Oh Shit! - Major Nuclear Emergency in Japan

[RED DAVE]

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Earthquake-damaged_Fukushima_nuclear_power_plant_triggers_eva cuation

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[Fulanito de Tal]

Sucks!


Japan's (http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Japan) government has declared its first ever "nuclear emergency" after pressure rises in the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi) power plant, combined with a minor radiation leak, caused a 10KM radius around the plant to be evacuated. They must have forgotten about the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[Tifosi]

They must have forgotten about the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Course they have, it's just one of those things that slips the mind, you know:huh:

[RED DAVE]

Video of the explosion (http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/video-of-japanese-nuclear-plant-explosion/#video-of-nuclear-plant-explosion)

It looks pretty fucking bad.

RED DAVE

[RED DAVE]

Worse and worse!


IWAKI, Japan - Cooling systems failed at a second nuclear reactor on Japan's devastated coast Sunday, hours after an explosion at a nearby unit made leaking radiation, or even outright meltdown, the central threat to the country following a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.

The Japanese government said radiation emanating from the plant appeared to have decreased after Saturday's blast, which produced a cloud of white smoke that obscured the complex. But the danger was grave enough that officials pumped seawater into the reactor to avoid disaster and moved 170,000 people from the area.

Japan's nuclear safety agency then reported an emergency at a second reactor unit when its cooling systems malfunctioned.

Japan dealt with the nuclear threat as it struggled to determine the scope of the earthquake, the most powerful in its recorded history, and the tsunami that ravaged its northeast Friday with breathtaking speed and power. The official count of the dead was 686, but the government said the figure could far exceed 1,000.

Teams searched for the missing along hundreds of miles of the Japanese coast, and thousands of hungry survivors huddled in darkened emergency centers that were cut off from rescuers and aid. At least a million households had gone without water since the quake struck. Large areas of the countryside were surrounded by water and unreachable.

The explosion at the nuclear plant, Fukushima Dai-ichi, 170 miles (274 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, appeared to be a consequence of steps taken to prevent a meltdown after the quake and tsunami knocked out power to the plant, crippling the system used to cool fuel rods there.http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/12/explosion-at-japan-nuclear-plant-disaster-death-toll-rises/?ncid=webmail

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[Dimentio]

Now it seems like a third reactor is damaged.

Hopefully, the Japanese will sort this out. Their reactors are built to withstand things like this.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Crossposted from HERE (http://www.revleft.com/vb/japan-issues-atomic-t151350/index.html?p=2045550#post2045550#):

Keep in mind that while a lot of attention is being focused on the nuclear drama in Japan, there are still many petroleum-fueled fires raging and hydro-electric facilities have been destroyed with predictable consequences.

It's tragically ironic, really. Refineries and fuel tanks head skywards with depressing frequency, and have killed and injured more people as a result. Yet because because major accidents involving nuclear plants are so rare, they're always newsworthy and thus get the greater amount of attention.

[Die Neue Zeit]

Long Mile Island or Chernobyl in the works?

[IndependentCitizen]

Crossposted from HERE (http://www.revleft.com/vb/japan-issues-atomic-t151350/index.html?p=2045550#post2045550#):

Keep in mind that while a lot of attention is being focused on the nuclear drama in Japan, there are still many petroleum-fueled fires raging and hydro-electric facilities have been destroyed with predictable consequences.

It's tragically ironic, really. Refineries and fuel tanks head skywards with depressing frequency, and have killed and injured more people as a result. Yet because because major accidents involving nuclear plants are so rare, they're always newsworthy and thus get the greater amount of attention.

Whilst this is true, if one were to go bang, that'd mean an incredibly large exclusion zone which means people will have to move elsewhere. Isn't Japan mostly populated amongst the coast because it has a large portion of mountainous terrain?

I can only pray that nothing happens to the reactors, these people have suffered more than enough.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Whilst this is true, if one were to go bang, that'd mean an incredibly large exclusion zone which means people will have to move elsewhere. Isn't Japan mostly populated amongst the coast because it has a large portion of mountainous terrain?

