Fukushima unit 2 & 4 in new crisis – no cooling + a NEW FIRE there(??)

30 03 2012

Barely a whisper in the news today as TEPCO completely fails to control radiation at Fukushima Daiichi –

The rapidly changing news is at ENE-News

There are just inches of water left in unit 2 and 4 is ready to blow. Massive amounts of radiation are pouring directly into the sea nearby. Many speculate the exposed fuel is burning through the floor and interacting with the wet ground below.

Archive PHOTOS of damaged unit 4 from Cryptome

IS THIS A NEW FIRE ? ? ?

We took this screengrab from the LIVE CAM just now, at 10:54 am.m. EST –

  CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE

The  #1   Arrow shows a new fire             

The  #2   Arrow shows the usual bonfire

The RADIATION MAP shows  77  88 Sv/H near the coast


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URGENT: Fukushima – Melted Nuclear Fuel Corium About to Burst Containment (+updates)

2 12 2011

from Radioactive Chat

Melted Nuclear Fuel Corium Soon Outside Containment at Fukushima Reactor Units

New reports coming out saying that all of the nuclear fuel at reactor unit 1 have melted and broken the bottom of the steel pressure vessel inside the reactor. The corium (melted nuclear fuel) is now on the bottom of the concrete below and is eating it’s way down further and soon it will reach the containment vessel steel that is the last defence before completely outside.

Reports say that not only is this happening in reactor unit 1 but also in Unit’s 2 and 3. In the light of this it has again shown the seriousness of the Fukushima Disaster. . .  ( more + graphics)

http://radioactivechat.blogspot.com/2011/11/melted-nuclear-fuel-corium-soon-outside.html

Shamelessly, NHK poo-poos the danger –

Fukushima I Nuke Plant Reactor 1: TEPCO and NHK’s Obfuscation on Corium in the Concrete

Thanks to Ex-SKF for the translation – F.C.

UPDATES

“Fukushima Falling Apart”

 Cryptome has [in PDF format] the IAEA final report on Fukushima

Fukushima Radiation Risks ‘Severely Underestimated’ – 

Greenpeace says ” . . .   simulation maps of potential accidents at Japan’s nuclear plants – used in the development of nuclear emergency response efforts – “are completely inadequate, and have not been updated since the Fukushima disaster.”

On this story –  Nuclear Experts: “We have to be prepared for the worst case scenario”

 starspire says:

I don’t know anything about this nuclear situation, but it seems to me that, if Mr. Gunderson’s modeling is correct, that a huge explosion occuring when the fuel hits the water table would do the following:

1) Expel a quantity of radioactivity that could substantially reduce life in the Northern Hemisphere

2) Poison the entire acquifer in Japan and so the Country would be uninhabitable, crashing the third largest economy

3) Creat a giant radioactive Tsunami that could hit the West Coast of the US and Mexico.

Maybe I am wrong. There are no scenarios posted anywhere that I am able to find online. Are there any websites that post worse-case scenarios? The Russians built a barrier, and all of the guys became really sick or died. This is probably why no one wants to build a barrier in Fukushima.

Dec. 5:

The concern over the weird ratio of I131 & Cs137 at Fukushima

TEPCO’s Massive Lies in Interim Report  from Ex-SKF

68 Ton Nuclear Fuel Likely Melted at No. 1 Reactor Unit Corium Eroding Concrete China Syndrome


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Prestigious doctor: US nuclear ‘Baby valley of death,’ Millions to die

20 06 2011

 Dr. Mark Sircus bearer of tragic radiation news

Sunday, the prestigious Doctor Mark Sircus released a new report concurring with a host of scientists and other doctors giving evidence that people of Japan and United States have been subjected to dangerous levels of radiation since Fukushima nuclear plant meltdowns, and also subjected to a tight cover-up by authorities and media, the result of which will be millions of baby deaths and new cancer victims. Japanese and American children are already suffering with symptoms that appear to be the first signs of Radiation Sickness.

“Finally, three months later, we are getting some numbers on what the real dangers are. And finally we can begin to understand the enormous cover-up of the nuclear doom that is reaching lungs all over the west coast of America, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii and at least half of Japan!” stated Dr. Mark Sircus. . . .  (more)

http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/prestigious-doctor-japan-us-nuclear-valley-of-death

 

video  – 

http://youtu.be/1gFz-nRlnLQ 


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Japan’s 5 serious mistakes in Fukushima

22 03 2011

From International Business Times:

After more than a week of utter mayhem and terrible fear about an impending disaster, there was good news finally from Japan — engineers successfully restored electricity to the cooling systems at the Fukushima reactors over the weekend, averting further blasts and the escape of dangerous radioactive elements.

There has been worldwide appreciation for the way Japan worked diligently to prevent a disastrous meltdown while extreme adulation was reserved for the nuclear workers who put their lives in danger, kamikaze style, trying to fix the damaged reactors at the Fukushima plant.

However, scores of experts have pointed to various avoidable slips and lapses that worsened the crisis in the first place.

The following are some such safety lacunae pointed out by award-winning journalist Keith Harmon Snow in his lengthy article in Global Research: Snow, a GE engineer-turned war correspondent who also worked as a United Nations genocide investigator, calls these security failures as ‘nuclear stupidities’.

MISTAKE NO. 1 – The Fukushima reactor buildings are square, not circular, and had to absorb the force of the tsunami wave straight on. Japan sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the most seismic-prone region of the world where a massive quake can result in devastating tsunamis. Snow also points out that six reactors were clustered too close together at Fukushima, potentially complicating the dimensions of any disaster. Also, the reactors were built on earthquake fault lines.

MISTAKE NO. 2. – No shoreline protection was built to act as barrier against a tsunami. He points out that the nuclear crisis was the creation of an off-site power outage that cut off electricity to the plant, resulting in the failure of the crucial cooling system. Had there been better protection to the power backup facilities, the disaster wouldn’t have happened at all.MISTAKE NO. 3 – Snow also holds responsible some of the false assumptions and calculations made before the construction of the reactors, according to which the plant could withstand anything that nature threw at it. Separately, there have been reports saying that the reactors’ capability to withstand earthquakes was assessed only thrice in 35 years.

MISTAKE NO. 4.

Spent fuel pools were packed too tightly, as is well-established by industry documents, for economic reasons, discarding safety concerns, Snow says. He also notes that the spent fuel pools at the six Fukushima reactors were not inside primary containment, but exposed.

MISTAKE NO. 5. The spent fuel pools at Fukushima are suspended up high inside the reactor buildings secondary containment — the same buildings whose roofs are blowing off. He says this about the magnitude of radiation risk from spent fuel rods: “The atomic bomb that exploded at Hiroshima created about 2000 curies of radioactivity. The spent fuel pools at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant (U.S.) are said to hold about 75 million curies. There are six spent fuel pools at Fukushima, but the numbers of tons of fuel rods in each have not been made public.”


http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/124916/20110321/japan-fukushima-mistakes-nuclear-fuel-rods-reactor-tsunami.htm


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Nuke Disaster in Japan, Updates

12 03 2011

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.


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