Japanese earthquake / tsunami discussion

Rob A. Bank

Dispersion model from the Austrian weather service showing the plume of radioactivity until the 21st

http://www.zamg.ac.at/pict/aktuell/20110319_fuku_I-131.gif

I pray to God that they manage to get everything cooled and covered in water before the plume blows onshore as forecast.

Rob A. Bank

The British Foreign office are posting radioactive contamination advice on their website.

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=News&id=569092482

Just saw these posted elsewhere, apologies if already here. Fuskihima cloud now at Atlantic, but no risk.


http://enenews.com/fukushima-plume-north-atlantic-caribbean-canadas-east-coast-yesterday-cloud-covered-north-america

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/world/03/19/11/fukushima-cloud-now-atlantic-no-risk-france

fits

Topper Harley01 wrote: »

Another frightening video of the wave hitting the coast here:

Holy crap

Run_to_da_hills

Mainstream media halts accurate reporting on Japan's worsening nuclear catastrophe; disinfo campaign now underway.

http://www.naturalnews.com/031748_mainstream_media_nuclear_catastrophe.html

shadowninty

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Mainstream media halts accurate reporting on Japan's worsening nuclear catastrophe; disinfo campaign now underway.

http://www.naturalnews.com/031748_mainstream_media_nuclear_catastrophe.html

fantastic source there yar

shedweller

Rob A. Bank wrote: »

A link which explores a possible source of the leaks in the spent fuel pools with some detailed drawings and images. The integrity of the seals depends on electricity from the power grid !!! These pools have been without electricity for over a week !





http://allthingsnuclear.org/post/3964225685/possible-source-of-leaks-at-spent-fuel-pools-at

:eek:

As someone else has said, holy crap! Power required to maintain a seal? Lunacy.

andrew

A very very very comprehensive radiation dose chart

Rob A. Bank

Jake1 wrote: »

Just saw these posted elsewhere, apologies if already here. Fuskihima cloud now at Atlantic, but no risk.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/world/03/19/11/fukushima-cloud-now-atlantic-no-risk-france

This is the model of the spread from the Meteo France .... as you said no risk and totally diluted.

But it serves to show that
Its a small world.
We are all connected when nastyness is emitted into the atmosphere.
That it takes about 14 days for stuff to spread all over the northern hemisphere.

http://www.irsn.fr/FR/popup/Pages/irsn-meteo-france_19mars.aspx

,

Overheal

Zayden Hallowed Bayonet wrote: »

Would it be a reasonable assumption to make at this point that theres bog all they can do? Stuff cant be getting any colder.

Why not? It's snowing

Overheal

andrew wrote: »

A very very very comprehensive radiation dose chart

My already enormous respect for that xkcd guy just shot up to 8 times the normal background level.

Run_to_da_hills

Pressure rising in 3 mox reactor.

This is very serious as radioactive steam must be r;leased into the athmosphere in order to avoid an explosion.. CNN

Danmed if you do damned if you don't scenario.

gbee

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Pressure rising in 3 mox reactor..

HNK says no need to vent to reduce pressure!

And they were getting so close too. The reactor should be normally cooling off by now too, we watch, we wait.

peasant

good news for a change ...two survivors found !

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hsIxCtsrh2GCfZABp5Fq0dIJk8Kg?docId=7dd03396699b43908363578f0a22413e

An 80-year-old woman and her teenage grandson were rescued Sunday in northeastern Japan when the youth was able to pull himself out of their flattened two-story house nine days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Thrill

DEATH TOLL


* The death toll is difficult to forecast.
A total of 8,133 people were confirmed dead by police, quoted by Kyodo news agency, as of Sunday. Police in Miyagi prefecture, the worst-hit area, said the number of dead there would exceed 15,000. Heavy losses were also suffered in Iwate and Fukushima prefectures.


Another 12,272 people are still missing, National Police Agency of Japan says. The total surpasses 6,434 who died after the Kobe earthquake in 1995.




