Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Reactors

[dorispulaski]

Link to previous thread one, ISU on Japan Quake for Worlds:
http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sho...498#post556498

Link to previous thread two:, Earthquake in Japan.
http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sho...quake-in-Japan

Link to previous thread three: Sendai Earthquake from the Worlds folder
http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sho...495#post556495

[dorispulaski]

Current IAEA status

.Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) has provided the IAEA with further information about the hydrogen explosion that occurred today at the unit 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. A hydrogen explosion occurred at unit 3 on 14 March at 11:01AM local Japan time.

All personnel at the site are accounted for. Six people have been injured.

The reactor building exploded but the primary containment vessel was not damaged. The control room of unit 3 remains operational.

The IAEA continues to liaise with the Japanese authorities and is monitoring the situation as it evolves.

There are other reports that 11 people were injured, no one killed.

The difference between Daiichi and Daiina is that Daiina has external power. Daiichi's backup diesel generation capacity was wiped out by the tsunami.

As to how much radiation was released during this explosion, it should be similar to that released during the hydrogen explosion at Reactor 1:

The highest recorded radiation level at the Fukushima Daiichi site was 155.7 millirem at 1:52 p.m. EDT on March 13. Radiation levels were reduced to 4.4 millirem by the evening of March 13. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s radiation dose limit for the public is 100 millirem per year.

[dorispulaski]

This was fairly recently posted.

Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary




Monday, March 14 at 11:00am, 2011
[Provisional Translation]
JAPANESE


CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Since yesterday, we have been continually injecting sea water into the reactor core of the Unit 3 reactor at the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. A short time ago, at 11:01, an explosion occurred in the Unit 3 reactor. Based on the conditions of the explosion and other factors, we believe that this explosion was similar in kind to the hydrogen explosion that occurred in the Unit 1 reactor.

I have been in direct contact with the director of the power station to confirm the situation. As the specialist closest to the scene, the station director has reported that as of approximately 11:30 today, the condition of the containment vessel remains sound. Consequently, we believe that the risk that large amounts of radioactive materials have been dispersed is low.

However, we expect an increase in radiation levels similar to the one that followed the hydrogen explosion that occurred in the Unit 1 reactor. Accordingly, I have given instructions to the very small number of people who were in the process of evacuating from a 20km zone around the power station that they should take refuge indoors immediately as a precautionary measure.

At the present time, we are receiving data that the pressure inside the reactor vessel is stable and that the supply of water is continuing. This information, if reliable, would support the station director's on-the-scene appraisal of the situation.

At the moment we are devoting our energies to gathering information and data on radiation density and other conditions in the vicinity of the site. If you don't mind, I would now like to return to collecting and analyzing the latest information.

I have also heard that the team at Daiini has gotten Reactor 2 into cold shutdown, as is Reactor 4. I hope this is true.

[dorispulaski]

Here's the status of the four Daiini Reactors (the facility that retained external power, but was still reported as at an emergency status. Relatively goodness in a bad situation.
Unit 3 is in cold shutdown.
Unit 1 & 2 are now cooling, as all the cooling system work is complete
Unit 4: Work is still in progress to the cooling system.
Radiation measurements outside the facility are still normal. As this plant is only 10 km from Daiichi, that is not bad news.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp...1031404-e.html

Unit 1 (shut down at 2:48pm on March 11th)
- Reactor is shut down and reactor water level is stable.
- Offsite power is available.
- At 8:19am, Mar 12th, there was an alarm indicating that one of the
control rods was not properly inserted, however, at 10:43am, Mar 12th
the alarm was spontaneously called off. Other control rods has been
confirmed that they are fully inserted (reactor is in subcritical
status)
- Status of main steam isolation valve: closed
- Injection of water into the reactor is done by Make-up Water Condensate
System.
- We do not believe there is leakage of reactor coolant in the containment
vessel at this moment.
- At 5:22am, Mar 12th, the temperature of the suppression chamber exceeded
100 degrees. As the reactor pressure suppression function was lost, at
5:22am, Mar 12th, it was determined that a specific incident stipulated
in article 15, clause 1 has occurred.
- We decided to prepare implementing measures to reduce the pressure of
the reactor containment vessel (partial discharge of air containing
radioactive materials) in order to fully secure safety. This preparation
work started at around 9:43am, Mar 12th and finished at 6:30pm, Mar 12th.
- Restoration work in reactor cooling function that was conducted to
achieve reactor cold shutdown has been completed and cooling of the
reactor has been commenced at 1:24 am, Mar 14th.

