L A T E S T [ Mar. 14]

Second reactor building explodes

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3163897.htm

and

Fuel rods fully exposed at tsunami – hit reactor in Fukushima

The fuel rods in one of Japan’s damaged nuclear reactors have been temporarily fully exposed from their coolant, raising the risk of overheating and a meltdown.

A spokesman at the Fukushima plant said today that Unit 2’s rods were briefly exposed.

Sea water was being channelled into the reactor to cover the rods again.

Unit 2 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant is the latest reactor to lose its ability to cool down.

The other two reactors at the plant are facing a meltdown and authorities are racing to cool them with sea water. . . (more)

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/fuel-rods-fully-exposed-at-tsunami-hit-reactor-in-fukushima-15113711.html

WikiLeaks: Japan warned over nuke plants

Japan was warned more than two years ago by the international nuclear watchdog that its nuclear power plants were not capable of withstanding powerful earthquakes, leaked diplomatic cables reveal.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8384059/Japan-earthquake-Japan-warned-over-nuclear-plants-WikiLeaks-cables-show.html

______________from Mar. 12:_______________

The officials in Japan and the energy-cozy media seem to be minimizing the radiation leak(s) at Japanese atomic reactors.

CNN says:

An explosion at an earthquake-damaged nuclear plant was not caused by damage to the nuclear reactor but by a pumping system that failed as crews tried to bring the reactor’s temperature down, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Saturday.

The next step for workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant will be to flood the reactor containment structure with sea water to bring the reactor’s temperature down to safe levels, he said. The effort is expected to take two days.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.nuclear/

They call it a “concern” not a meltdown. Nothing to look at here. Move along.

But Nature.com says:

Two Japanese nuclear power stations are struggling to contain damage from a major earthquake and tsunami, in what could become be the worst nuclear incident since the catastrophic Chernobyl accident of 1986.

http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2011/03/explosion_rocks_nuclear_plant.html

and they say they are giving out iodine pills.

and  Xinhua says:

Radiation is leaking from the Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant in northeast Japan, after its reactors were disabled by Friday’s massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami, Japanese officials confirmed Saturday.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-03/12/c_13775056.htm

and  The Daily Yomiuri says:

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Saturday afternoon that a nuclear meltdown was suspected at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant’s No. 1 reactor.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20110312dy01.htm

World Nuclear News says:

Battle to stabilise earthquake reactors

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_reactors_1203111.html

You decide for yourself if this disaster is being contained. It doesn’t look like it is.

Also CNN is reporting “Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet; shifted Earth’s axis” (! ! ! )

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.earthquake.tsunami.earth/index.html

Lots more constantly updated on the web.

U P D A T E

US Nuclear Experts Worry About Possible Japan Reactor Meltdown

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/US-Nuclear-Experts-Worry-About-Possible-Japan-Reactor-Meltdown-117863244.html

“. . . . Nuclear energy analyst Robert Alvarez of the Institute for Policy Studies says there are many things we do not know about the failure, including whether the containment structure is fully intact. “The information that has been made public, particularly by the Japanese nuclear safety authorities, certainly indicate that radioactive elements from the fuel itself have escaped and entered the environment. And even if the reactor maintains its integrity, there’s a possibility that things like open relief valves on the top of the reactor and things like that may still release large amounts of radioactivity,” he said.

Ken Bergeron, a physicist who formerly worked for Sandia National Laboratories, says a so-called station blackout – which involves the loss of both off-site electricity and on-site backup power from diesel generators – is viewed in the nuclear industry as extremely unlikely. But he says it happened.

“So we’re in uncharted territory. We’re in the land where probability says we shouldn’t be. And we’re hoping that all of the barriers to release of radioactivity will not fail,” he said. “

BBC & CNN are now taking the meltdown possibility seriously – F. C.