Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (March 11, 2011)

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by Malkuth

I completely agree.

I clearly disagree. It is irresponsible to build any type of nuclear power plant in a region that is tectonically instable and threatend by serious earthquakes every now and then. That the power plants have already 40 years on them really does not help the point, it just makes the thing worse.

[RRW]

http://twitter.com/#!/nhk_kabun/stat...14460306845696

This tweet from an NHK account is claiming that at 6:50 there was a report that at 3:29, radiation levels were 1029 microsievert, whereas at 4:40 it was all the way down to 8 microsievert, 1/100 of the earlier number.

[Malkuth]

Originally Posted by Jinto

I clearly do not agree. It is irresponsible to build any type of nuclear power plant in a region that is tectonically instable and threatend by serious earthquakes every now and then. That the power plants have already 40 years on them really does not help the point, it just makes the thing worse.

No, it's not, when considering the magnitude of the earthquake, and how well it has been dealt with up until now. You underestimate how people coming from geologically active areas of the world are aware and prepared for these situations.

[RRW]

An attempt to explain the risk to the Fukushima nuclear plants following the earthquake: The plants are designed to shut down automatically, which halts the main nuclear fission reaction, but there is a residual amount of intense heat within the system. Back-up generators should kick in to power the cooling mechanisms needed to dissipate that heat - but if they fail, as appears to have happened here, temperatures rise. If this isn't stopped, the reactor vessel itself could eventually melt and leak.

Japanese police agency confirms that people within 3km of Fukushima Daiichi plant have been evacuated, but there are still people remaining inside the 10km evacuation zone, many elderly or stricken. This will make implementation of the current 20km evacuation zone more difficult.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says he has spoken to his Japanese counterpart and offered help with search and rescue, and victim identification. He says further details of the UK's assistance package will be announced later.

death: 1700


NHK reports that tsunami alerts have been downgraded to tsunami warnings for Hokkaido, Iwate, and Miyagi prefectures.

[UtsukushiiOto]

Originally Posted by Jinto

It is irresponsible to build any type of nuclear power plant in a region that is tectonically instable and threatend by serious earthquakes every now and then.

So your point being, Japan should have focused on receiving electricity from aliens?
Nuclear power plants allow energy independence. A country, that's basically a big island with no resources of its own, needs to survive without becoming entirely dependant on its neighbours. Otherwise, it's more or less someone's puppet.

Originally Posted by rrw

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says he has spoken to his Japanese counterpart and offered help with search and rescue, and victim identification. He says further details of the UK's assistance package will be announced later.

I certainly hope Japanese politics (or old farts as I like to call them) will settle down their differences with Russia and permit МЧС to step into action. As far as my knowledge goes, they've been recognized as the best rescue organization and disaster handlers world-wide.

[-KarumA-]

Press conference in 2 minutes concerning the situation =)

[RRW]

Car manufacturer Toyota says it will suspend operations at all 12 of its factories in Japan on Monday while it confirms the safety of its employees. One of its subsidiaries, Central Motor Company, has a factory in Miyagi prefecture, near Sendai, which produces the Yaris model.

over 400 flights canceled kyodo

Land and air transportation remained disrupted in Japan on Saturday with over 400 flights canceled, many trains suspended and many highways closed due to a powerful earthquake that struck the northeastern and eastern regions.

A total of 464 flights, including those arriving and departing at the flooded Sendai airport in Miyagi Prefecture, were canceled, according to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry.

All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines also cancelled domestic flights at Haneda airport in Tokyo, affecting more than 25,000 passengers. Ibaraki and Hanamaki airports were also closed due to serious quake-triggered damage to their facilities, the ministry said.

A total of seven JAL and ANA airplanes suffered damage when the earthquake jolted Japan on Friday afternoon. More than 30 international flights operated by the two Japanese airlines were canceled at Haneda and Narita airports.

East Japan Railway Co. resumed bullet train services on the Joetsu and Nagano Shinkansen lines. But the company, known as JR East, said it is still not known when they can resume services on the Tohoku, Yamagata and Akita Shinkansen lines.

Most train operations in the Tokyo metropolitan area resumed Saturday morning, including JR East's Tokaido, Keihin Tohoku and Yamanote lines but with less frequency of trains.

