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Baraka_Guru 03-11-2011 05:04 AM
Japan hit by tsunami caused by 8.9 quake; tsunamis landing elsewhere
 
Hawaii is to be hit soon, and there are apparently warnings for the west coast of the U.S. and Canada. The tsunami's reach also affects much of the South Pacific.

The magnitude of destruction is devastating. They had live footage of the waves on the news last night.


Quote:
Japan suffers major damage in 8.9 quake
At least 60 dead, according to reports
CBC News
Posted: Mar 11, 2011 1:27 AM ET
Last Updated: Mar 11, 2011 7:51 AM E

A powerful earthquake struck off Japan's northeast coast Friday, triggering a tsunami that swallowed homes, swept away boats and cars and forced people to scramble to higher ground.

At least 60 people were killed and dozens were reported missing after the magnitude 8.9 offshore quake, which was followed by at least 19 aftershocks.

"The earthquake has caused major damage in broad areas in northern Japan," Prime Minister Naoto Kan said at a news conference.

There were no reports of any injuries to Canadians living or travelling in Japan, the Department of Foreign Affairs said at about 7 am ET.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 2:46 p.m. local time quake had a magnitude of 8.9, making it the biggest earthquake to hit Japan since officials began keeping records in the late 1800s. The quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres, about 125 kilometres off the eastern coast, the agency said.

Tsunami watches and warnings were issued for major stretches of the Pacific, including the west coasts of South America, the United States and Canada.

A wave measuring an estimated 50 centimetres was expected to hit parts of British Columbia at around 6:30 am PT, though little to no impact was anticipated in the major cities of Vancouver and Victoria.

In Japan, residents in affected areas were urged to make their way to higher ground as the tsumani, which reportedly measured between four and seven metres, swept towards land.

"There were warnings immediately telling people to stay away from coastlines and to seek higher ground or to go to the third or fourth floors of the buildings they were in," said Andrew Horvath, a Canadian living in Kyoto.
'Enormous damage' reported

Horvath said the massive wave swamped many dikes in the country's northeast, leaving a massive trail of debris. Dozens of cities and villages along the 2,100 kilometre stretch of coastline were shaken by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of kilometres from the quake's epicentre.

Waves of muddy waters swept over farmland near the city of Sendai, carrying buildings far inland, sometimes on fire, as frantic residents attempted to drive away. Sendai airport, north of Tokyo, was inundated with cars, trucks, buses and thick mud deposited over its runways. Fires spread through a section of the city, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The tsunami roared over embankments, washing anything in its path inland before reversing directions and carrying the cars, homes and other debris out to sea. Flames shot from some of the houses, probably because of burst gas pipes.

Dozens of fires were reported in northern prefectures of Fukushima, Sendai, Iwate and Ibaraki. Collapsed homes and landslides were also reported in Miyagi.

"Our initial assessment indicates that there has already been enormous damage," Chief government spokesman Yukio Edano said. "We will make maximum relief effort based on that assessment."

He said the Defence Ministry was sending troops to the quake-hit region. A utility aircraft and several helicopters were on the way.

He also said a nuclear power plant in Fukushima developed a mechanical failure in the system needed to cool the reactor after it was shut down in Friday's earthquake.

He said the measure was a precaution and there was no radiation leak at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant. He said the facility was not in immediate danger.

In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the street to safety. TV footage showed a large building on fire and billowing smoke in the Odaiba district of Tokyo. The tremor bent the upper tip of the iconic Tokyo Tower, a 333-metre steel structure inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

"In my apartment building, which is a three-storey building, it was shaking back and forth," said Craig Dale, a Tokyo-based freelance reporter.

Osamu Akiya, 46, was working in Tokyo at his office in a trading company when the quake hit.

It sent bookshelves and computers crashing to the floor, and cracks appeared in the walls.

"I've been through many earthquakes, but I've never felt anything like this," he said. "I don't know if we'll be able to get home tonight."
Millions without power

Sadia Kaenzig, a spokeswoman for the international Red Cross, said that there are fires and damage to buildings and key infrastructure.

"Power cuts are reported for 4.4 million households," she said, noting that there were also scattered reports of landslides.

She said the Japanese Red Cross has already deployed a team to the affected areas to assess the damage and provide assistance.

Kaenzig said the Red Cross and other organizations across the Pacific are monitoring the situation as the tsunami threatens other nations.

"We are trying to push them to put in place to put in measures of preparation and preparedness," she said.

President Barack Obama sent his condolences to the people affected by the quake and the tsunami, saying the U.S. "stands ready to help" the Japanese.

"We will continue to closely monitor tsunamis around Japan and the Pacific going forward and we are asking all our citizens in the affected region to listen to their state and local officials," he said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper also offered his condolences and said Canada will "stand by the people of Japan during this difficult moment."

He said in a statement that Canadian officials are carefully monitoring tsunamis in the Pacific.

Japan's worst previous quake occurred in 1923 in Kanto, an 8.3 magnitude temblor that killed 143,000 people, according to the USGS.

In later decades, Japan brought in strict building codes designed to minimize earthquake damage and loss of life, restricting the harm from seismic activity.

