Japan [Tag: Fucked]

[Furiously]

I always thought this was cool....

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

I mean - 2 billion years ago the earth had a nuclear reactor....

[Teleku]

That's unnatural man!

[Arthur_Parker]

Tainted water confirmed to have seeped into sea from nuke plant

Water with high levels of radiation has been confirmed to have seeped into the sea from the No. 2 reactor at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, government officials said Saturday, raising wider fears of environmental contamination by the release of radioactivity.

The water has been leaking into the sea from a 20-centimeter crack detected at a pit in the reactor where power cables are stored, the government's nuclear safety agency said, adding that Tokyo Electric Power Co., known as TEPCO, is ready to encase the fracture in concrete.

The first detection of tainted water flowing out into the Pacific Ocean could force the government and the operator to limit further expansion of radioactive contamination, likely hampering efforts to restore the crippled cooling functions at the complex.

The government ''wants (the utility) to start the operation of covering the crack in concrete as soon as possible,'' said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

''We will also check whether there are cracks at other reactors as soon as possible,'' he added.

The radiation level in the pit at the No. 2 reactor was more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour, according to the agency. TEPCO noted that it will analyze how much radioactive materials are in the water found in the pit.

I'm not sure if it's true are not, but I've seen it mentioned that TEPCO has to report radiation levels when they breach certain values.  So the > 1,000 millisieverts per hour might just be one of those values.  I suspect we'll know in the next couple of days if/when they release more accurate readings.

[Arthur_Parker]

The below might well be totally wrong..

Here is a photo of the pit allegedly leaking to the sea for Unit 2

http://twitter.com/#!/uesugitakashi/status/54122651442085888



Which might be the arrow.

[Arthur_Parker]

Interesting interview with Takashi Uesugi

Basically, something that I knew from the beginning, but has become more blatant yesterday and today [March 27-28], is this terrible situation where the government and TEPCO are suppressing information. To be more specific, I thought it was strange that there was nothing written about plutonium when the data about reactor 3 was given out at the TEPCO press conference on the 27th, so I asked them if it was true that no plutonium had been detected in reactor 3, and for how long it had not been detected. TEPCO answered: 'Plutonium hasn’t been detected.' To confirm what they were saying I asked if perhaps it wasn't that none had been detected, but that they hadn't actually taken any measurements. They were alarmed, and it turned out that it wasn't even that they hadn't taken any measurements, but that they didn't have the instruments to do so in the first place.

I believe that's very likely true.

[Tale]

Here is a photo of the pit allegedly leaking to the sea for Unit 2

Why is there a photo of a guy posing with it?

Hi Mom, here I am with the leaking radioactive pit at work. Home soon.

[Sheepherder]

The PPE he's wearing will cover ingestion of particulate matter, the slab he's standing on will cover the majority of gamma radiation, he's out of line of sight of the bottom of the pit, and presumably he's not going to be standing there all day.  Also, the radiation would kill his cell phone before it kills him.

[Arthur_Parker]

TEPCO to stop radioactive water leak from plant

The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will start injecting water-absorbing polymers into a cracked pit to stop radioactive water from leaking into the ocean.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, says it will start the emergency operation on Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, TEPCO found radioactive water was seeping into the ocean from a crack in a concrete pit that contains power cables near the Number 2 reactor's water intake. The level of radiation on the surface of the pit's water was measured at over 1,000 milisieverts per hour.

An attempt to pour concrete into the pit, connected to the turbine building, failed to fix the leak on Saturday.

Several months needed to stop radiation from Fukushima plant: gov't

The government expects that several months may be required before radioactive particles stop being released from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, its top spokesman said Sunday.

''If we apply methods considered to be normal, I believe that it will be something like that,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference, when asked whether at least several months would be required before the plant crippled by the devastating March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami is brought under control.

''While it may not be feasible, we have been asking for other possibilities to be explored to shorten that period,'' Edano said, noting that the government and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., are considering multiple approaches to halting the nuclear crisis.

Goshi Hosono, a special adviser to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, said earlier in the day that the government has set a target of ''several months'' for the release of radioactive substances from the plant to be stopped.

''What will follow that stage is the goal of stabilizing the plant by installing a perfect cooling mechanism for the reactors,'' Hosono told a live Fuji TV news program.

