Japan: Earthquake, Tsunami + Nuclear Disasters

[The PIT]

Doesn't look like they considered the possible effects of Tsunami hitting the plant and effecting the back up generators. Authorities playing it down no doubt too prevent panic like the UK Gov did with Chernobyl.

[grab my graupel]

I'm finding watching the results of this terrible disaster quite painful viewing to be honest. I can't begin to imagine what these poor people are going through right now.

[HighPressure]

I am no nuclear expert but if a containment building goes up in a bang then further containment is not going to happen. If that reactor is not being cooled the reactor melts down, and as it went bang because of a lack of cooling its very unlikely its being cooled now?

The fear has to be for the over 4 reactors suffering from the same problem as there is nothing coming from the authorities to suggest exactly the same thing will not happen to them?

We are looking at a significant Nuclear disaster and its sure to re ignite the nuclear debate?

I am surprised that they do not have enough in the way of mobile generation to adaquately supply cooling in an emergency situation ???

Edited March 12, 2011 by HighPressure

[The PIT]

You look at the pictures and wonder where they're going too start. Street after street blocked by debris even if the houses have managed too stay intact. Aftershocks still on going which won't help.

I am no nuclear expert but if a containment building goes up in a bang then further containment is not going to happen. If that reactor is not being cooled the reactor melts down, and as it went bang because of a lack of cooling its very unlikely its being cooled now?

The fear has to be for the over 4 reactors suffering from the same problem as there is nothing coming from the authorities to suggest exactly the same thing will not happen to them?

We are looking at a significant Nuclear disaster and its sure to re ignite the nuclear debate?

Well the longer it goes on the better as the heat from the natural decay will start too fall. So the next few hours are very important. Either the way the debate will be reignited.

[Konstantinos]

Is possible radiation come to Europe, or isn't?

[The PIT]

Population been treated for radiation. No leak mmmmmm sounds like they're not telling the full story.

[PersianPaladin]

Is possible radiation come to Europe, or isn't?

Radiation levels have been dropping outside the reactor, according to reports. The Japanese authorities have stated that the back-up cooling system has failed and are going to deploy sea-water to keep the reactor temperature as low as possible.

As far as radiation reaching Europe....even if all the radiation was released; then Europe would not be affected significantly. I suspect that it would mostly deposit over the oceans.

Edited March 12, 2011 by PersianPaladin

[Barbmac]

From what I understand, the reactor rods have to be kept cooled by water at all costs until they cool right down and that could be several days. Even if they use sea water to do it. If the rods become exposed due to the coolant evaporating and not enough being available, that's when they will really be in trouble and there could be larger explosions and much more contamination. So fingers crossed they can keep the cooling going on.

[Barbmac]

BBC news has just reported another earthquake around magnitude 6 has just hit the Fukushima region. Not going terribly well for them, one has to say.

Edited to add:

Magnitude5.8 Date-Time

• Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 12:53:50 UTC
• Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 10:53:50 PM at epicenter
• Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location37.754°N, 143.573°E Depth19.2 km (11.9 miles) RegionOFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN Distances242 km (150 miles) ESE of Sendai, Honshu, Japan

250 km (155 miles) ENE of Iwaki, Honshu, Japan

273 km (169 miles) E of Fukushima, Honshu, Japan

410 km (254 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan

Location Uncertaintyhorizontal +/- 15.4 km (9.6 miles); depth +/- 0.5 km (0.3 miles) ParametersNST=380, Nph=385, Dmin=475.3 km, Rmss=0.64 sec, Gp= 50°,

M-type=body wave magnitude (Mb), Version=A Source

• USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event IDusc00020m9 Edited March 12, 2011 by Barbmac

[grab my graupel]

BBC news has just reported another earthquake around magnitude 6 has just hit the Fukushima region. Not going terribly well for them, one has to say.

That's awful news. It's such a terrible situtation

[Barbmac]

It's this one, a 6.4 magnitude:

Magnitude6.4 Date-Time

• Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 13:15:41 UTC
• Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 10:15:41 PM at epicenter

Location37.261°N, 141.175°E Depth37.5 km (23.3 miles) RegionNEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN Distances

• 33 km (20 miles) NE (48°) from Iwaki, Honshu, Japan
• 82 km (51 miles) SE (130°) from Fukushima, Honshu, Japan
• 113 km (70 miles) SSE (167°) from Sendai, Honshu, Japan
• 218 km (136 miles) NE (35°) from TOKYO, Japan

Location Uncertaintyhorizontal +/- 16.8 km (10.4 miles); depth +/- 0.9 km (0.6 miles) ParametersNST=366, Nph=374, Dmin=476.4 km, Rmss=0.49 sec, Gp= 50°,

M-type="moment" magnitude from initial P wave (tsuboi method) (Mi/Mwp), Version=8

[Optimus Prime]

Another earthquake has hit the Nuclear power plant.

