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Nuclear events taking place in Japan.

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Proud Mary

Wed Mar 30 2011, 10:54AM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

'Suicide squads' paid huge sums amid fresh fears for nuclear site

By David McNeill in Tokyo
The Independent
Wednesday, 30 March 2011

The radioactive core in one reactor at Fukushima's beleaguered nuclear power plant appeared to have melted through the bottom of its containment vessel, an expert warned yesterday, sparking fears that workers would not be able to save the reactor and that radioactive gases could soon be released into the atmosphere.

Richard Lahey, who was a head of reactor safety research at General Electric when the company installed the units at Fukushima, said the workers, who have been pumping water into the three reactors in an attempt to keep the fuel rods from melting, had effectively lost their battle. "The core has melted through the bottom of the pressure vessel in unit two, and at least some of it is down on the floor of the drywell," he said.

The damning analysis came as it emerged that workers at Japan's stricken nuclear plant are reportedly being offered huge sums to brave high radiation in an attempt to bring its overheated reactors under control. The plant's operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, is hoping to stop a spreading contamination crisis which could see another 130,000 people forced to leave their homes.

Radiation has already found its way into milk, vegetables and tap-water and is leaking into the sea around the complex. Government tests found yesterday that small quantities of plutonium, one of the world's most dangerous elements, have seeped into soil outside the plant.

State broadcaster NHK said underground tunnels linked to reactors 1, 2 and 3 are flooded with water containing radiation measured in some spots at a highly dangerous 1,000 millisieverts an hour. Workers in protective gear are shoring up the tunnel shafts with sandbags to stop the water â€“ which reportedly contains concentrations of long-lived caesium-137 â€“ from seeping into the sea about 55 to 70 metres away.

Japan's Nuclear Safety Agency said that the plutonium was "not at levels harmful to human health", but the government's top spokesman Yukio Edano called the situation "very grave", and confirmed fears that at least one reactor had suffered a partial meltdown.

The admission added to pressure on Prime Minister Naoto Kan to widen an exclusion zone around the plant, possibly forcing another 130,000 people to evacuate. Yesterday, a tired-looking Mr Kan faced withering criticism from opposition MPs, who called him "irresponsible" and "incompetent".

Engineers at the Fukushima Daiichi complex struggling to restart cooling systems for reactors are being hampered by the radiation and lack of electricity, forcing them to work in the dark and regularly withdraw.

Subcontractors to several companies connected to the plant have reportedly been offered 80,000 to 100,000 yen a day (Â£608 to Â£760) to join the operation, according to one former plant worker. The team of men inside the complex have been dubbed "samurai" and "suicide squads" in the popular press.

The company chief who disappeared from view

It has been a bad fortnight for Masataka Shimizu. Tepco's beleaguered president has watched the value of the utility giant plummet by $29 billion since 11 March after investors wiped over 70 per cent off its stock.

Its share price of 696 yen is the lowest it has been since 1977 as it battles to stop nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima. The company's problems have just turned existential now that the government has begun openly discussing nationalisation.

Mr Shimizu, 67, has been largely absent from public view since the crisis detonated, appearing briefly on 13 March to issue a boilerplate apology for "causing trouble", then disappearing totally on 16 March, reportedly suffering from overwork.

Rumours in the Japanese press suggest he has suffered a breakdown or even left the country. The Washington Post noted this week that he has been missing crucial appointments with leading politicians. Other reports say he has holed up in his office and refused to join a joint government-Tepco crisis management team.

According to the Asahi newspaper, prime minister Naoto Kan told Mr Shimizu in his office on 15 March that it was "ridiculous" for him to have left his post. In another now famous outburst, a frustrated Mr Kan shouted at Tepco executives demanding to know "what the hell is going on".

Most observers believe it is only a matter of time before Mr Shimizu steps down, leaving the company he took over two years ago a smouldering ruin.

GluD

Wed Mar 30 2011, 08:29PM

Registered Member #1221 Joined: Wed Jan 09 2008, 06:17PM
Location: Odense, Denmark
Posts: 196

Have you guys seen the nuclear boy cartoon from Japan?

Breakthrough

Thu Mar 31 2011, 12:03AM

Registered Member #3796 Joined: Tue Mar 29 2011, 11:18AM
Location:
Posts: 3

GluD wrote ...

Have you guys seen the nuclear boy cartoon from Japan?

LOL I like the music they play in the background :P At least they're trying to keep the people calm.

klugesmith

Thu Mar 31 2011, 01:32AM

Registered Member #2099 Joined: Wed Apr 29 2009, 12:22AM
Location: Los Altos, California
Posts: 1716

Have you guys seen the nuclear boy cartoon from Japan?

The same video was pointed out in this thread more than 12 days ago.
See page 4, Chris Russell, March 18, 12:00 UT.

It's understandable that latecomers would not be familiar with every detail previously posted.