[MournelitheCalix]

Dog survives three weeks out at sea.  Yes the story isn't important in the grand scheme of things but it is a remarkable tale of survival.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=24752921

[Ubvman]

Dog survives three weeks out at sea.  Yes the story isn't important in the grand scheme of things but it is a remarkable tale of survival.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=24752921

It was rescued from a small floating island of debris. Chances are, it survived by eating the dead bodies (animal or human) trapped in the wreckage.

[MuffinMan]

Now it has the taste for man-flesh and is probably irradiated as well. Mutant, man-eating dogs.

[Arthur_Parker]

Anyone speak Japanese that can translate this accurately?

http://twitter.com/#!/uesugitakashi/status/54479912945451008

【速報】 東京電力は1000ミリシーベルト以上の放射能を計れる測定器を持っていないことがわかった。記者会見で認めた。

[NiX]

Sent to my co-worker for translation. See if he replies before someone around here does.

[Mosesandstick]

My friend's first attempt at is that the Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) doesn't have the equipment that can measure the radiation over 1000 milliseatbelts (sieverts).

[Furiously]

http://cryptome.org/eyeball/daiichi-npp2/daiichi-photos2.htm

Some nice large photo's of the plant.

[Arthur_Parker]

My friend's first attempt at is that the Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) doesn't have the equipment that can measure the radiation over 1000 milliseatbelts (sieverts).

Yeah that's similar to what I thought but I haven't seen any of the western media pick this up yet, so not sure how reliable it is.

[Sir Fodder]

The plant workers have been muffled. Who are these people? What are they going through?

That they have been silenced is totall reprehensible from a human emotional standpoint. Beyond that, the stated purpose of the muffling is to prevent public panic, this is upside-down, free flow of timely, accurate data and information is the best way to prevent panic. The restriction of information goes beyond TEPCO and Japan gov't, nuclear experts and organizations have had access to much more revealing data on the situation of the power plant both from contacts and from extensive modeling, none of this has been made public, for all the wrong reasons. The way this emergency has been slipping off the media radar is alarming (ehh, plutonium? pfft...), but even more so is the seeming widespread acceptance/ignorance of the clamping down of reportage.

[Sheepherder]

That they have been silenced is totall reprehensible from a human emotional standpoint. Beyond that, the stated purpose of the muffling is to prevent public panic, this is upside-down, free flow of timely, accurate data and information is the best way to prevent panic.

Yes, like when Chernobyl exploded then melted down, and dozens were killed is the resultant hysteria.

[Arthur_Parker]

TEPCO to release radioactive water into Pacific

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, said Monday that it plans to release water containing radioactive materials into the sea in a bid to help speed up work to bring the crippled complex under control.

The total amount of water to be released will be 11,500 tons and the concentration of contaminants in the waste water is estimated at about 100 times the legal limit, which is deemed as a relatively low level, it said.

The company suggested it will start releasing the water later on Monday at the earliest, with an official saying the utility will do so ''as soon as we are ready.''

The company said it plans to release 10,000 tons of water being kept in a plant facility and 1,500 tons of underground water, also found to be contaminated with radioactive substances, near the Nos. 5 and 6 reactors.

The utility announced the plan as it struggles to find locations to transfer contaminated water to from many parts of the plant on the Pacific coast, such as underground rooms of the turbine buildings. The water has prevented workers from dealing with problems at the plant due to its radioactivity.

Well if this water is 100 times normal and the other water is 100,000 times normal, then the 11,500 tons is really the same as 11.5 tons, using the NYT times figure of 7 tons per hour from the leak then this is less than 2 hours worth.  So from that perspective, if it ends the bad leak faster then it's a good move.

[Ubvman]

This guy is a "political risk consultant" whatever that is. More of an economics guy than scientist looks like. Should be taken with a grain of salt if you will.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wagner/japans-government-needs-t_b_844158.html

Last week, for the first time, the Japanese science ministry began to release measurements of cesium-137 in soil around the plant.

