1598 replies to this topic

[Paladar]

I'm glad there's this topic regarding the situation in Japan. French medias don't talk about Japan at all now so I can't get any information of the situation, and reading your comments is my only way to know what's happening there. Thank you all

I just wanted some clarification. I know that reactos 5 & 6 have been stopped and that electricity is back in the 4 others, but does anyone knows if they have been stopped yet? Does anyone has some info about that at all..?

[zam（仮）]

^Reactor 1,2 and 3 are still giving problems. There is a leak in reactor 2's pipes which have allowed contaminated water to leak out from the reactor and start flooding the turbine building's basement. Because of this leak the process of cooling down reactor 1, 2 and 3 has been delayed.

Reactor 4's problem was with it's spent fuel holding pool which has now been fixed. They are spraying water into the pool and keeping the rods cooled.

They are now using fresh water instead of sea water to cool down the reactor core in 1, 2 and 3.

5 French experts have been flown in to help with the leak problem and for removing the contaminated water from the turbine building.

Thats the latest situation.

[Paladar]

^
Lol you're more informed about the French taking actions than french people are.. I had heard they planned to send them but didn't know they were gone already...

Anyway thanks for the quick reply. 3 reactors to go, hope it will end soon...

[Tony Oguri]

The new article was sort of worrisome:

Fukushima nuclear plant to be entombed in concrete as Japan admits it has lost battle with crippled reactors
http://www.dailymail...ation-leak.html

Japan has finally conceded defeat in the battle to contain radiation at four of its crippled reactors and they will be closed down.
Details of how this will be done are yet to be revealed, but officials said it would mean switching off all power and abandoning attempts to keep the nuclear fuel rods cool.
The final move would involve pouring tonnes of concrete on the reactors to seal them in tombs and ensure radiation does not leak out.

Officials have attempted to downplay the dangers posed by the high presence of radioactive isotopes in the water, saying that the iodine-131 isotope loses half of its radiation every eight days.
But amounts of the cesium-137 isotope - which has a 30-year 'half life' - have also soared to 527 times the normal level.



Doing that right now would be a terrible mistake (imo). But my wife is hearing something a little different from Japan: Closing down (she suspects this might be the concrete deal, but she says she hasn't heard the word "concrete" yet), yes. But first, a lot more time to cool things down.

Hopefully that is the plan. There has to be a lot of cleanup and cooling down before creating a pressure cooker that will likely blow.

[Zorr]

^Is that article definitely reliable. I'm sorry, I'm not questioning you, it's just that here in the UK the Daily Mail has somewhat of a reputation for putting a sensationalist spin on news stories just to sell papers. I'd feel more comfortable seeing some confirmation from a more reputable news source.

Anyway, thank you everyone in here for the continuous updates and sources of information that have been linked I'm due to go to Japan in a little over 3 weeks now so it's helpful being armed with all the facts.

[Glasseyelashes]

Hopefully that is the plan. There has to be a lot of cleanup and cooling down before creating a pressure cooker that will likely blow.

i sure hope they know that, and don't try and jump the gun and seal off the reactors before they've had a proper cool down.

[Krusha]

You guys should offer your services to TEPCO, considering your qualifications in nuclear physics.

PS: For those who use The Sun as source next time, you will get extra bonus points...

[ｌａｌａ]

PS: For those who use The Sun as source next time, you will get extra bonus points...

^
This.

I don't trust daily mail or The Sun

[Tony Oguri]

@Krusha

That's a good idea considering the TEPCO and government experts have already stated they don't know exactly what to do because they are in uncharted territory. They are even floating the idea of putting up a big tent around the reactor buildings. Plus, I'm 99% sure the commentary from readers on at least one site is being looked at for ideas and feedback.

You don't have to be a nuclear physicist to understand that sealing off the facilities, before clean-up and cool down, has considerable downside risks. Fortunately, it appears that the people in charge also realize this.

edit:
\/ My trip is not until later this year. Besides, it's more efficient to provide input electronically. No need to be there in person.

[Krusha]

Then what the hell are you doing here wasting precious time, posting on a forum!?

Fly off to Japan and get to the reactors my friend - you are a hero in the making.

[sswishbone]

I think we all need to understand that what is going on at the reactors is a highly technical and dangerous scenario, and that the Japanese government and Tepco will have expert advice pouring in from the numerous academics and physicists from around the world. However, every post made is only to try and help people understand, surely that is of great benefit here? We don't want or need any panic posts suggesting scenarios that won't come to pass, and if an informed opinion can allay that then it is a good thing they are here to post it.

[Glasseyelashes]

i don't know if krusha's comment was meant to be sarcastic...

the only intention from my comment was concern and worry. i hope it came across as such.