Still, a 7.2 magnitude quake in Kobe city in 1996 killed 6,400 people.

Japan lies on the "Ring of Fire" — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching around the Pacific where about 90 per cent of the world's quakes occur, including the one that triggered the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people in 12 nations.

A magnitude 8.8 temblor that shook central Chile last February also generated a tsunami and killed 524 people.
Japan suffers major damage in 8.9 quake - World - CBC News

jewels 03-11-2011 05:05 AM
This is so scary. Be safe, TFPers and all who may be impacted.

genuinegirly 03-11-2011 06:00 AM
Been listening to the radio for news updates on this all morning. I hope that people are able to evacuate before the next wave hits. Terrifying stuff.

Jove 03-11-2011 10:08 AM
Unfortunate news. What I find odd is why an island has several nuclear power plants when something like this could occur?

roachboy 03-11-2011 10:11 AM
wow. i feel a little badly about looking at footage and/or photos because i feel like a disaster tourist or, worse, a voyeur.

that said:

Earthquake in Japan - Alan Taylor - In Focus - The Atlantic

WhoaitsZ 03-11-2011 10:40 AM
to all affected i am sorry and my thoughts are with you.

Baraka_Guru 03-11-2011 10:40 AM
On a positive note: after the first waves hit, there were no major issues in Hawaii.

No major U.S. damage from tsunami waves

Cimarron29414 03-11-2011 11:05 AM
Anyone else starting to feel like the Mayans knew what they were doing with their calendar?

Fremen 03-11-2011 11:13 AM
I hope, if bundy is still living in Japan, he's alright.
(edit- hehe, wherever he's living, I hope he's ok.)

Also, flyman, get thee to the roof!

Condolences to the families of those that have perished, and here's hoping we'll see no more lives lost.

dlish 03-11-2011 11:18 AM
as far as i know bundy was still living there. hope he's ok.

Japan, stay strong!

The_Jazz 03-11-2011 12:32 PM
Looks like Hawaii and the Americas missed most of the waves. That's good news. The bad news is that Northern Japan is seriously fucked up.

I think I remember that bundy was in Tokyo, in which case there's a better chance of him being ok. Anyone else remember that?

They have nuclear reactors because they don't have a better way to produce electricity, Jove. No big rivers, no big coal deposits, no big natural gas deposits - those are the usual ways to generate power.

Most of the reactors seem to have held up just fine. Unfortunately, it may not be all of them.

Willravel 03-11-2011 12:52 PM
I believe the most recent death toll estimate is a little over 1,000. For what it's worth, my thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those who had their homes destroyed, or were injured or killed in this disaster.

Japan has been dealing with tsunamis and earthquakes for a very long time, and every generation technology and planning has improved to deal with the effects. While this was a devastating quake and tsunami, the largest earthquake in the 140 years of records, ultimately the damage is much much less severe than it would have been elsewhere, like here in California, because of brilliant civil engineering and disaster management planning. I would venture a guess that Japanese nuclear plants are among the most safe in the world when it comes to earthquakes and tsunamis.

Charlatan 03-11-2011 04:14 PM
I think Sty and Ratman are also in Japan. I think Ratman is on the east coast though. I don't know about Sty.

noodle 03-11-2011 04:18 PM
My friends in Okinawa said they were doing okay this morning,
but no one has heard from them since about 9 am EST.
I haven't heard if that area was impacted,
just that there was concern about low-lying islands.
I am geographically-retarded when it comes to this area of the world,
even with google maps, should we still be worried about them in that area?

Charlatan 03-11-2011 04:35 PM
Okinawa is way south of the main part of Japan. The main impact was felt in the north east part of Japan. I haven't read anything to suggest that the south felt much of the earthquake or was impacted by the tsunami.

kramus 03-11-2011 05:05 PM
Got to admit, the nuclear power problems are pretty scary to me. Not sure why back-up on site generators would cut out after a short period and lead to the concerns that are currently making the news, but I would bet the "fallout" (not even trying to be funny here folks) from this could be much worse than any earthquake/tsunami double punch if they don't get on top of it pdq.

genuinegirly 03-11-2011 06:24 PM
Waves are even felt in space - The Kibo lab on the International Space Station is taking directions from Houston since their base in Tsukuba was heavily damaged in the earthquake.

Snippets quoted below, read the full article here: Japan Earthquake & Tsunami | Earthquake Shuts Down Japan's Space Station Center | International Space Station, Japanese Astronauts | Space.com

Quote:
Earthquake Forces Closure of Japan's Space Station Control Center by Tariq Malik, SPACE.com Managing Editor

Japan has shut down its primary space center — including a control room for part of the International Space Station — after the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the country today (March 11).

JAXA, Japan's space agency, evacuated its Tsukuba Space Center in Tsukuba, Japan, following an 8.9-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that have devastated the country.

The space center oversees Japan's Kibo laboratory on the space station, as well the JAXA's unmanned cargo ships that deliver supplies to the orbiting lab. Flight controllers with Tsukuba's Space Station Integration and Promotion Center have been sent home for safety, JAXA officials said.