Let's just say we're not going to be seeing another Chernobyl. For one thing, I suspect most plant workers actually give a shit about their jobs.


I can only pray that nothing happens to the reactors, these people have suffered more than enough.

Thankfully the engineers and technicians of the nuclear facilities in Japan have a hell of a lot more than prayer to fall back on, and have no more desire to see a disaster than you or I - they do live there after all.

[Salyut]

Long Mile Island or Chernobyl in the works?

Three Mile Island at worst. Chernobyl was a steam explosion. This at worst is a meltdown - and the engineering should stand up to that.

If I'm wrong I will punch myself in the balls.

[dernier combat]

Their reactors are built to withstand things like this.
Apparently not, it appears.


The company said in the documents that 7.9 was the highest magnitude for which they tested the safety for their No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear power plants in Fukushima.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703555404576195700301455480.html

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Apparently not, it appears.

Well, thank goodness for over-engineering. The Richter scale is a logarithmic one, where 9 is ten times as powerful as 8, and so on. The fact that containment has (so far) been maintained despite conditions at least two orders of magnitude greater than designed for is a testament to the foresight and caution inherent in engineering principles.

Of course, if the bean-counters and greedy corporate types had things all their own way, things would be considerably worse. Cutting corners to save money is perhaps the greatest sin an engineer can commit, and it is in all our interests to ensure that they are not forced to do so.

[mosfeld]

I saw an image yesterday which was a collection of facebook wall posts from Amerikan pigs who were cheering on the earthquake, calling it "karma" or "payback for pearl harbor, gooks" or something. One guy said something like "wanna see a real tragedy? google pearl harbor death toll".

[The Vegan Marxist]

^And the two atomic bombs were what to them? :confused:

[mosfeld]

^And the two atomic bombs were what to them? :confused: "Pearl Harbor was the worst atrocity that the human race has ever witnessed, except for 9/11. Why are you comparing this to two bombs which made America win the war?"

http://chokeonwords.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/fat_america.jpg

[RED DAVE]

JAPANESE SCRAMBLE TO AVERT NUCLEAR MELTDOWNS

(headline in todays print version of the NYT)


TOKYO — Japanese officials struggled on Sunday to contain a widening nuclear crisis in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and tsunami, saying they presumed that partial meltdowns had occurred at two crippled reactors and that they were bracing for a second explosion, even as they faced serious cooling problems at four more reactors.

The emergency appeared to be the worst involving a nuclear plant since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago. The developments at two separate nuclear plants prompted the evacuation of more than 200,000 people. Japanese officials said they had also ordered up the largest mobilization of their Self-Defense Forces since World War II to assist in the relief effort.

On Saturday, Japanese officials took the extraordinary step of flooding the crippled No. 1 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, 170 miles north of Tokyo, with seawater in a last-ditch effort to avoid a nuclear meltdown. That came after an explosion caused by hydrogen that tore the outer wall and roof off the building housing the reactor, although the steel containment of the reactor remained in place.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/world/asia/14nuclear.html?_r=1&hp

The print version is even scarier.

RED DAVE

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

JAPANESE SCRAMBLE TO AVERT NUCLEAR MELTDOWNS

(headline in todays print version of the NYT)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/world/asia/14nuclear.html?_r=1&hp

The print version is even scarier.


Of course it is. Scary sells newspapers.

[Delenda Carthago]

^And the two atomic bombs were what to them? :confused:
Statistics.

[The Vegan Marxist]

Japan's Shinmoedake volcano has just erupted!!! :(

Hundreds flee in Japan after Shinmoedake volcano begins spewing ash, boulders
BY HELEN KENNEDY

Earthquake, tsunami, nuclear plant meltdowns -- as if the people of Japan didn't have enough to cope with, a volcano began erupting Sunday.

Hundreds of people were forced to flee when the Shinmoedake volcano on the southern island of Kyushu began spewing ash and boulders.

The explosion from the eruption could be heard miles away and an ash plume extended two miles into the sky.

