Same area, there have been hundreds of aftershocks in the last weeks. If we have a thread for each one, there wont be much that's readable in News. :)
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Same area, there have been hundreds of aftershocks in the last weeks. If we have a thread for each one, there wont be much that's readable in News. :)
fair doos, no tsunami warning been issued anyway
Channel 6 News
TOKYO (BNO NEWS) -- A strong earthquake struck off northeastern Japan on Tuesday afternoon, seismologists said, but no tsunami warnings were issued and there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The 6.4-magnitude earthquake at 7.54 p.m. local time (1107 GMT) was centered about 126 kilometers (78 miles) east-northeast of the city of Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture, where the troubled Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is located. It struck about 18.2 kilometers (11.3 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
No tsunami warnings were immediately issued, although the earthquake was widely felt in northeastern Japan where people described it as a "very long" shake. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Parts of Japan were devastated by an enormous 9.0-magnitude earthquake which struck off its northeastern coast on March 11, generating a large tsunami and killing at least 11,000 people and leaving more than 17,000 others missing. Tuesday's earthquake is believed to be an aftershock.
Seems the radioactivity has reached Glasgow.
Video: Japan Radioactive Iodine Traces Detected In Glasgow After Tsunami And Earthquake Disaster | UK News | Sky News
It's time to send in the Putzmeister !
I'am sure that they are there for back up. But not to pour water but pour concrete. The Japanese have to face the music. Game over ! Fukushima will be a reminder and become a "The Graveyard" for the nuclear industry.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HermantheGerman
Note that the Putzmeister M28-4 is the same one that was used in Chernobyl to pour concrete, is now being used in Fukushima. Another one is on the way from Germany, Austria and similar one from China. Will they be pouring water or concrete ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Thaihome
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
Putzmeister - M 28-4
Sorry Herman old boy..TH insists the Japanese weren't resposible in any way, so why are people making so many "waves" about the Japanese nuclear industry if it really wasn't their fault? :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by HermantheGerman
p.s. answers on a postage stamp with what is going to replace nuclear power in the future please?
"The indications we have, from the reactor to radiation readings and the materials they are seeing, suggest that the core has melted through the bottom of the pressure vessel in unit two, and at least some of it is down on the floor of the drywell," Lahey said. "I hope I am wrong, but that is certainly what the evidence is pointing towards."
Japan may have lost race to save nuclear reactor | World news | guardian.co.uk
A partial meltdown, it looks like. Not good. Certainly not as bad as Chernobyl, nowhere near. But worse than Three Mile Island. I suppose the event that led to this- a natural disaster- offers some alleviating circumstance, but there is a lot of post mortem to follow on this (partial meltdown or not) before nuclear power can really be declared safe, or society can accept it as a feasible alternative to fossil fuels. The 'Mutually Assured Destruction' or MAD scenario we grew up with (the older ones) has given people a healthy suspicion of anything nuclear. Which isn't necessarily bad.
I for one do not write off nuclear power at all. But lessons will need to be learnt from this, and exactly how serious it will be is still in the balance- but again, no Chernobyl. Sobering stuff, anyway. I suspect post factum stories will be emerging of just how bad this could have been, and how critical the situation was for a while. A narrowly avoided core meltdown 140 miles(?) from the worlds biggest metropolis is no joke.
You misquoting me. II have never said the Japanese are “not responsible in any way” for the incident. What I did say in response to a comment that this incident was caused by the mismanagement and greed of TEPCO and the Japanese nuclear regulators was the incident was caused by a 9.0 earthquake and a 14 meter tsunami that overwhelmed the design of the plant which at the time it was built was considered adequate.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bold Rodney
Certainly TEPCO and the regulator bear the responsibility for incident and certainly some of the decisions they made back then and even now have made it worse, but they didn’t cause it.
TH
Loads of unemployed people - give them bicycles hooked to generators.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bold Rodney
It would solve the obesity problem too.
Failing that, solar power, although there are ridiculous amounts of money being thrown at wind power at present.
Use less ! I know, that's a shocking answer but think about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bold Rodney
Biggest spike in radiation at Japan power plant | The Jakarta Post
Biggest spike in radiation at Japan power plant
Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press, Tokyo | Wed, 03/30/2011 11:06 AM | World
Seawater outside the hobbled nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan was found to contain 3,335 times the usual amount of radioactive iodine - the highest rate yet and a sign that more contaminated water was making its way into the ocean, officials said Wednesday.