The levels were highest from two points northeast of the plant, ranging from 8,690 becquerels/kilogram to a high of 163,000 Bq/kg measured on 20 March from a point about 40 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima plant. The hottest spot is similar to levels found in some areas affected by Chernobyl. Assuming the measurement is no more than 2 centimeters deep, nuclear engineer Shih-Yew Chen of the Argonne National Laboratory calculates that 163,000 Bq/kg is roughly equivalent to 8 million Bq/m2. The highest cesium-137 levels in some villages near Chernobyl were 5 million Bq/m2. If true, Fukushima has already released higher levels of Cesium 137 than Chernobyl, making it the worst source of nuclear radiation release in history.

Given this, the Japanese government must now move quickly to stop the release of radiation from the Fukushima plants. If preliminary information is correct, Fukushima already is the worst nuclear disaster in history.

Sounds crazy to me if the contamination is deemed worse than Chernobyl.

On the other hand; if the containment vessel(s) of the reactor(s) is(are) cracked and have been constantly venting highly contaminated radioactive steam for the past three weeks, the above assessment may correct.

Of course, it may all be alarmist bullchips...

[Sand]

TEPCO to release radioactive water into Pacific

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, said Monday that it plans to release water containing radioactive materials into the sea in a bid to help speed up work to bring the crippled complex under control.

The total amount of water to be released will be 11,500 tons and the concentration of contaminants in the waste water is estimated at about 100 times the legal limit, which is deemed as a relatively low level, it said.

The company suggested it will start releasing the water later on Monday at the earliest, with an official saying the utility will do so ''as soon as we are ready.''

The company said it plans to release 10,000 tons of water being kept in a plant facility and 1,500 tons of underground water, also found to be contaminated with radioactive substances, near the Nos. 5 and 6 reactors.

The utility announced the plan as it struggles to find locations to transfer contaminated water to from many parts of the plant on the Pacific coast, such as underground rooms of the turbine buildings. The water has prevented workers from dealing with problems at the plant due to its radioactivity.

Well if this water is 100 times normal and the other water is 100,000 times normal, then the 11,500 tons is really the same as 11.5 tons, using the NYT times figure of 7 tons per hour from the leak then this is less than 2 hours worth.  So from that perspective, if it ends the bad leak faster then it's a good move.

Im confused.
Whats the point of solving the leak at all, if all they are going to do is dump it in the ocean in the end anyway? Just let it keep flushing through and poisoning the water off the coast.

Loved this quote:

with an official saying the utility will do so ''as soon as we are ready.''

As compared to what? The current situation involving an uncontrolled leak, which is releasing "before" they are ready? 

[Sheepherder]

The levels were highest from two points northeast of the plant, ranging from 8,690 becquerels/kilogram to a high of 163,000 Bq/kg measured on 20 March from a point about 40 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima plant. The hottest spot is similar to levels found in some areas affected by Chernobyl. Assuming the measurement is no more than 2 centimeters deep, nuclear engineer Shih-Yew Chen of the Argonne National Laboratory calculates that 163,000 Bq/kg is roughly equivalent to 8 million Bq/m2. The highest cesium-137 levels in some villages near Chernobyl were 5 million Bq/m2. If true, Fukushima has already released higher levels of Cesium 137 than Chernobyl, making it the worst source of nuclear radiation release in history.

So this guy is comparing Cesium concentrations at the hottest spots they can find near Fukushima to random spots near Chernobyl?

And why are people listening to him again?

[Strazos]

Some interesting pieces of news I hadn't seen. Not sure what it would take to see similar action in the US:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/03/28/Japanese-legislators-taking-salary-cut/UPI-22881301330205/
TOKYO, March 28 (UPI) -- Japan will cut 3 million yen ($37,000) from each lawmaker's pay to raise funds for disaster relief, political parties said Monday.
The plan would cut 500,000 yen ($6,100) from each Diet member's salary for six months, raising 2 billion yen ($24.5 million) to support the reconstruction of northeastern Japan following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.

http://www.houseofjapan.com/local/keidanren-accept-shelving-corp-tax
Japan Business Federation Chairman Hiromasa Yonekura said Monday he is willing to see the government shelve a planned 5-percentage-point corporate tax rate cut in order to secure funds to promote reconstruction from the March 11 massive earthquake and tsunami.
''Personally, I see no problem in dropping (the plan),'' the chief of Japan's most influential business lobby, known as Nippon Keidanren, said at a news conference.

[Lantyssa]

Nooses.  (Neese?)

