Thousands evacuate as Fukishima nuclear emergency is declared

[Magda Hassan]

Wouldn't happen at a wind or tidal farm.

Thousands ordered to evacuate as nuclear emergency is declared

SONIA VERMA

Globe and Mail Update

Published Friday, Mar. 11, 2011 7:27AM EST

Last updated Friday, Mar. 11, 2011 10:11PM EST



Japan declared a nuclear emergency after Friday's earthquake compromised the cooling systems of at least two of its nuclear plants, forcing the evacuation of people living near both of them. Officials warned that small amounts of radioactive material were likely to leak from the plants, known as Daiichi and Daini and operated by Tokyo Electric Power.

The evacuation zone for the Daiichi plant was tripled to 10 kilometres after authorities detected eight times the normal radiation levels outside the facility. Inside the plant's control room, levels were a thousand times higher than normal. The evacuation of the second Daini plant was for a 1.6-kilometre radius because "there is no sign that radiation has been emitted outside," an official said.
As workers struggled to cool two of the plant's reactors, the cooling systems of three reactors at a second plant failed, fuelling fears of more widespread problems.
By Saturday morning Japan had declared states of emergency for five reactors at the two plants. The news capped a day fraught with confusion over the risk posed by possible radioactive leakage from Japan's 11 nuclear reactors, all of which automatically shut down during the earthquake.
While the shutdowns were successful, some of the reactors did not appear to be cooling properly, due to disruptions to the electrical supply that powers the cooling pumps. There were worries that a backup battery-operated system would not be robust enough to bring down the reactor's temperatures.
The Daiichi and Daini plants are 15 kilometres apart in Fukushima Prefecture, about 240 kilometres north of Tokyo and close to the quake's epicenter off the coast.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government seemed caught between competing impulses, wanting to ease public fear on the one hand, while taking measures against the risk of radioactive contamination on the other.
In a statement broadcast on the Japanese state television network NHK, nuclear safety officials said there was "no immediate health hazard" to the public from the leakage, which was characterized as "minute." Nuclear experts appeared on camera, using diagrams to explain how the elevated levels of radiation were caused by a breach in the containment building, not the reactor itself.
But as coolant pressure rose to one and a half times normal inside one of the plant's six reactors, the government announced it would release radioactive steam into the atmosphere, a measure meant to ease the pressure inside the reactor that it said would pose no significant threat to public safety.
Tokyo Electric said that by Saturday morning it had installed a mobile generator at Daiichi to ensure that the cooling system would continue operating even after reserve battery power was depleted. Even so, the company said it was considering a "controlled containment venting" in order to avoid an "uncontrolled rupture and damage" to the containment unit.
"With evacuation in place and the oceanbound wind, we can ensure the safety," a nuclear safety official, Yukio Edano, said at a news conference early Saturday.
While most experts continued to play down the risk of a Chernobyl-style meltdown, the scramble to contain the risk posed by the compromised reactor underscored some of the dangers associated with the nuclear power on which Japan relies to produce one-third of its electricity.
Japan's reactors are designed to hold up under the harsh punishment of an earthquake, but some analysts had expressed concern over the enforcement of safety standards at the facilities. The failure of the Fukushima plants' diesel generators, which ran for only a short time after starting up when the main power supply failed, leading to a crippling loss of cooling capacity, raised particular concern.
"Obviously everybody wants to know why the diesel generator stopped working. Because you don't just seismically qualify the reactor, you have to seismically qualify everything. This whole thing will become a huge case study," said Ian Wilson, president of the Canadian Nuclear Society.
The problems in each of the faulty reactor's cases appeared to stem from the cooling systems, which become especially crucial in the event of an automatic shutdown such as that triggered by the earthquake. Even after the nuclear fission process is stopped, the cooling system must continue to work to keep the reactor from melting down. Pumps operated by electricity, supplied through the national grid or by backup diesel generators, circulate water through the system. If they fail, the pumps operate on batteries, which eventually run out.
"You can't just say tools down and shut everything off. You get what you call heat decay," said William Garland, a professor in the department of engineering physics at McMaster University.
"So even when you shut off, you're generating 6 per cent heat. In the case of this reactor, that could be the equivalent of 30,000 toasters. If you don't take that heat away, then you're going to overheat and something's going to melt."
Two workers were reported missing at the Daiichi plant, but the company did not explain what might have happened to them.
During much of the early morning on Saturday, safety officials focused on getting emergency power supplies to the Daiichi plant to restore the normal cooling function. The International Atomic Energy Agency stated new electrical supplies had arrived at the site to prevent the situation from becoming more dangerous.
In the meantime, most observers said they would take a wait-and-see approach: "This is still playing out," Mr. Wilson said.
"So far it looks like all of the systems are kicking in. … There's this public perception that there's this green goo that's somehow going to burst out of these reactors, but that's simply not the case."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/worl...le1938199/