The amount of iodine-131 found offshore some 300 yards (meters) south of the coastal Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant does not pose an immediate threat to human health but was a "concern," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official. He said there was no fishing in the area.
"We will nail down the cause, and will do our utmost to prevent it from rising further," Nishiyama said.
The power plant has been leaking radiation since a March 11 tsunami slammed into Japan's northeast, knocking out power and backup systems crucial to keeping temperatures down inside the plant's reactors.
Residents within 12 miles (20 kilometers) have been evacuated, while those up to 19 miles (30 kilometers) have been urged to leave as radiation has made its way into vegetables, raw milk and water. Last week, tap water as far away as Tokyo, 140 miles (220 kilometers) to the south, contained levels of cancer-causing iodine-131 considered unsafe for infants.
The latest findings - based on a sample taken Tuesday - highlight the urgency of stabilizing the crippled power plant. The mission has been fraught with setbacks, as emergency crews have dealt with fires, explosions and radiation scares in the frantic bid to prevent a complete meltdown.
The government acknowledged Tuesday that its safeguards had been insufficient to protect the facility against the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami.
"Our preparedness was not sufficient," Chief Cabinet secretary Yukio Edano told reporters Tuesday. "When the current crisis is over, we must examine the accident closely and thoroughly review" the safety standards.
An Associated Press investigation found that Tokyo Electric Power Co. officials had dismissed scientific evidence and geological history that indicated that a massive earthquake - and subsequent tsunami - was far more likely than they believed.
That left the complex with nowhere near enough protection against the tsunami.
Highly toxic plutonium was the latest contaminant found seeping into the soil outside the plant, TEPCO said. Safety officials said the amounts did not pose a risk to humans, but the finding supports suspicions that dangerously radioactive water is leaking from damaged nuclear fuel rods.
"The situation is very grave," Edano said.
Workers succeeded last week in reconnecting some parts of the plant to the power grid. But as they pumped in water to cool the reactors and nuclear fuel, they discovered numerous pools of radioactive water, including in the basements of several buildings and in trenches outside.
The contaminated water has been emitting many times the amount of radiation that the government considers safe for workers. It must be pumped out before electricity can be restored and the regular cooling systems powered up.
That has left officials struggling with two crucial but contradictory efforts: pumping in water to keep the fuel rods cool and pumping out contaminated water.
Officials are hoping tanks at the complex will be able to hold the water, or that new tanks can be trucked in. Officials from the Nuclear Safety Commission said other possibilities include digging a storage pit for the contaminated water, recycling it back into the reactors or even pumping it to an offshore tanker.
On Tuesday, three workers trying to connect a pump outside the Unit 3 reactor were splashed by water that gushed from a pipe. Though they wore suits meant to be waterproof and protect against high levels of radiation, nuclear safety official Hidehiko Nishiyama said the men were soaked to their underwear.
They quickly washed it off and were not injured, officials said.
Last week, two workers were hospitalized with burns after they waded into highly radioactive water that reached their knees while wearing ankle-high protective boots. They have been treated and released.
Nikkei, Japan's top business newspaper, called it "outrageous" that TEPCO had been slow to release information about trenches outside the reactors filled with contaminated water, one just a few inches (10 centimeters) from overflowing.
TEPCO's shares plunged nearly 20 percent on Tuesday. Its share price has nose-dived a staggering 73 percent since the tsunami.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan reiterated in a speech to parliament that Japan was grappling with its worst problems since World War II.
More than 11,000 bodies have been recovered, but officials say the final death toll is expected to exceed 18,000. Hundreds of thousands of people remain homeless, their homes and livelihoods destroyed. Damage could amount to $310 billion - the most expensive natural disaster on record.
"This quake, tsunami and the nuclear accident are the biggest crises for Japan" in decades, Kan said Tuesday. He said the crises remained unpredictable, but added: "We will continue to handle it in a state of maximum alert."
Kan has faced increasing criticism from opposition lawmakers over the handling of a nuclear disaster stretching into a third week.
asahi.com
According to this article, the tetrapod breakwater, meant to reduce the force of waves hitting the shore (which they may do during typhoons) had the OPPOSITE effect on the tsunami, concentrating the force through the openings in the breakwater. In Japanese but the diagram on the page says it all.