Shinmoedake, one of several volcanic peaks in the Kirishima mountain range, is 950 miles from the epicenter of Friday's earthquake and scientists weren't sure if the quake triggered the eruption.

Eruptions and quakes are common in Japan's "ring of fire."

The volcano erupted in January - the first major seismic activity on the mountain in 52 years. Scientists say lava had been building up in recent weeks.

Shinmoedake is famous for standing in as the villain's secret rocket base in the 1967 James Bond film, "You Only Live Twice."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/03/13/2011-03-13_hundreds_flee_in_japan_after_shinmoedake_volcan o_begins_spewing_ash_boulders.html

[The Vegan Marxist]

Sucks!
They must have forgotten about the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

They didn't have a "nuclear emergency" when the bombs were dropped. As far as I'm aware, they were oblivious the US were going to murder the citizenry of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with two atomic bombs.

[dernier combat]

They didn't have a "nuclear emergency" when the bombs were dropped. As far as I'm aware, they were oblivious the US were going to murder the citizenry of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with two atomic bombs.
I'm sure the resulting nuclear fallout could be counted as a nuclear emergency.

[The Vegan Marxist]

I'm sure the resulting nuclear fallout could be counted as a nuclear emergency.

It was an emergency, sure, but Japan never had a control-system where they took certain measures to ensure the safety of those before disaster takes place. In which is the first time in Japan this was to be used. It was developed because of their known past with nukes, not during that period.

[Fulanito de Tal]

Whatever man. If an alien came into your home right now and started kicking your ass, that would be an alien emergency, even if had never happened before.

You better get ready!

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h111/durancm/2443269-1.jpg

[Queercommie Girl]

I wouldn't be so pro-Japan (of course, my deepest sympathies go to the Japanese people affected by the earthquake) though, I've heard on Chinese forums that the Japanese state is actively supporting ethnic separatist movements in China: in Inner Mongolia, Tibet and Turkestan. Ethnic Mongol nationalists in China get a lot of their funding from the Japanese.

During WWII, Japanese imperialists supported certain Mongol fascist groups, telling them to worship Genghis Khan and repeat his "glorious conquest" of Han China.

[Obs]

I wouldn't be so pro-Japan (of course, my deepest sympathies go to the Japanese people affected by the earthquake) though, I've heard on Chinese forums that the Japanese state is actively supporting ethnic separatist movements in China: in Inner Mongolia, Tibet and Turkestan. Ethnic Mongol nationalists in China get a lot of their funding from the Japanese.

During WWII, Japanese imperialists supported certain Mongol fascist groups, telling them to worship Genghis Khan and repeat his "glorious conquest" of Han China.

This is relevant to a disaster which could kill thousands upon thousands of innocent Japanese workers... how?

[RED DAVE]

Fuel rods likely melting at third Japanese reactor

Water levels drop at plant's Unit 2, following similar developments at Units 1, 3


SOMA, Japan — The uranium fuel rods at a third nuclear reactor within a stricken Japanese power complex are likely to have started melting after water levels dropped precipitously twice on Monday, officials said.

The water drop left the rods no longer completely covered in cooling water, thus increasing the risk of a radiation leak and the potential for a meltdown at the Unit 2 reactor, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

Workers managed to raise water levels after the second drop Monday night, but they began falling for a third time, according to Naoki Kumagai, an official with Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Agency.

TEPCO later said it had resumed work to pump sea water into the unit by opening a valve on the reactor's pressure vessel.

A senior government official said it now seems that the nuclear fuel rods inside all three functioning reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex are melting. Units 1 and 3 earlier also saw drops in water levels. "Although we cannot directly check it, it's highly likely happening," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.

Some experts would consider melting fuel rods a partial meltdown. Others, though, reserve that term for times when nuclear fuel melts through a reactor's innermost chamber but not through the outer containment shell.

Officials held out the possibility that, too, may be happening. "It's impossible to say whether there has or has not been damage" to the vessels, Kumagai said.

If a complete reactor meltdown — where the uranium core melts through the outer containment shell — were to occur, a wave of radiation would be released, resulting in major, widespread health problems.

