Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Reactors

dorispulaski · Mar 18, 2011

I understand that the level of the situation at Fukushima has been upgraded from a level 4 to level 5 by the Japanese authorities. This is, like the Richter Scale, a logarithmic scale. Level 5 is the level of Three Mile Island, where indeed, about one half to two thirds of the core fuel melted down.

From the link given, Level 5 is a "Serious Accident With Wider Consequences" and in other places I've read, this is linked to Three Mile Island.

IAEA Update

Japanese Earthquake Update (18 March 10:15 UTC)
.by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday, March 18, 2011 at 3:22am.Japanese authorities have informed the IAEA that new INES ratings have been issued for some of the events relating to the nuclear emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants.

Japanese authorities have assessed that the core damage at the Fukushima Daiichi 2 and 3 reactor units caused by loss of all cooling function has been rated as 5 on the INES scale.

Japanese authorities have assessed that the loss of cooling and water supplying functions in the spent fuel pool of the unit 4 reactor has been rated as 3.

Japanese authorities have assessed that the loss of cooling functions in the reactor units 1, 2 and 4 of the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant has also been rated as 3. All reactor units at Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant are now in a cold shut down condition.

Further information on the ratings and the INES scale at: http://www-ns.iaea.org/tech-areas/emergency/ines.asp

So an apt question, I think, is what 32 years down the road, do we see as the effects of the radiation release from Three Mile Island in 1979?

The answer, succinctly, as given by Pennsylvania's ex Governor Ed Rendell was, "Nobody died."

There were evacuations, there was a release of radiation, there was fear mongering, and yes, there were updates made to US reactors, but long term medical studies have not been able to conclusively determine any real increase in cancer or anything else.

http://www.nei.org/resourcesandstat...t-web-extra/three-mile-island-30-years-later/

Although a small amount of radiation was released from the reactor, no injuries, deaths or direct health effects were caused, according to more than a dozen epidemiological studies performed after the accident.

Due in part to lessons learned and implemented industrywide after the TMI accident, U.S. nuclear plant performance has steadily improved since the late 1980s, with plants operating at higher levels of safety, reliability, efficiency and productivity from year to year. The industry’s average capacity factor—a measure of efficiency—has risen from 63 percent in 1980 to more than 91 percent in 2008.

The accident brought about major changes in reactor operator training, plant operating experience sharing, emergency response capability, radiation protection, and many other areas of nuclear plant design, operations and maintenance.

The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations in Atlanta was formed nine months after the accident to drive operational excellence, open communication and continuous improvement among all U.S nuclear plant operators.

Fifty-one U.S. reactors (almost half of those operating in the U.S. today) were built in the years following the accident. Five are in Pennsylvania. They helped make nuclear energy one of the nation’s largest sources of electricity and help provide the diversity of supply that strengthens U.S. energy security.

From the vantage point of 30 years later, our most important result of TMI2's nuclear accident are the lessons we learned from it.

Let us pray that in 30 years, we will say the same about Fukushina Daiichi.

dorispulaski · Mar 18, 2011

"Morning Joe," an MSNBC program, just had on some Energy Secretary from the Obama administration. The commentators wanted exact specs on the San Onofre & Diablo Canyon reactors, since both are in California, and were said by the commentators to be near the San Andreas fault- not exactly true, but definitely on the ocean in CA:

So I thought I'd put some info up here for those who might be curious about San Onofre and Diablo Canyon:

San Onofre
http://www.sce.com/PowerandEnvironment/PowerGeneration/SanOnofreNuclearGeneratingStation/default.htm

The station is owned and operated by Southern California Edison.
There are two active and one decommissioned reactors there (US plants typically don't have more than 3 reactors in one spot, often less. Daiichi has 6)

According to Southern California Edison:

http://www.sce.com/PowerandEnvironm...ofreNuclearGeneratingStation/publicsafety.htm

Seismic Safety
California is known for earthquakes. That is why geology, seismology and earthquake engineering were all applied to the careful evaluation of site selection and construction plans. SONGS is located in an area which has not experienced significant seismic activities in more than 120,000 years. Regardless, it was built to withstand a major earthquake of 7.0 magnitude on the Richter scale, whose epicenter would be within five miles of the plant.

10 years were spent, in concert with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to pick a site in CA that was more safe in an earthquake than other spots. Extensive geologic work was done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Onofre_Nuclear_Generating_Station

Unit 1 is no longer in service and has been dismantled. It is being used as a storage site for spent fuel, inside the concrete containment area. This is preferable to having the spent fuel in the same building as the reactor, as in Daiichi.

Units 2 and 3, which are still operational, are pressurized water reactors, not GE boiling water reactors, as at Daiichi. They were put on line in the 1980's, after Three Mile Island, and so include all the lessons of TMI2:

Units 2 and 3, [are] Combustion Engineering pressurized water reactors, [which] continue to operate and generate 1,172 MWe and 1,178 MWe respectively.

The closest fault is not the San Andreas but

The closest tectonic fault line is the Cristianitos fault, which is considered inactive. Southern California Edison states the station was "built to withstand a 7.0 magnitude earthquake directly under the plant".[1]

http://latestnewsalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/san-andreas-fault-map.jpg

Here's a map of the San Andreas fault.

San Onofre is about half way between Los Angeles and San Diego, near San Clemente.

More info is here:

http://www.nucleartourist.com/us/songs.htm

dorispulaski · Mar 18, 2011

Diablo Canyon CA Nuclear Reactors

http://www.nucleartourist.com/us/diablo.htm

The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, owned and operated by Pacific Gas & Electric, has 2 Westinghouse 4 Loop Pressurized Water Reactors, each rated at 1000 MWe. The 2 units followed on the experience (1963 - 1976) gained from operating PG&E's initial 63 MWe unit 3 at Humboldt Bay, near Eureka. Construction for the 2 units started in 1968 and 1970. However, regulatory and intervention legal hurdles delayed the units from going commercial until 1985 (Unit 1) and 1986 (Unit 2).

Again, these are not boiling water reactors, as at Daiichi, nor were they built by GE.