A small team of JAXA flight controllers was visiting NASA's Johnson Space Center at the time of the quake and is available to provide assistance should it be required, NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries told SPACE.com.

NASA flight controllers at the Houston center and at a payload operations center at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., are overseeing the station's Japanese systems, Humphries said.

Japan also has a rocket complex used to launch spacecraft and satellites into orbit called the Tanegashima Space Center on the island of Tanegashima in the country's southern region. Sagara said that space center has come through the earthquake relatively unscathed.

Sagara said that the spaceport is relatively far from the earthquake’s main destruction zones. It is also built on top of a cliff, offering protection from any tsunami waves, she added.

kramus 03-12-2011 01:48 AM
NBC, msnbc.com and news services
updated 6 minutes ago 2011-03-12
T09:35:41
breaking news

"Explosion rocks quake-hit Japanese nuke plant
TV footage shows building's crumbled walls; 'We are now trying to analyze what is behind the explosion,' official says "

I do not like this head line. I do not like it one little bit.

noodle 03-12-2011 03:47 AM
I've had REM in my head since yesterday and it's not funny anymore.

james t kirk 03-12-2011 05:35 AM
One of Japan's nuclear reactors just exploded.

BBC News - Japan earthquake: Explosion at Fukushima nuclear plant


Youtube video:


This is VERY BAD.

I get the feeling the Japanese nuclear officials have been lying to us.

First it was everything is OK, then maybe a leak, maybe not, then we have to vent some steam, but everything is fine, now this.

genuinegirly 03-12-2011 06:19 AM
Crazy video, Kirk. Thank you for sharing.

noodle 03-12-2011 06:26 AM
Im not sure they were lying, I thnk there was some overconfidence and they really didn't believe that it would really get this bad. I was watching al jazeera last night because they rarely censor or make things "viewer friendly", plus they never say "chair-noble", and it seemed like they were convinced their technology would hold.
However, I did feel a little comfort on the lack of mushroom cloud from the explosion. I'm not near a real computer, any word on the core? Whether it held or not?

Fremen 03-12-2011 07:09 AM
Please tell me there are other things in that plant that would cause an explosion, other than a meltdown.

Also, dear lord, I hope no lizards lived near that nuclear power plant...

noodle 03-12-2011 07:35 AM
Not my favorite source, but CNN is reporting that there is no core leak.

CNN--Japanese official says pumping system caused nuclear plant blast

Cynthetiq 03-12-2011 07:47 AM
I keep looking at the footage and all I'm waiting to see is Godzilla in the background. It is so devastating that I still have a hard time fathoming that I'm not watching some sort of kaiju movie when I was a kid.

I've been trying to find out if Sty is okay, but I haven't heard anything.

genuinegirly 03-12-2011 08:04 AM
Oh no, Sty is there? I hope that he is all right.

RogueGypsy 03-12-2011 09:17 AM
Not really a laughing matter, but Cyn's comment about Godzilla almost made me spit coffee. I've been thinking the same thing. After seeing the whirlpool that formed yesterday, I keep seeing scenes from a movie flashing through my head, thinking 'Holy shit, they knew' . I still can't remember the name of the movie though. It's the one with the aliens, Jajaguar (sp) the transformer robot thing.. I think it was MegaGodzilla. Anyway, thanks Cyn, I was beginning to think I was loosing it.

To all those affected, I hope you're doing well.

Saw a brief on the USGS web site. They estimate the Earth quake moved Honshu 8" and the Earth's pole 10". WOW


..

.

The_Jazz 03-12-2011 10:57 AM
Looks like the reactor isn't leaking. Thank god.

Also, a Chernobyl is impossible there because of the primary and secondary containment systems they that the Soviets didn't. Which is one reason why the US Nuclear Insurance Pool won't extend into Soviet-bloc countries.

dlish 03-12-2011 11:09 AM
i knew you had the insurance bit taken care of jazz..

i heard that the earthquake made the day 1.6 of a billion of a second longer. who knew you could measure it to that precision?

The_Jazz 03-12-2011 11:24 AM
I've got nothing to do with that kind of insurance, although I know folks who do.

There's a thought that this could signal the beginning of a global shift in the industry, though, towards higher prices. The initial numbers I'm hearing are in the hundreds of billions of dollars in insurance claims.

Craven Morehead 03-12-2011 11:31 AM
I heard a spokesman from AFLAC being interviewed, that company insures 1 out of 4 Japanese. They'll take a hit but I would imagine they've covered the risk with reinsurance agreements.

Also saw that this quake did not occur where the 'big one' was predicted to occur. Meaning, the 'big one' in Japan is still possible.

This one was certainly big enough, it moved the coast of Japan by 8 feet and moved the Earth's axis by 4 inches! The physics required to do that is just staggering.

The_Jazz 03-12-2011 11:48 AM
More likely than not, Craven. But that's just disability insurance for the injured. Honestly, the loss probably won't be that big for that niche. Commercial property losses are going to be astronomical. The runway at the airport is going to have to be replaced. The nuclear plant will probably be decommissioned. The refinery will have to repaired. Whole blocks will be torn down.