[FatuousTwat]

Some interesting pieces of news I hadn't seen. Not sure what it would take to see similar action in the US:

The Rapture.

[Merusk]

Some interesting pieces of news I hadn't seen. Not sure what it would take to see similar action in the US:

The Rapture.

Were it to happen all the politicians would still be here, so nothing would change.

[UnSub]

Some interesting pieces of news I hadn't seen. Not sure what it would take to see similar action in the US:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/03/28/Japanese-legislators-taking-salary-cut/UPI-22881301330205/
TOKYO, March 28 (UPI) -- Japan will cut 3 million yen ($37,000) from each lawmaker's pay to raise funds for disaster relief, political parties said Monday.
The plan would cut 500,000 yen ($6,100) from each Diet member's salary for six months, raising 2 billion yen ($24.5 million) to support the reconstruction of northeastern Japan following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.

http://www.houseofjapan.com/local/keidanren-accept-shelving-corp-tax
Japan Business Federation Chairman Hiromasa Yonekura said Monday he is willing to see the government shelve a planned 5-percentage-point corporate tax rate cut in order to secure funds to promote reconstruction from the March 11 massive earthquake and tsunami.
''Personally, I see no problem in dropping (the plan),'' the chief of Japan's most influential business lobby, known as Nippon Keidanren, said at a news conference.

Again, cultural differences.

Japan has a more collectivist culture that promotes society over the individual. The US would see corporate entities scream loudly that tax cuts reduce nuclear fallout and Congress would vote itself a pay rise to deal with the disaster.

[Tale]

Wednesday fallout forecast for Japan (from Germany): http://is.gd/wislkO

[Arthur_Parker]

Im confused.
Whats the point of solving the leak at all, if all they are going to do is dump it in the ocean in the end anyway? Just let it keep flushing through and poisoning the water off the coast.

That's not the long term plan.

Dumping radioactive water in sea should not happen again: Kaieda

Japan will try not to release any more low-level radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean from the crippled Fukushima Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, an emergency measure to deal with the ongoing quake-triggered crisis there, industry minister Banri Kaieda said Tuesday.

''I would like to make it the last time,'' Kaieda told a press conference a day after plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. started releasing a total of 11,500 tons of contaminated water into the sea, an unprecedented move that required approval of the government's nuclear regulatory agency.

The move is partly aimed at opening up room to store more highly contaminated water currently in and around the No. 2 reactor's turbine building, which is hampering restoration work at the plant.

Removal of 60,000 tons of radioactive water eyed at Fukushima plant

Meanwhile, TEPCO began work Tuesday afternoon to stop the leakage into the sea of highly radioactive water believed to be originating from the No. 2 reactor's core, where fuel rods have partially melted.

The water containing radioactive iodine-131 more than 10,000 times the legal concentration limit has been leaking from a cracked seaside pit connected to the No. 2 reactor turbine building.

In a new finding, TEPCO said Tuesday a seawater sample taken Saturday near the No. 2 reactor's water intake showed the iodine-131 concentration at 7.5 million times the maximum allowable level under law.

[Arthur_Parker]

Radioactive iodine at 7.5 MILLION times legal limit in water around Fukushima

[Arthur_Parker]

Tokyo Exchange suspends TEPCO share dealing

The Tokyo stock exchange has suspended all dealing in the shares of Japan’s biggest energy company, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, - TEPCO.

The TEPCO shares have plummeted by 18% to an all-time low since when they were first registered in 1951.

The overall depreciation of the stock by 80% since March 11th when Japan was shaken by a disastrous earthquake and tsunami is said to be due to reports that TEPCO will have to pay huge compensations to the Fukushima-1 accident victims, which may result in the company’s financial collapse.

A total of material claims to the Tokyo Electric Power Company are estimated at approximately 130 billion dollars.    

Edit to add.

Fukushima Daiichi Reactors 5-6 Stability Under Threat 04.04.11

Emergency generator and other equipment at 5 & 6 could become flooded.

Radioactivity in sea up 7.5 million times

The half-life of cesium-137 is 30 years, while that for cesium-134 is two years. The longer half-life means it will probably concentrate in the upper food chain.

Yamamoto said such radioactive materials are likely to be detected in fish and other marine products in Japan and other nations in the short and long run, posing a serious threat to the seafood industry in other nations as well.