Emergency equipment for each unit include:

2 Low head safety injection (Residual Heat Removal) pumps rated at 3000 gpm @ 155 psid with a shutoff head of 165 psig supplied from the 454,000 gallon Refueling Water Storage Tank.
2 High head safety injection pumps rated at 415 gpm @ 1250 psid with a shutoff head of 1535 psid supplied first from 1 of 2 8060 gallon Boric Acid Makeup Tanks, and then from from the 245,000 gallon Refueling Water Storage Tank.
2 Intermediate Head Safely Injection system pumps each rated at 425 gpm and 1085 psi with a shutoff head of 1520 psi.
1 Accumulator containing 10,000 gallons and pressurized to about 750 psi is connected to each reactor coolant loop.
2 motor-driven (100% capacity and 1 turbine-driven Emergency Feedwater pumps supplied from a 150,000 and 500,000 gallons Condensate Storage Tanks with the Pacific Ocean as the Ultimate Heat Sink water source.
3 Diesel generators (only 2 needed) for each unit; 12 KV Standby Startup Transformer can be fed from either unit.
Emergency water sources include:

Condensate Storage Tanks (Units 1 & 2)-----425,000 gal
Fire Water Tank------------------------------300,000 gal
Raw Water Storage Reservoir--------------4,500,000 gal
Diablo Creek and Pacific Ocean

It is located at Humboldt Bay, near Eureka.

If you are interested in the specifications for nuclear plants near your home anywhere in the world, this website has them:

http://www.nucleartourist.com/

let`s talk · Mar 18, 2011

Hernando said:
So you are saying if I sell you a car and several years later you crash it into a house that I should come clean up your mess ?

No. Because you were a seller, not a designer or a maker.

dorispulaski · Mar 18, 2011

Tepco has 2 updates for March 18th.

2 PM Japanese time, explicit status of Daiichi, only new thing, as part of the effort to get the Unit 3 spent storage pool under control again:

- In Unit 3, water discharge by Self-Defense Force's fire engines was
conducted from approximately 2 PM

Press Release (Mar 18,2011)
Plant Status of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (as of 2:00 PM Mar 18th)

*new items are underlined

All 6 units of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station have been shut down.

Unit 1 (Shut down)
- Reactor has been shut down. However, the explosive sound and white smoke
were confirmed after the big quake occurred at 3:36PM Mar 12th. It was
assumed to be hydrogen explosion.
- We have been injecting sea water into the reactor pressure vessel.

Unit 2 (Shut down)
- Reactor has been shut down and the level of reactor coolant had dropped
and the reactor pressure had increased because the Reactor Core Isolation
Cooling System stopped. Measures were taken to lower the pressure within
the Reactor Containment Vessel and to inject sea water into the Reactor
while carefully confirming safety. The level of reactor coolant and the
pressure of the Reactor resumed.
- At approximately 6:00AM on March 15, 2011, an abnormal noise began
emanating from nearby Pressure Suppression Chamber and the pressure
within this chamber decreased.
- We have been injecting sea water into the reactor pressure vessel.

Unit 3 (Shut down)
- Reactor has been shut down. However, the explosive sound and white smoke
were confirmed at 11:01AM Mar 14th. It was assumed to be hydrogen
explosion.
- At 8:30AM on March 16th, fog like steam was confirmed arising from the
reactor building.
- At approximately 6:15AM on March 17th the pressure of the Suppression
Chamber has temporarily increased.
- We have been injecting sea water into the reactor pressure vessel.

Unit 4 (outage due to regular inspection)
- Reactor has been shut down. However, at approximately 6AM on March 15th.
We have confirmed the explosive sound and the sustained damage around the
5th floor rooftop area of the Nuclear Reactor Building.
- On March 15th and 16th, we respectively confirmed the outbreak of fire
at the 4th floor of the northwestern part of the Nuclear Reactor Building.
We immediately reported this matter to the fire department and the related
authorities. TEPCO employees confirmed that each fire had already died
down by itself.
- At this moment, we do not consider any reactor coolant leakage inside the
reactor containment vessel happened.

Unit 5 (outage due to regular inspection)
- Reactor has been shut down and the sufficient level of reactor coolant to
ensure safety is maintained.
- At this moment, we do not consider any reactor coolant leakage inside the
reactor containment vessel happened.

Unit 6 (outage due to regular inspection)
- Reactor has been shut down and the sufficient level of reactor coolant to
ensure safety is maintained.
- At this moment, we do not consider any reactor coolant leakage inside the
reactor containment vessel happened.

Cooling of spent fuel pools
- In Unit 3, water discharge by Self-Defense Force's helicopters was
conducted from 9:48 AM in the morning on March 17th. Also water discharge
by the riot police's high-pressure water cannon trucks and Self-Defense
Force's fire engines was conducted from approximately 7PM on March 17th
and finished at 8:09PM.
- In Unit 3, water discharge by Self-Defense Force's fire engines was
conducted from approximately 2 PM
- We are considering further water discharge at Unit 3 and others subject
to the conditions of spent fuel pools.

Casualty
- 2 workers of cooperative firm were injured at the occurrence of the
earthquake, and were transported to the hospital.
- 1 TEPCO employee who was not able to stand by his own holding left chest
with his hand, was transported to the hospital by an ambulance.
- 1 subcontract worker at the key earthquake-proof building was unconscious
and transported to the hospital by an ambulance.
- The radiation exposure of 1 TEPCO employee, who was working inside the
reactor building, exceeded 100mSv and he was transported to the hospital.
- 2 TEPCO employees felt bad during their operation in the central control
rooms of Unit 1 and 2 while wearing full masks, and were transferred to
Fukushima Daini Power Station for consultation with a medical advisor.
- 4 workers were injured and transported to the hospital after explosive
sound and white smoke were confirmed around the Unit 1.
- 11 workers were injured and transported to Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power
Station etc. after explosive sound and white smoke were confirmed around
the Unit 3.One of the workers was transported to the FUKUSHIMA Medical
University Hospital at 10:56AM
- Presence of 2 TEPCO employees at the site is not confirmed.

