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...Regarding the US 'airlift', it does seem just like a cheap "USA Saves the World from Nuclear Disaster Once Again" PR stunt.....
One U.S. official said he believed Clinton was told Japan had requested the material, that the United States had agreed to provide it, and that an operation to do so was under way.
Ultimately, however, Japan did not need assistance from the United States but Clinton did not appear to have been updated before she made her public remarks.
"We understand that ultimately the Japanese government handled the situation on its own," said another U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Here is my read:
The diesel generators are the backup generators and they all have failed along with the main power. So the coolant cannot be circulated and it starts boiling which causes the pressure to increase. After certain level the safety valves open and start venting the steam probably into the containment building. And the cycle repeats until the coolant is completely exhausted at which stage the fuel rod melt down occurs just like it happened at 3 mile island in PA.
So the US delivery of a working diesel generator makes sense.
amazing pictures and videos of nature in its fury but sad about the enormous loss.
really sad to see loss of human lives.
prayers to the families of lost ones.
The government said it would have to release vapor from the reactor to lower the pressure and avoid a meltdown.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the amount of radioactivity in vapor would be "very small" and would not harm people or the environment.
I don't get this, if they have to release radioactive vapor out to lower pressure why would it not impact people/environment. Is it like our household pressure cooker? The cooker has to let out the steam, else it would burst? And the released steam is only of small quantity to cause any damage?
A simplistic view to answer SwamyG, solid debris after a meltdown would remain insitu and clean up would be an immense effort, not to mention the population dislocation needed for some time to come, due to societal fears.
Venting at low levels to prevent a meltdown would be preferable at any rate, provided other environmental variables are favorable too. In this case this being a coastal site, has the advantage if air circulation is outward and it seems to be the case from initial reports for now. Check this wind pattern animation
The water vapor will have some radioactive waste and will vent up. Not a problem.
A nuke power plant has a Diesel Generator bldg. The Diesels are size of ship engines and hooked to generators. Usually two sets as back-up. They provide power to pump water coolant to shut the plant down. BTW the CBS graphic was incorrect. It was for a PWR and not BWR. Most likely based on TV pictures the DG bldg got flooded or swept away. Battery back up is no sufficient.
While the coolant is pumped to reduce heat the control rods are scrammed down. These are also water powered with inlet and withdraw lines. So its not a reactor meltdown situation. The fail safe is inlet water pushes the control rods to shut the reactor down. However the reactor vessel is still hot and needs to cool down. That is where the coolant Clinontnese for water needs to be pumped.
In Three mile Island the plant operator shut the auxiliary water pump as he didnt believe the radiation gage readings. So not same case here.
SHQ browsing BRF(along with others sites) along with me about this tsunami, felt bad and pointed out the following-
looks like pandaland has escaped due to Japan land mass.
- Cooling system for this reactor needs AC power for motors (hence flooding of Diesel generators was a big deal), standby batteries (they say which can last up to 8 hours) can manage valves and their backup system (using steam power for pumping for a few hours)
(NYtimes story etc gives more details).. Japan rushed Diesel generators and batteries etc..
- Wrt to radioactivity in steam which is being vented - it passes through high efficiency filters (radioactivity there is in particles which could be filtered).. more than 99% of the radioactivity is filtered out.. what is being vented (high towers) is comparatively not that dangerous. (This is to reduce pressure inside, to prevent blowup which would be much more dangerous)
The latest on CNN is that one of the reactors cant cool the system. The minister says they are getting ready for worst.
The two US experts are saying getting emergency generators to power the pump in order to keep the core covered is crucial. Getting water to the core is most critical. The plant D-G are lost.
The minister's statement was confusing, since he mentioned leakage from two reactors on the same site. He also said that they are trying to locate the leakage. Isn't that more serious than reported earlier via print and cable ?
Ramana ji, are you saying that Fukushima 1 was near end of life and that this event has exposed a weak link causing a situation presently going out of control?
Studying this event could give Indian planners an idea of factoring end of life calculations into plants which are located in buckling fault-line vicinities.
In this case, thankfully none of the measurement devices are malfunctioning which gives crews on the ground an accurate estimate.
This could shape up to be one of those black swan events
From the press release at 7AM (Japan Time): Summary at the plant:
>>>>
- Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station:
- Units 1 to 3: shutdown due to earthquake
- Units 4 to 6: outage due to regular inspection
* Evacuation has been instructed by the national government to the local
residents within 10 km radius of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station
and Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station.
* Measurement of radioactive material (Iodine, etc.) by monitoring car
indicates increasing value compared to normal level. One of the
monitoring posts is also indicating higher than normal level. We will
continue monitoring discharge of radioactive material from exhaust stack
and discharge canal, etc.
* We have decided to implement measures to reduce the pressure of the
reactor containment vessel for those units that cannot confirm certain
level of water injection by the Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System,
in order to fully secure safety.
Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station:
Units 1 to 4: shutdown due to earthquake
Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Station:
Units 1, 5, 6, 7: normal operation
Units 2 to 4: outage due to regular inspection
*There was no shutdown due to the earthquake occurred in the northern
part of Nagano Prefecture at around 3:58AM today.
* Survey data on radiation by exhaust stack monitors and monitoring cars
have indicated no departure from normal level for all nuclear power
stations.