Craven Morehead 03-13-2011 03:35 PM
incredible pictures

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/...16_964x604.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/...51_964x633.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/...26_964x639.jpg

Brandon_31 03-13-2011 03:39 PM
It makes me so sad to see that this has happened to such a great country. A few friends of mine have posted some things on Facebook, saying people have said this is "payback" for the Pearl Harbor bombing, back in 1941. I was like... really? It makes me so aggravated when people show their true ignorance like that.

I pray for the families of those affected. Truly tragic. :(

The_Jazz 03-13-2011 03:47 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon_31 (Post 2881612)
It makes me so sad to see that this has happened to such a great country. A few friends of mine have posted some things on Facebook, saying people have said this is "payback" for the Pearl Harbor bombing, back in 1941. I was like... really? It makes me so aggravated when people show their true ignorance like that.

I pray for the families of those affected. Truly tragic. :(
People that say things like that clearly know nothing about Hiroshima or Nagasaki. I'm with you - ignorance.

Baraka_Guru 03-13-2011 04:06 PM
I say ignorance mixed with malice.

The ignorance is tied into the thought that something like an earthquake can in any way be related to human actions from decades ago.

Yeaaah.... Pearl Harbor somehow caused the earthquake....

noodle 03-13-2011 04:09 PM
The latest from aljazeera is that the Japanese Meterological Society has revised their rating to a 9.0 earthquake... and that two of the cores may have already experienced meltdowns, they can't see them. I keep watching with a sense of morbid fascination. I dislike that about myself, but there's something about it that feels more real than the last horrific tsunami or the Katrina mess.
I'm glad none of my facebook friends are that stupid. They'd be decommissioned immediately and with extreme prejudice.

Lindy 03-13-2011 05:46 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon_31 (Post 2881612)
It makes me so sad to see that this has happened to such a great country. A few friends of mine have posted some things on Facebook, saying people have said this is "payback" for the Pearl Harbor bombing, back in 1941. I was like... really? It makes me so aggravated when people show their true ignorance like that....:(
Well, I guess that everyone has their agenda. They must be spiritually related to those asshats from the little church in Topeka that protest at military funerals, and claim dead soldiers are God's punishment for American acceptance of homosexuality.
I have a friend who is strongly anti nuclear power, who believes that whole part of the world will turn into a wasteland, like Chernobyl. Sad, but I almost think that he would like to see that end of it turn out badly for the Japanese, who have been leaders in nuclear generation of electricity.:shakehead: I hope my friend is disappointed.

Lindy

fill23ca 03-13-2011 07:49 PM
2nd explosion at Japanese nuclear plant - World - CBC News

Quote:
Nuclear officials believe a second hydrogen explosion has occurred at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan.

The inner reactor container was intact after the explosion, an official said Sunday night.

Grey smoke was seen rising from the reactor.

More to come

Shauk 03-14-2011 04:44 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon_31 (Post 2881612)
It makes me so sad to see that this has happened to such a great country. A few friends of mine have posted some things on Facebook, saying people have said this is "payback" for the Pearl Harbor bombing, back in 1941. I was like... really? It makes me so aggravated when people show their true ignorance like that.

I pray for the families of those affected. Truly tragic. :(
Friends who would say such things would no longer be my friends, period. I have no room in my life for people who would gloat in the face of the misery caused by this disaster. All I have to say to someone like that is to get the fuck off your pedestal and choke on a dick.

also, in more news of people trying to be dicks in the face of tragedy. Are the people who made this image
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...es/japan-1.jpg
posted it up in a youtube video.
The logo in the image belongs to Austrailian Radioation Services. the Image came out on friday, ARS was closed until Monday and was not able to react to the image in a timely manner, leaving this image to develop in to a flashmob of mass hysteria.

They released an official statement
Quote:
http://www.australian-radiation-services.com.au/ DISCLAIMER: Australian Radiation Services is aware of information about radioactive contamination being spread from the Japanese nuclear reactor incident released under the ARS logo and name. We wish to be clear that this information has not originated from ARS and as such distance ourselves from any such misinformation.

Now I tried to figure out why someone would incite hysteria like this.
The user who posted the video posted stuff like

Quote:
"II
‎0-50 rads - No obvious short-term effects

80-120 rads - You have a 10% chance of vomiting and experiencing nausia for a few days

130 -170 rads - You have a 25% chance of vomiting and contracting other symptoms
...
180-220 rads - You have a 50% chance of vomiting and having other severe physical effects

270-330 rads - 20% chance of death in 6 weeks, or you will recover in a few months.

400-500 rads - 50% chance of death

550-750 rads - Nausia within a few hours ; no survivors

> 1000 rads - immediate incapacitation and death within a week or less."


While linking to Potassium Iodide Tablets for sale online, trying to sham people for money out of mass hysteria and misinformation. It's the y2k thing all over again.



So between that, the people talking shit about pearl harbor, and all asswipery that people have been displaying online during this disaster, I'm reminded that while 50% of the people out there are above average in common sense, intelligence, and compassion for their fellow human being, the other half is full of people that just remind me of everything that's wrong with our society.