Others
- We measured radioactive materials (iodine etc.) inside of the nuclear
power station area (outdoor) by monitoring car and confirmed that
radioactive materials level is getting higher than ordinary level. As
listed below, we have determined that specific incidents stipulated in
article 15, clause 1 of Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear
Emergency Preparedness (Abnormal increase in radiation dose measured at
site boundary) have occurred.
· Determined at 4:17 PM Mar 12th (Around Monitoring Post 4)
· Determined at 8:56 AM Mar 13th (Around Monitoring Post 4)
· Determined at 2:15 PM Mar 13th (Around Monitoring Post 4)
· Determined at 3:50 AM Mar 14th (Around Monitoring Post 6)
· Determined at 4:15 AM Mar 14th (Around Monitoring Post 2)
· Determined at 9:27 AM Mar 14th (Around Monitoring Post 3)
· Determined at 9:37 PM Mar 14th (Around main entrance)
· Determined at 6:51 AM Mar 15th (Around main entrance)
· Determined at 8:11 AM Mar 15th (Around main entrance)
· Determined at 4:17 PM Mar 15th (Around main entrance)
· Determined at 11:05 PM Mar 15th (Around main entrance)

- The national government has instructed evacuation for those local
residents within 20km radius of the periphery and evacuation to inside
for those residents from 20km to 30km radius of the periphery, because
it's possible that radioactive materials are discharged.
- At approximately 10AM on March 15th, we observed 400mSv/h at the inland
side of the Unit 3 reactor building and 100mSv/h at the inland side of
the Unit 4 reactor building.
- We found no signs of abnormal situation for the casks by visual
observation during the patrol activity. A detailed inspection is under
preparation.
- We will continue to take all measures to ensure the safety and to
continue monitoring the surrounding environment aroud the Power Station.

10 AM Japanese Time: A few details but little new in this one, other than that they checked out the common spent fuel storage area and the dry cask storage and all was OK:

Due to the Tohoku-Taiheiyou-Oki Earthquake which occurred on March 11th
2011, TEPCO's facilities including our nuclear power stations have been
severely damaged. We deeply apologies for the anxiety and inconvenience
caused.

Below is the status of TEPCO's major facilities.
*new items are underlined

[Nuclear Power Station]
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station:
Units 1 to 3: shutdown due to earthquake
(Units 4 to 6: outage due to regular inspection)

* The national government has instructed to evacuate for those local
residents within 20km radius of the site periphery and to remain indoors
for those local residents between 20km and 30km radius of the site
periphery.

* Unit 1
The explosive sound and white smoke was confirmed near Unit 1 when the big
quake occurred at 3:36pm, March 12th. We have started injection of sea
water at 8:20 pm and then boric acid into the reactor afterwards.

* Unit 2
At 1:25 pm, March 14th, since the Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System
has failed, it was determined that a specific incident stipulated in
article 15, clause 1 of Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear
Emergency Preparedness occurred (failure of reactor cooling function).
At 5:17 pm, while the water level in the reactor reached the top of the
fuel rod, we have restarted the water injection with the valve operation.
At approximately 6:14 am, March 15th, the abnormal sound was confirmed
near the suppression chamber and the pressure inside the chamber
decreased afterwards. It was determined that there is a possibility that
something happened in the suppression chamber. While sea water injection
to the reactor continued, TEPCO employees and workers from other companies
not in charge of injection work started tentative evacuation to a safe
location.
Sea water injection to the reactor is still under operation.

* Unit 3
At 6:50 am, March 14th, while water injection to the reactor was under
operation, the pressure in the reactor containment vessel increased to 530
kPa. As a result, at 7:44 am, it was determined that a specific incident
stipulated in article 15, clause 1 occurred (abnormal increase of the
pressure of reactor containment vessel). Afterwards, the pressure has
gradually decreased (as of 9:05 am, 490 kPa).

At approximately 11:01 am, March 14th, an explosion followed by white smoke
occurred near Unit 3. 4 TEPCO employees and 3 workers from other companies
(all of them are conscious) have sustained injuries and they were already
dispatched to the hospital by ambulances.

As the temperature of water in the spent fuel pool rose, spraying water by
helicopters with the support of the Self Defense Force was considered,
however the works on March 16th was cancelled.

At 6:15 am, March 17th, the pressure of the Suppression Chamber temporally
increased, but currently it is stable in a certain range. Monitoring will
be continued.
In order to cool spent fuel pool, water discharge by helicopters has been
conducted on March 17th with the cooperation of Self-Defense Force.
At approximately past 7:00 pm, March 17th, Self-Defense Forces and the
police had started water discharge by water cannon trucks upon our request
for the cooperation. At 8:09 pm, March 17th, they had finished water
discharge.

* Unit 4
At approximately 6:00 am, March 15th, an explosive sound occurred and the
damage in the 5th floor roof of Unit 4 reactor building was confirmed. At
9:38 am, the fire near the north-west part of 4th floor of Unit 4 reactor
building was confirmed. At approximately 11:00 am, TEPCO employee confirmed
that the fire was off.

At approximately 5:45 am, a TEPCO employee discovered a fire at the
northwest corner of the Nuclear Reactor Building. TEPCO immediately
reported this incident to the fire department and the local government
and proceeded with the extinction of fire. At approximately 6:15 am,
TEPCO staff confirmed at the site that there are no signs of fire.

* On March 18th, regarding the spent fuel in the common spent fuel pool,
we have confirmed that the water level of the pool is secured. A
detailed inspection is under preparation.
* common spent fuel pool: a spent fuel pool for common use set in a
separate building in a plant site in order to preserve spent fuel
which are transferred from the spent fuel pool in each Unit building.

* On March 17th, we patrolled buildings for dry casks and found no signs
of abnormal situation for the casks by visual observation. A detailed
inspection is under preparation.
* dry cask: a measure to store spent fuel in a dry storage casks in
storages. Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station started to utilize
the measure from August 1995.

* We will continuously endeavor to securing safety, and monitoring of the
surrounding environment.

Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station:
Units 1 to 4: shutdown due to earthquake
* The national government has instructed evacuation for those local
residents within 10km radius of the periphery.

* In order to achieve cold shutdown, reactor cooling function was restored
and cooling of reactors was conducted. As a result, all reactors achieved
cold shutdown: Unit 1 at 5:00 pm, March 14th, Unit 2 at 6:00 pm, March
14th, Unit 3 at 0:15 pm, March 12th, Unit 4 at 7:15 am, March 16th.

* Since March 12th, we had been preparing measures for reducing the pressure
of reactor containment vessels (partial discharge of air containing
radioactive materials to outside), but on March 17th, we released such
preparation in all Units.

