, 10:00 UTC: 60.4 ˚C
16 March, 05:00 UTC: 62.7 ˚C

Unit 6
14 March, 10:08 UTC: 58.0 ˚C
15 March, 10:00 UTC: 58.5 ˚C
16 March, 05:00 UTC: 60.0 ˚C

The IAEA is continuing to seek further information about the water levels, temperature and condition of all spent fuel pool facilities at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

#Edit#

Yeah, the whole geiger counter and KI tablet hysteria right now is... just slap me in the face silly. Bloody hell, a geiger counter can't even read but certain types of radiation. Save us all if people learn that their smoke alarms have radioisotopes in them. Probably with their geiger counters at that.

[Boyiee]

wow Wolf Splitzer on CNN either found the best troll in the gov't or they are really serious about this. they (the US gov't) said there should be a 50 mile evacuation radius and that its possible that radiation is going to reach the US.

This is not Wolf's fault, and this will be probably the first and only time I'll somewhat defend him.

Every nation has different hazmat ops procedures, be it for transporting milk on tanker trucks with placards or nuclear facilities. If X chemical or substance enters the environment, then there is Y radius to be from it. The larger the spill, the larger the numbers. The type of chemical, if its a gas or liquid, how many days its been exposed, etc, these are all factors. Other things are also listed, like how to deal with it etc.

The US hazmat book may say "nuclear chemicals 50miles" while japanese says another. Also, if using 50miles (its in KM in the books) then it would most likely be the maximum distance. There really aren't many substances that require more than 10km radius.

I won't go near the 2nd part of the quote.

[Kryssan]

50 miles is considered 'safe distance' for an evacuation at a nuclear power plant in the US. At 50 miles, your dose rate would be nonexistent from anything short of somehow pealing away all the metal and concrete while keeping the reactor operating (in this example water needs to like... continue flowing down nonexistent pipes. Hoorah for imagination) at peak power and letting it bleed off to atmosphere would prevent any civilian from becoming contaminated. Or like if you could somehow get the a majority of the core to simultaneously vaporize itself and its containment through the most volatile hydride reaction ever, that could do it.


It'd be kinda akin to telling people to abandon their sea-side homes to climb to the top of a mountain to avoid a tsunami. They don't need to go that high, but the tsunami is guaranteed not to hurt them up there.

[Kuya]

In the last month the local media here has been reporting on every single earthquake that happens near Puerto Rico.

[Tyche]

Just flipped on CNN and heard some guy say "I think this is at Chernobyl level".

Fuck the media.