Some expressways including Aomori, Tohoku, Hachinohe, Akita, Tohoku Chuo and Joban remained closed but emergency vehicles can use them. Five bridges on Route 45 connecting Aomori and Sendai were washed away by tsunami. Roads in quake-hit areas in Niigata and Nagano prefectures were also closed for fear of avalanches and tsunami.

[haegar]

Yuki Edano stating in Press conference LIVE NOW: they have no clue if reactor or turbine blew. they are still busy meassuring on site radiation just now. they are taking steps to ensure local populations safety. no specifics on what that means.

was typing while listening. he's already done. in short: NO further INFO.

EDIT: I was told only NHK world cut the broadcast and maybe he did say more?! Anybody watchin live jap?

[RRW]

Prime Minister Kan increases Self-defense forces involved in rescue effort from 20,000 to 50,000.

kyodo

Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Saturday inspected areas in northeastern Japan hit by a devastating earthquake and said the government will make a full commitment to the ''mission'' of protecting people's lives.

Kan's government was also forced to deal with a crisis at a nuclear power plant in one of the prefectures severely damaged by the 8.8-magnitude quake or the resulting tsunami, in which over 1,700 people are feared to have died or be unaccounted for.

Kan also met with opposition party leaders and called for their support in drawing up an extra budget to finance the government's relief efforts.

''It is our mission to protect people's lives and fortunes and I want you to make all-out efforts,'' Kan said at a meeting of his Cabinet members in Tokyo after viewing the disaster areas from the air during a four-hour trip.

It was tsunami, rather than the quake itself, that caused the devastating effects, Kan said. ''Today is a very important day in terms of how much we could proceed with rescue work.''

Kan added the government will raise the number of Self-Defense Force members assigned to relief work to 50,000 from 20,000, while calling for ''maximum'' efforts by police, firefighters and coast guard members.

In the morning, Kan visited the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant by helicopter to view the extent of the damage at the facility, where a radiation leak has been reported.

''A small amount of radiation has leaked. We will brace ourselves to protect people's health,'' he said.

But the situation turned out to be more complicated later in the day as the operator of the plant reported an explosion at the site.

While saying the government has yet to confirm details of the explosion, Edano told an urgent press conference the government wants the public to stay calm and save electricity amid fears of power supply disruptions.

The government has also taken a number of steps to address the inconveniences the quake has been causing to the public.

Edano said 50 countries and regions have offered support, including South Korea whose rescue team arrived in Japan in the afternoon.

On the political front, Kan asked opposition party leaders to cooperate in considering relief measures, including formulating an extra budget.

The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party demanded a recess of the ongoing Diet session for the government to draw up a supplementary budget for fiscal 2010, which ends this month. But the ruling bloc showed reluctance to accept the request, saying it would delay deliberations on the draft initial budget for fiscal 2011.

Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda separately said the government would better use some 200 billion yen in a contingency fund for the current business year before discussing any extra budget, which would have to go through a lengthy process before implementation. Some lawmakers say, however, the amount of the reserve fund is not sufficient for relief measures.

In a separate move, the government is preparing to postpone some regional elections in the region hit hard by the quake by several months from the original schedule in April, some of its officials said.

[-KarumA-]

From the conference:

prime minister:

Saving lives takes priority.
They underestimated the size of the tsunami and due to it the back up system failed.
Due to the explosion in reactor 1 they extended the zone to 20 km and prioritize evacuation.

Lots of help offered from other countries.

Sec. General:

about the nuclear plant, the concrete container exploded not the nuclear stuff.
The nuclear reactor is not damaged, the explosion was between the container and reactor the hydro something caused a chemical reaction witht he oxygen and went boom.
radiation leak is not affected by this explosion so it didn't occur.
After the explosion the number of radiation even lowered. see below at sec general part.

They will wrap the reactor in water, they are closely monitoring the event and situation the planning started a while ago.
Also because of this new plan they decided to extend to 20 km, just in case anything happens.
But the reactor is not damaged in anyway.

questions: if the container is broken isn't that a threat? Answer: yes, that is why they are going to use the ocean water, just in case.