Lindy 03-14-2011 08:33 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by fill23ca (Post 2881673)
Nuclear officials believe a second hydrogen explosion has occurred at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan....
The ignorant alarmists will, of course, equate hydrogen explosion with hydrogen bomb.:shakehead: I don't think that enough is known yet to make any judgement. Best to err on the side of caution, but also to avoid hysteria, which helps no one.

Lindy

roachboy 03-14-2011 11:19 AM
this from the red cross japan, as of this afternoon (my time):

- 2,000 people confirmed dead

- 10,000 more people expected to be confirmed dead

- 2,000 people injured

- 530,000 people displaced, staying in 2,500 evacuation centres, such as schools and public halls

- 24,000 people still completely isolated and cannot be reached

- 1.2 million homes without power

- 1.4 million homes without water

- 4,700 destroyed houses

- 50,000 damaged houses

- 582 roads cut off

- 32 bridges destroyed

the intermediary site--a blog space at the red cross uk---is down. i found this information here:

Japan tsunami and nuclear alert - live coverage | World news | guardian.co.uk

6:39 pm.

i dont have any sense at all of understanding what this means.
i look at the numbers, know they're likely to change, and think: this is so far outside what i know. it's almost just arbitrary numbers. and they'll get bigger.

tv doesn't help. like danny schechter said a while ago, american tv opts for a sense of "being there" rather than a sense of "being-informed" and so is reduced---and reduces you---to a form of disaster voyeurism.

i don't approve of fuckwits like the people who go all westboro baptist and try to link this disaster to pearl harbor---but you're not being served a whole lot better by the fatuous coverage on the major tv networks. but you're cool with that, seemingly. i guess it's easier to go after the crazies than think about problems with the infotainment delivery system that is, somehow, normal.


anyway, this is useful on the nuclear plant crises:

What the Media Doesn't Get About Meltdowns - Cristine Russell - International - The Atlantic

so's this infographic about the sequence of events:

How the nuclear emergency unfolded | The Washington Post

hunnychile 03-14-2011 07:58 PM
For anyone who wishes to donate money -even if it's only $10. - to help the people in Japan, several TV channels have suggested
redcross.org

(I hope this is OK with our mods) I'm unemployed but plan to send something. It's just too sad!

ASU2003 03-14-2011 08:53 PM
I'm surprized that there aren't control rods that can be inserted to shut the reactor down. They were saying it might take 100 days to shut it down on the News, which doesn't seem right...

I guess we need to redesign nuclear power plants again.

Charlatan 03-14-2011 09:16 PM
The designs used for these plants are the same ones that were developed for the US Navy to use on their Atomic vessels. The guy who developed them, apparently, didn't think they should be used for nuclear power plants.

The plants are based on designs developed about 42 years ago... The time to upgrade has passed.

bagatelle 03-15-2011 01:26 AM
People here in Finland are very far from Japan, yet all iodine is sold out in pharmacies.

Charlatan 03-15-2011 01:32 AM
Wow. That's paranoia.

The_Jazz 03-15-2011 05:47 AM
Just in case you aren't freaked out enough about the nuclear crisis, here's another little ditty:

Quote:
In Stricken Fuel-Cooling Pools, a Danger for the Longer Term
Even as workers race to prevent the radioactive cores of the damaged nuclear reactors in Japan from melting down, concerns were growing that nearby pools holding spent fuel rods could pose an even greater danger.

The pools, which sit on the top level of the reactor buildings and keep spent fuel submerged in water, have lost their cooling systems and the Japanese have been unable to take emergency steps because of the multiplying crises.

The threat is that the hot fuel will boil away the cooling water and catch fire, spreading radioactive materials far and wide in dangerous clouds.

The good news is that the Japanese have a relatively long time to deal with the problem. Nuclear experts estimate the timeline for serious problems that could lead to a reactor meltdown as minutes to hours, and put the comparable time for cooling pools at days to weeks.

The bad news is that if efforts to deal with the emergency fail, the results could be worse.

The pools are a worry at the stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant because at least two of the three have lost their roofs in explosions, exposing the spent fuel pools to the atmosphere. By contrast, reactors have strong containment vessels that stand a better chance of bottling up radiation from a meltdown of the fuel in the reactor core.

Were the spent fuel rods in the pools to catch fire, nuclear experts say, the high heat would loft the radiation in clouds that would spread the radioactivity.

Its worse than a meltdown, said David A. Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists who worked as an instructor on the kinds of General Electric reactors used in Japan. The reactor is inside thick walls, and the spent fuel of Reactors 1 and 3 is out in the open.

A spokesman for the Japanese company that runs the stricken reactors said in an interview on Monday that the spent fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini plants had been left uncooled since shortly after the quake.

The company, Tokyo Electric, has not been able to cool the spent fuel pools because power has been knocked out, said Johei Shiomi, the spokesman. There may be some heating up, he said.

Some scientists said that a worst-case outcome was unlikely and that the Japanese would probably have enough time to act before too much water boiled away. Firefighters with hoses can pour in water, they said, or helicopters could drop tons of water.

Im still hopeful that they can contain all this, Thomas B. Cochran, a senior scientist in the nuclear program of the Natural Resources Defense Council , a private group in Washington, said in an interview. Youve got time to put fire hoses up there and get it filled if its not leaking, he said of the pool.