[Wilxy]

The plates must be so unstable at the moment hope the aftershocks will die down otherwise they may only make things worse.

[Barbmac]

Apparently (according to one expert interviewed on the BBC) aftershocks can go up to as high as one magnitude below the original quake (which would be pretty disastrous) and go on for many weeks after the original. Must be incredibly difficult for all concerned. He also said tsunamis could occur with quakes over mag 7.0.

[Coast]

Population been treated for radiation. No leak mmmmmm sounds like they're not telling the full story.

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.

Radiation levels have fallen since the explosion and there is no immediate danger, Edano said. But authorities were nevertheless expanding the evacuation to include a radius of 20 kilometers (about 12.5 miles) around the plant. The evacuation previously reached out to 10 kilometers. The explosion about 3:30 p.m. Saturday sent white smoke rising above the plant a day after a massive earthquake and tsunami crippled cooling systems at the plant in northeastern Japan. Four workers were injured in the blast.

The walls of a concrete building surrounding the reactor container collapsed, but the reactor and its containment system were not damaged in the explosion, Edano said

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

Edano said the radiation around the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant had not risen after the blast, but had in fact decreased. He did not say why that was so. "The pressure in the reactor was also decreasing after the blast," he said.

The explosion was preceded by a puff of white smoke that gathered intensity until it became a huge cloud enveloping the entire facility, located in Fukushima, 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Iwaki. After the explosion, the walls of the building crumbled, leaving only a skeletal metal frame.

Tokyo Power Electric Co., the utility that runs the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, said four workers suffered fractures and bruises and were being treated at a hospital.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/japan-nuclear-reactor-intact-after-post-tsunami-blast-1.348742

Apparently (according to one expert interviewed on the BBC) aftershocks can go up to as high as one magnitude below the original quake (which would be pretty disastrous) and go on for many weeks after the original. Must be incredibly difficult for all concerned. He also said tsunamis could occur with quakes over mag 7.0.

A powerful 6.8 magnitude aftershock hit the east coast of Japan on Saturday, according to the USGS, following a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake which rocked Japan on Friday afternoon. At least 14 aftershocks, from 5-6.8 magnitude, hit off Japan's east coast on Saturday

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article1531315.ece?homepage=true

and as if this wasn't enough, how about this report:

As the task of rescuing survivors moves into top gear, scientists and geologists are struggling to comprehend the scale and impact of Friday's earthquake that destroyed large areas of northern Japan. The 8.9-magnitude earthquake shifted the Earth's rotation axis by about 25 centimetres, which could literally change time.

Only after centuries would a second be lost as each day is shortened by a millionth of a second, according to University of Toronto geology professor Andrew Miall. ''Ten inches [25 centimetres] sounds like quite a lot when you hold a ruler in front of you. But if you think of it in terms of the Earth as a whole, it's absolutely tiny; it's minute,'' he said.

''It's going to make minute changes to the length of a day. It could make very, very tiny changes to the tilt of the Earth, which affects the seasons, but these effects are so small, it'd take very precise satellite navigation to pick it up,'' Mr Miall said. According to NASA, the redistribution of the Earth's mass would cause the rotation of our planet to increase speed by about 1.6 microseconds. A microsecond is one-millionth of a second.

Meanwhile, Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Dr David Jepsen warned that northern Japan would experience aftershocks that could last months. ''Typically the aftershocks will decrease in magnitude, but they could peak to a magnitude 7,'' he said. The region has already experienced more than 100 magnitude-5 aftershocks, nearly 20 magnitude-6 aftershocks and one magnitude-7 aftershock. He said Japan straddles the ''Ring of Fire'', an arc that stretches across the Pacific Ocean, and is home to most of the world's earthquakes.

