bulmercke 56 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Kyodo News: Radiation twice the maximum seen so far detected at nuke plant Monday: TEPCO Fuel rods fully exposed again as of 11 p.m. 00:42 15 March 2011 JST Isn't this a big problem? Fully exposed rods? I keep watching for a post from you guys..... Isn't 11pm very recent? The posting times confuse me. This is a huge - huge - problem. Sorry for sounding alarmist but that's how I see the situation now. Link to post Share on other sites
Lopburi99 34 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 I think our experts JFC, elcent and others have gone to get some sleep. Sure miss not getting their step by step take on things especially now that the crap may be ready to hit the fan.... Link to post Share on other sites
jfchandler 18 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 I'm going to bed now... remember...I'm on Thailand time... Yes...exposed rods are a huge problem.. No cooling means the reactor casing enclosing the fuel rods begins to melt and potentially expose the nuclear fuel, which can fall out of the enclosure and start doing all kinds of bad things... The reactor no. 2 reactor rods were totally uncovered two different times Monday...including one time for at least two hours.... And those babies get HOT!!!!! Worst case scenario in that kind of situation is an explosion caused by the melting fuel...the impact of which could spread the contamination far and wide....if it's not contained by the reactor's external enclosure... But that's the doomsday stuff... Not there... hopefully ever...and certainly not yet. That's why it's so crucial the Japanese keep those reactors cooled down at least until the fission process subsides.' Link to post Share on other sites
balo 12,644 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 No cooling means disaster for Japan and the world. The next 24 hours will be very important. Lets pray. Link to post Share on other sites
Jdietz 1,117 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 (edited) Explosion heard at Daiichi reactor #2 around 08:05. That'll be the third one, as expected. Edited March 14, 2011 by Jdietz Link to post Share on other sites
Lopburi99 34 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 (edited) Breaking news. Explosion at unit #2! Glad Jdietz is up. I know he'll keep us informed. Thank you sir. Edited March 14, 2011 by Lopburi99 Link to post Share on other sites
Jdietz 1,117 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 (edited) Explosion at the Daiichi #2 plant. This one seems to be a bit more serious though, as it seems to have happened within the outer containing vessel (the structure between the steel reactor vat and the outer building) Streaming on NHK world: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/ - Right after the explosion a radiation level of 965.5 μSv was reported, now lowered to 882.7μSv. Still reasonably low levels. - Plant operators not directly involved in this operation are being evacuated to prevent long-term exposure. - Wind direction at the plant is NNE shifting to N - Suppression pool (the donut-shaped structure at the very bottom of the reactor) may have been damaged, which may lead to contaminated water leaking into the environment. Edited March 14, 2011 by Jdietz Link to post Share on other sites
Jdietz 1,117 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 The explosion apparently took place in the torus at the bottom of the reactor, inside the containment structure, but outside the steel reactor vat. Link to post Share on other sites
Jdietz 1,117 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 (edited) - Water level before and after the explosion constant at 2700mm exposed (means the fuel rods are still partially under water and nothing seems to be leaking out right now) - Around 50 staff remain on site, rest is evacuated. Edited March 14, 2011 by Jdietz Link to post Share on other sites
canuckamuck 30,512 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Holy Fukishima! Link to post Share on other sites
Jdietz 1,117 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 (edited) Status update Daiichi #2 reactor: - Water injection is still continuing - Damage to structure not confirmed, though pressure dropped, water level constant. Only really known fact is the sound of an explosion - No significant change in the reactors parameters after the explosion Status update Daiichi #3 reactor: - Steam-like substance is accumulating in the top of the reactor, unknown consistence. Status update Daiichi #4 reactor: - Temperature dropped below 100C, and is now in cold shutdown Meteorological data at the site is unavailable since the quake Northerly wind reported at MET site 50km south Current radiation level at the site border: 871uSv/hour Translator seems to have some problems with radiation units, looks like the earlier numbers are correct. After the blast at #2 the pressure in the suppression chamber went down from 3 atmosphere to 1, indicating some kind of damage. Edited March 15, 2011 by Jdietz Link to post Share on other sites
LaoPo 343 Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 New Blast Reported at Nuclear Plant as Japan Struggles to Cool Reactor By HIROKO TABUCHI, KEITH BRADSHER and MATT WALD Published: March 14, 2011 TOKYO — An explosion early Tuesday morning may have damaged the inner steel containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, leading to the wide release of radioactive materials there and forcing the evacuation of some emergency workers, the plant's operator said. The blast appeared to be different — and more severe — than those that at two other troubled reactor at the same nuclear complex because this one, reported to have occurred at 6:14 a.m., happened in the "pressure suppression room" in the cooling area of the reactor, raising the possibility to damage to the reactor's containment vessel. Any damage to the steel containment vessel of a nuclear reactor is considered critical because it raises the prospect of an uncontrolled release of radioactive material and full meltdown of the nuclear fuel inside. To date, even during the four-day crisis in Japan that amounts to the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, workers had managed to avoid a breach of a containment vessel and had limited releases of radioactive steam to relatively low levels. Details of what happened remain unclear, with executives of Tokyo Electric Power, the plant's operator, giving only preliminary reports of damage to the suppression pool but declining to provide a full explanation of what that meant. But the new blast came after emergency operations to pump seawater into the same reactor failed, leaving the nuclear fuel in that reactor dangerously exposed late Monday into early Tuesday morning. Continues: http://www.nytimes.c...tml?_r=1&emc=na LaoPo Link to post Share on other sites
Jdietz 1,117 Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 (edited) An extra pump vehicle is on the way to reactor #2 to help cool it, will arrive this morning. This seems to be the latest real radiation information: The radiation level at the troubled nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture shot up to 8,217 micro sievert per hour temporarily Tuesday morning after an explosion was heard at its No. 2 reactor, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. Perspective: natural background radiation exposes people to about 0.35 micro Sievert per hour. cosmic radiation during commercial flight exposes fliers to about 10 micro Sievert per hour. After the incident the numbers dropped off again quickly. 965.5 uSv at 7am 882.7 uSv at 8am 387.3 uSv now. Edited March 15, 2011 by Jdietz Link to post Share on other sites
Jdietz 1,117 Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 As the situation seems not to be worsening now, I'm going to have a shower and breakfast, I'll keep monitoring the situation. Link to post Share on other sites
jfchandler 18 Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Jdietz... thanks for providing the morning updates here while I was blissfully sleeping... Please do, however, provide the source and links for that kind of info, so everyone knows the source/sources it's coming from. That's SOP. A-OK! As the situation seems not to be worsening now, I'm going to have a shower and breakfast, I'll keep monitoring the situation. Link to post Share on other sites
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