Also unknown was the status of any nuclear waste that might be stored at the site, and whether the pools housing used fuel were still being cooled to prevent a radiation release.

The cabinet secretary's comments followed a hydrogen explosion at Unit 3 on Monday that injured 11 workers and was heard 25 miles away. A similar explosion happened at Unit 1 on Saturday.

Of all these troubles, the drop in water levels at Unit 2 had officials the most worried. "Units 1 and 3 are at least somewhat stabilized for the time being," said Nuclear and Industrial Agency official Ryohei Shiomi. "Unit 2 now requires all our effort and attention."

The blast occurred as authorities tried to cool the reactor with sea water.

Authorities said operators knew an explosion was a possibility as they struggled to reduce pressure inside the reactor containment vessel, but apparently felt they had no choice if they wanted to avoid a complete meltdown. In the end, the hydrogen in the released steam mixed with oxygen in the atmosphere and set off the blast.
In some ways, the explosion at Unit 3 was not as dire as it might seem.

The blast actually lessened pressure building inside the troubled reactor, and officials said the all-important containment shell — thick concrete armor around the reactor — had not been damaged. In addition, officials said radiation levels remained within legal limits, though anyone left within 12 miles of the scene was ordered to remain indoors.

"We have no evidence of harmful radiation exposure" from Monday's blast, Deputy Cabinet Secretary Noriyuki Shikata told reporters.

On Saturday, a similar explosion took place at the plant's Unit 1, injuring four workers and causing mass evacuations. A Japanese official said 22 people had been confirmed to have suffered radiation contamination and up to 190 may have been exposed. Workers in protective clothing used hand-held scanners to check people arriving at evacuation centers.

While four Japanese nuclear complexes were damaged in the wake of Friday's twin disasters, the Dai-ichi complex, which sits just off the Pacific coast and was badly hammered by the tsunami, has been the focus of most of the worries over Japan's deepening nuclear crisis. All three of the operational reactors at the complex now have faced severe troubles.

The length of time since the nuclear crisis began could indicate that the chemical reactions inside the reactors were not moving quickly toward a complete meltdown.

"We're now into the fourth day. Whatever is happening in that core is taking a long time to unfold," said Mark Hibbs, a senior associate at the nuclear policy program for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "They've succeeded in prolonging the timeline of the accident sequence."

He noted, though, that Japanese officials appeared unable to figure out what was going on deep inside the reactors. In part, that was probably because of the damage done to the facility by the tsunami.

"The real question mark is what's going on inside the core," he said. The U.N. World Health Organization said the public health risk from Japan's atomic plants remained "quite low." Moreover, the Japan Meteorological Agency said that the winds in the area were blowing toward the Pacific Ocean, away from populated areas.

'Fundamentally different' from Chernobyl 
Citing experts, The New York Times reported that radioactive steam could be released from the stricken plants for weeks or possibly months.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi complex was due to be decommissioned in February but was given a new 10-year lease on life.

Its reactors were designed by General Electric. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture between NBC Universal and Microsoft. GE is a part owner of NBC Universal.)

Japanese authorities have classified the event at Dai-ichi's No. 1 reactor as a level 4 "accident with local consequences" on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES).

The scale is used to consistently communicate the safety significance of events associated with sources of radiation. The scale runs from 0 (deviation — no safety significance) to 7 (major accident).

The 1979 Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania was a level 5 ("accident with wider consequences"). The 1986 Chernobyl disaster was a level 7.

GE-designed reactors in Fukushima have 23 sisters in U.S.

The reactor that exploded at Chernobyl, sending a cloud of radiation over much of Europe and killing 4,000 either directly or from cancer, was not housed in a sealed container as those at Daiichi are. The Japanese reactors also do not use graphite, which burned for several days at Chernobyl.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Sunday sought to allay radiation fears. "Radiation has been released in the air, but there are no reports that a large amount was released," Jiji news agency quoted him as saying. "This is fundamentally different from the Chernobyl accident."http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42066534/ns/world_news-asia-pacific/

RED DAVE

[S.Artesian]

Great. This sucks. New York is the only safe place to live, provided Indian Point doesn't go critical.