''The one certainty is that there will be more earthquakes in this region and probably another one as big as this,'' Dr Jepsen said

http://www.smh.com.au/world/quake-shifted-rotation-of-the-earth-20110312-1bsbb.html

[Barbmac]

Kyodo News reports that: "About 9500 people are unaccounted for in the town of Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture following Friday's powerful earthquake, prefectural officials said Saturday. The figure is more than half of the population of about 17000 ...

latest developments

[Snowangel-MK]

1305: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Japanese authorities are making preparations to distribute iodine to residents in the area of both the Fukushima nuclear plants.

1330: A magnitude 6 earthquake hit Fukushima at 2215 (1315GMT) on Saturday, Japan's NHK reports.

1349: A team from the National Institute of Radiological Sciences has been despatched to Fukushima as a precaution, reports NHK. It is reportedly made up of doctors, nurses and other individuals with expertise in dealing with radiation exposure, and has been taken by helicopter to a base 5km from the nuclear plant.

1443: Kyodo News: The four workers injured in the blast at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant are conscious and their injuries are not life-threatening.

1459: At least three residents evacuated from a town near quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 plant have been exposed to radiation, both Kyodo and NHK report

(@BBCBreaking on Twitter)

Edited March 12, 2011 by MKsnowangel

[Love Snow]

Found this on youtube the Earth Cracking...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6K6JcAB9T0

[Just Before Dawn]

I am no nuclear expert but if a containment building goes up in a bang then further containment is not going to happen. If that reactor is not being cooled the reactor melts down, and as it went bang because of a lack of cooling its very unlikely its being cooled now?

Depends what type of design the reactor is - most nuclear reactors have upper and lower biological shields designed to seal the reactor in the event of an explosion in the core, which may have happened in this instance - though we won't know that yet. If the plant is venting radioactive Iodine 131 (and if the Japanese are handing out Iodine, then that would be my guess) then, rather than Chernobyl, the better comparison would be Three Mile Island. It's early days yet though.

[AtlanticFlamethrower]

Nuclear fallout map

http://www.youtube.com/user/unclewooly#p/u/1/PcWTIUKWn34

Massive Chernobyl event underway.

Get this news out to as many Americans and Canadians as possible. Potassium iodide is taken as a defense against some forms of radiation poisoning.

Media has been caught in a contradiction so could be in the process of a cover up until the plant is under-control. It's worrying that it's not yet under control.

Edited March 12, 2011 by AtlanticFlamethrower

[Just Before Dawn]

The continuing and increasing efforts to evacuate people from around the Fukishima plant (140,000 and rising, with the evacuation zone increased to 10 km) is indeed alarming.

[AtlanticFlamethrower]

Okay, this probably sounds dumb. Could you stop the reactor by dropping a large bomb on it?

What would be more scary than this? The other four reactors next to it, popping one by one.

[Jason T]

EPIC events for Japan,This will go into the history books. They are no where near the end i reckon, these after shocks could really cause even bigger problems if that Nuclear Plant is leaking. Those poor poor people.

[Just Before Dawn]

Okay, this probably sounds dumb. Could you stop the reactor by dropping a large bomb on it?

What would be more scary than this? The other four reactors next to it, popping one by one.

Like we bombed the Torrey Canyon to burn off the oil spill? It's not a dumb question at all - the Soviets considered doing precisely that at Chernobyl, with the aim of collapsing the building on top of the reactor and creating, by explosion, what they subsequently did by civil engineering - encasing the reactor in concrete. They discounted it in the end because they couldn't guarantee completely entombing the reactor - I guess this would be the same situation. If the core isn't cooled, there's not much anyone can do except flood the core with vast amounts of water and venting the highly irradiated core with a constant flow of sea water - Like running the cold tap over a burn - the outcome would be vast amounts of highly contaminated seawater, but that's better than an uncontrolled reaction in the reactor core.

Reuters now reporting that the emergency cooling procedures at the Fukishima No 3 reactor have failed.

This is starting to look very serious. Most countries with civillian nuclear power stations have had emergency situations, but none, as far as I know, have ever had to manage so many at one time. I'd be astonished if the Japanese have enough specialist equipment and specially trained staff to deal with these events at the same time.

Edited March 12, 2011 by Just Before Dawn

[Crepuscular Ray]

If it's not a funny question why on Earth did they build nuclear reactors that near to the most active geological fault on the planet?

Evacuation zone has already been 20 km since about lunchtime our time.

"Okay, this probably sounds dumb. Could you stop the reactor by dropping a large bomb on it?" - Only if you wanted to increase the amount of radioactivity released and spread it over a much wider area. Best not.

Edited March 12, 2011 by crepuscular ray