Abnormality Reported at Fukushima Nuclear Plant

[Hissyspit]

Source: Kyodo News

URGENT: Abnormality reported at Fukushima nuclear plant
TOKYO, March 11, Kyodo

The operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant reported an abnormality Friday following a powerful earthquake which hit a wide area in northeastern Japan including Fukushima Prefecture, the industry ministry said.

The system to cool reactor cores in case of emergency stopped at the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors of the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., it said.

Read more: http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/76585.html

[Abq_Sarah]

1. That was the plant

With the emergency shut down?

[truedelphi]

2. There are currently four or five plants that have

Had to shut down due to the emergency.

The initial report was that no nuclear plants were suffering any loss of containment.

Apparently that statement was a bit premature.

[Abq_Sarah]

3. All I can find is tweets

Saying everything from: all is well to the end is near.

[JVS]

21. There isn't a contradiction between no loss of containment and shutting down due to cooling problems

Containment has to do with releasing radiation. If the cooling system was damaged by the quake, shutting down is the step taken to prevent the loss of containment.

[truedelphi]

29. I understand that. I should have said that at the time

the initial statement was made, the statement was that Four nuclear plants were shut down, with no loss of containment reported among any of them.

Sorry for the ambiguity. Post was made after 1Am Calif time, and I had been up since 6 Am.

[Hissyspit]

4. Local Media: Fire at Tohoku Nuclear Plant; Gov't Declared Nuclear Power Emergency Situation

@LHNetwork
LaRon Hickman
ALERT>> Local Media: Fire at Tohoku Elec Onagawa Nuclear Plant Government declared a nuclear power emergency situation

http://twitter.com/#!/LHNetwork/status/46145646201278466

[dipsydoodle]

5. On live tv news coverage

their PM said no issues there.

[jannyk]

6. Live Interview on BBCWorld now - "no electricity - can't pump coolant

- emergency shutdown initiated - but can't pump coolant. We can't pump the water..."

I didn't like the way he kept saying that.

[mirror wall]

8. That looks bad even in text. But what I saw at Reuters looked okish.

No leaking and no damage yet.

Japan said on Friday a cooling function at Tokyo Electric Power's (9501.T) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was not working after a major earthquake but that it was trying to get backup power for cooling.

The government has declared an emergency situation as a precaution but there was no radioactive leakage and no damage from the cooling problem was expected at this stage, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference. (Reporting by Chisa Fujioka and Risa Maeda; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/11/japan-quake-reactor-idUSTFD00666420110311

[jannyk]

9. From what I remember from the movies - there's no 'leakage' until

the 'core' gets overheated from lack of coolant. It has to reach critical mass - no?

That Japanese official that did the interview on BBC, looked terrified. Now either he is camera shy, or there is a 'real' problem

[davepc]

12. A meltdown is not a nuclear explosion.

It's impossible for the core to explode like an A-bomb.

The problem is that the core is still very hot, and that heat has to go somewhere. If you can't pump in coolant then the heat will increase and the containment vessel will fracture (usually this is accompanied by some sort of fire/explosion). The fire/explosion toss radiative material out into the environment.

That's what happened at Chernobyl.

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. It gets hot, it does not generate an explosion

it breaches containment due to the heat.

[Turborama]

7. Al Jazeera English reporting on it (Video)

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x561738

[riverwalker]

10. this is not good

Update: There's no evidence of any radioactive leakage, but officials have confirmed that the cooling process for the nuclear plant has not yet gone according to plan.

Update 2: Japan has declared a nuclear emergency.

Update 3: 2000 residents near the Fukushima Nuclear Plant have been urged to evacuate.

Update 4: According to reports, Japanese jets have been ordered to fly over the Fukushima Nuclear plant.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-nuclear-plant-2011-3#ixzz1GIpqoV00

[apnu]

11. What are the jets going to do? Bomb the plant?

How would that help?

That doesn't make any sense to me.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[IScreamSundays]

13. Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant under state of emergency after quake

Source: guardian

The Japanese government has declared a state of emergency at a nuclear power station after its cooling system failed in Friday's devastating earthquake. The prime minister, Naoto Kan, said that there had been no reports of radiation leaks at any of the country's nuclear facilities.

The chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano, said the measure was a precaution and the Fukushima No 1 power plant was not in immediate danger.

The plant had shut down but there was a mechanical failure in the reactor cooling system after a power failure. The reactor core remains hot and still needs cooling even after it is shut down.

"We launched the measure so we can be fully prepared for the worst scenario," said Edano. "We are using all our might to deal with the situation."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/11/japan-declares-nuclear-emergency-quake

---

I have read that they are starting to evacuate thousands

[KittyWampus]

14. Just posted this in GD. Hope it ends up being not that big a deal and just precaution

[jannyk]

15. Dupe - this was posted in LBN a few hours ago

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4765273

and several threads in GD too - look back a few hors for all the 'China Syndrome' references.

[Dogmudgeon]

16. Shut down safely already

Now, why would they want to evacuate people from an earthquake disaster zone with thousands of gas main breaks other than the threat of immanent ... NUCULAR DEATH!

:eyes:

--d!

[PaDUer]

24. Residents ordered to evacuate after Japan nuke plant..........

<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42025882/>

Move comes after state of emergency declared at two nuclear facilities

* Cooling system failed at Fukushima No. 1 plant after quake
* Fire reported at Onagawa nuclear facility


I hate to say this, but I hope the people get far from here fast..

[closeupready]

18. Well, it's not like it was a bad idea to build a nuclear power plant in an earthquake zone.

:eyes:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

19. Which is why I have always fought like hell --

to keep any more from popping up here in CA. Nuke plants and quakes just do not mix. Give me solar, wind, and geothermal out here.

[closeupready]

20. +1000.

nt

[Auntie Bush]

23. That's what I wondered. How the

HELL did they ever build nuclear plants in an earthquake area? I guess if they don't have any other source of electricity for all those millions of people. They just have to take a chance, cross their fingers, and do a lot of praying. Hope they are doing that now.

[CJvR]

22. Those useless...

...emergency generators that just stand in a corner costing money and are never ever used...

[nalnn]

25. I just heard

From a guy here in the office that the U.S. Air Force has delivered more coolant for the plant.

Here, I found one story referencing it: U.S. delivers coolant to Japan nuclear plant: Clinton

[Uncle Joe]

26. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Hissyspit.

[Kennah]

27. Abnormality?

This doesn't exactly sound like just another 4 leafed clover.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/japanese-earthquake-stokes-nuclear-fears-damaged-power-plants/story?id=13114181

Officials declared a state of emergency today at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant when its cooling system failed to function properly and pressure rose after the nuclear reactor lost power and automatically shut down.
...
"We have to take this very seriously," author and physicist Dr. Michio Kaku said. "Every nuclear power plant has two layers of defense, first the brakes; second, you dump cold water on it. And that apparently has malfunctioned. That's what causing concern.

"It does not mean we have a runaway accident, but it is cause for concern because this is not supposed to happen," he said.