Nuclear emergency declared at quake-damaged reactor

[googlegoogle]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2...reactors_N.htm

[Donger]

It appears that we've lent the Japanese some barges filled with fresh water for the reactors.

[teedubya]

From the movie Matrix when Agent Smith is speaking with Morpheus:

"I'd like to share a revelation I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and you multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we … are the cure."

[teedubya]

High level of iodine 131 in seawater near N-plant

A high level of radioactive iodine has been detected in seawater near Japan's troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The facility was hit by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said on Saturday that iodine 131 in excess of 1,250 times regulated standards was found in seawater collected 330 meters south of a plant water outlet at 8:30 AM on Friday.

The agency says there is no immediate threat to people within the 20-kilometer evacuation zone. The agency adds that as seawater is dispersed by ocean currents the contamination level will decline.

Iodine 131 at 146.9 times regulated standards was detected in seawater in the area on Wednesday.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/26_13.html

[teedubya]

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencein...prisingly.html

Concerns about radiation in Japan have now spread to the soil surrounding the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor. One level that was reported this week was high enough to suggest people in that area should be evacuated, an expert says. But he cautions that it's hard to draw conclusions about these spot measurements without more data.

Today, Japanese officials told the population living up to 30 kilometers from the plant that they should consider leaving the area, expanding the previous 20-kilometer radius evacuation zone. But according to news reports, the advice stems from difficulties in supplying the region with food and water, not radiation levels.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday the Japanese science ministry began to report measurements of cesium-137 in upland soil around the plant. The levels are highest from two points northeast of the plant, ranging from 8690 becquerels/kilogram to a high of 163,000 Bq/kg measured on 20 March from a point in Iitate about 40 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima plant.

The soil measurements are more significant for evacuation purposes than radioactivity in the air, says nuclear engineer Shih-Yew Chen of Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, because cesium dust stays underfoot while air is transient. Levels of cesium-137 are also more important than soil readings of iodine-131, which is short-lived and more of a concern in milk and vegetables. "It's the cesium that would prompt an evacuation," says Chen.

Based on a rough estimate, a person standing on soil with 163,000 Bq/kg of cesium-137 would receive about 150 millisieverts per year of radiation, says Chen. This is well above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard of 50 millisieverts per year for an evacuation. (Per day, it's 0.41 millisieverts, which is equivalent to four chest x-rays.) But Chen adds, "one point [of data] doesn't mean that much."

The hot spot is similar to levels found in some areas affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in the former Soviet Union. Assuming the radiation is no more than 2 centimeters deep, Chen 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.

For our complete coverage of the crisis in Japan, see our Japan Earthquake page. For Science's answers to reader questions about the crisis, see our Quake Questions page.

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[Ebolapox]

Googlegoogle=TW?

[Bwana]

Originally Posted by H5N1

Googlegoogle=TW?

Nope

[teedubya]

This is no shit, people. Chuckle it up, but this is worse than Chernobyl. This is now, 3 Reactors in full meltdown mode, one of which is full of plutonium.

http://twitter.com/#!/REUTERSFLASH/s...59532971909120

@REUTERSFLASH

#Japan plant operator says radioactivity in water at reactor No. 2 is 10 million times usual level, workers evacuated - local media

[Ebolapox]

Originally Posted by Bwana

Nope

(that was sarcasm)

[teedubya]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...ant-table.html

Via Bloomberg

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said a “certain level of progress” has been made while speaking on an NHK television program today.

No. 1: Contaminated water in the turbine structure contains 10,000 times the radiation of regular cooling water, NHK said. The company has started removing contaminated water from the basement of the turbine building and will prepare more pumps to drain the water, the agency said. The unit has been damaged since a March 12 hydrogen explosion destroyed the building’s walls. The seriousness of the reactor’s threat to safety is rated level five on an international scale of 1-7.

No. 2: Contaminated water in the turbine structure contains 10 million times more radiation than normal cooling water, NHK said. The company plans to remove contaminated water as early as today, the agency said. The company plans to start using freshwater on fuel pool from March 28, the agency said. The containment chamber may have been damaged in a March 15 explosion, and a power cable was reconnected to the unit on March 19. The reactor is rated a level-five threat.

No. 3: Contaminated water in the turbine structure contains 10,000 times the normal radiation, NHK said. The company is considering ways to remove the contaminated water, the agency said. A March 14 explosion damaged the unit’s fuel cover. The reactor is rated a level-five threat.