NUMBER OF PEOPLE EVACUATED


* A total of 362,877 people have been evacuated and are staying at shelters as of 0300 GMT on Sunday, National Police Agency of Japan says.
The government expanded the evacuation area around a quake-stricken nuclear plant in northeastern Japan to a 20-km (12 miles) radius from 10 km on March 12. Since then, around 177,500 residents have evacuated from the zone.
The government has also told people within 30 km of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, some 240 km north of Tokyo, to stay indoors.


HOUSEHOLDS WITHOUT ELECTRICITY


* A total of 249,879 households in the north were without electricity as of Sunday morning, Tohuku Electric Power Co. says.


HOUSEHOLDS WITHOUT WATER


* At least 1.04 million households in 11 prefectures were without running water as of Saturday, the Health Ministry says on Saturday.


NUMBER OF BUILDINGS DAMAGED


* At least 117,274 buildings have been damaged, with at least 14,407 completely destroyed, National Police Agency of Japan says on Saturday.


IMPACT ON ECONOMY


Citigroup expects 5-10 trillion yen in damage to housing and infrastructure, while Barclays Capital estimates economic losses of 15 trillion yen ($183.7 billion) or 3 percent of Japan's GDP.
UBS expects Japan's economy to grow 1.4 percent this year, compared with its previous forecast of 1.5 percent expansion. But it upgraded its growth forecast for 2012 to 2.5 percent, up from the previous estimate of 2.1 percent.


Goldman Sachs expects total economic losses likely to hit 16 trillion yen, while it expects real GDP to decline by 0.5-2 percent in the second quarter.


NUMBER OF COUNTRIES OFFERING AID


- According to the Japanese foreign ministry, 128 countries and 33 international organizations have offered assistance as of Saturday. ($1=81.66 yen)


REUTERS.

Overheal

well the lack of news on the plant is itself promising. When they can lift the exlusion zone, that would be even better. So begins the recovery phase of the post-disaster.

andyseadog

Overheal wrote: »

well the lack of news on the plant is itself promising. When they can lift the exlusion zone, that would be even better. So begins the recovery phase of the post-disaster.

do you think the lack of news is something to do with this article, or is the article further scaremongering?

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Mainstream media halts accurate reporting on Japan's worsening nuclear catastrophe; disinfo campaign now underway.

http://www.naturalnews.com/031748_mainstream_media_nuclear_catastrophe.html

Overheal

andyseadog wrote: »

do you think the lack of news is something to do with this article, or is the article further scaremongering?

No not really. Even the media seems to agree with itself that it was scaremongering. When there is something the public needs to be alerted to I believe they will be alerted to it. The hourly updates caused irresponsible consumer panic in the US when there was nothing to panic about. I can't speak for the Irish but if this thread is any indication, they themselves were a tad freaked out about it, too.

It's not uncommon for a President to ask the press to report or not report on an issue for the benefit of peace and national security. Stockpiling potassium iodine was just the tip of a much larger iceberg (and was ultimately unwarranted). I'm frankly glad they've obeyed the hush request. Oh BTW Terror Alert: Elevated. Thanks.

edit: speaking of which Fox is now pulling over to reactor news to talk about the building pressure in the MOX3 reactor. Not a gag order I suspect, but asking them not to play it on a continuous loop like they have been the last few days. Still my favorite line:

"This is just horrible. I can't even bear to look." Said Geraldo Rivera as he rewound the disaster porn tape of the World Trade Center collapsing for the 10,000th time that day.

Overheal

Trace radiation levels detected in Tokyo tap water; not above safe levels

http://consumerist.com/2011/03/food-and-water-tainted-with-radiation-in-japan.html

A team of about 500 workers successfully connected a power line to the complex in an attempt to get the cooling system up and running again.

But later in the day, thick smoke was seen billowing out of a building at the crippled power plant, and stored fuel rods are believed to be exposed in a separate complex, Unit 3, sparking fears that they may release more radiation.

"Dealing with Unit 3 is our utmost priority," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.

The cause of the smoke from the complex's Unit 2 was unknown.

Experts voiced optimism that the situation was slowly stabilizing, but the challenge was immense and future unclear.

Even if power can be restored, it's unclear the equipment to cool the reactors will work.