[reyfer]

Major chinese stars, including Jackie Chan, released a single to raise funds for Japan....and what surprised me is, CHINESE STARS SINGING IN JAPANESE...lyrics based on the poem Ame Ni Mo Makezu by Kenji Miyazawa....the song is the official theme for the oncoming concert 『愛心無國界 311 燭光晚會～Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders』to be held in Hong Kong to raise funds for Japan Relief....it gave me chills the ending when it says "you're not alone"

Thanks to Jackie Chan for sending me the link through his fan mail list

[zam（仮）]

This is in respond to Tony's post about assuming that TEPCO is considering to seal the reactors in concreate. They have hinted that but as a last resort, and that is after all the problems has been fixed. An official already stated that the plant is going to be scraped, TEPCO is not going to try recover it.

As for ongoing process of handling the situation, this is the latest from Asahi Simbun.

TEPCO testing new ways to stop radioactive pollution from Fukushima

Special resin designed to stop the spread of radiation from the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is due to be tested by the facility's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., as it searches for new ways to prevent the poisoning of l...and and sea near the plant.
The March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent explosions scattered radioactive dust and rubble throughout the plant. If that dust gets into the atmosphere, it would interfere with work to restore the damaged reactors' cooling mechanisms.
Substantial rainfall would increase the threat of the radioactive material flowing into the sea.
TEPCO officials were preparing Thursday to test a water-soluble synthetic resin for use as a dust suppressant. The resin is usually employed in landfills and other civil engineering projects.
Once sprayed on an area, the resin forms a film that TEPCO hopes will stop the spread of radioactive material. After it dries, the resin can prevent dust from spreading for six months to a year.
An official with a major water-processing company, which has been contacted by TEPCO officials, said the synthetic resins would be sprayed using hoses equipped with special nozzles.
A two-week test will be conducted at a number of areas at the Fukushima site, including a water-filled basement at the No. 4 reactor and an area to the north of the No. 5 and No. 6 reactors.
A sprinkler truck with a 2,000-liter capacity will be used to spray about 60,000 liters of a solution containing 15-percent synthetic resin.
Another measure being looked at is covering the damaged reactor buildings with specially coated canvas sheets.
TEPCO is also continuing to search for ways to deal with the large volume of radioactive water in the basements of the reactors' turbine buildings and in trenches extending from the reactors.
Workers are trying to shift the contaminated water from condensers, condensate storage tanks and suppression pool storage tanks. If all of those tanks are filled, new containers will have to be found.
TEPCO officials say they are looking at using other containers within the plant's grounds, but they may be forced to install temporary pools on the site if capacity is used up. Government officials are considering using empty tankers to take the contaminated water, but another possibility being actively considered is digging a reservoir.
That reservoir would have to have a waterproof lining to prevent radioactive water from leaking into the ground. It would probably have to be located away from the nuclear plant, because the high levels of radiation from the reservoir would make it difficult for workers trying to stabilize the reactors.
An official at the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan said the cooling of the reactor cores "would not be done in a matter of months, but in a matter of years."
Even in a normal situation, it takes between 20 and 30 years to close down and restore a nuclear plant site for other uses.
TEPCO officials said Thursday that water collected Wednesday afternoon about 330 meters south of outlets from the Fukushima No. 1 plant had levels of iodine-131 that were 4,385 times the acceptable limit. Water collected the same day about 30 meters north of the outlets from the No. 5 and No. 6 reactors had iodine-131 levels of 1,425 times the acceptable level.
With contaminated water apparently continuously leaking from the facility, TEPCO officials are preparing to measure radiation levels 15 kilometers off the coast.
Work continued Thursday to remove the highly radioactive water in the basements of the turbine buildings.
Workers in the No. 1 reactor filled the condenser in that building and were looking for another tank to pump contaminated water into. The water level in the trench connected to the turbine building of the No. 1 reactor had dropped by 1 meter after pumping began on Thursday.
At the No. 2 and No. 3 reactors, workers were trying to shift water from the condensers to other tanks, so contaminated water could be pumped into the condensers. That process was completed at the No. 3 reactor condenser on Thursday morning.

(Copyright 2011 the Asahi Shimbun. All Rights Reserved.)

If they end up discovering a technology to actually neutralize radiation, that would be amazing.