"All of Japan's sea products will probably be labeled unsafe and other nations will blame Japan if radiation is detected in their marine products," Yamamoto said.
...
Fisheries minister Michihiko Kano said the ministry plans to increase its inspections of fish and other marine products for radiation.

On Monday, 4,080 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive iodine was detected in lance fish caught off Ibaraki Prefecture. Fishermen voluntarily suspended its shipment. The health ministry plans to compile radiation criteria for banning marine products.

Three days after Tepco discovered the crack in the reactor 2 storage pit it still hadn't found the source of the high radiation leak seeping into the Pacific.

Press Release (Apr 05,2011) Status of TEPCO's Facilities and its services after the Tohoku-Taiheiyou-Oki Earthquake (as of 9:00AM)

At the same time, we checked the situation of the pit in detail and considered the possibility that the water was not from  the pit, rather, from the joint between the piping upstream of the pit and the duct, then the water seeped through a layer of gravel below the piping. In order to stop that seepage from the layer of gravel, we decided to conduct the water sealing to the bedrock around the piping. We arranged for the specialist and gathered equipments. On April  5th, will inject liquid glass to the bedrock.

[Kageru]

He probably was meant to be stoic and silent but this Radiation monitor actually gives some interesting info.

Plant radiation monitor says levels immeasurable

A radiation monitor at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says workers there are exposed to immeasurable levels of radiation.

The monitor told NHK that no one can enter the plant's No. 1 through 3 reactor buildings because radiation levels are so high that monitoring devices have been rendered useless. He said even levels outside the buildings exceed 100 millisieverts in some places.

Pools and streams of water contaminated by high-level radiation are being found throughout the facility.

The monitor said he takes measurements as soon as he finds water, because he can't determine whether it's contaminated just by looking at it. He said he's very worried about the safety of workers there.

Contaminated water and efforts to remove it have been hampering much-needed work to cool the reactors.

The monitor expressed frustration, likening the situation to looking up a mountain that one has to climb, without having taken a step up.

How you clean this mess up, and stop radioactive contaminants leaking, when you can't actually get anywhere near the problem is going to be interesting. And of course they're not getting any more accessible over time.

[Arthur_Parker]

Don't think they can decide how to clear it up until they know how bad it is.  At the minute 1-3 aren't in cold shut down yet so might be another few weeks before they feel confident enough to delve into it all.  I personally think all three have sprung leaks but that's just me guessing.

[kaid]

He probably was meant to be stoic and silent but this Radiation monitor actually gives some interesting info.

Plant radiation monitor says levels immeasurable

A radiation monitor at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says workers there are exposed to immeasurable levels of radiation.

The monitor told NHK that no one can enter the plant's No. 1 through 3 reactor buildings because radiation levels are so high that monitoring devices have been rendered useless. He said even levels outside the buildings exceed 100 millisieverts in some places.

Pools and streams of water contaminated by high-level radiation are being found throughout the facility.

The monitor said he takes measurements as soon as he finds water, because he can't determine whether it's contaminated just by looking at it. He said he's very worried about the safety of workers there.

Contaminated water and efforts to remove it have been hampering much-needed work to cool the reactors.

The monitor expressed frustration, likening the situation to looking up a mountain that one has to climb, without having taken a step up.

How you clean this mess up, and stop radioactive contaminants leaking, when you can't actually get anywhere near the problem is going to be interesting. And of course they're not getting any more accessible over time.

Unfortunately probably through the use of the crack suicide squad. As scary and horrible as that though is it will probably come down to something along the line of a large number of people knowingly or unknowingly being sent to certain death to try to get a handle on it.

[Ubvman]

...

Unfortunately probably through the use of the crack suicide squad. As scary and horrible as that though is it will probably come down to something along the line of a large number of people knowingly or unknowingly being sent to certain death to try to get a handle on it.

Its not instant suicide but the odds are not good - almost certain chances of later cancer problems. As usual, Chernobyl shows the way again. Bio-robots* running in and out cleared the contaminated  reactor graphite that was blown to the roof of the reactor building so that the sarcophagus can be built. The radiation was so bad that even the film in a camera was affected.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VVx9gRS3ug

*Regular robot robots went crazy and died within days due to the high levels of radiation affecting their circuitry.