[Magda Hassan]

Well, it's happened. Earthquake, tsunami and now the nuclear reactor has exploded. Roof and walls gone. The 2nd reactor is about to meltdown as well.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42044156/ns/...a-pacific/
TOKYO An explosion was heard and smoke was seen at a quake-hit Japanese nuclear power plant on Saturday, officials said.
Several workers were injured by the blast at Fukushima Unit 1, Japanese TV station NHK reported. A trail of white smoke was seen at the site and shaking was felt, The Associated Press reported.
Britain's Sky News cited NHK as saying that the walls and roof of a building at the site had been destroyed.
Japan earlier warned of a meltdown after the nuclear reactor was damaged when a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the northeast coast.
Experts said any threat of widespread radiation leaks would be contained as long as the reactor's outer container is intact.
Authorities have been scrambling to reduce pressure at two nuclear power plants in Fukushima, 150 miles north of Tokyo, damaged by Friday's devastating quake .
Two reactors had lost cooling ability at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Because of the overheating, a meltdown was possible at one of the reactors, said Ryohei Shiomi, an official with Japan's nuclear safety commission.
But even if there was a meltdown, it wouldn't affect people outside a six-mile radius, he said. Most of the 51,000 residents living within the danger area had been evacuated, he said.
Before the blast, authorities detected eight times the normal radiation levels outside the facility and 1,000 times normal inside Unit 1's control room.

[Peter Lemkin]

Well, it's happened. Earthquake, tsunami and now the nuclear reactor has exploded. Roof and walls gone. The 2nd reactor is about to meltdown as well.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42044156/ns/...a-pacific/
TOKYO An explosion was heard and smoke was seen at a quake-hit Japanese nuclear power plant on Saturday, officials said.
Several workers were injured by the blast at Fukushima Unit 1, Japanese TV station NHK reported. A trail of white smoke was seen at the site and shaking was felt, The Associated Press reported.
Britain's Sky News cited NHK as saying that the walls and roof of a building at the site had been destroyed.
Japan earlier warned of a meltdown after the nuclear reactor was damaged when a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the northeast coast.
Experts said any threat of widespread radiation leaks would be contained as long as the reactor's outer container is intact.
Authorities have been scrambling to reduce pressure at two nuclear power plants in Fukushima, 150 miles north of Tokyo, damaged by Friday's devastating quake .
Two reactors had lost cooling ability at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Because of the overheating, a meltdown was possible at one of the reactors, said Ryohei Shiomi, an official with Japan's nuclear safety commission.
But even if there was a meltdown, it wouldn't affect people outside a six-mile radius, he said. Most of the 51,000 residents living within the danger area had been evacuated, he said.
Before the blast, authorities detected eight times the normal radiation levels outside the facility and 1,000 times normal inside Unit 1's control room.

Yes, it is a very dire scenario.....and all they can do now is hope it stays somewhat contained...if not, welcome to Chernobyl 2! It is clear that a partial meltdown [at the mininum] has already occurred, causing the heating that caused the explosion. The outer walls [at a mininum] of the #1 reactor has been blown away. There is a containment structure under that, but in all likelihood it has been breached, cracked or itself has exploded or melted [or soon will]...this is really likely to be as deadly and dangerous [or more so] than the earthquake and tsunami...if slower...!

