Japan Scrambles to Avert Meltdown at Second Crippled Nuclear Reactor

[nadinbrzezinski]

TOKYO — Japanese officials took the extraordinary step on Saturday of flooding a crippled nuclear reactor with seawater in a last-ditch effort to avoid a nuclear meltdown, as the nation grappled simultaneously with its worst nuclear accident and the aftermath of its largest recorded earthquake.



Source: International Nuclear Safety Center
An explosion occurred at the Daiichi nuclear power plant in northern Japan after the earthquake. More Photos »
On Sunday, they announced that the cooling system at a second reactor in the same aging plant had failed, forcing officials to release radioactive vapor into the atmosphere. At least 210,000 people were told to evacuate the areas.

The cooling systems at three other reactors at a second nuclear plant had also failed, officials said. While cooling might still be revived, if it could not, these reactors could also require emergency cooling, they said.

The developments — perhaps the worst involving a nuclear plant since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago — came as the nation struggled to recover from a devastating 8.9 magnitude quake on Friday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/world/asia/13nuclear.html?_r=1

Now they are asking 210,000 to evacuate...

Ah yes, things are just great!

I wonder just how far the exclusion zone will be when this is all said and done.

[JCMach1]

1. +1, the Truth will be the first victims in these accidents

We won't know for years what happened.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Actually in this case, due to the rads

we will. I wonder how long until the ruskies tell us how bad it is at the Kuriles and Vladivostoc... down wind.... Kuriles should be by today, later, and Vlad, by tomorow

[JCMach1]

6. Russians should have detectors as would US Navy in region

even if Japan's Gov. is not being straight about this. Of course will the Navy tell us?

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. But the russians will... something about an axe

and a grindstone.

[JCMach1]

9. Think you are right on that!

[ChiciB1]

2. I Think We're Getting The "BP" Version Of The Oil Spill As It Relates To

the nuclear after effects... OR NOT!! I wonder what the FINAL evaluation will be and just how much of it will be TRUTH!!

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Well reuters has a nice tape of technitians

breaking out the Geiger counters. trust me, those don't come out unless there is a release\leak what have you.

[ChiciB1]

10. I DO Realize That We Can "See" This Much More Clearly... Just Kind Of

weirded out by it all!

[roamer65]

5. Here's the top three accidents now.

1. Chernobyl
2. Fukushima Daiichi (and possibly Fukushima Daini)
3. Three Mile Island


For god's sake, Californians...don't let San Onofre or Diablo Canyon get on this list. Start pushing for their decomissioning.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Trust me San Onofre needs to go

sandy substrate on a fault... need I say more? At least these facilities were on hard rock

[JCMach1]

11. And we know how Overdue the San Andreas is :(

That's a worry as active as the Pacific basin has been the last 10yrs.

[roamer65]

13. With all this movement on the western Pacific plate...

the pressure on the San Andreas fault and Juan de Fuca subduction zone have to be amazingly high right now.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Didn't the Juan de Fuca go off during the Tsunami?

or have I gotten my zone confused?

[JCMach1]

18. The recent studies are pretty scary

...The last big earthquake the researchers say was in 1857, which is over 150 years ago. The trend for the Carrizo Plain portion of the San Andreas fault would have large ruptures occuring around every 45 to 144 years. The Carrizo Plain is located around 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Previous studies of the San Andreas fault estimated large earthquakes every 250 to 400 years, which the researchers say is not correct. The major earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault Line have produced 6.5 and 7.9 magnitude tremors.

UCI seismologist Lisa Grant Ludwig, principal investigator on the study said that the data "puts the exclamation point" for Southern California residents to be prepared for the big earthquake... http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=20100822_southern_california_earthquake_overdue_san_andreas_fault_line.htm

and

...A chronology of 1,000 years of earthquakes at the southern end of the San Andreas Fault nixes the idea that lake changes in the now-dry region caused past quakes. However, researchers say, the timeline pulled from sediment in three deep trenches confirms that this portion of the fault is long past the expected time for a major temblor that would strongly shake the Los Angeles Basin.
The new study, appearing in the February issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, doesn't change existing thinking about the threat of a major quake -- potentially measuring 7.0 to 8.0 on the Richter scale -- for southern California. It does, however, provide the first published documentation of much-discussed data that have emerged in the last three decades from an area that is now rapidly being built up and populated, just north of the Salton Sea... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110210122941.htm

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Oh lovely

More on the specific dangers of Fukushima 1 plant's reactor 3: The BBC's Chris Hogg in Tokyo says the reactor is fueled with uranium and plutonium, meaning the consequences of a meltdown are much more severe than at the other reactors.
comment by steveE edited by Shadia Ismail at 7:09 PM

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

[snappyturtle]

14. It just keeps getting worse. Just caught part of an interview by

Wolfie with a correspondent, Kenneth Cukier, in Japan. The correspondent said part of the commnuication problems may be due to translations of the inuendos of the Japanese language. He was frustrated and I sensed a bit angry that answers haven't been given with clarity. My over-all impression is the situation is very bad....and has been for more hours than we were aware of.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. The downplaying for multiple reasons

including preventing a panic... is kind of SOP...

But we knew things were getting interesting when SINA reported one thing, and Nagano refused to acknowledge it.

It could be wishful thinking... but this was a classic... left hand, right hand...

[HCE SuiGeneris]

16. Video of the first explosion....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzNdK_uKLBU&feature=player_profilepage