Because of the earthquake etc. they wanted to minimize the evacuation but because of the nuclear danger they are not keeping it minimal anymore. This due to the underestimation of of the quake and tsunami, this si why they are evacuating on such a large scale because they are keeping recon with any scenario at this time.

question: what is the risk of using ocean water? answer: they are still analyzing this, experts are on it to figure things out. They have concluded that there is no risk of using it.

The tsunami hit the nuclear plant, they never knew it was going to be so high. The container got soaked by water due to this. After that everything started malfunctioning.
They never expected the tsunami the go over the plant, they thought they build it high enough. Due to this the cooling system failed.


When they were trying to release the increased presure out of the reactor at 2:00PM they started releasing the vapor which was causing the risk of the meltdown. When this happened the level increased.
At 3:36 pm in between the reactor and container(steel and concrete) the hydrogen that was in between (that came in between) and came into contact with oxygen and exploded.
But the reactor had no damage.
The radiation lvl's decreased 10 mins after the explosion. By the evening the lvl went down to 70.5 so it drastically dropped (at 6:58 pm).
Level comparisson to show how much it dropped: 3:29 pm 1015 at 3:40 i dropped to 860 and at 6:58 it dropped to 70.5 (it hs no more concrete wall now though)
The reactor is now safe sort of speak, no leak, drop in lvl but it lost the concrete protection which is why they are using ocean water. But because they have never used this before they are being very cautious and evacuate to 20 km.

[Tri-ring]

Although this is my speculation, listening to the chain of events in chronological order it was probably a vapor explosion due to pumping in water too quickly where the core was exposed resulting to explosive evaporation.

[solomon]

PM Naoto Kan just went out over the air with an expected type of national address.

[RRW]

According to finnish radiation experts the worst has already happened. Reactor has melted down. They have calculated the advanced of the radiation levels and it indeed seems the reactor has already melted. My finnish skills aren't that good and google translator doesn't give good translation but it seems STUK is now drafting report to finnish embassy and they are in favor of evacuation (from the vincinity of the site) of finnish people before panic hits the place.


Live stream of conference: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tbstv

nuclear rep speaking

[MeoTwister5]

Well the PM just said that no one has died due to the problem yet. British rescue teams are en route as we speak. Filipino volunteers are also being assembled by the government.

[Tri-ring]

Edano has just announced that radioactive levels is going down and that the core vessel is still intact.
At the moment they are planning to pour in sea water and Boron to further absorb neutrons.

[RRW]

Damian Grammaticus has just arrived in Sendai. He says there are truly astonishing scenes of devastation at the harbour there, there are shipping containers that have been swept inland and smashed against buildings and trees and rubble strewn across the streets.


tagesschau.de (trustworthy german news) says confirmed meltdown in fukishima.
http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/fukushima126.html

[JC...]

Originally Posted by haegar

up to about here this is an unbiased neutral statement.

on this, one can say "right back at ya mr.supporter" 0.o I suggest you do some research and consider modifying your position of "without a problem" I also suggest you not pretend to be neutral while INFACT bein the opposite and likewise do not pretend to tell people NOT to go into that kinda political topic while YOU happen to be the one doing EXACTLY that.

So far EXCEPT for YOU - NOBODY went into politics, we all are just worried very much in short ... go take that somewhere else please, thank you very much :/

Why are you flaming him? It's a valid point.

[-KarumA-]

Originally Posted by rrw

Damian Grammaticus has just arrived in Sendai. He says there are truly astonishing scenes of devastation at the harbour there, there are shipping containers that have been swept inland and smashed against buildings and trees and rubble strewn across the streets.


tagesschau.de (trustworthy german news) says confirmed meltdown in fukishima.
http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/fukushima126.html

This is a lie, I am listening to the conference right now and nothing about a melt down

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

Edano has just announced that radioactive levels is going down and that the core vessel is still intact.

Originally Posted by rrw

confirmed meltdown in fukishima.

Er...

[Evil_Sephiroth]

iFukushima is a LWR reactor.

Like the accident in Three mile island a meltdow don't lead to explosion like in chernobil (that isn't a LWR) reactor

this becouse in light water reactor H2o work like coolant and is also necessary for reaction-->no water=no reaction. (or lesser)

In Three mile island 80% of the core meltdown, but there isn't explosion.



For the explosion in Fukushima.

The superior part of container collapsed..not the grave of the "nuclear core"

THAT IS a little different^^