[Queercommie Girl]

This is relevant to a disaster which could kill thousands upon thousands of innocent Japanese workers... how?


I'm against the Japanese state. If anything, it is somewhat to blame for the dire situation at the moment, by building nuclear power stations on a damn fault line.

The Japanese state and the Japanese people are two completely different things.

What's wrong for any socialist to radically criticise the Japanese state, a state that was once a member of the fascist Axis Powers and murdered tens of millions of innocent civilians?

[Decolonize The Left]

I'm against the Japanese state. If anything, it is somewhat to blame for the dire situation at the moment, by building nuclear power stations on a damn fault line.

The Japanese state and the Japanese people are two completely different things.

What's wrong for any socialist to radically criticise the Japanese state, a state that was once a member of the fascist Axis Powers and murdered tens of millions of innocent civilians?

There's nothing wrong with hating on nation-states... but this is a thread to discuss the disaster and possibly extreme nuclear disaster which is unfolding in Japan..

So if you want to make a thread about how Japan as a state sucks, you can. But don't do it here because people clicking on this thread think there are updates about what's going on.

- August

[RED DAVE]

New explosion reported at Japan nuclear plant


(CBS/AP) SOMA, Japan - A third explosion in four days rocked the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan early Tuesday, the country's nuclear safety agency said. Some workers were reportedly told to leave the site, and there are reports of rising radiation levels nearby, although authorities insist the situation is under control.

The blast at Dai-ichi Unit 2 followed two hydrogen explosions at the plant - the latest on Monday - as authorities struggle to prevent the catastrophic release of radiation in the area devastated by a tsunami.

The cascading troubles in the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant compounded the immense challenges faced by the Tokyo government, already struggling to send relief to hundreds of thousands of people along the country's quake- and tsunami-ravaged coast where at least 10,000 people are believed to have died.

Japanese nuclear authorities insist they are in control, reports CBS News correspondent Celia Hatton. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the situation will not turn in to another Chernobyl.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the government is setting up a joint response headquarters at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s main office to better manage the crisis.
Later, a top Japanese official said the fuel rods in all three of the most troubled nuclear reactors appeared to be melting.

The troubles at the Dai-ichi complex began when Friday's massive quake and tsunami in Japan's northeast knocked out power, crippling cooling systems needed to keep nuclear fuel from melting down.

The latest explosion was heard at 6:10 a.m. local time on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Nuclear Safety Agency said at a news conference. The plant's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said the explosion occurred near the suppression pool in the reactor's containment vessel. The pool was later found to have a defect.http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20043127-503543.html


RED DAVE

[Jose Gracchus]

I wouldn't be so pro-Japan (of course, my deepest sympathies go to the Japanese people affected by the earthquake) though, I've heard on Chinese forums that the Japanese state is actively supporting ethnic separatist movements in China: in Inner Mongolia, Tibet and Turkestan. Ethnic Mongol nationalists in China get a lot of their funding from the Japanese.

During WWII, Japanese imperialists supported certain Mongol fascist groups, telling them to worship Genghis Khan and repeat his "glorious conquest" of Han China.

What kind of a racist brings up during a national tragedy some kind of implicit blood guilt for the crimes of their imperial bourgeoisie? Shame on you.

[Rosa Lichtenstein]

I have been posting regular updates and other material over in Science (http://www.revleft.com/vb/japan-issues-atomic-t151350/index.html).

[Queercommie Girl]

What kind of a racist brings up during a national tragedy some kind of implicit blood guilt for the crimes of their imperial bourgeoisie? Shame on you.


I said my deepest sympathies goes to the Japanese people. You must have missed that point on purpose.

But I will continue to strongly criticise the Japanese state, which is not the same thing. It's not just the capitalists, but the state itself that needs to be criticised.

If you can't see that the nationalism of the oppressed nations is fundamentally different from the nationalism of the conquerors, then you've got a serious problem.