[Peter Lemkin]

A SECOND reactor at the same facility is NOW about to overheat and possibly blow. In Japan they are telling EVERYONE to stay indoors with the windows shut!.....This could be the death blow to the nuclear industry...and a real environmental disaster!!!

To add another problem the nuclear reactors are near the greatest tsunami disaster zone and is already hampering the rescue effort - as it is now dangerous for the rescue teams to be in the area and outside.....luckily, at the moment winds are blowing the radiation offshore....for now....

The Associated Press

Date: Saturday Mar. 12, 2011 5:32 AM ET

IWAKI, Japan An explosion at a nuclear power station Saturday destroyed a building housing the reactor amid fears that it was close to a disastrous meltdown after being hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunami.

[Peter Lemkin]

Great....[not!]...just did some research....while the design of the Japanese reactors is 'better' than Chernobyl, the 'better' features are largely made moot due to the lack of power there now. [that was the 'good news']....now for the bad news....each of the eight reactors being watched now contains 100X the amount of radioactive materials as did the reactor at Chernobyl!.....mileymad: As said, one is at least partly breached and melting...with the temperature at a second following close behind!.....that would be the potential of 200 x the amount of radioactive materials at Chernobyl. While I think an explosive release [as at Chernobyl] is less likely, a fire [likely] would be almost as effective at spreading the radioactive materials. I have already heard one report of radioactive Cesium being detected outside of the plant - a VERY bad sign!

[Magda Hassan]

Dr Helen Caldicott
NHK: "The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says nuclear material cesium has been detected near the Number One reactor at the Fukushima Number One nuclear power plant. The agency says the detection indicates that some of the nuclear fuel at the reactor may have started melting, because cesium is produced during a nuclear chain reaction." Very bad news.

[Peter Lemkin]

Dr Helen Caldicott
NHK: "The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says nuclear material cesium has been detected near the Number One reactor at the Fukushima Number One nuclear power plant. The agency says the detection indicates that some of the nuclear fuel at the reactor may have started melting, because cesium is produced during a nuclear chain reaction." Very bad news.

Yup! Gonna be a lot more bad news comin'.....sooner than later.... I don't know the construction style of these reactors and not sure I can quickly find them on the internet - anyway don't know the details of what is and is not already fact on the ground; however, the 'best' of the bad scenarios would likely be a ''China-Syndrome" meltdown into the rocks below. The worst could be into the air - with dispersal of most of the materials into the sea the mid-level horror [it is directly adjacent to the ocean].


On internet just saw a photo of the reactor building.....it is not there [the building]...what is the condition of the reactor vessel is not being released and can not be seen in the photo.

Unconfirmed, but mentioned on AlJazeera from Japanese sources was that just outside the nuclear power plant the radiation levels are 525,600x normal.

[Peter Lemkin]

You can watch the explosion here. Latest ''ófficial'word was that the containment vessel is intact and not leaking radiation....unlikely and in contradiction to the current ongoing expansion of the exclusion zone around the reactor!!!! - which is not 30 to 60Km!!!

[Magda Hassan]

Japan's nuclear power operator has chequered past

The company at the centre ofa nuclear reactor crisis following the biggest earthquake inJapan's recorded history has had a rocky past in an industryplagued by scandal.
| March 12, 2011 | http://www.scientificamerican.com/articl...c#comments