No. 4: The company plans to spray water in the spent-fuel cooling pool this afternoon, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. The agency said on March 17 there may be no water in the pool. It’s rated at three on the threat level. This reactor was undergoing maintenance when the earthquake hit.

No. 5: The unit was idle for maintenance before the earthquake.

No. 6: The reactor achieved cold shutdown at 7:27 p.m. on March 20 when the temperature fell below 100 degrees Celsius, the company said. A backup generator was fixed March 19, according to a company press release. The unit was idle for maintenance before the earthquake.

[Dave Lane]

Hey what ever happened to that earthquake I was promised? I bought a lot of land in Arizona and some surfboards and I got nuttin here. I was told 3 days damn it and its been way over a week!

The super moon was gonna cause it to happen. I was told I of all people should know it was imminent.

[teedubya]

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

Hey what ever happened to that earthquake I was promised? I bought a lot of land in Arizona and some surfboards and I got nuttin here. I was told 3 days damn it and its been way over a week!

The super moon was gonna cause it to happen. I was told I of all people should know it was imminent.

There was a 7.0 in MYANMAR during the "seismic window". 7.0 is pretty big... and it was along the ring of fire. That geologist said from 18th-24th... and there was. He said that California looked ripe for a earthquake. Oh well, sorry you didn't get California quake doom, bro. I'm sure the people in the Philippines wish Cali had gotten that 7.0 instead, too.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by Donger

About a quark.

?

[Donger]

Originally Posted by teedubya

This is no shit, people. Chuckle it up, but this is worse than Chernobyl.

No, it isn't.

[veist]

Originally Posted by teedubya

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...ant-table.html

Via Bloomberg

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said a “certain level of progress” has been made while speaking on an NHK television program today.

No. 1: Contaminated water in the turbine structure contains 10,000 times the radiation of regular cooling water, NHK said. The company has started removing contaminated water from the basement of the turbine building and will prepare more pumps to drain the water, the agency said. The unit has been damaged since a March 12 hydrogen explosion destroyed the building’s walls. The seriousness of the reactor’s threat to safety is rated level five on an international scale of 1-7.

No. 2: Contaminated water in the turbine structure contains 10 million times more radiation than normal cooling water, NHK said. The company plans to remove contaminated water as early as today, the agency said. The company plans to start using freshwater on fuel pool from March 28, the agency said. The containment chamber may have been damaged in a March 15 explosion, and a power cable was reconnected to the unit on March 19. The reactor is rated a level-five threat.

No. 3: Contaminated water in the turbine structure contains 10,000 times the normal radiation, NHK said. The company is considering ways to remove the contaminated water, the agency said. A March 14 explosion damaged the unit’s fuel cover. The reactor is rated a level-five threat.

No. 4: The company plans to spray water in the spent-fuel cooling pool this afternoon, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. The agency said on March 17 there may be no water in the pool. It’s rated at three on the threat level. This reactor was undergoing maintenance when the earthquake hit.

No. 5: The unit was idle for maintenance before the earthquake.

No. 6: The reactor achieved cold shutdown at 7:27 p.m. on March 20 when the temperature fell below 100 degrees Celsius, the company said. A backup generator was fixed March 19, according to a company press release. The unit was idle for maintenance before the earthquake.

Of course without the context of the regular level the numbers are meaningless. If the regulated level is 1 μSv, 1 x 10^6 μSv is still only 10 sievert. Nothing to sneeze at but not the end of the world. Clearly its more than that but without knowing what the regular level is saying something is 10 million times the normal level really only serves to unjustifiably create panic.

[veist]

Originally Posted by teedubya

This is no shit, people. Chuckle it up, but this is worse than Chernobyl. This is now, 3 Reactors in full meltdown mode, one of which is full of plutonium.

http://twitter.com/#!/REUTERSFLASH/s...59532971909120

@REUTERSFLASH

#Japan plant operator says radioactivity in water at reactor No. 2 is 10 million times usual level, workers evacuated - local media

Also, no it isn't on both points. Its MOX fuel, its doped with like 7% Pu not "full of Pu" and the reactors haven't fracking exploded. And lets put how big the explosion at Chernobyl was in perspective. The RBMK reactor at Chernobyl was topped by the Upper Biological Shield a 3m thick concrete disc, clad top and bottom with 40mm of steel, with a 17m diameter weighing 1000 tons, it blew the thing off. The core was open to the air for days, it was on fire and open to the air for like 3 hours.