* (Unit 1)
As it is confirmed that the temperature of the Emergency Equipment Cooling
Water System *1 has increased, at 3:20 pm, March 15th, we stopped the
Residual Heat Removal System (B) for the inspection. Subsequently, failure
was detected in the power supply facility associated with the pumps of the
Emergency Equipment Cooling Water System. At 4:25 pm, March 15th, after
replacing the power facility, the pumps and the Residual Heat Removal
System (B) have been reactivated.

* (Unit 4)
As it is confirmed that the pressure at the outlet of the pumps of the
Emergency Equipment Cooling Water System*1 has been decreased, at 8:05 pm,
March 15th, we stopped the Residual Heat Removal System (B) for the
inspection. Subsequently, failure was detected in the power supply
facility associated with the pumps of the Emergency Equipment Cooling
Water System. At 9:25 pm, March 15th, after replacing the relevant
facility, the pumps and the Residual Heat Removal System (B) have been
reactivated.

*1:emergency water system in which cooling water (pure water) circulates
which exchanged the heat with sea water in order to cool down bearing pumps
and/or heat exchangers etc.

Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Station:
Units 1, 5, 6, 7: normal operation
(Units 2 to 4: outage due to regular inspection)

[Thermal Power Station]
Hirono Thermal Power Station Units 2 and 4: shutdown due to earthquake
Hitachinaka Thermal Power Station Unit 1: shutdown due to earthquake
Kashima Thermal Power Station Units 2, 3, 5, 6: shutdown due to earthquake
Higashi-Ohgishima Thermal Power Station Unit 1: shutdown due to earthquake

[Hydro Power Station]
* All the stations have been restored.

[Transmission System, etc.]
All substation failed due to the earthquake have been restored.

[Blackout in TEPCO's Service Area]
Total of approximately 2,600 households are out of power (as of 9:00PM,
March 17, 2011).
Tokyo: 0
Kanagawa Pref.: 0
Tochigi Pref.: 0
Chiba Pref.: 0
Saitama Pref: 0
Gunma Pref.: 0
Ibaraki Pref:2,562
Yamanashi Pref: 0
Shizuoka Pref: 0 (east of Fuji River)

[Supply and Demand Status within TEPCO's Service Area to Secure Stable
Power Supply]
Backup supply from Shinshinano Conversion Station: 600MW
Backup supply from Sakuma Conversion Station: 300MW
Backup supply from Higashi Shimizu Conversion Station: 100MW
Backup supply from Kitahon Interconnection Facility: 600MW

Considering the critical balance of our power supply capacity and expected
power demand forward, in order to avoid unexpected blackout, TEPCO has
implemented rolling blackout (planned blackout alternates from one area to
another) since yesterday. We will make our utmost to secure the stable
power supply as early as possible.
For customers who will be subject to rolling blackout, please be prepared
for the announced blackout periods. Also for customers who are not subject
to blackouts, TEPCO appreciates your continuous cooperation in reducing
electricity usage by avoiding using unnecessary lighting and electrical
equipment.

[Others]
Please do NOT touch cut-off electric wires.
In order to prevent fire, please make sure to switch off the electric
appliances such as hair drier and to shut down the breaker of distribution
board when you leave your house.
For the customer who has in-house power generation, please secure fuel for
generator.

dorispulaski · Mar 18, 2011

And before I stop blogging this for a while, there's another IAEA update:

Japanese Earthquake Update (18 March 12:25 UTC)
.by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday, March 18, 2011 at 5:34am.Japanese authorities have informed the IAEA that, prior to the earthquake of 12 March, the entire fuel core of reactor unit 4 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant had been unloaded from the reactor and placed in the spent fuel pond located in the reactor’s building.

CLARIFICATION

Contrary to several news reports, the IAEA to date has NOT received any notification from the Japanese authorities of people sickened by radiation contamination.

In the report of 17 March 01:15 UTC, the cases described were of people who were reported to have had radioactive contamination detected on them when they were monitored.

.

Two important points here:

It looks to me that the reason that spent fuel pool in 4 had the most trouble first was because it was recently filled with a whole reactor load of fuel rods that were just recently in use. Hence, those rods would heat the pool water more quickly than in pools where rods had not been added recently. Worse, because there were no rods in the reactor at all, I expect Unit 4 was the last priority of the workers and engineers trying to get the total situation under control.

The second point is that the media has been going a bit crazy still, and there is a lot of misinterpretation of stuff. Really, they should get some nuclear engineer to go through what they say before they say it, because the inaccuracies are striking, and unnecessarily frightening to people. (Hence, people who had detectable radiative particles on their clothese (and hence who would have to strip and shower at the checkpoint) were listed as having radiation sickness, when in fact, nothing of the sort has been reported.)

Olympia · Mar 18, 2011

Doris, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. I lost a good friend a few years ago, and it's tremendously painful to realize that for all the advances we make, there are times we can't do a thing for someone who's sick.

One thing I'd like to add from a health standpoint is that I saw an article warning against taking potassium iodide as a preventative. There's apparently been a rush on these pills in stores. Taking them in the absence of any crisis actually damages the thyroid, which has very precise needs for iodine. Too much potassium, especially in this form, can cause other symptoms as well, including some related to the heart. These pills should be reserved for moments of extreme danger--which this is not for us in the States. Americans tend to rely overmuch on dosing themselves with things they hear about, just in case, and right now that would be extremely inadvisable. They're not like a vaccine.

Believe me, I understand the "nervous Nellie" feelings many folks have at a time like this, because I have them myself sometimes. But this is one substance we shouldn't monkey with. The human endocrine system should not be interfered with by us amateurs.

dorispulaski · Mar 18, 2011

Olympia, Yes that is absolutely true. You should only take one when there is a directive by the local public health group to take one.

Tonichelle · Mar 18, 2011

the Media is all about hype and mass hysteria. Apparently HLN's talking head Nancy Grace thinks it's a Japanese conspiracy to keep American's out of the loop when it comes to the radiation that is "already descending" into parts of Alaska. Um, yeah, lady. Sure.

stupidity reigns supreme these days.

dorispulaski · Mar 18, 2011

Jesum Crow, she didn't say that, really?

Did the Anchorage Times pick it up?

My favorite is "The land will be barren for hundreds of years" which I have heard several times, most notably from Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post.