A 1997 study by the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island described a worst-case disaster from uncovered spent fuel in a reactor cooling pool. It estimated 100 quick deaths would occur within a range of 500 miles and 138,000 eventual deaths.

The study also found that land over 2,170 miles would be contaminated and damages would hit $546 billion.

That section of the Brookhaven study focused on boiling water reactors the kind at the heart of the Japanese crisis.

The threat is considered so severe that at the start of the crisis Friday, immediately after the shattering earthquake, Fukushima plant officials focused their attention on a damaged storage pool for spent nuclear fuel at the No. 2 reactor at Daiichi, said a nuclear executive who requested anonymity because his company is not involved in the emergency response at the reactors and is wary of antagonizing other companies in the industry.

The damage prompted the plants management to divert much of the attention and pumping capacity to that pool, the executive added. The shutdown of the other reactors then proceeded badly, and problems began to cascade.

Mr. Shiomi of Tokyo Electric said that in addition to the power and cooling failures, some water had spilled from the pools.

But he said that the company thought there was relatively little danger that temperatures would rise.

If you compare this to everything thats been going on, Mr. Shiomi said, its not serious.

Each of the crippled reactors in Japan has one cooling pool sitting atop the main concrete structure. Thin roofs and metal walls usually surround the pools.

In a reactor pool, the time it takes uncooled fuel to begin boiling the surrounding water depends on how much fuel is present and how old it is. Fresh fuel is hotter in terms of radiation than old fuel is.

Mr. Lochbaum, who formerly taught reactor operation for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission , said the pools measured about 40 feet long, 40 feet wide and 45 feet deep. The spent fuel, he added, rested at the pools bottom and rose no higher than 15 feet from the bottom.

That means that in normal operations, the spent fuel is covered by about 30 feet of cooling water.

Depending on the freshness of the spent fuel, Mr. Lochbaum said, the water in an uncooled pool would start to boil in anywhere from days to a week. The water would boil off to a dangerous level in another week or two.

Once most of the fuel is exposed, he said, it can catch fire.

If the spent fuel is a few months old, most of the iodine 131 one of the most dangerous radioactive byproducts in spent fuel will have decayed into harmless forms.

But the cesium 137 in the spent fuel has a half-life of 30 years, meaning it would take about two centuries to diminish its levels of radioactivity down to 1 percent.

It is cesium 137 that still contaminates much land in Ukraine around the Chernobyl reactor, which suffered a meltdown in 1986.

I assume they are doing triage, Mr. Lochbaum said of the Japanese, with emergency personnel first trying to avoid core meltdowns and then turning their attention to the cooling pools.

He added that the explosions at the reactors at Daiichi could complicate efforts to try to reach the cooling pools and keep them filled with water.

Theres no telling whats up there, he said.


---------- Post added at 08:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:02 AM ----------

Apparently, the worst case is happening and I was reading an article that was written before the event started:

Quote:
SOMA, Japan – Dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant forced Japan to order 140,000 people to seal themselves indoors Tuesday after an explosion and a fire dramatically escalated the crisis spawned by a deadly tsunami.

In a nationally televised statement, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation had spread from the four stricken reactors of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant along Japan's northeastern coast. The region was shattered by Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that is believed to have killed more than 10,000 people, plunged millions into misery and pummeled the world's third-largest economy.

Japanese officials told the International Atomic Energy Agency that the reactor fire was in a fuel storage pond — an area where used nuclear fuel is kept cool — and that "radioactivity is being released directly into the atmosphere." Long after the fire was extinguished, a Japanese official said the pool might still be boiling, though the reported levels of radiation had dropped dramatically by the end of the day.

That reactor, Unit 4, had been shut down before the quake for maintenance.

If the water boils, it could evaporate, exposing the rods. The fuel rods are encased in safety containers meant to prevent them from resuming nuclear reactions, nuclear officials said. But they acknowledged that there could have been damage to the containers. They also confirmed that the walls of the storage pool building were damaged.

[Related: What is acute radiation syndrome?]

Experts noted that much of the leaking radiation was apparently in steam from boiling water. It had not been emitted directly by fuel rods, which would be far more virulent, they said.

"It's not good, but I don't think it's a disaster," said Steve Crossley, an Australia-based radiation physicist.

Even the highest detected rates were not automatically harmful for brief periods, he said.

"If you were to spend a significant amount of time — in the order of hours — that could be significant," Crossley said.
Radiation level soars after Japan nuke plant fire - Yahoo! News

roachboy 03-15-2011 06:50 AM
Quote:
12.55pm: The Kyodo news agency has a very useful update on the status, as of Tuesday evening in Japan, of each of the six reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and the four reactors at the Fukushima No. 2 plant:

Fukushima No. 1

Reactor No. 1 - Cooling failure, partial melting of core, vapor vented, hydrogen explosion, seawater pumped in.

Reactor No. 2 - Cooling failure, seawater pumped in, fuel rods fully exposed temporarily, damage to containment system, potential meltdown feared.

