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03-21-2011, 05:52 PM
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reports -
03-22-2011, 01:35 AM
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TOKYO, March 22, Kyodo Work to restore power and key cooling functions to the troubled reactors at the quake-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was marred Monday by smoke that rose from the buildings housing the No. 2 and No. 3 reactors, the plant operator said. Tokyo Electric Power Co. and the government's nuclear safety agency said operations to revive power systems and spray massive coolant water onto overheating spent nuclear fuel pools will likely resume Tuesday after the utility observes the situation at the site. TEPCO said it had briefly evacuated its workers after grayish and blackish smoke was seen at the southeast of the No. 3 reactor building around 3:55 p.m. above a pool storing spent nuclear fuel, though a blast was not heard. The smoke stopped after 6 p.m., but TEPCO subsequently found that white smoke was rising through a crack in the roof of the building that houses the No. 2 reactor at around 6:20 p.m. The utility said later the smoke was believed to be steam, not from the reactor's core or spent fuel pool. Firefighters and the Self-Defense Forces will prepare for the resumption of water-dousing operations Tuesday morning, the agency said. Three trucks with a concrete squeeze pump and a 50-meter arm provided by private firms will join the mission to pour water from a higher point. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said no injuries were confirmed in the incidents. Radiation levels at the plant briefly increased after white smoke was detected from the No. 2 reactor, but later fell. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a press conference that ''no problems had arisen'' with regard to the reactors and radiation levels after the smoke was detected. Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the nuclear safety agency, said the causes of the smoke billowing from the No. 2 and No. 3 reactor buildings remain unknown and that the originally scheduled work to revive power and cooling systems at the troubled reactors will be delayed by one day. As the No. 3 reactor remains without power, smoke was not apparently triggered by an electricity leak or short-circuiting, Nishiyama said. Following a magnitude 9.0 quake and ensuing tsunami on March 11, the cooling functions failed at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors and their cores are believed to have partially melted. At present, coolant water is being pumped into the three reactors and the pools for spent nuclear fuel rods at the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 units. The roofs and upper walls of the buildings that house the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 reactors have been blown away by hydrogen explosions. Before the smoke was detected, external power had reached the power-receiving facilities of the No. 2 and No. 5 reactors on Sunday, clearing the way for the plant operator to restore systems to monitor radiation levels and other data, light the control rooms and cool down the reactors and their spent-fuel storage pools. On Monday, TEPCO finished laying cables to transmit electricity to the No. 4 reactor, as a step toward resuscitating the power systems at the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors, according to the utility and the nuclear agency. The plant operator was also trying to restore a ventilation system to filter radioactive substances from the air and some measuring equipment at the control room of the No. 2 reactor, but this mission remained uncompleted due to the temporary evacuation. The restoration of some functions at the control room would help improve working conditions, according to the nuclear agency. It may take more time before the vital cooling system is restored at the No. 2 reactor, the containment vessel of which suffered damage to its pressure-suppression chamber, as some replacement parts are needed for the electrical system, the agency added. In Vienna on Monday, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano told a special meeting of its board of governors that the situation at the Fukushima plant ''remains serious, but we are starting to see some positive developments.'' Amano, who made an emergency trip to Japan last week, said the IAEA will ''continue to do everything in its power to help Japan to overcome'' the crisis at the power station on the Pacific coast of Fukushima Prefecture, around 220 kilometers northeast of Tokyo. To facilitate the water-spraying operations at the plant, the government is also preparing SDF tanks to remove rubble emitting high-level radiation from around the reactors. Japan's nuclear agency, meanwhile, said one of seven workers who were injured following a March 14 hydrogen explosion at the No. 3 reactor was found to have been exposed to radiation amounting to over 150 millisievert per hour. The level is lower than the maximum limit of 250 millisievert per hour set by the health ministry for workers tackling the emergency at the Fukushima plant. TEPCO and the nuclear agency said the height of a tsunami that submerged key functions at the Fukushima plant is believed to have reached 14 meters, much higher than the 5.7 meters that the utility had factored in before the disaster struck the power station. ==Kyodo
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radiation control -
03-22-2011, 02:16 AM
URGENT: Radiation 1,600 times normal level 20 km from Fukushima plant: IAEA
VIENNA, March 22, Kyodo Radiation 1,600 times higher than normal levels has been detected in an area about 20 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, International Atomic Energy Agency officials said Monday. Data collected by an IAEA team show that radiation levels of 161 microsievert per hour have been detected in the town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, the officials said. The government has set an exclusion zone covering areas within a 20-km radius of the plant and has urged people within 20 to 30 km to stay indoors. ==Kyodo
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Alternative Donation Outlet -
03-22-2011, 02:50 AM
I've read some posts on this board and other spots on the Internet about doubts about their country's Red Cross or like charitable organization. Google seems to be cutting out the middle man and helping you donate directly to Red Cross of Japan. Also Google Japan is also suggesting Peace Winds as alternative donation site. If you click on an alternative language other then Japanese you will be shown other possible outlets along with the Red Cross of Japan. If another language besides Japanese is chosen, Peace Winds is no longer found. I imagine this is due to the lack of immediate international translation assistance that may arise with international transactions.