I first understood that our mental picture of forever more barren plains after any nuclear incident was wrong when a friend sent me a photo from Hiroshima.

I pictured Hiroshima as this
http://electrodes.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/hiroshima__aftermath.jpg

Imagine my shock when I found out Hiroshima looked like this:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/ops/images/hiroshima-120.jpg

Lately I've been reading a book named Wormwood Forest by Mary Mycio. Ms. Mycio went to the area around Chernobyl 10 & 20 years after the diaster and found:

But when I first visited the Chernobyl region, 10 years after the disaster, I was surprised to find that the dominant color was green. My notes from that trip are filled with emphatically underlined and circled comments like "feral fields," "forest," and "wildlife?!" Contrary to the myths and imagery, Chernobyl's land had become a unique, new ecosystem. Defying the gloomiest predictions, it had come back to life as Europe's largest nature sanctuary, teeming with wildlife. Like the forests, fields, and swamps of their unexpectedly inviting habitat, the animals are all radioactive. To the astonishment of almost everyone, they are also thriving.

I think we have a lot to learn.

One quote from a review stands out:

One telling quote that summarizes a lot of the point: "Whatever the effects of cesium, strontium and plutonium might be on individual egrets, they were not as bad for egret populations as human activities."

dorispulaski · Mar 18, 2011

NEI Update March 18th, 1:50 PM EDT

Sea water is being injected into Unit 1, Unit 2, and Unit 3.
External power is in the process of being restored to units 1, & 2 now, and to 3, and 4 a little later. Units 5 & 6 are now on diesel power.

Overall, radiation has been decreasing at the site. The radiation as reported at Unit 3 is high, but also localized, as the radiation levels at the site periphery are significantly lower.

I wish I had a good explanation for the Unit 3 value, but I don't.

However, if the value at the periphery is 2 mrem/hr, I sincerely doubt that anyone in Alaska will be able to detect anything.

Here are some radiation exposure values for normal activities, as prepared by Ohio State:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/rer-fact/rer_49.html

Table 1. Radiation doses from typical activities
Activity Dose
Flying for 5 hours 1-5 mrem per flight
Eating one banana per day 4-5 mrem per year
Smoking one pack of cigarettes per day 2000-5000 mrem per year to lungs (estimated)
Living in Denver (one mile up) 70 mrem per year
Having an x-ray 10-100 mrem per exposure
Using comsumer products (smoke detectors, lantern mantels, etc.) 11 mrem per year
Using natural gas appliances 0.3 mrem per year
Living or working in building using certain building materails (stone, brick, etc.) 3.5 mrem per year

By comparison, a 5 hour flight nets an exposure of

UPDATE AS OF 1:50 P.M. EDT, FRIDAY, MARCH 18:
NEI has uploaded two new videos to its YouTube channel. In the first, Alex Flint, NEI's senior vice president of governmental affairs, welcomes President Obama's effort to unify safety lessons from the Japan accident. The second features Flint discussing lawmakers' questions about U.S. safety measures following events in Japan.

UPDATE AS OF 11:20 A.M. EDT, FRIDAY, MARCH 18:
Reactors 1, 2 and 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are in stable condition, with workers continuing to provide seawater cooling into the reactors. Containment integrity is believed to be intact on reactors 1, 2 and 3, and containment building pressures are elevated but are within design limits.

Site radiation doses have been decreasing since March 16. Radiation dose rates are fluctuating based on some of the relief operations, such as adding cooling water to the used fuel pools. Recent readings at the plant boundary are about 2 millirem per hour. Radiation dose rates at reactor 3 range between 2,500 and 5,000 millirem per hour.

The Japanese Self-Defense Force restarted cooling water spray into the Unit 3 reactor building and spent fuel pool at around 1 a.m. EDT on March 18. Plans are to spray 50 tons of water on the reactor 3 reactor building/spent fuel pool using seven fire-fighting trucks.

A diesel generator is supplying power to reactors 5 and 6. TEPCO is installing high voltage cables from a nearby transmission line to reactors 1 and 2. Once electricity supply is re-established, priority will be given to restoring power to reactor heat removal systems and cooling water pumps. Workers are seeking to install electrical cables to reactors 3 and 4 components in about two days.

Fukushima Daini

All four reactors at Fukushima Daini remain shut down with normal cooling being maintained using residual heat removal systems.

Daiichi Accident Rated 5 on International Event Scale

New International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) ratings have been issued for the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

Reactor core damage at the Daiichi reactors 2 and 3 caused by a loss of cooling function has resulted in a rating of 5 on the seven-point scale.

The loss of cooling and water supply functions in the spent fuel pool of reactor 4 was rated a 3, or "serious" incident. The loss of cooling functions in the reactors 1, 2 and 4 of the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant has led to a rating of 3.

The rating for the Chernobyl accident was 7, or a "major accident" on the INES scale. The Three Mile Island accident was 5, or an "accident with wider consequences." For more information on INES, see the IAEA's website and this IAEA leaflet.

dorispulaski · Mar 18, 2011

TEPCO just posted their first March 19th press release

It sounds like Unit 2 will have external power fairly son, at which point they may be able to restore proper cooling (I can't help thinking that the cooling apparatus may be damaged, due to the various excitements of the last week, but perhaps it can be fixed.

And the US military appears to be helping out with the water dumping on Unit 3.

Press Release (Mar 19,2011)
Status of TEPCO's Facilities and its services after Tohoku-Taiheiyou-Oki Earthquake (as of 1:00AM)

Due to the Tohoku-Taiheiyou-Oki Earthquake which occurred on March 11th
2011, TEPCO's facilities including our nuclear power stations have been
severely damaged. We deeply apologies for the anxiety and inconvenience
caused.

Below is the status of TEPCO's major facilities.
*new items are underlined

[Nuclear Power Station]
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station:
Units 1 to 3: shutdown due to earthquake
(Units 4 to 6: outage due to regular inspection)

* The national government has instructed to evacuate for those local
residents within 20km radius of the site periphery and to remain indoors
for those local residents between 20km and 30km radius of the site
periphery.

* Unit 1
The explosive sound and white smoke was confirmed near Unit 1 when the
big quake occurred at 3:36pm, March 12th. We have started injection of
sea water at 8:20 pm and then boric acid into the reactor afterwards.