The U.S. Navy surprises Sendai with an unannounced delivery of much needed food and water.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=a9Opf4tzkSAYou’ll see an older Japanese man a little ways into the clip, speaking to the camera. What he says is, essentially, that the townspeople had no idea the Americans were coming or bringing them anything. There was no announcement or anything about it. Which is true. Between the destroyed roads and the radiation fears, hardly anyone can even get to the Sendai area. But these US pilots did.
You’ll also see, near the end of the clip, a group of older men watching as the Navy man stacks boxes of supplies from the helicopter on the tarmac. They’re standing still watching him because they’re stunned. That plus the language barrier puts them in a position where they just don’t know what to do. But you can see one of them making little gestures with his hands, as if in prayer. That’s a sign of very deep respect and gratitude.
^Great news, great gesture and great PR. The US military tried its best to help after the Kobe quake and ran into a Japanese bureaucratic wall at every turn. Looks like this time, which is much worse, is different- or maybe they didn't bother asking Tokyo.
Interesting response to Lahey's remarks on the Physics Forums:Quote:
Originally Posted by sabang
Physics Forums - View Single Post - Japan Earthquake: nuclear plants
Richard Lahey is wildly speculating, which I suspect has more to do with getting paid to show up on news channels then it does to actually advance the understanding of whats happening.
A few points which I believe are correct would tend to disprove his assertion.
1. History has shown via three mile island that its very difficult to melt through a reactor vessel. In the case of three mile island 70% of the core slagged to the bottom of the reactor vessel and heated it to the point where the entire vessel was glowing red. In that case only 5/8" of inch out of 9" was ablated.
2. A reactor pressure vessel is a massive heat sink. I believe the drywell on both reactor 1 and 2 where flooded early on in the process; providing addition temperature relief. This doesn't include the water that has been injected since the start of the accident.
3. In three mile island the molten corium destroyed the temperature probes that measure the reactor pressure vessel, which is expected when you heat the sensors to this level. The temperature sensors are still functioning at the bottom of the reactor vessel on Unit 2. If the corium melted through the reactor vessel we would not have temperature data from the bottom of the reactor. I have yet to see a temperature measurement for the bottom of any of the reactor pressure vessels that comes anywhere near the melting point of steel.
4. Three mile islands coolant loss event occurred much earlier in the reactor shutdown process then did at Fukushima. This implies the fuel rods at three mile island suffered exponentially higher heat loads then the core at Fukushima.
finally, Richard Lahey states "The indications we have, from the reactor to radiation readings and the materials they are seeing, suggest that the core has melted through the bottom of the pressure vessel in unit two..."
What indications from the reactor? The radiation readings can be explained by the known damage suffered to the fuel storage pools.
Just my thoughts on the subject. I reserve the right to be mistaken.
URGENT: Edano suggests scrapping of all reactors at Fukushima Daiichi plant | Kyodo News
URGENT: Edano suggests scrapping of all reactors at Fukushima Daiichi plant
TOKYO, March 30, Kyodo
Top government spokesman Yukio Edano suggested Wednesday that all of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant should be scrapped.
''It is very clear looking at the social circumstances. That is my perception,'' Edano said in a news conference when asked if all six reactors at the troubled nuclear plant should be decommissioned.
Earlier in the day, Tsunehisa Katsumata, chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co., said the company sees decommissioning the Nos. 1-4 reactors at the plant as inevitable.
^that's a no-brainer. the plants - along with the entire area are a no entry zone for the unforeseen future...
Three reactorblocks in Chernobyl were operating long past the accident.Quote:
Originally Posted by Poo and Pee
The last reactor in Chernobyl was switched off in Dec. 2000. They even attempted to continue work on two half finished reactors for some time until it was decided the radiation level is too high for construction work.
Short Sharp Science: Resin to be sprayed on Fukushima nuclear plant
Resin to be sprayed on Fukushima nuclear plant
15:28 30 March 2011
Michael Marshall, environment reporter
With no sign of the crisis at Fukushima Daiichi being resolved any time soon, plans are now afoot to spray a resin over the embattled nuclear power plant.