---

Emperor, empress visit earthquake and tsunami evacuees

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on Wednesday visited evacuees from the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake at a temporary shelter at Tokyo Budoh-kan in Adachi Ward.
...The emperor, in a green jacket, and the empress, wearing a blue jacket, got down on their knees and talked with evacuees in their temporary living quarters on tatami mats and partitioned with screens or cardboard boxes.
Asked by the emperor how his family members were, 80-year-old Tadao Sugi from Minami-Soma in Fukushima Prefecture, near the troubled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, said everyone in his family survived.
"We left home in the evening of March 11. This is the fifth evacuation center we have stayed at," Sugi said, adding in tears, "My family members are fine, but many people were victimized."
The emperor replied: "The tsunami caused tremendous damage. I hope everyone will take care of themselves."
Empress Michiko talked to Yurina Suzuki, a 20-year-old student from Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, who took refuge with her 7-month-old daughter. "Do you have enough milk and water? Are you sleeping well?" the empress asked.
Suzuki, whose husband had returned to Fukushima for work, said, "I felt relieved by the empress' sympathetic and warm words."
The empress smiled and waved goodbye to children as she was leaving the shelter, saying, "Take care!"
A 43-year-old evacuee from Iwaki received words of encouragement from the emperor.
"I was very happy. I wish I could meet him again, next time in a normal situation and not in such a setting," she said.
About 590 people from disaster areas are now staying in three evacuation centers set up by the Tokyo metropolitan government. Two-hundred and eighty-nine people from 125 households are staying at Tokyo Budoh-kan.
The imperial couple's visit is the latest gesture of consideration for victims of Japan's worst natural disaster since the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 that killed more than 100,000 people.
On March 16, five days after the earthquake and tsunami, the emperor delivered an unprecedented video message for a natural disaster. In the five-and-a-half minute address, the emperor said that he was hurt by the catastrophic damage and that he was worried about the situation at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The video message was created at the emperor's initiative. Video recording was done March 16 at the Imperial Palace. Sources quoted the emperor as saying, "Please interrupt the televised message in case urgent news breaks."
The imperial family also provided its facility in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, to earthquake and tsunami victims on March 26.
One evacuee at the facility said he was happy to have taken a bath "for the first time in many days."

(Copyright 2011 the Asahi Shimbun. All Rights Reserved.)

Asahi Shimbun on FB

[Tony Oguri]

Yeah, the resin story came out a day or two ago. It's (the special resin) from France, right? We'll see how that works out if it's employed. From day one, we all knew the facility was going to be scraped. No way to repair it.

The bottom line is still: Clean-up, cooling, containing, and more clean-up. How they proceed with the efforts is going to be left up to those on the ground. This is going to take months, if not years, to accomplish. That's assuming it's done correctly. There is at least one core breach and radioactive material is seeping into the underground water.

BTW, about 30 minutes ago we watched tv from Japan that General Electric is finally taking a lot of heat over this.

Also, the big tent idea has apparently been shelved. It would put the workers under too much danger.

IDK the deal behind this, but my wife says the "water level" is supposed to rise tomorrow. That will present more immediate challenges to the workers.

[zeroyon]

Un-informed people do not realise that their hand phones, TVs, laptops, PC etc all produce radiation. This people only associate radiation to nuclear power and nuclear weapons. It is sad but true.

I agree, except that phones and laptops don't produce ionizing radiation. I think that it is ignorance among the general public that fuels fear, especially in regards to things that people cannot see or smell (in this case, radiation).

Did you also know that you receive far LESS radiation on a 90-day deployment on a nuclear submarine than an average person on the surface during those same 90 days? (at least for US submarines, not so sure for other countries....). That is even if you are near where the reactor is the whole time. It makes sense when you realize that you aren't exposed to the solar radiation that everyone receives on the surface when you are deep underwater.

Here is a good graphic that compares different dosage levels of radiation:

http://xkcd.com/radiation/

[reyfer]

The 311 Love Beyond Borders concert in Hong Kong raised over US$3 million dollars for the victims of Japan's earthquake/tsunami. More than 170 performers entertained an audience of 10,000 in Hong Kong's Victoria Park on the evening of April 1.Concert news and pics

[Krusha]

From same event:

Sakiko, Umechan and Aamin of AKB48 performing their song Dareka no Tame Ni, an old song from Team A's 3rd stage album - but which has become their tie-in song now to their charity project:

[mixedmedia]

Just saw this. Hopefully, the situation has been resolved since the video was made and people were evacuated. If the government is leaving those 20,000 people to die in their homes, it's unforgivable! You can't just expect them to be okay if they stay indoors.


I'm not even going to worry about the possibility of radiation reaching Hawaii for now because those in Fukushima have it much worse. Much respect for those many unknowns working to resolve the situation at risk to their lives.

[eRDe7]

I hope it is okay to post this here.

For German speaking people:

There is an interesting help program for Japan from University of Trier. You even can help if you don't can or want donate money:
http://www.uni-trier...ex.php?id=39274

Here are links to the posters and so and a little bit more about the project:
http://www.scifinet....showtopic=12593