*Unit 2
At 1:25 pm, March 14th, since the Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System
has failed, it was determined that a specific incident stipulated in
article 15, clause 1 of Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear
Emergency Preparedness occurred (failure of reactor cooling function).

At 5:17 pm, while the water level in the reactor reached the top of the
fuel rod, we have restarted the water injection with the valve operation.

At approximately 6:14 am, March 15th, the abnormal sound was confirmed
near the suppression chamber and the pressure inside the chamber decreased
afterwards. It was determined that there is a possibility that something
happened in the suppression chamber. While sea water injection to the
reactor continued, TEPCO employees and workers from other companies not
in charge of injection work started tentative evacuation to a safe
location.

Sea water injection to the reactor is still under operation.

As of March 18th , power from offsite transmission line has received
until temporary substation for backup power. Now, cabling to unit
receiving facility is underway.

*Unit 3
At 6:50 am, March 14th, while water injection to the reactor was under
operation, the pressure in the reactor containment vessel increased to
530 kPa. As a result, at 7:44 am, it was determined that a specific
incident stipulated in article 15, clause 1 occurred (abnormal increase
of the pressure of reactor containment vessel). Afterwards, the pressure
has gradually decreased (as of 9:05 am, 490 kPa).

At approximately 11:01 am, March 14th, an explosion followed by white
smoke occurred near Unit 3. 4 TEPCO employees and 3 workers from other
companies (all of them are conscious) have sustained injuries and they
were already dispatched to the hospital by ambulances.

As the temperature of water in the spent fuel pool rose, spraying water
by helicopters with the support of the Self Defense Force was considered,
however the works on March 16th was cancelled.

At 6:15 am, March 17th, the pressure of the Suppression Chamber temporally
increased, but currently it is stable in a certain range. Monitoring will
be continued.
In order to cool spent fuel pool, water discharge by helicopters has been
conducted on March 17th with the cooperation of Self-Defense Force.
At approximately past 7:00 pm, March 17th , Self-Defense Forces and the
police had started water discharge by water cannon trucks upon our request
for the cooperation. At 8:09 pm, March 17th, they had finished water
discharge.
At 2:00 pm, March 18th , water discharge by fire engine has started with
the cooperation of Self-Defense Forces and Military of United States of
America. At 2:45 pm, March 18th , they had finished water discharge.
At 0:45 am, March 19th , water discharge by hyper rescue troop has
started with the cooperation of Tokyo Fire Department. At 1:10 am, March
19th , they had finished water discharge.
* Unit 4
At approximately 6:00 am, March 15th, an explosive sound occurred and
the damage in the 5th floor roof of Unit 4 reactor building was confirmed.
At 9:38 am, the fire near the north-west part of 4th floor of Unit 4
reactor building was confirmed. At approximately 11:00 am, TEPCO employee
confirmed that the fire was off.

At approximately 5:45 am, a TEPCO employee discovered a fire at the
northwest corner of the Nuclear Reactor Building. TEPCO immediately
reported this incident to the fire department and the local government
and proceeded with the extinction of fire. At approximately 6:15 am,
TEPCO staff confirmed at the site that there are no signs of fire.

*On March 18th, regarding the spent fuel in the common spent fuel pool,
we have confirmed that the water level of the pool is secured. A detailed
inspection is under preparation.
*common spent fuel pool: a spent fuel pool for common use set in a
separate building in a plant site in order to preserve spent fuel
which are transferred from the spent fuel pool in each Unit building.

*On March 17th, we patrolled buildings for dry casks and found no signs
of abnormal situation for the casks by visual observation. A detailed
inspection is under preparation.
*dry cask: a measure to store spent fuel in a dry storage casks in
storages. Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station started to utilize
the measure from August 1995.

*We will continuously endeavor to securing safety, and monitoring of
the surrounding environment.

Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station:
Units 1 to 4: shutdown due to earthquake
*The national government has instructed evacuation for those local
residents within 10km radius of the periphery.

*In order to achieve cold shutdown, reactor cooling function was restored
and cooling of reactors was conducted. As a result, all reactors achieved
cold shutdown: Unit 1 at 5:00 pm, March 14th, Unit 2 at 6:00 pm, March
14th, Unit 3 at 0:15 pm, March 12th, Unit 4 at 7:15 am, March 16th.

*Since March 12th, we had been preparing measures for reducing the
pressure of reactor containment vessels (partial discharge of air
containing radioactive materials to outside), but on March 17th,
we released such preparation in all Units.

* (Unit 1)
As it is confirmed that the temperature of the Emergency Equipment Cooling
Water System *1 has increased, at 3:20 pm, March 15th, we stopped the
Residual Heat Removal System (B) for the inspection. Subsequently, failure
was detected in the power supply facility associated with the pumps of the
Emergency Equipment Cooling Water System. At 4:25 pm, March 15th, after
replacing the power facility, the pumps and the Residual Heat Removal
System (B) have been reactivated.

* (Unit 4)
As it is confirmed that the pressure at the outlet of the pumps of the
Emergency Equipment Cooling Water System*1 has been decreased, at 8:05 pm,
March 15th, we stopped the Residual Heat Removal System (B) for the
inspection. Subsequently, failure was detected in the power supply
facility associated with the pumps of the Emergency Equipment Cooling
Water System. At 9:25 pm, March 15th, after replacing the relevant
facility, the pumps and the Residual Heat Removal System (B) have been
reactivated.

*1:emergency water system in which cooling water (pure water) circulates
which exchanged the heat with sea water in order to cool down bearing
pumps and/or heat exchangers etc.

Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Station:
Units 1, 5, 6, 7: normal operation
(Units 2 to 4: outage due to regular inspection)

[Thermal Power Station]
Hirono Thermal Power Station Units 2 and 4: shutdown due to earthquake
Hitachinaka Thermal Power Station Unit 1: shutdown due to earthquake
Kashima Thermal Power Station Units 2, 3, 5, 6: shutdown due to earthquake
Higashi-Ohgishima Thermal Power Station Unit 1: shutdown due to earthquake

[Hydro Power Station]
* All the stations have been restored.

[Transmission System, etc.]
All substation failed due to the earthquake have been restored.