Kyodo News explains:Within the compound, masses of debris are strewn about the plant as a result of explosions, and this is making it very difficult for plant workers to bring the crisis under control. While frantic efforts are under way to cool reactors and remove water contaminated with high levels of radiation from facilities in the plant, the government hopes to facilitate the task by making it safe for workers to perform. The resin is designed to prevent dirt containing radioactive substances being scattered in the wind, the officials said.In short, this is a short-term measure to help the workers do their jobs in (relative) safety.
Meanwhile the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which owns and runs the plant, is running into all sorts of difficulties. Reuters reports that it is in serious financial trouble:Tokyo Electric Power warned on Wednesday that a $24-billion bank loan was not enough to keep it afloat and pay for Japan's worst nuclear disaster, adding to expectations the government will step in to bail out the stricken company. [The company's] share price has crashed nearly 80 per cent since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that sparked the crisis.The Washington Post notes that the company's chairman has been hospitalised:[Masataka] Shimizu, 66, has not been seen in public since a 13 March news conference in Tokyo, raising speculation that he had suffered a breakdown. For days, officials deflected questions about Shimizu's whereabouts, saying he was "resting" at company headquarters. Spokesman Naoki Tsunoda said Wednesday that Shimizu had been admitted to a Tokyo hospital after suffering dizziness and high blood pressure. The leadership vacuum at TEPCO... comes amid growing criticism over its failure to halt the radiation leaks. Bowing deeply, arms at his side, chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata announced at a news conference that he would step in and apologized for the delay.And in an unsurprising development given the amount of seawater that has been pumped into them, the company has announced that the four reactors at the centre of the crisis will be permanently scrapped. The BBC reports:[TEPCO] made the announcement three weeks after failing to bring reactors 1-4 under control. Locals would be consulted on reactors 5 and 6, which were shut down safely.Xinhua quotes Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano as saying that all six should be decommissioned.
Radioactive material from the plant has reached the Pacific Ocean. According to the BBC:Radiation levels in the sea near the stricken Fukushima plant have risen to their highest yet, more than 3000 times above the legal limit. It is the strongest sign yet that highly radioactive water from the plant is leaking into the Pacific Ocean. The continuing radiation leaks are dismal news for people up and down the east coast of Japan who depend on the sea for their livelihoods.So it should come as no surprise that Japan has ordered a review of safety procedures at its nuclear reactors. Reuters reports:[Japan's trade ministry] said on Wednesday that nuclear plants would be required by mid-April to deploy back-up mobile power generators and fire trucks able to pump water, while beefing up training programs and manuals, aiming to avoid a repeat of the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant. It will also look at longer-term solutions such as requiring higher sea walls at nuclear stations and will review its energy policy to encourage renewables, although it reiterated that nuclear power was expected to retain an important role.
"An Associated Press investigation found that Tokyo Electric Power Co. officials had dismissed scientific evidence and geological history ... "
evangelicals in TPC management?
Up to 1,000 bodies left untouched within Fukushima no-go zone
Up to 1,000 bodies left untouched within Fukushima no-go zone | The Japan Times Online
Good gracious me. :34::(Quote:
Originally Posted by misskit
I just hope that lessons have been learned and the 100's of thousands of people who have either died, been affected or will be affected in the future by this tragedy will not have suffered in vain.
whilst I share your sediments the pragmatist in me knows that it is in vain . :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Loy Toy
Radiation levels in seawater off Japan plant spike to all-time highs - CNN.com
Radiation levels in seawater off Japan plant spike to all-time highs
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 31, 2011 -- Updated 0623 GMT (1423 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTSTokyo (CNN) -- The levels of radiation in ocean waters off Japan's embattled Fukushima Daiichi plant continue to skyrocket, the nation's nuclear safety agency said Thursday, with no clear sense of what's causing the spike or how to stop it.
- Levels of iodine-131 in the sea off the nuclear plant are 4,385 times the normal limit
- Cesium-137, with a half-life of 30 years, is measured at 527 times above the standard
- Authorities do not know what's caused this radiation spike or exactly how to stop it
- Despite new findings from IAEA, Japan says it won't yet expand the evacuation zone
The amount of radioactive iodine-131 isotope in the samples, taken Wednesday some 330 meters (361 yards) into the Pacific Ocean, has surged to 4,385 times above the regulatory limit. This tops the previous day's reading of 3,355 times above the standard -- and an exponential spike over the 104-times increase measured just last Friday.
