Japan hit by powerful earthquake

[Olo401]

They still haven't covered those plants up already?

I believe the first barrier around Unit 4 is expected to be finished sometime in the next few weeks? Can't remember..

[Kryssan]

I see my post didn't clear. How unfortunate. I tried to reply this morning but lately BG has been going in and out for me, connection not responding error messages when attempting to access the forums.


Unit 4 doesn't have any 'barriers' if you're talking about like the shroud building - Unit 1 is where construction was commenced of the shroud about the damaged facility. The shroud building is expected to be completed by mid-October for Unit 1, and the other Units will follow suit.

For those curious, the current process and progress of water treatment at Dai-ichi can be found here (link).

As for the concern raised by the recently linked story, look here (link) to see an updated list of water levels for all specific areas around the site. Pretty much all contaminated water is now limited to the turbine buildings, reactor basings, and condenser trenches, there aren't like random pits of water. There was also a recent release showing contamination levels found near the split in the Unit 2 trench (some of you might recall this - the gap formed that allowed highly contaminated water from the reactor basins to reach the trenches directly) were <MDA for Iodine and just above MDA for Cesium, with no other nuclides present >MDA. MDA for those that don't recall is minimum detectable activity.

You'll note this chart I've linked to shows in addition to the current levels what the 'top level' is for the trenches and basins, so basically if water level goes above this part you have contamination spread to the environment again. Now, not saying it is impossible for the typhoon to add enough water to make this happen, but when we compare the current water levels of the Dai-ichi facility with the 'top/spillover' height and the rainfall accumulation of the 'wettest' Japanese typhoons in recorded history you'll see why I'd say 'unlikely'.

I'd personally be more concerned about damage to the damaged reactor buildings and ongoing construction processes from wind/debris/storm surge. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Cail]

I'd personally be more concerned about damage to the damaged reactor buildings and ongoing construction processes from wind/debris/storm surge. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Hopefully all is well =/ They just cant catch a break

[Cail]

another 5.6, this time by fukushima

[Salodin]

2012, etc.

[Azull]

I wonder where the other 2 or 3 5-5.9 earthquakes will hit today.

[Kryssan]

For those still curious, bump.

The latest IAEA conglomeration of information was released on 27 October, and can be found here (link).

[Cail]

I can't find the story, but I saw a few days ago, that a russian cargo ship spotted a huge debris pile out near Midway Island. They said inthe next 1-3 years, up to 20million (or billion i forget which -illion) tons of debris can wash up on the West Coast of North America, especially the US.

[Cail]

From Yahoo, per the AP

Officials detected a radioactive gas associated with nuclear fission at Japan's tsunami-damaged atomic power plant Wednesday, indicating there could be a new problem at one of its reactors. They injected a substance that neutralizes nuclear reactions as a precaution.

Gas from inside the reactor indicated the presence of radioactive xenon, which could be the byproduct of unexpected nuclear fission. Boric acid was being injected through a cooling pipe as a countermeasure because it can counteract nuclear reactions.

The Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO, said there was no rise in the reactor's temperature, pressure or radiation levels. The company said the radioactive materials inside the reactor had not reached criticality — the point when nuclear reactions are self-sustaining — and the detection of the xenon would have no major impact on their efforts to keep the reactor cool and stable.

"We have confirmed that the reactor is stable and we don't believe this will have any impact on our future work," said TEPCO spokesman Osamu Yokokura. He said no radiation leaks outside the plant were detected.

Hiroyuki Imari, a spokesman with the Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency, said the detection of the gas was not believed to indicate a major problem, but its cause was being investigated.

The plant was the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

A 12-mile (20-kilometer) exclusion zone has been in effect since the earthquake and tsunami on March 11 crippled the facility north of Tokyo, sending three of its reactors into meltdowns, touching off fires and triggering several explosions.

The latest setback comes as TEPCO had reported significant progress toward stabilizing the plant. TEPCO says it has essentially reached a "cold shutdown" of the plant, meaning the temperatures at the reactors are constant and under control.

Even so, a Japanese government panel says it will take at least 30 years to safely decommission the facility.

[Tagus]

Decommision? Lol

That will never happen.

[Kryssan]

New accident estimates have been released. Unit 1 estimates have increased in damage threshold, Units 2 and 3 remain roughly the same. Of course, all data is still estimates, can't know for sure until someone/thing gets inside for a look. First time I've seen real estimates of corium or even remarks to its presence for that matter.

New Data (link)

A new analysis of the accident at Fukushima Daiichi indicates more extensive melting probably occurred at unit 1 than previously thought, although the predicted status of units 2 and 3 remains about the same.

The bulk of unit 1's nuclear fuel went through the bottom of the reactor vessel as well as about 70 centimetres of the drywell concrete below, according to the analysis released today. However, the corium did not breach the steel containment vessel 1.9 metres further down within the concrete, or the boundary of secondary containment some 7.6 metres further still.