[Thermal Power Station]
Hirono Thermal Power Station Units 2 and 4: shutdown due to earthquake
Hitachinaka Thermal Power Station Unit 1: shutdown due to earthquake
Kashima Thermal Power Station Units 2, 3, 5, 6: shutdown due to earthquake
Chiba Thermal Power Station Unit 2 Axis 1: shutdown due to earthquake
Ohi Thermal Power Station Units 2, 3: shutdown due to earthquake
Goi Thermal Power Station Unit 4: had been shutdown due to earthquake but
has restarted
Higashi-Ohgishima Thermal Power Station Unit 1: shutdown due to earthquake
[Hydro Power Station]
11 stations in Fukushima Prefecture, 1 station in Tochigi Prefecture,
3 stations in Yamanashi Prefecture, were shutdown due to earthquake.
Power stations in Gunma Prefecture have been restored.
[Blackout in TEPCO's Service Area]
Total of about 1.17 million households are out of power.
Tokyo: 0
Kanagawa Pref.: 0
Tochigi Pref.: 296,363
Chiba Pref.: 211,944
Saitama Pref: 0
Gunma Pref.: 12
Ibaraki Pref: 662,189
Yamanashi Pref: 0
Shizuoka Pref: 11,819 (east of Fuji River)
[Supply and Demand Status within TEPCO's Service Area to Secure Stable Power
Supply]
Backup supply from Shinshinano Conversion Station: 600MW
Backup supply from Sakuma Conversion Station: 300MW
Backup supply from Higashi Shimizu Conversion Station: 100MW
Because TEPCO's facilities have been seriously damaged, power shortage
may occur.
TEPCO appreciates customers' cooperation in reducing electricity usage by
avoiding using unnecessary lighting and electrical equipment.
We are taking all measures to restore power, however, we expect extremely
difficult situation in power supply for tomorrow as well.
We kindly ask our customers to cooperate with us in reducing usage of
power.
88000 missing would include the still unknown number of passengers who boarded the 4 trains. Derailments and separated coaches are likely, what is not likely is twisted tracks and jack-knifed bogeys. The tsunami probably hit a slowing down or halted trains as power was already out by then.
EDIT: Earthquake at Nigata prefecture (Sea of Japan coast), about 6.7 R seems to have compounded affairs even more.
Notice how the Pacific coast from Furukawa all the way down to Naruto point is a cosine wave shape. Depending on the epicentre location, the coastline actually enhances destructive power, there is not a single feature acting disruptively to dissipate the wave energy along this stretch of coastline.
Added later: This would be the perfect time for NDMA to send a dedicated teams to observe activities on the ground. Private enterprises from desh should also use this as a starting point to develop their own disaster management teams, perhaps even they could put together a team and learn a few things from the international rescue effort in Japan.
Nuclear Emergency at Fukushima NPP. Radiation level 1000 times in control roo and 8 times at main gate. Unkil airdashes coolants to prevent chernobyl type meltdown . Japan deploys combat troops. 30 Km zone declared evacuation zone and citizens are asked to evacuate immediately.
Quake with tsunami has proved to be unprecedented and despite Japan's advancement and economic strength, the disaster mitigation is logistical nightmare.
My sympathies are with them. I am sure they would rise and reconstruct. 24 nations are on standby for SAR and DM.
Regarding situation at Fukushima Daichi, which is a boiling water reactor:
(1) there are multiple lines of defence for pumps used in reactor cooling - grid power (normal ops - now down), diesel generators (now failed), batteries (working and more on the way), natural convection (but only up to a point), steam from overheated water to run turbine (works even without any other power). There is a final line of defence, see (4)
(2) important thing to note is that it is NOT just the lack of power - they are using secondary cuicuit to get cooling water in, and heat removal rate apprears to be below what it should be probably because water circulation is slower than needed
(3) reactor is sub-critical, so reaction will not go out of control. Half the battle has already been won. In Chernobyl they could not lower moderator rods (they got warped and stuck) so meltdown happened through runaway reaction. This will not be a Chernobyl
(4) VERY IMPORTANTLY, if all else fails, they can dump moderator into reactor and shut down all heat decay permanently. This will kill the reactor, but it will also remove all source of heat i.e. decay of fuel rods
Thing to watch is water level. There have been conflicting reports, and if water level went way down because enough could not get pumped in, fuel rods get exposed and temperature will spike causing all sorts of bad news. However, if they really believe water level was too low they would go for option 4.
What they are doing is to "turn down the thermostat on water heater to vacation mode" so reactor can be brought back up as fast as possible. THEY ARE NOT YET FIGHTING A MELTDOWN.
May God bless them.
Last edited by Y I Patel on 12 Mar 2011 12:14, edited 1 time in total.
Latest outdoor levels currently 50 micro Sieverts/hour.
Not high enough to worry about yet, but repeated venting is raising levels. Over time dispersion will bring them back down if more inventory does not get vented.
Hilary Clinton claims US supplied coolant for a water cooled reactor. WTF? If this were a Republican administration press would have pilloried her. But wait, this is the same press that is hyperventillating about a core meltdown. What scientific morons in the land that invented reactors. Nuclear bad karma.
RIP to people perished in Nature's fury. I remember being a student that Japanese were the first people to arrive with advanced rescue teams & equipments for help when a earthquake of similar proportion struck in Gujarat, 2001.
Explosion seen at Fukushima NPP No 1 . There has been reportedly some radiation leak . Narita airport has been closed indefinitely .
Tough times ahead. Good news is that all nations have come forward to help.
When the Indian Ocean tsunami struck, it flooded India's Kalpakkam nuclear plant, but the reactor core was maintained in safe shutdown condition. Japan faces a tough challenge.
I think the complicating factor in the current situation was the unprecedented strength of the earthquake that hit combined with the age of the plant. If it was 'only' a tsunami, perhaps things wouldn't be so bad.