Reactor No. 3 - Cooling failure, partial melting of core feared, vapor vented, seawater pumped in, hydrogen explosion, high-level radiation measured nearby.

Reactor No. 4 - Under maintenance when quake struck, fire caused possibly by hydrogen explosion at pool holding spent fuel rods, pool water levels feared receding.

Reactor No. 5 - Under maintenance when quake struck.

Reactor No. 6 - Under maintenance when quake struck.

Fukushima No. 2

Reactor No. 1 - Cooling failure, then cold shutdown.

Reactor No. 2 - Cooling failure, then cold shutdown.

Reactor No. 3 - Cold shutdown.

Reactor No. 4 - Cooling failure, then cold shutdown.

12.48pm: Documents from Japan's national institute of radiological sciences advising on decontamination procedure in the event of exposure to radiation from Fukushima have been translated into English in a Google doc (via @rick1 on Twitter).

General Decontamination Procedure (if water is unavailable)

• Remove your clothes and shoes and place them in a plastic bag.

• Wipe yourself down with cloth or a wet tissue (afterwards place the cloth or wipe in the plastic bag and throw the bag and its contents away).

General Decontamination Procedure (When water is available)

• Remove your shoes and clothes and place them in a plastic bag.

• Wipe yourself down with cloth or a wet tissue (afterwards place the cloth or wipe in the plastic bag and throw the bag and contents away).

Follow the procedure below if shower is available

• Wash your hair with shampoo.

• Wash your face. (with soap or body wash)

• Wash your body. Including the inside of your ears and under your fingernails (with soap or body wash)

• Wash the clothes in the laundry or if you are still concerned, dispose of the clothes.
Japan nuclear crisis and tsunami - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk

blahblah454 03-15-2011 04:06 PM
Very scary stuff. I hope the world can band together and do what they can to help the Japanese out with their reactors.

I also hope this doesn't stop the world from safely using nuclear power as a source of energy. I am guessing all the nut jobs out there will be waving signs at every nuclear power plant in short order.

Baraka_Guru 03-16-2011 12:50 PM
A lot of concern. A lot of questions.

Quote:
No water in spent fuel pool at Japanese plant: U.S.
By: CTV.ca News Staff

Date: Wednesday Mar. 16, 2011 1:17 PM PT

A U.S. official says all of the water is gone from one of the spent fuel rod pools at Japan's stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, meaning there is nothing to stop the fuel rods from getting hotter and eventually melting down, but Japan denies the claim.

The outer shell of the rods could also explode with enough force to propel radioactive fuel over a wide area, if Gregory Jaczko, chief of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is correct.

He said the problem is at the complex's Unit 4 reactor.

Jaczko did not say how the information was obtained but the organization and the U.S. Department of Energy have experts on the site.

He also said radiation levels are extremely high, which could prevent the workers' ability to stop temperatures from rising.

Japanese nuclear officials and Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the facility, have denied water is gone from the pool.

Earlier Wednesday, emergency crews working at the plant were ordered to temporarily stop efforts to cool the facility's overheating reactors amid a surge in radiation levels.

At a news conference, Japan's top government spokesperson Yukio Edano said the containment vessel of one of the reactors at the plant may have been damaged, possibly sending radioactive steam into the atmosphere.

"A part of the containment vessel is broken and it seems like the vapour is coming out from there. (It) appears to be that vapour is coming out from the broken part," Edano said, explaining that the ongoing effort to spray sea water onto the reactors was disrupted by the approximately hour-long withdrawal.

"The workers cannot carry out even minimal work at the plant now," Edano said. "Because of the radiation risk we are on standby."

Radiation levels spiked to 1,000 millisieverts per hour before coming down to the 600-800 range later in the day.

An official with the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power later said workers were preparing to return to their perilous work. Since 750 workers were evacuated from the plant on Tuesday, a core team of 50 workers had been rotating in and out of the facility to minimize their radiation exposure.

That number was boosted to 180 on Wednesday, the same day Japan's Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare announced it was raising the allowable radiation exposure limit for the country's nuclear workers. Describing the change as "unavoidable due to the circumstances," the ministry increased the limit from 100 millisieverts to 250.
CTV British Columbia - No water in spent fuel pool at Japanese plant: U.S. - CTV News

Quote:
U.S. shows growing alarm over Japan nuclear "crisis"
By Jeff Mason and Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON | Wed Mar 16, 2011 4:16pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States showed increasing alarm on Wednesday about how Japan was handling its nuclear crisis, urging Americans to leave the area near an earthquake-crippled power plant and relying on U.S. experts for updates.

Without criticizing the Japanese government, which has shown signs of being overwhelmed by the crisis, U.S. officials admitted their call for American citizens to evacuate the area near the Fukushima nuclear plant went further than Japanese advice.

The State Department recommended that U.S. citizens within 50 miles of the Fukushima plant leave the area or stay indoors "if safe evacuation is not practical."

Japan's government has asked people living within 12 miles of the Fukushima plant to evacuate and those between 12 miles and 18 miles to stay indoors

The State Department's warning to U.S. citizens was based on new information collected by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy and other U.S. sources.

The top U.S. nuclear regulator told Congress on Wednesday that radiation levels around Japan's troubled nuclear power plant may give emergency workers "lethal doses" of radiation, preventing them from getting near the plant.