Of the 10.2 metres of solid concrete that makes up the floor of the reactor building, the corium is thought to have melted and mixed with the first 70 centimetres only. The natural spreading and expansion of the corium, plus the addition of compounds of concrete, would have reduced the intensity of the heat produced until it reached an equilibrium and solidified in place. Tepco said it was confident the melting had ceased due to the absence of gases that would be released by the high-temperature reactions between corium and concrete.

http://world-nuclear-news.org/upload...s_Nov_2011.jpg

http://world-nuclear-news.org/upload...s_Nov_2011.jpg

The likely states of Fukushima Daiichi 1 (left), as well as 2 and 3 (right). Water is injected via the main feedwater line, while units 2 and 3 benefit from the core spray that has helped reduce temperatures considerably

The latest analysis was done to supercede one from May due to the emergence of some information that contradicted its predictions. Because this analysis takes into account some of this data, Tepco expect this model to be more accurate, although the company cautioned that its scenarios remain uncertain.

Unit 1 was the oldest of the three Fukushima Daiichi reactors operating at full power before the earthquake of 11 March, and was hit hardest by the loss of power following the tsunami and the flooding of diesel generators. For units 2 and 3 the analysis gave similar results to a simulation released in May, actually suggesting that the better of two scenarios presented then is more likely. Nevertheless, the cores of units 2 and 3 are thought to have overheated badly, with a large portion having melted or softened enough to slump to the bottom of the reactor vessel. A relatively small amount is thought to have passed through holes in the pressure vessel and fall to the drywell floor.

Tepco continues to inject cooling water to all three of the reactor vessels, and has succeeded in reducing temperatures from a range of sensors to well below the landmark 100ºC point usually known as cold shutdown. Official recognition of this goal in the roadmap to stabilisation, however, remains outstanding.

The extensive fuel damage means that injected water becomes highly contaminated, while holes in the pressure vessels allow this to accumulate in the building basements. Tepco operates a comprehensive set-up to treat this to a potable standard.

[Kryssan]

Gas from inside the reactor indicated the presence of radioactive xenon, which could be the byproduct of unexpected nuclear fission. Boric acid was being injected through a cooling pipe as a countermeasure because it can counteract nuclear reactions.

Hmm, missed your post, probably because I've been busy with work in one way shape or form as of late. A whole month behind at that - don't recally anything major being updated in regards to this, but you should know that Xenon is actually a fission product poison. Xenon absorbs neutrons and is one of the things that naturally drives a reactor to shutdown. It would be a part of the Te - I - Xe - Cs process (assuming we're talking about byproducts of a fission reaction). Given the levels of Iodine and Cesium released, it honestly isn't that unexpected and it definitely doesn't point towards a recriticality casualty. Which no other signs point to either.

Edit: Actually, after reading this it really doesn't make any sense to me at all. Inject boron to counteract? I hate news articles. They've been doing that for a while, but it makes it seems like boron injection was a new thing. Regardless, Xenon is still a FPP, so it would actually help shut things down... ugh confusion.

[Kryssan]

Another update:

Fukushima Water Processing Plant Leak

Japanese nuclear regulators have ordered Tepco to investigate the cause of a leak from a plant used to treat contaminated water at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant.

http://world-nuclear-news.org/upload...on%20app_1.jpg
Puddles of leaked water around evaporative condensation apparatus at Fukushima (Image: Tepco)

A puddle of around 45 cubic metres of water was discovered inside a containment barrier around the evaporative condensation apparatus on 4 December. The apparatus is used to desalinate concentrated salt water produced during the treatment of radioactively contaminated water. Treated water is then re-used for cooling the stricken reactors at the site.

Subsequent investigations revealed a crack in the concrete barrier through which water was leaking into a gutter. The leak was stopped with sandbags, and the water that had accumulated inside the barrier was transferred by pump to a waste liquid storage tank.

The gutter into which the water had leaked is connected to the power station's central drainage channel. Plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) reports that water samples taken from the water channel near the desalination apparatus and also at the seaward end of the drain returned radionuclide analyses that were similar to "or slightly higher" than previous readings, although samples taken the following day showed levels no different to those recorded before the leak.

Japan's Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency has instructed Tepco to investigate the cause of the leak and to take steps to prevent any similar incidents in future. Since there was a leak through the concrete barrier, the regulator has also instructed the company to immediately confirm the soundness of other barrages and strengthen them if necessary, as well as confirming the range and amount of the leakage, whether or not there was any discharge to the ocean, and evaluating the impact of any radioactive materials on the surrounding area. Reports from the Japanese national broadcaster NHK have suggested that although the level of radioactive caesium in the water had been reduced in the decontamination process, the water may have contained 130,000 becquerels per cubic centimetre of radioactive strontium.