Unit 2 (shut down at 2:48pm on March 11th)
- Reactor is shut down and reactor water level is stable.
- Offsite power is available.
- Control rods are fully inserted (reactor is in subcritical status)
- Status of main steam isolation valve: closed
- Injection of water into the reactor is done by Make-up Water Condensate
System.
- We do not believe there is leakage of reactor coolant in the containment
vessel.
- At 5:32am, Mar 12th, the temperature of the suppression chamber exceeded
100 degrees. As the reactor pressure suppression function was lost,
at 5:32am, Mar 12th, it was determined that a specific incident
stipulated in article 15, clause 1 has occurred.
- We decided to prepare implementing measures to reduce the pressure of
the reactor containment vessel (partial discharge of air containing
radioactive materials) in order to fully secure safety. This preparation
work started at around 10:33am, Mar 12th and finished at 10:58pm, Mar
12th.
- Restoration work in reactor cooling function is in progress to achieve
reactor cold shutdown.
- Restoration work in reactor cooling function that was conducted to
achieve reactor cold shutdown has been completed and cooling of the
reactor has been commenced at 7:13 am, Mar 14th.

Unit 3 (shut down at 2:48pm on March 11th)
- Reactor is shut down and reactor water level is stable.
- Offsite power is available.
- Control rods are fully inserted (reactor is in subcritical status)
- Status of main steam isolation valve: closed
- We do not believe there is leakage of reactor coolant in the containment
vessel.
- We decided to prepare implementing measures to reduce the pressure of
the reactor containment vessel (partial discharge of air containing
radioactive materials) in order to fully secure safety. The preparation
woke started at around 12:08pm, Mar 12th and finished at 12:13pm, Mar
12th.
- Reactor cold shutdown at 12:15pm, Mar 12th

Unit 4 (shut down at 2:48pm on March 11th)
- Reactor is shut down and reactor water level is stable.
- Offsite power is available.
- At 0:43PM, there was a signal indicating that one of the control rods
may have not properly inserted. However, we confirmed that it was
inserted completely by another signal. We will inspect the reason of
this.
- Status of main steam isolation valve: closed
- Injection of water into the reactor is done by Make-up Water Condensate
System.
- We do not believe there is leakage of reactor coolant in the containment
vessel.
- In order to cool down the reactor, injection of water into the reactor
had been done by the Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System, however,
At 6:07am, Mar 12th, the temperature of the suppression chamber exceeded
100 degrees. As the reactor pressure suppression function was lost, at
6:07am, Mar 12th, it was determined that a specific incident stipulated
in article 15, clause 1 has occurred.
- We decided to prepare implementing measures to reduce the pressure of
the reactor containment vessel (partial discharge of air containing
radioactive materials) in order to fully secure safety. The preparation
woke started at around 11:44am, Mar 12th and finished at around 11:52am,
Mar 12th.
- Restoration work in reactor cooling function is in progress to achieve
reactor cold shutdown.

Indication from monitoring posts installed at the site boundary did not
show any difference from ordinary level.
No radiation impact to the external environment has been confirmed. We
will continue to monitor in detail the possibility of radioactive material
being discharged from exhaust stack or discharge canal.

[dorispulaski]

Status of the Daiichi Reactors.

My concern would be that Daiichi 2 is now going the way of Daiichi 1 and Daiichi 3.
I see no reason that it would be different, unless external power could be restored.

As long as the containment vessels remain intact, release of nuclear materials will be relatively limited. We used to have huge, movable diesel generators on semis at IBM. I wonder that they do not have the same-perhaps the roads are in too bad shape to move such things to Daiichi.

The IAEA says that Japan has now asked for their assistance.

www.facebook.com/iaeaorg

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp...1031405-e.html

Press Release (Mar 14,2011)
White smoke around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 3 (3rd release)


At approximately 11:01am, an explosion followed by white smoke occurred
at the reactor building of Unit 3. It was believed to be a hydrogen
explosion.

According to the parameter, it is believed that the reactor containment
vessel remains intact. However, the status of the plant and the impact
of radioactive materials to the outside environment are presently under
investigation. (previously announced)

As of 1:30 pm, 4 TEPCO employees and 3 workers from other companies have
sustained injuries (all of them are conscious). 3 ambulances are in
operation to care for them and 2 have already dispatched the casualties
to the hospital.

As of 0:30 pm, the measured value of radiation dose near MP6 was 4μSv/h.
The increase of the radiation dose cannot be confirmed at this time.

As of 0:30 pm, the measured value of radiation dose at the monitoring
post in Fukushima Daini Power Station located approximately 10 km south
of Fukushima Daiichi Power Station remains at the same level.

In light of the incidents that have occurred at Units 1 and 3, we are
considering applying prevention measures to the wall of the reactor
building to ventilate the hydrogen gas contained in Unit 2.

TEPCO continues to take all measures to restore the safety and security
of the site and are monitoring the site's immediate surroundings.

[76olympics]

The language is so hyperbolic on MSNBC that I expect to see the Four Horsemen riding across the screen shortly. Thanks for your fact-based updates, Doris Pulaski. There are some comments on the story at MSNBC that seem to be written by people with real technical knowledge versus the "Oh NOOOO!" and "I hope."

I am sure that we don't/can't know everything- that would be impossible even is our all news/all the time era, but I feel that qualified people are assuredly on the scene.

The earthquake and flood damage are probably preoccupying the residents now. I donated towards that relief, but I know it is only a drop in an acean..