[Blackout in TEPCO's Service Area]
Total of approximately 2,600 households are out of power (as of 9:00PM,
March 17, 2011).
Tokyo: 0
Kanagawa Pref.: 0
Tochigi Pref.: 0
Chiba Pref.: 0
Saitama Pref: 0
Gunma Pref.: 0
Ibaraki Pref: 0
Yamanashi Pref: 0
Shizuoka Pref: 0 (east of Fuji River)

[Supply and Demand Status within TEPCO's Service Area to Secure Stable Power
Supply]
Backup supply from Shinshinano Conversion Station: 600MW
Backup supply from Sakuma Conversion Station: 300MW
Backup supply from Higashi Shimizu Conversion Station: 100MW

Considering the critical balance of our power supply capacity and expected
power demand forward, in order to avoid unexpected blackout, TEPCO has
implemented rolling blackout (planned blackout alternates from one area to
another) since yesterday. We will make our utmost to secure the stable
power supply as early as possible.
For customers who will be subject to rolling blackout, please be prepared
for the announced blackout periods. Also for customers who are not subject
to blackouts, TEPCO appreciates your continuous cooperation in reducing
electricity usage by avoiding using unnecessary lighting and electrical
equipment.

[Others]
Please do NOT touch cut-off electric wires.
In order to prevent fire, please make sure to switch off the electric
appliances such as hair drier and to shut down the breaker of distribution
board when you leave your house.
For the customer who has in-house power generation, please secure fuel for
generator.

dorispulaski · Mar 18, 2011

The president of TEPCO apologizes to the nation:

March 18, 2011
Tokyo Electric Power Company
Masataka Shimizu, President

It has been announced that the assessment of INES (International Nuclear
and Radiological Event Scale) on the incident at Unit 1, 2, and 3 of
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station caused by Tohoku-Taiheiyou-Oki
Earthquake resulted in "Level 5". We are taking this assessment very
seriously.

We sincerely apologize to all the people living in the surrounding area of
the power station and people in Fukushima Prefecture, as well as to the
people of society for causing such great concern and nuisance.

We are taking this reality as an extreme regret, although it was caused by
the marvels of nature such as tsunami due to large scale earthquake that
we have never experienced before.

While receiving support and cooperation from the Japanese government and
related department and local authority, we will continue our maximum effort
to converge current situation.

The stationing vice president for Fukushina of TEPCO apologizes to Fukushina prefecture

Press Release (Mar 18,2011)
Stationing Vice President at Fukushima City and Managing Director at J Village

We would like to express our great regret at the loss of people by the
Tohoku-Chihou-Taiheiyo-Oki Earthquake occurred on March 11, and our deep
sympathy to the people and their families suffering damage.

Besides, we would like to make our deep apologies for concern and nuisance
about the incident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and the
leakage of radioactive substances to the people living in the surrounding
area of the power station, the people of Fukushima Prefecture, and the
people of society.

Currently TEPCO has jointly established the Joint Headquarters for
Response for the Tohoku-Chihou-Taiheiyo-Oki Earthquake (Head: Prime
Minister Naoto Kan) and endeavored to prevent further damages and secure
the safety of our facilities as early as possible. In order to strengthen
our response, we will appoint Vice President Norio Tuzumi and Manageing
Director Akio Komori to station at Fukushima City and J Village
respectively from March 22, 2011.

Vice President Tuzumi will direct to collect voices from the people of
living in the surrounding area of the power station and the people of
Fukushima Prefecture regarding the incident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Power Station, etc. Managing Director Komori will direct to prevent
further damages and secure the safety of Fukushima Daiichi and Daini
Nuclear Power Stations as early as possible.

CoyoteChris · Mar 18, 2011

Thanks Doris....all very interesting info....I hope when PBS NOVA does a special on this they take two hours...there is lots of info to go through.
BTW, a Biologist scientist who studies Chernobyl said today there is very little evidence that creatures have mutated due to radiation around there.
I also believe he said that while 150,000 women downwind had abortions to avoid birth defect there, the ones that didnt abort had a normal amount of birth defects.

dorispulaski · Mar 19, 2011

Chris, yes that is true. I've been reading Wormwood Forest about the biology of Chernobyl. It's a fascinating book.

As to the abortions, I believe that is true. "Wormwood Forest" says the same. The only mutation noticed in the animal kingdom there was in swallows-one variety that normally has a red patch of feathers on the males now has a variant that has a white patch. However, that is apparently not attractive to the females, so the mutated version seems to be dying out.

I wonder whether this is at least partially due to the fact that when life evolved, the earth's background radiation was twice as high as it is today, and of course, there were areas where that was much higher, like the naturally occuring nuclear reactors at Oklo in Africa, and the radioactive black sands in Brazil. DNA does change that much.

dorispulaski · Mar 19, 2011

www.nei.org posted their most recent updates. This reiterates that monitoring has determined things outside the evacuated area around Daiichi are safe. People should know that the US and WHO are not relying solely on TEPCO & the Japanese government to tell them what the radiation levels are outside the plant. There are US planes that monitor these sorts of things, and I'd bet a cookie that ours are keeping close tabs on the situation.

UPDATE AS OF 09:00 P.M. EDT, FRIDAY, MARCH 18:

March 18th, and 8pm and 9 pm EDT

A World Health Organization spokesman said that radiation levels outside the 20-kilometer (12-mile) evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan are not harmful for human health. He said the WHO finds no public health reason to avoid travel to unaffected areas in Japan or to recommend that foreign nationals leave the country. He also said there is no risk that exported Japanese foods are contaminated with radiation.

The Japanese government issued an advisory on Tuesday for people to evacuate from a 12-mile zone around the plant, and also told people living within an 18-mile radius to stay indoors. Radiation levels at the plant boundary have been declining in the last day or so.

UPDATE AS OF 8:00 P.M. EDT, FRIDAY, MARCH 18:

Tokyo Electric Power Co. continued spraying water into the reactor 3 used fuel pool that began early Friday morning. Another water spraying operation into the pool was conducted around noon EDT. The company did not provide any updates on the status of the reactor 4 used fuel pool on Friday.

Operations to connect external power to reactors 1 and 2 are expected to continue through the weekend. TEPCO confirmed that electricity can be supplied to the reactors now that a new line has been connected from the off-site power system near the facility. Additional cabling and switchgear are being prepared to provide electricity to reactors 3, 4, 5 and 6.