Why don't you tell me why is it that the fact that the Japanese state to this day still refuses to apologise for its WWII crimes and still holds official ceremonies to revere war criminals is not indeed a serious problem? Even the capitalist German state has formally condemned the war crimes conducted by Nazi Germany. The Japanese state is more reactionary than the current German one.

As far as the "state" is concerned, there is indeed a "blood guilt" of a kind. The Japanese state today is essentially still the same capitalist state as the one that conducted the atrocities in WWII, with only quantitative but no qualitative changes.

[Omsk]

Even the capitalist German state has formally condemned the war crimes conducted by Nazi Germany.
The DDR started this process,arresting a huge number of nazis,and bringing justice.
But,lets not get too off-topic (we all ready are)
So,here is my opinion - The Japanese are a magnificent nation,truly hard working people,and while i dont like their government,i wish all the luck in the world to the unfortunate people who got caught up by this mess.It's truly a tragedy.

[Obs]

I said my deepest sympathies goes to the Japanese people. You must have missed that point on purpose.

But I will continue to strongly criticise the Japanese state, which is not the same thing. It's not just the capitalists, but the state itself that needs to be criticised.

Why did you even bring it up, though? No one defended or even mentioned the Japanese state or expressed any kind of support for it. Everyone here is discussing what this will mean for the Japanese people, which prompted my response to your post because it looks a lot like a non-sequitur prompted by a trigger-happy attitude towards anything that has to do with Japan.

[S.Artesian]

I said my deepest sympathies goes to the Japanese people. You must have missed that point on purpose.

But I will continue to strongly criticise the Japanese state, which is not the same thing. It's not just the capitalists, but the state itself that needs to be criticised.

If you can't see that the nationalism of the oppressed nations is fundamentally different from the nationalism of the conquerors, then you've got a serious problem.

Why don't you tell me why is it that the fact that the Japanese state to this day still refuses to apologise for its WWII crimes and still holds official ceremonies to revere war criminals is not indeed a serious problem? Even the capitalist German state has formally condemned the war crimes conducted by Nazi Germany. The Japanese state is more reactionary than the current German one.

As far as the "state" is concerned, there is indeed a "blood guilt" of a kind. The Japanese state today is essentially still the same capitalist state as the one that conducted the atrocities in WWII, with only quantitative but no qualitative changes.

This has nothing to do with the crisis in Japan and its impact on the people there, and the people everywhere.

[RED DAVE]

Spike in radiation forces Japan to suspend efforts to prevent nuclear meltdown

High radiation levels halted crucial efforts to cool damaged nuclear reactors at risk of complete meltdown in Japan.


March 16, 2011

Japan suspended efforts Wednesday to prevent damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant from melting down when a surge in radiation made it too dangerous for workers to operate.

"The workers cannot carry out even minimal work at the plant now," said chief government spokesman Yuko Edano, referring to workers who had been dousing the reactors with seawater in a frantic effort to cool down their rising temperatures. "Because of the radiation risk, we are on standby."

Helicopters from Japan's Self Defense Forces were preparing to dump water on the plant's No.3 and No. 4 reactors, but the government canceled the plan after a surveillance helicopter measured excessive radiation levels above the plant, Mr. Edano said.

Later, however, radiation levels dipped and some workers were able to resume cooling efforts.

Today's suspension of efforts comes one day after Japanese officials told the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that radioactivity was "being released directly into the atmosphere" after a fire broke out in a storage pond for spent fuel at the plant's No. 4 reactor.http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2011/0316/Spike-in-radiation-forces-Japan-to-suspend-efforts-to-prevent-nuclear-meltdown

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[Rosa Lichtenstein]

^^^As I have pointed out in that thread over in Science, they had to cancel those helicopters since the radiation was too high above the plant.

Apparently, they have resumed pumping sea water in, since the ground level radiation has dropped off somewhat.

[Salyut]

^^^As I have pointed out in that thread over in Science, they had to cancel those helicopters since the radiation was too high above the plant.


They've brought them back; limiting exposure by not hovering.