That is a lot of Sr if confirmed. 130 KBq/cm^3 is only 3.51 microCi/cm^3, but it is Strontium. Nothing confirmed yet on actual levels though from MEXT/NISA/IAEA/TEPCO.

Also, I must admit to laughing a bit (not in a good way) at calling 45 m^3 of water 'a puddle'.

[Cail]

IWAKI, Japan (AP) — Fukushima was just emerging from the snows of winter when the disaster hit — a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the strongest in Japan's recorded history, followed by a tsunami.

The wall of water destroyed much of the northeastern coast on March 11. In the northeast region of Fukushima, a different disaster was brewing: Three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant were melting down, irreparably damaged by the super tremor.

Now, as the snows are beginning to fall again, the government has announced the plant has attained a level of stability it is calling a "cold shutdown." As many as 3,000 workers — plumbers, engineers, technicians — stream into the facility each day.

The tsunami's destruction is still visible. Mangled trucks, flipped over by the wave, sit alongside the roads inside the complex, piles of rubble stand where the walls of the reactor structures crumbled and large pools of water still cover parts of the campus.

In the ghost towns around Fukushima Dai-ichi, vines have overtaken streets, feral cows and owner-less dogs roam the fields. Dead chickens rot in their coops.

The tens of thousands of people who once lived around the plant have fled. They are now huddling in gymnasiums, elementary school classrooms, bunking with friends, sometimes just sleeping in their cars, moving from place to place as they search for alternatives.

For those who lived on the perimeter of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, fliers used to come in the mail every so often explaining that someday this might happen. Most recipients saw them as junk mail, and threw them away without a second glance. For those who did read them, the fliers were always worded to be reassuring — suggesting that although a catastrophic nuclear accident was extremely unlikely, it could require evacuating the area.

Never was it even hinted that the evacuation could last years, or decades.

At most of the shelters, food is doled out military-style, at set times. Personal space is extremely limited, often just big enough to fit a futon and the collective snoring at night makes sleep fitful, at best. Baths are public, cramped, dark.

The total amount of radiation released from the plant is still unknown, and the impact of chronic low-dose radiation exposures in and around Fukushima is a matter of scientific debate.

Recent studies also suggest Japan continues to significantly underestimate the scale of the disaster — which could have health and safety implications far into the future.

According to a study led by Andreas Stohl the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, twice as much radioactive cesium-137 — a cancer-causing agent — was pumped into the atmosphere than Japan had announced, reaching 40 percent of the total from Chernobyl. The French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety found 30 times more cesium-137 was released into the Pacific than the plant's owner has acknowledged.

Under a detailed roadmap, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. will remove the melted nuclear fuel, most of which is believed to have fallen to the bottom of the core or even down to the bottom of the larger, beaker-shaped containment vessel, a process that is expected to begin in 10 years.

All told, decommissioning the plant will likely take 40 years.

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/euU...7067008b7c.jpg
In this July 24, 2011 photo, ships that washed inland sit along a road inside the nuclear contaminated exclusion zone in Namie, Japan.
http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/_4o...706700f755.jpg
In this June 5, 2011 photo, two stray pet dogs fight in the deserted streets of Okuma, Japan. In the early days of the crisis, roaming farm animals and pets were everywhere inside the no-go zone. But by midsummer, some animals had been rescued and a number of others had perished of starvation and disease.

[Cail]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/29...ast/?hpt=hp_t2

story about all the debris from the tsunami starting to show up on the west coast of north america slowly

[Kaylia]

Radioactive debris, bodies, chemicals...we sure have huge problems. Fucking Japanese never thinking about others.


Why was radioactive debris even mentioned? The meltdown happened a while after the Tsunami, and no leak should have occurred before. Not to mention that every leak after would have been incredibly diluted in water, decayed completely, or sank (heavy element don't float).

[Salodin]

Radioactive debris, bodies, chemicals...we sure have huge problems. Fucking Japanese never thinking about others.


Why was radioactive debris even mentioned? The meltdown happened a while after the Tsunami, and no leak should have occurred before. Not to mention that every leak after would have been incredibly diluted in water, decayed completely, or sank (heavy element don't float).

Not every one is as educated on the subject as BG? The public at large is not educated enough on the subject to know that the heavy elements will sink, or that any debris that washes up, even if it had radioactive material on it at the time, will be long harmless as far as that topic is concerned.

[Ghost_Wheel22]

(CNN) -- A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck off the coast of Japan on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The earthquake hit 468 kilometers (302 miles) south-southwest of Tokyo at a depth of 348 kilometers, according to the USGS.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami warning.

The USGS gave the quake a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 before downgrading it to 6.8.

Can't Japan ever catch a break?

[Fievel]

inb4 "It can catch a wave"

Really though, that shit sucks.

[meeeeeep]

>Japan in charge of kicking off the new year.