TEPCO said it "planned to supply electricity for recovery efforts to reactor 2 first, followed by reactors 1, 3 and 4 because reactor 2 is expected to be less damaged." TEPCO plans to check pumps and other equipment and restore those items most vital to the cooling function.

No Radiation Levels of Concern in Western U.S.

The U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency on Friday issued a joint statement to confirm that the nationwide network of sensitive radiation monitoring equipment has detected no radiation levels of concern to U.S. citizens.

The EPA's RadNet system notifies scientists in near real-time of elevated levels of radiation to enable them to determine whether protective actions are required. DOE's IMS (International Monitoring System) operates as part of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and detects tiny quantities of radiation that may indicate an underground nuclear explosion anywhere in the world.

One of the DOE monitors in Sacramento, Calif., detected tiny quantities of a radioisotope (xenon-133). The level of the isotope detected would result in one-millionth of the dose rate that a person would normally receive from natural background sources.

More information is available at www.epa.gov/radiation..

dorispulaski · Mar 19, 2011

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11031905-e.html
TEPCO's status as of March 19th, 0 PM Japanese Time is above.

For those that like charts, these are succinct and useful, from the Japan Atomic Industrial Foundation Forum:

http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/aij/110319FukushimaEventStatus-14e.pdf

This file is a chart of the situation at Daiichi's reactors as of 10 am March 19th, recounting all previous events. New items are underline. There is a useful map of the reactors location and the outline of the area affected by the quake with the Epicenter mapped in.

Again, it has everything that happened in a very condensed space.

New Events:

Highlight is that - At 5 AM, Mar 19th, they started the Residual Heat Removal System Pump (C ) in order to cool the spent fuel pool for Unit 5.

The diesel generator for Unit 6 is now in operation

Buildings for Unit 5 and Unit 6 have had openings made in the roof to try to avoid any buildup of hydrogen that led to explosions in the other buildings.

Building 2 is the least damaged.

It is expected that connecting Units 1 and 2 to the external grid will be completed on March 19th, and Units 3 and 4 on March 20th.

Seawater injection continues to the core in Unit1, Unit2, and Unit 3 and to the containment vessels of Unit 1 and Unit 3. It may be done for Unit 2 as well.

The ground based spraying of water into the Unit 3 spent fuel pool will resume in the afternoon.

Activities on spraying water into the spent fuel pool:
<March 18>
14:00 Ground-based water discharge (7 times) by SDF ( ～14:38)
14:42 Ground-based water discharge (once) by TEPCO using US forces' water cannon truck ( ～14:45)
<March 19>
00:30 Ground-based water discharge by Tokyo Fire Department( ～01:10)

Also, an English translation of the Report of the Japanese Cabinet Secretary on March 18th is available.

http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1300441711P.pdf

dorispulaski · Mar 19, 2011

http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

The IAEA has also done a recap of all the events at the site. These recaps are getting long, and repetitive, so I am not posting them in full.

The one piece of new news is that the evacuees were told to take a single dose of iodine on March 18th. (This is consistent with the upgrade of the event to a Level 5 incident, and to the release of radioactive material that has occurred, similar to Three Mile Island).

IAEA has the following to say on the issue of radiation at Daiichi:

Radiation Measurements

Radiation levels near Fukushima Daiichi and beyond have elevated since the reactor damage began. However, dose rates in Tokyo and other areas outside the 30-kilometre zone remain far from levels which would require any protective action. In other words they are not dangerous to human health.

At the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, radiation levels spiked three times since the earthquake, but have stabilized since 16 March at levels which are, although significantly higher than the normal levels, within the range that allows workers to continue onsite recovery measures.

dorispulaski · Mar 19, 2011

The IAEA has issued the following.
It is more explaination as to why the evacuees were asked to take the iodine pills.
Some radioactive iodine was found on some food.
Apparently no iodine has been found outside Fukushima prefecture at this time, and no other radioactive species other than iodine has been found. The half life of radioactive iodine is 8 days, so it can effectively be considered to be all gone in 30 half lives, or 240 days.

panese Earthquake Update (19 March 2011 12:00 UTC)
Contamination in Food Products around Fukushima

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has confirmed the presence of radioactive iodine contamination in food products measured in the Fukushima Prefecture, the area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. According to the latest data, the food products were measured from 16-18 March and indicated the presence of radioactive iodine. To date, no other radioactive isotopes have been shown to increase in the analysis of food products around Fukushima.

Though radioactive iodine has a short half-life of about 8 days and decays naturally within a matter of weeks, there is a short-term risk to human health if radioactive iodine in food is absorbed into the human body. If ingested, it can accumulate in and cause damage to the thyroid. Children and young people are particularly at risk of thyroid damage due to the ingestion of radioactive iodine.

Japanese authorities have implemented two critical measures to counter the contamination of food products by radioactive iodine. First, on 16 March, Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission recommended local authorities to instruct evacuees leaving the 20-kilometre area to ingest stable (not radioactive) iodine. As an established method of prevention, the ingestion of stable iodine can help to prevent the accumulation of radioactive iodine in the thyroid. Stable iodine pills and syrup (for children) have been made available at evacuation centres. Second, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has ordered a stop to the sale of all food products from the Fukushima Prefecture.

The IAEA has passed this information to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and will continue to report on this development.

According to materials on its website, the FAO is prepared to respond upon request from the Government of Japan in the following areas:

- assessing radioactive contamination of the agricultural environment, especially foods
- providing technical advice and determining appropriate medium- and long-term measures for agriculture -- including soil, land, forests, crops, fisheries, animal health and welfare and food safety
- facilitating international trade of foods, including agricultural produce
The IAEA continues to gather information on this development and will report further as events warrant.

mot · Mar 19, 2011

TEPCO has managed to reconnect the electricity supply to the No1 and 2 reactors, I learnt. (http://www.asahi.com/special/10005/TKY201103190334.html) Hopefully, that will result in restarting the cooling system. Fingers crossed. Some employees of TEPCO, soldiers of Japanese Self-defence Force, fire fighters of Tokyo's fire brigade are all taking personal risks to keep the situation under control. Fire fighters from Osaka are on their way to lend a hand too. Any development, no matter how small, to reduce the risks to those brave people are welcome.

TEPCO stated in the press conference yesterday that even having lights in the place, where those on the front line are staying, should help.

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