I'm starting to regret the 'punch myself in the balls' comment at this point.

[S.Artesian]

Really... Japan's government tells people in the 20-30 km zone to "stay indoors." The US, Russia, UK tells its citizens to stay outside 50 miles, and consider leaving completely.

And you know why that is: because the Japanese bourgeoisie's government is so incompetent it can't even get supplies to the people who survived the quake and tsunami and are outside the radiation zone, much less handle the evacuation of hundreds of thousands from the area.

This is a disgrace, a fucking crime. That's what the rule of the bourgeoisie has become: governments of dolts, incompetents, goons, thugs and thieves.

[Salyut]

Current reactor status. (http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1300322727P.pdf)

[S.Artesian]

Doesn't make sense to me: I thought unit 4 was completely dry and there were reports of fuel pellets on the floor of the container.

[Salyut]

Doesn't make sense to me: I thought unit 4 was completely dry and there were reports of fuel pellets on the floor of the container.

You might be thinking of the fuel rod pond.

[S.Artesian]

Yeah, maybe, let me check. Thanks

[Rosa Lichtenstein]

Salyut:


They've brought them back; limiting exposure by not hovering.

Ah, but they have halted them again, this morning.

And that is despite the fact they these helicopters had been fitted with lead shields, according to the BBC.

Anyway, the video pictures showed much of the water being blown away from the reactors.

However, they have now brought water cannon in.

[RED DAVE]

Japan tries to cool off nuclear reactors from air, ground


Tokyo (CNN) -- Japanese authorities launched an urgent attempt Thursday to avert a nuclear disaster by air, but initial attempts to drop tons of water at the quake-ravaged Fukushima Daiichi plant appeared to do little to lower potentially perilous radiation levels.
Helicopters made four passes in about a 20-minute span Thursday morning, dropping 7.5 tons of seawater each time on the facility's No. 3 reactor in order to cool its overheated fuel pool. Experts believe that boiling steam rising from that pool, which contains at least partially exposed fuel rods, may be releasing radiation into the atmosphere.
But hours later, the Tokyo Electric Power Company -- which runs the plant -- told Japan's Kyodo News that the operation didn't appear to lower radiation levels. The report suggested levels actually rose to about 3,000 microsievert per hour. It takes a year for a person to be naturally exposed to that level of radiation.http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/17/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html?hpt=T1

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[Rosa Lichtenstein]

***Which is why they have now stopped using those helicopters.

[RED DAVE]

Japan Earthquake 2011: WikiLeaks Reveals Government Warned About Nuclear Plant Safety In 2008


With fears of a possible nuclear meltdown in Japan continuing to escalate, evidence that the nation received warnings over the stability of its power plants from an international watchdog more than two years ago has emerged via a new round of diplomatic cables accessed by WikiLeaks.

As the Telegraph is reporting, an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in December 2008 that safety rules were outdated, and strong earthquakes would pose a "serious problem" for the power stations.

A U.S. embassy cable quoted an unnamed expert who expressed concern that guidance on how to protect nuclear power stations from earthquakes had only been updated three times in the past 35 years. The document states: "He [the IAEA official] explained that safety guides for seismic safety have only been revised three times in the last 35 years and that the IAEA is now re-examining them. Also, the presenter noted recent earthquakes in some cases have exceeded the design basis for some nuclear plants, and that this is a serious problem that is now driving seismic safety work."

The Telegraph also reports that the government responded to the warnings by building an emergency response center at the now-embattled Fukushima Daiichi plant designed to withstand magnitude-7.0 temblors. Friday's earthquake, originally named a magnitude-8.9 shock, has since been upgraded to magnitude-9.0

Among the other shocking disclosures: Taro Kono, a high-profile member of Japan's lower house, told U.S. diplomats in October 2008 that the government was "covering up" nuclear accidents and ignoring alternative forms of energy, including wind power, according to the Washington Post.