"We believe that around the reactor site there are high levels of radiation," said Gregory Jaczko. "It would be very difficult for emergency workers to get near the reactors. The doses they could experience would potentially be lethal doses in a very short period of time."

The U.S. military has also ordered its forces to stay 50 miles away from the plant, the Pentagon said, outlining a larger no-go zone than the one Japan has recommended.

"This is a very serious situation at this nuclear plant," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

"We are concerned enough that we have offered a great deal of assistance to the Japanese and we have our own experts on the ground both assisting and evaluating information independently for that reason."

Earlier on Wednesday, another fire broke out a the nuclear facility, which has sent low levels of radiation wafting into Tokyo in the past 24 hours.

Carney said President Barack Obama had been briefed about the deteriorating situation.

The United States is trying to deploy equipment in Japan that can detect radiation exposure at the ground level, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a congressional hearing.

The detection system is part of the 1,700 pounds (771 kg) of equipment and 39 personnel from the Energy Department sent to Japan, Chu said. The department has also provided equipment to monitor airborne radiation.

CONFLICTING REPORTS
Chu declined to tell lawmakers, when asked, whether he was satisfied with Japan's response so far to its nuclear crisis.

"I can't really say. I think we hear conflicting reports," Chu said.

"This is one of the reasons why ... (the United States is) ... there with boots on the ground, with detectors in the ground, not only to help assist (the) Japanese power company and the Japanese government but also for our own sake to know what is really happening."

The Obama administration has maintained its support for expanding U.S. use of nuclear energy despite renewed fears about its safety after the events in Japan.

But U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that the nuclear crisis raised questions about the use of nuclear energy in the United States.

"What's happening in Japan raises questions about the costs and the risks associated with nuclear power, but we have to answer those. We get 20 percent of our energy right now in the United States from nuclear power," she said in an interview with MSNBC in which she emphasized the need for a comprehensive U.S. energy policy. LINK

(Writing by Jeff Mason; reporting by Ayesha Rascoe, David Morgan and Phil Stewart).
U.S. shows growing alarm over Japan nuclear crisis | Reuters

noodle 03-16-2011 01:15 PM
What frustrates me is that there are so many people talking about "how awful thing in Japan are" and yet they haven't watched any footage, they have little useable knowledge, and they're just regurgitating what people put in their status reports on Facebook.
One lady was talking about the "nu-cue-lar explosion the other day"... I had to bite my tongue from first correcting her pronounciation and secondly asking her to explain the explosion since she obviously had no idea what really happened.
The worst was when I asked a doc I work with (out of pure curiosity) what people like me would do in the event of a nuclear explosion since I'm allergic to iodine... she asked what that had to do with a nuclear event.
I less-than-three Southerners.

roachboy 03-16-2011 01:36 PM
this seems to me a good thing to keep in mind:

Quote:
#
1633: Dr Richard Wakeford of the University of Manchester in the UK says the real health risks come from the consequences of the quake and tsunami, not the radiation. "If this was a developing country, we'd have people going down in their hundreds and thousands with the likes of typhoid and cholera by now. The questions should be: Where is the sewage going? What is the state of the drinking water? If I were a public health official, that would be my principle concern," he told Reuters.
via bbc's live blog

BBC News - LIVE: Japan earthquake

Baraka_Guru 03-16-2011 02:16 PM
rb, I would like to think that these more pressing issues are being discussed on the local/regional levels in Japan.

As far as international news is concerned, a nuclear "event" is much, much higher profile.

Fremen 03-16-2011 04:37 PM
I think some of those guys are going to have to pull a Mr. Spock, and get in there and save the nuclear wessles, no matter the radiation levels. It'd be for the greater good.

Craven Morehead 03-16-2011 04:53 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fremen (Post 2882463)
I think some of those guys are going to have to pull a Mr. Spock, and get in there and save the nuclear wessles, no matter the radiation levels. It'd be for the greater good.
Those who perished doing the same at Chernobyl were treated as national heroes and have tended graves. In Japan they are now referred to as the Fukushima 50.

Fukushima heroes: Not afraid to die - CBS Evening News - CBS News

Deep respect from the other side of the world.

Craven Morehead 03-17-2011 02:09 PM
A somewhat technical but very interesting blog on the status of the reactors, probably the most concise and complete account I've seen anywhere

MIT NSE Nuclear Information Hub (http://web.mit.edu/nse/) | Information about the incident at the Fukushima Nuclear Plants in Japan hosted by http://web.mit.edu/nse/ :: Maintained by the students of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering a

Craven Morehead 03-19-2011 08:14 PM
Interesting graphic showing the radiation at Fukushima Daiichi in relation to sleeping with someone all the way to Chernobyl.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/blag/radiation.png


I also read today that power has been partially restored to the nuclear plant. And in the same article it mentioned that reactor 3 was using plutonum/uranium fuel rods. :orly:

Weapons grade radiation, anyone? :eek:

Zeraph 03-20-2011 11:23 AM
Poor japan, always getting radiation....but I guess that's what it takes to make godzilla!


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