SINGAPORE, March 12 (Reuters) - The company at the centre of a nuclear reactor crisis following the biggest earthquake in Japan's recorded history has had a rocky past in an industry plagued by scandal.
The Japanese government said on Saturday that there had been radiation leakage at Tokyo Electric Power's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi plant following an explosion there.
The blast came as TEPCO was working desperately to reduce pressures in the core of a reactor at the 40-year-old plant, which lies 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
In 2002, the president of the country's largest power utility was forced to resign along with four other senior executives, taking responsibility for suspected falsification of nuclear plant safety records.
The company was suspected of 29 cases involving falsified repair records at nuclear reactors. It had to stop operations at five reactors, including the two damaged in the latest tremor, for safety inspections.
A few years later it ran into trouble again over accusations of falsifying data.
In late 2006, the government ordered TEPCO to check past data after it reported that it had found falsification of coolant water temperatures at its Fukushima Daiichi plant in 1985 and 1988, and that the tweaked data was used in mandatory inspections at the plant, which were completed in October 2005.
And in 2007, TEPCO reported that it had found more past data falsifications, though this time it did not have to close any of its plants. (Writing by Jonathan Thatcher; Editing by John Chalmers; jonathan.thatcher@thomsonreuters.com)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/articl...ator-has-c

[Magda Hassan]

Japan Reactor Fuel Rods May Have Begun to Melt, Atomic Safety Agency Says

By Yuji Okada - Sat Mar 12 08:03:46 GMT 2011
A nuclear reactor in the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power station about 220 kilometers (140 miles) north of Tokyo may be starting to melt down after Japan's biggest earthquake on record hit the area yesterday.
Fuel rods at the No. 1 reactor at the plant run by Tokyo Electric Power Co. may be melting after radioactive Cesium material left by atomic fission was detected near the site, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, spokesman Yuji Kakizaki said by phone today.
"If the fuel rods are melting and this continues, a reactor meltdown is possible," Kakizaki said. A meltdown refers to a heat buildup in the core of such an intensity it melts the floor of the reactor containment housing.
Tokyo Electric, Asia's biggest power company, started releasing radioactive gas and steam into the atmosphere to reduce pressure in the containment housing after yesterday's magnitude 8.9 earthquake, Akitsuka Kobayashi, a company spokesman, said by phone today. Pressure has started to fall in the containment housing, said Yoshihiro Sugiyama, a spokesman at the country's nuclear safety agency.
Winds in the area of the Fukushima plant are blowing at less than 18 kilometers per hour mostly in an offshore direction, according to a 4 p.m. update from the Japan Meteorological Association.
The government earlier today widened the evacuation zone around the reactor to 10 kilometers from 3 kilometers, affecting thousands of people. The quake and the tsunami that followed is estimated to have killed at least 500 people with hundreds more missing, the National Police Agency said.
Low Radiation

"When the pressure starts building up, the emergency procedure is to start venting," Dave Lochbaum, director of the nuclear safety project at the Union for Concerned Scientists, said in a telephone interview. "They've essentially entered a beat the clock game. As long as there is no fuel damage, there will be radioactivity, but it will be very low."
Radiation spread by the venting won't be at a level dangerous to health, said Ryohei Shiomi, a spokesman at the government's nuclear agency said earlier.
Tokyo Electric started venting gas from a containment section of the No. 1 reactor at Fukushima Dai-ichi at about 9 a.m. local time. The company is preparing to do the same at the Dai-Ni nuclear plant nearby, a spokesman said.
Tokyo Electric earlier said it had lost control of pressure building up in three reactors at the Dai-Ichi power plant. Temperatures in the control room rose to higher than 100 Celsius (212 Fahrenheit), said Naoki Tsunoda, a company spokesman.
Main Barrier

The plant's operators need to connect to the electricity grid, fix emergency diesel generators or bring in more batteries to power a backup system that pumps the water needed to cool the reactor, said Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer who has worked at nuclear power plants for 17 years.
The air cooling system in the containment building probably failed due to the power loss, allowing pressure to increase inside, Lochbaum said.
The main barrier between a reactor and outside areas is the containment building, Lochbaum said. Without an air cooling system the air heats, causing pressure to rise inside the building, with the risk that radioactive air will escape.
Tokyo Electric has also started preparing to vent gas from the containment areas of four reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ni nuclear plant, Kobayashi said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-12...-says.html