Other nuclear experts allege IAEA officials had willingly ignored lessons from the Chernobyl disaster to protect the nuclear industry's expansion, reports Bloomberg. "After Chernobyl, all the force of the nuclear industry was directed to hide this event, for not creating damage to their reputation," Russian nuclear accident specialist Iouli Andreyev tells Reuters, before noting that released radiation from spent fuel rods stored close to reactors at Fukushima looked like an example of putting profit before safety. "The Japanese were very greedy, and they used every square inch of the space. But when you have a dense placing of spent fuel in the basin, you have a high possibility of fire if the water is removed from the basin."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/16/japan-earthquake-nuclear-warning-wikileaks_n_836529.html

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http://www.revleft.com/vb/japan-issues-atomic-t151350/index.html?p=2049986

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Many news articles:

http://www.newsonjapan.com/

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Japan's Nuclear Efforts Hit a Setback


FUKUSHIMA, Japan -- An unexpected spike in pressure inside a troubled reactor set back efforts to bring Japan's overheating, leaking nuclear complex under control Sunday as concerns grew that as-yet minor contamination of food and water is spreading.

The pressure increase raised the possibility that plant operators may need to deliberately release radioactive gas, erasing some progress in a nuclear crisis as the government continued its halting response to a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that savaged northeast Japan on March 11.

A teenage boy's cries for help led police to rescue an 80-year-old woman from a wrecked house in a rare rescue after so many days.

Beyond the disaster area, an already shaken public grew uneasy with official reports that traces of radiation first detected in spinach and milk from farms near the nuclear plant are turning up farther away in tap water, rain and even dust. In all cases, the government said the radiation levels were too small to pose an immediate risk to health. Still, Taiwan seized a batch of fava beans from Japan found with faint - and legal amounts - of iodine and cesium.

"I'm worried, really worried," said Mayumi Mizutani, a 58-year-old Tokyo resident shopping for bottled water at a neighborhood supermarket to give her visiting 2-year-old grandchild. "We're afraid because it's possible our grandchild could get cancer." Forecasts for rain, she said, were an added worry.

Troubles at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex threatened to spread more radiation. While all six reactors saw trouble after the disasters knocked out cooling systems, officials reported progress in reconnecting two units to the electric grid and pumping seawater to cool overheating reactors and replenish bubbling and depleted pools for spent nuclear fuel.

But pressure inside the vessel holding the reactor of Unit 3 rose again Sunday, forcing officials to consider the dangerous venting. The tactic produced explosions during the early days of the crisis. Nuclear safety officials said one of the options could release a cloud dense with iodine as well as the radioactive elements krypton and xenon.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., temporarily suspended the plans Sunday after it said the pressure inside the reactor stopped climbing, though at a high level.

"It has stabilized," Tokyo Electric manager Hikaru Kuroda told reporters. Kuroda said temperatures inside the reactor reached 572 Fahrenheit (300 degrees Centrigrade), and the company wants to minimize radiation releases. The option to release the highly radioactive gas inside is still under consideration if pressure rises, he said.

The higher reactor pressure may have been caused by a tactic meant to reduce temperatures - the pumping of seawater into the vessel, Kuroda said.

Using seawater to douse Unit 3 and the plant's other reactors or storage pools - Unit 4 was sprayed again Sunday - was a desperate measure. Seawater is corrosive, and so is damaging the finely milled machine parts of the plant, rendering it ultimately unusable.

The government acknowledged Sunday that the entire complex would be scrapped once the emergency is resolved. "It is obviously clear that Fukushima Dai-ichi in no way will be in a condition to be restarted," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters.

Growing concerns about radiation add to the overwhelming chain of disasters Japan has struggled with since the 9.0-magnitude quake. The quake spawned a tsunami that ravaged the northeastern coast, killing more than 8,100 people, leaving 12,000 people missing, and displacing another 452,000, who are living in shelters.

Fuel, food and water remain scarce for a 10th day in the disaster. The government in recent days acknowledged being caught ill-prepared by an enormous disaster that the prime minister has called the worst crisis since World War II.http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/20/japan-backs-off-venting-of-leaking-japan-reactor/?icid=maing%7Cmain5%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk3%7C50859

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