LINK: 東日本大震災（東北地方太平洋沖地震） Bank Credit Card exchange rate fees will be included if your credit line is not yen (though this may depend on the issuing bank). If you reside in the US I also imagine Charitable deductions will not be tax deductible as you will now be giving to a foreign organization, but I may be incorrect. This is simply an alternative for those who may have doubts about the organization they are donating too and are hesitating as a result of this. World News organizations are now stating the dead and missing will most likely rise to 21,000. This is simply meant as alternative. I have no doubt that a donation of any size will help the recovery and the immediate need for help.
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current status -
03-22-2011, 11:16 AM
Status of Fukushima nuclear power plants Tuesday evening
TOKYO, March 22, Kyodo The following is the known status as of Tuesday evening of each of the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and the four reactors at the Fukushima Daini plant, both in Fukushima Prefecture, which were crippled by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11. Fukushima Daiichi plant -- Reactor No. 1 (Operation suspended after quake) Partial melting of core, cooling failure, vapor vented, building housing containment of reactor damaged by hydrogen explosion, roof blown off, seawater being pumped in, work to restore electric power in progress. -- Reactor No. 2 (Operation suspended after quake) Damage to reactor containment structure feared, cooling failure, seawater being pumped in, fuel rods fully exposed temporarily, vapor vented, building housing containment of reactor damaged by blast at adjacent reactor No. 3, blast heard near suppression chamber of containment vessel, seawater pumped into pool holding spent-fuel rods on Sunday, access to external power restored Sunday, steam seen rising Monday. -- Reactor No. 3 (Operation suspended after quake) Partial melting of core feared, cooling failure, vapor vented, seawater being pumped in, building housing containment of reactor badly damaged by hydrogen explosion, seawater dumped over spent-fuel storage pool by helicopter Thursday, water sprayed at it from ground for six days through Tuesday, workers forced to evacuate on Monday due to grayish smoke seen billowing from roof. -- Reactor No. 4 (Under maintenance when quake struck) No fuel rods in reactor core, renewed nuclear chain reaction feared at spent-fuel storage pool, fire at building housing containment of reactor, only frame remains of reactor building roof, temperature in the pool reached 84 C on March 14, water sprayed at pool for three days through Tuesday. -- Reactor No. 5 (Under maintenance when quake struck) Some fuel rods left in reactor core, cooling in spent-fuel storage pool resumed Saturday, cold shutdown at reactor on Sunday, access to external power restored, power source switched to external power from emergency power on Monday. -- Reactor No. 6 (Under maintenance when quake struck) Some fuel rods left in reactor core, emergency power generator and cooling functions restored Saturday, cold shutdown at reactor on Sunday. Fukushima Daini plant -- Reactors No. 1, 2, 3, 4 (Operation suspended after quake) Cold shutdown, not under emergency status. ==Kyodo
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radioactive contamination -
03-23-2011, 01:02 AM
Over-limit radioactive materials found in 11 Fukushima vegetables
TOKYO, March 23, Kyodo Radioactive materials drastically exceeding legal limits set under the food sanitation law have been found in 11 types of vegetable grown in Fukushima Prefecture, including broccoli and cabbage, the health ministry said Wednesday. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry called on consumers not to eat the 11 vegetables, also including spinach and the ''komatsuna'' leaf vegetable, produced in the prefecture, where a troubled nuclear power plant is located, for the time being. The prefecture's vegetables grown in open-air environments are being distributed by the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, or JA Zen-Noh. No shipments of these vegetables have been made since Monday, it said. If a person eats 100 grams of the vegetable with the largest detected amount of radioactive materials for about 10 days, it would be equal to ingesting half the amount of radiation a person typically receives from the natural environment in a year, the ministry said. If a person keeps eating the vegetable at the same pace, the amount of radiation intake could exceed the amount deemed safe, the ministry said. The ministry detected radioactive cesium that is 164 times the limit -- 82,000 becquerels -- in ''kukitachina'' leaves from Motomiya, along with 15,000 becquerels of radioactive iodine which is more than seven times the limit, it said. The ministry also detected a level of cesium drastically exceeding the limit in some of the other vegetables, it said. Kyodo news
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Jah Rastafaaari. Yeah pasta for life