GluD

Thu Mar 31 2011, 02:17PM

Registered Member #1221 Joined: Wed Jan 09 2008, 06:17PM
Location: Odense, Denmark
Posts: 196

oh I see, I saw it on a danish newsite yesterday and assumed it was something new

Proud Mary

Thu Mar 31 2011, 11:15PM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

Japan nuclear crisis: Fukushima 50 'expect to die'
Workers who have been fighting to bring the reactors under control at Japanâ€™s strick nuclear plant expect to die from radiation sickness, according to the mother of one of the men.

By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo
The Telegraph
31st March 2011

The so-called Fukushima 50, the group of around 300 technicians, soldiers and firemen who work in shifts of 50, have been exposed repeatedly to dangerously high radioactive levels as they attempt to avert a nuclear disaster.

The mother of one of the men has admitted that the group have discussed their situation and have accepted that death is a strong possibility.

â€œMy son and his colleagues have discussed it at length and they have committed themselves to die if necessary in the long-term.â€

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, said the world needed international safety standards on nuclear power by the end of the year as fears surrounding the extent of radiation leaks in Japan continued to grow.

Mr Sarkozy, on the first trip by a foreign leader to Japan since the devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11, said he would call a meeting of the G20's nuclear power watchdogs to discuss safety regulations. "We must address this anomaly that there are no international safety norms for nuclear matters ... We need international safety standards before the end of the year."

The French president's proposal comes only days after Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, cast doubt over the future of nuclear energy due to the potentially high costs required to standardise safety.

Insisting that no more public funds would be made available, he said: "We cannot let the taxpayer be ripped off, which is what they always have been in the past."

Japan was on Thursday continuing its struggle to regain control over crucial cooling systems at four damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Fears over potential leaks from the plant in north-eastern Japan escalated after radioactive iodine was found in nearby seawater that is 4,385 times the legal limit. Radioactive contamination in groundwater underneath reactor No 2 has been measured at 10,000 times the government health standard.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said radioactivity safety limits had been exceeded as far as 25 miles away and urged the government to re-examine its exclusion zone in which residents are banned. Spot tests conducted by the watchdog at Iitate village, 25 miles northwest of Fukushima, showed readings twice as high as levels at which the agency recommends evacuation. But Naoto Kan, the prime minister, said there were no plans to extend the zone from the current 12 miles, affecting 70,000 residents There is a further "stay indoors" policy for a further 130,000 people who live up to 19 miles away.

Meanwhile, Japan asked trading partners at the World Trade Organisation not to "overact" by unnecessarily restricting the import of food produce.

A growing number of international food companies are shunning Japanese products amid fears of contamination, despite government assurances of safety.

Nearly three weeks have passed since the disaster, which left 27,000 killed or missing, a quarter of a million homeless and critical damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Forecast as the world's costliest natural disaster, the government is estimated to require over Â£75 billion in emergency budgets to cover costs for disaster relief and the biggest reconstruction project since the end of the second world war.

Criticism of Tokyo Electric Power, operator of the nuclear plant, has continued to mount following stiff government reprimands for earlier miscalculations of radiation figures. Yesterday, there were claims that the company's disaster contingency plans were far from adequate, according to documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

Designed to deal with only small-scale accidents, there were reportedly no details on drafting firefighters from Tokyo, the use of military resources or the borrowing of US equipment â€“ all of which have been part of the company's crisis response.

Adam Munich

Thu Mar 31 2011, 11:49PM

Registered Member #2893 Joined: Tue Jun 01 2010, 09:25PM
Location: Cali-forn. i. a.
Posts: 2242

I heard Sean Hannity talk about that. These are the kind of people that should be idolized; not justin beiber and similar idiots.

klugesmith

Fri Apr 01 2011, 12:30AM

Registered Member #2099 Joined: Wed Apr 29 2009, 12:22AM
Location: Los Altos, California
Posts: 1716

I heard Sean Hannity talk about that. These are the kind of people that should be idolized; not justin beiber and similar idiots.

You have got to be kidding! Sean Hannity is like Glenn Beck: a professional entertainer hired by Fox news to attract and engage many stupid or lazy listeners, so the advertising time is more valuable. My gripe is not with the political slant, it is that they usually argue at an incredibly primitive level. (my impression from the few minutes I've listened).

Adam Munich

Fri Apr 01 2011, 12:40AM

Registered Member #2893 Joined: Tue Jun 01 2010, 09:25PM
Location: Cali-forn. i. a.
Posts: 2242

I was referring to the fukushima 50...

Patrick

Sat Apr 02 2011, 01:47AM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

with Uranium (III) Hydride being pyrophoric, can the addition of water to the hot fuel rods cuase its generation in the spent fuel ponds? it appears to be insoluble in water, so says the Merck Chemical index.. Would this be yet another potetial heat source?

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