"Most of the motors and switchboards were submerged by the tsunami and they cannot be used," said Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/03/19/2011-03-19_japan_radiation_fears_heighten_as_tainted_water_discovered_in_wake_of_nuclear_pl.html#ixzz1H9VtuHVc

Rob A. Bank

Overheal wrote: »

Even if power can be restored, it's unclear the equipment to cool the reactors will work.

"Most of the motors and switchboards were submerged by the tsunami and they cannot be used," said Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

Sounds like they will have to rewire all the buildings in order to stabilize the safety systems for the reactors and spent fuel pools. Electrics and seawater dont mix very well and shorting could cause more hydrogen explosions.

Not an easy job for an electrician in a dangerous radioactive environment.

The French are reporting that the control rooms for all the reactors are contaminated too, resulting in people being only able to stay a short time in each of them.

Maybe burying the whole complex in tons of sand, lead and boric acid will be forced on them eventually, like they did at Chernobil.

Overheal

they already mentioned burial as a possibility.

Rob A. Bank

Dispersion model of the radioactive plume in Japan from Meteo France:

Amounts of whole body (radiation) likely to be received by a 1 year old child in the absence of protection during the emissions (in millisieverts)

http://www.irsn.fr/FR/popup/Pages/animation_doses_corps_entiers_19mars.aspx

RichieC

So I learned something this week, Radiation isn't dangerous.

Topper Harley01

The dead and missing now stands at over 21,000:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0320/japan.html

I still think this number will rise significantly in the coming weeks.

Run_to_da_hills

A tank is taken to the Fukushima nuclear power plant where it will be used to clear the rubble. :eek:

http://i54.tinypic.com/23jjib.jpg

yoganmahew

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

A tank is taken to the Fukushima nuclear power plant where it will be used to clear the rubble. :eek:

http://i54.tinypic.com/23jjib.jpg

Presumably it is NBT?
(Nuclear, Bacterial... eh, Tay proof).

johngalway

yoganmahew wrote: »

Presumably it is NBT?
(Nuclear, Bacterial... eh, Tay proof).

NBC

Nuclear, Biological, Chemical.

Not sure why they need a tank. Am sure they have combat engineers who may have a similarly equipped bulldozer.

Ah - Just seen the blade on the front.

Run_to_da_hills

johngalway wrote: »

NBC

Nuclear, Biological, Chemical.

Not sure why they need a tank. Am sure they have combat engineers who may have a similarly equipped bulldozer.

Ah - Just seen the blade on the front.

Israeli D9's would be the right job.

http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/vehicles/engineer_vehicles/bulldozers/d9_d10.html

maringo

Food chain contaminated by radiation near the site

andrew

Current situation overview, according to the IAEA, as of 20 March 2011 at 19:39:

There have been some positive developments in the last 24 hours, but the overall situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains very serious.

Efforts to restore electrical power to the site continue. Off-site electrical power has been connected to the local substation for Unit 2 today. Work is continuing under difficult conditions to connect power from the substation to the reactor building.
Seawater is still being injected into the reactor pressure vessels of Units 1, 2 and 3. Water injection is not needed for Unit 4 as the reactor is in outage.

White smoke or vapour from Unit 3 is still being observed, but it is less intense than on previous days. Spraying of the reactor building with water is in progress. Following an initial rise in pressure in the Unit 3 reactor pressure vessel, plans were made to vent the vessel should it become necessary. However, from information recently provided by NISA they have decided not to vent as the vessel pressure has started to reduce.

The situation in the reactor spent fuel pools is relatively stable, but is still of concern. Spraying of water into the pool of Unit 4 started yesterday. The Agency still lacks data on water levels and temperatures at the spent fuel pools at Units 1, 2, 3 and 4.

A positive development is that cooling has been restored to the reactor pressure vessels in Units 5 and 6. Temperatures in the spent fuel pools at these two units, which had been rising in the last few days, have now fallen significantly to around 40 degrees centigrade from a maximum of about 69 degrees yesterday. Two diesel generators, one for each Unit, are providing electricity.