Earthquake in Japan

[spackle]

;D I had to Google Putzmeister. It's a German company... that explains everything. Here's a quote from their company history...

"1963 - New name: "Putzmeister" - for master plastering."

"Putz" in German actually means plaster. Go figure.

[caucasoididiot]

I haven't really been following any mainstream sources beyond NPR, so I'm not entirely sure what's already well reported. Things do seem fairly stable at this point. They are getting the temperatures down in units 1 & 2, and probably 3, but they're not entirely trusting their instrumentation there.

Some initial work has been done spraying resin around the site to trap contaminants that might get dispersed by the wind, but the biggest concern just now is leakage of contaminated water from unit 2 to the sea. They're pretty sure that there's some kind of path from the reactor to the turbine building and from there to the outside trench. A crack in that trench is allowing leakage to the sea. An attempt to plug it with concrete failed, and now plans are to inject a polymer sealant.

There is only one drinking water caution still in place. The contamination level is actually below the recommended cautionary level for infants, but the local authorities are taking a "better safe than sorry" approach and leaving it in place for the moment.

It's sort of a juggling act right now, having to continue injecting water for cooling but with the concern of overwhelming available storage for the contaminated water. Tepco is planning a pretty elaborate onsite treatment and storage system. The situation is very much one of wait and see now, and resolution will be a matter of weeks, perhaps months.

There is still a potential nasty surprise in the works if, as this analyst speculates, a reactor vessel has actually been breached. In a nutshell, his concern is that a compact blob of melted core on the concrete floor of the containment building might insulate itself and remain hot enough to slowly melt its way through, thus resulting in a delayed large release. Other analyses I've read speculated that if the vessel were breached the molten core material might initially leak out around the control rod access points. That would at least distribute it more evenly and make make cooling more effective.

Let me stress that there is nothing strongly suggesting that these things are happening, but neither can they presently be ruled out and probably represent the present worst case scenario.

spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/energy/nuclear/nuclear-risk-expert-fukushimas-fuel-could-still-seep-out

spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/energy/nuclear/nuclear-engineer-says-theres-evidence-fuel-melted-through-reactor-pressure-vessel

In a side note, my wife is now worried that there must be something to all these scary reports from the Western media and is beginning to suspect that the Japanese media isn't being straight with her. Thank you, Fox, CNN, The Daily Mail, et al. That's just what the situation needed.

[caucasoididiot]

I was out running errands when yesterday's aftershock was reported, and by the time I got back it seemed like things were well enough reported not to need anything from me. Listening to the reportage today though, maybe some clarification wouldn't hurt.

Firstly, a major aftershock has been, for me, a greater worry than the Fukushima plant for some time. All in all, damage seems to have been mercifully light for a quake of that size. Sadly, Fuji News is now reporting two dead and 141 injured, in addition to which there were widespread blackouts and isolated fires.

As to the nuclear plants, I've just checked the technical sites and this event still looks like a footnote to me. The Onagawa plant temporarily lost cooling in its spent fuel pool but quickly restored it, and spillage from that pool (apparently due to sloshing) is only 3.8 litres.

www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_New_earthquake_disrupts_grid_power_0704111.html


Here's another story on the continuing cleanup at Fukushima Daiichi. Edano's statements on rebuilding the region along model community lines are interesting:

www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-Mega-Float_readies_for_service_at_Fukushima-0704117.html

[caucasoididiot]

Well, the Japanese have raised their INES rating of Fukushima to 7, indicating "A major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects requiring implementation of planned and extended countermeasures". This was prompted by the latest estimates of total radioactive release, now estimated as some 10% of that at Chernobyl. The good news is that Japanese authorities have handled the situation far better from the start, on top of which the only hot spot on land remains Iitate village.

Here's WNN's article on it:

www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Fukushima_moved_to_Level_7_1204111.html

[mrcleveland]

I wonder if George W Bush and Bill Clinton will visit Japan?

[caucasoididiot]

Doubt it.

Reactors 1~3 not yet in cold shutdown, but cooler every day.

[caucasoididiot]

I haven't been updating this thread for some time, not because the situation hasn't continued to develop but because the media has largely seemed to stop puffing it.

The quick thumbnail sketch is that work continues on the site, and while it will be some months before the damaged units can be brought to a completely safe condition it's hard to imagine things worsening in any significant way. Releases are presently miniscule compared to those in the initial days of the incident, and the isotope of greatest concern (Iodine-131) has decayed to less than 1% of its initial activity. All drinking water restrictions are now lifted, as are food restrictions outside the immediate area of the release. Electrical capacity remains an issue in Eastern Japan, especially with the hot summer months coming. This is exacerbated by the fact that Eastern and Western Japan are on 60Hz and 50Hz systems respectively, making it difficult to meet the Eastern load with the excess Western capacity. Those interested in greater detail can find it through the links in my sig line.



But what prompted me to bump this thread was an item in World Nuclear News, quoted here in full:

Bieber 'mans-up' to face radiation
Thousands of Japanese teenagers were this month celebrating the courage of Canadian singer Justin Bieber after he kept dates to perform in Osaka and Tokyo. TMZ reported the trip was in jeopardy after a 'mutiny' by his crew, who refused to fly to Japan noting that both Avril Lavigne and Slash had cancelled gigs on fears of radiation and further earthquakes. However, band manager Scooter Braun eventually demanded they 'man up and do the right thing by these kids', responding that Maroon 5 were not afraid.


Mmmm . . . how to respond to this? Now, were these gigs up in Tohoku, where the infrastructure was badly damaged, cancellations might have been unavoidable, but we're speaking of Tokyo and Osaka. Let's see what IAEA has to say about radiation levels there:

Gamma dose rates are measured daily in all 47 prefectures. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan reports values on the basis of data collected from each prefecture. On 18 May the value of gamma dose rate reported for Fukushima prefecture was 1.6 µSv/h. In all other prefectures, reported gamma dose rates were below 0.1 µSv/h, with a general decreasing trend.

Just for reference, 0.1 µSv/hour is typical background in Denver. Guess we'd better close it as a venue. Note also that the exposure rate in an airliner at 39,000' is about 5 µSv/hour. Take the train!

So, while I don't want to overblow the kudos to Mr. Bieber and company of "manning up" to an imaginary threat, credit where it's due for reality-checking, vis-a-vis radiation.


Now, I suppose the fear of aftershocks is as real as it ever was, but it seems pretty craven to cancel a tour on that basis. I bought a ticket to Narita the other day. Do I get a medal? A cut of the gate receipts?

I mean, what could happen?