Officials have downplayed the potential perils posed by this isotope, since it loses half of its radiation every eight days.
Yet amounts of the cesium-137 isotope -- which, by comparison, has a 30-year "half life" -- have also soared, with a Wednesday afternoon sample showing levels 527 times the standard.
"That's the one I am worried about," said Michael Friedlander, a U.S.-based nuclear engineer, explaining cesium might linger much longer in the ecosystem. "Plankton absorbs the cesium, the fish eat the plankton, the bigger fish eat smaller fish -- so every step you go up the food chain, the concentration of cesium gets higher."
On Thursday, Hidehiko Nishiyama, a Japanese nuclear safety official, reiterated that seawater radiation doesn't yet pose a health risk to humans eating seafood.
Fishing is not allowed within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the plant, and he claimed that waterborne radiation should dilute over time.
Still, authorities don't know where the highly radioactive water is coming from.
Nishiyama said it may be flowing continuously into the sea. Another explanation is that water, which authorities have pumped and sprayed in by the tons in recent weeks to stave off a meltdown, became contaminated by overheating nuclear fuel in the process and ended up in the ocean without having any room to settle in the nuclear plant.
"They have a problem where the more they try to cool it down, the greater the radiation hazard as that water leaks out from the plant," said Jim Walsh, an international security expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Persistent rain and wind forced the plant's owner, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, to postpone Thursday a new fix to contain the spread of radiation: a water and synthetic resin mix to envelop radioactive particles. The plan is to spend at least three weeks spraying the solution on the grounds and sides of reactors at the Daiichi facility.
The nuclear plant has been in a state of perpetual crisis since being rocked by the March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, and there's no clear end in sight.
This has all left the plant's owner reeling, with the ordeal taking a significant toll on both its reputation and bottom line.
On Wednesday -- the same day the company announced that its president, Masataka Shimizu, had been hospitalized due to "fatigue and stress" -- Tokyo Electric's chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said it had no choice but to decommission four of the plant's six reactors.
He acknowledged reports Japan's government is mulling nationalizing the company after the disaster, saying, "We want to make every effort to stay a private company."
Beyond the recovery and clean-up expenses, Toyko Electric will likely be asked to pay those who suffered because of the nuclear crisis.
A report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimates the utility firm will face 1 trillion Japanese yen ($12.13 billion) in compensation claims if the recovery effort lasts two months, rising to 10 trillion yen if it goes on for two years, said Takayuki Inoue, a spokesman with the financial giant.
That might include farmers, their livelihoods shattered after the detection of high radiation in several vegetables prompting the government to ban sales. Contaminated tap water also has prompted officials to tell residents in some locales to only offer bottled water to infants. Businesses have been hit hard, too, by rolling blackouts tied to the strained power grid.
But those most affected have been the thousands, living within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the stricken plant, who have been ordered to evacuate.
The International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday urged Japanese authorities to "carefully assess the situation" -- and consider expanding the evacuation zone further -- after high radiation levels were found in Iitate, a town of 7,000 residents 40 kilometers northwest of the nuclear facility.
The U.N. agency did not say how much radiation it had detected, though the environmental group Greenpeace said Sunday it found levels more than 50 times above normal.
Koboyashi Takashi, Iitate's manager for general affairs, said radiation levels in soil and water were decreasing. Residents had temporarily evacuated, but later returned to take care of livestock, he said.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters Thursday the "IAEA results will be taken into consideration," but said "there is no plan" to expand the evacuation zone to 30 kilometers or beyond.
"There is no immediate health hazard," Edano said. "If the exposure continues for a long period of time, (a negative) impact can occur. We will continue to survey the situation."
This one quote sums up the most dangerous component in this whole ecological disaster.Quote:
Originally Posted by StrontiumDog
Whilst these bureaucratic bums sit there trying to play down every aspect of this ongoing disatser our ecology is being adversely affected to levels never experienced before.
They should muzzle these fookers or jail them for lying.
only took 20 days for the apology to be forth coming and then they had to roll out the aging chairman as the President fell sick last night .
no doubt the illness was compounded by the horror of losing face in delivering the apology .