Official: Japan nuke plant pool at or near boiling

[kristopher]

Official: Japan nuke plant pool at or near boiling

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
The Associated Press

TOKYO — A Japanese nuclear safety official says a pool for storing spent fuel at the crippled nuclear plant is heating up, with temperatures around the boiling point.

Nuclear safety agency official Hidehiko Nishiyama told reporters Tuesday that the high temperatures in the spent fuel pool are believed to be the cause of steam that has wafted from Fukushima Dai-ichi's Unit 2 since Monday.

The hot storage pool is another complication in bringing the plant under control and ending a nuclear crisis that followed the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeast coast.

If water in the pool bubbles away and exposes fuel rods, more radiation would be thrown off.

÷ ÷ THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. ÷

http://www.ajc.com/business/official-japan-nuke-plant-880587.html

[Art_from_Ark]

1. Ah, that could explain why radiation levels have been rising

in my area.

http://rcwww.kek.jp/norm/

[Kablooie]

3. My brother in law's family lives in Chiba, 80 miles from the reactor.

Not too far from Tsukuba.

[Art_from_Ark]

4. I bet they're getting freaked out by all these aftershocks

I sure am.

[Art_from_Ark]

12. There was an earthquake off the Chiba coast

just a few minutes ago. This makes the 5th quake off the eastern Chiba coast today. And 7 occurred around the Fukushima Hamadori area in just an hour. This is unreal.

[kristopher]

5. How long have you been there?

Are you with the university?

[Art_from_Ark]

6. I've been here for, what, 18 years?

I was originally associated with the university.

[kristopher]

8. Sugoina...

I'm an old Jochi boy.

I left in 95 after Kobe. I can't imagine what you've gone through but know that our hearts are with you all.

PS. I've heard that early spring is a good time to visit Rikyuu...

[flamingdem]

9. So you are in Japan

Please keep us updated!

[Art_from_Ark]

11. Several aftershocks centered around Fukushima Hamadori

(near the nukes) have occurred. Here is a list (in Japanese) of recent earthquakes. The top 7 (most recent) have all been centered in the Hamadori area of Fukushima, near the reactors, and have occurred within the course of an hour. Three of these quakes have had a maximum Japanese seismic intensity of 5-upper, meaning that they can cause damage.

Damn. This is getting weird.

http://typhoon.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/earthquake/

[kristopher]

14. "Damn. This is getting weird."

You are given to understatement aren't you?
Would it help if you had a place off the island to go?

[Art_from_Ark]

15. Thanks for your concern

At this time, if worse comes to worst, I have at least three options for evacuating this area, if it comes to that. I don't know how effective they would be if everyone tries to leave at once, though.

Continuing the weirdness, last night there was another large earthquake near the nukes. This morning, there was a fairly strong earthquake near my house. And there was even a minor earthquake in the Hyogoken-nanseibu area this morning as well

[xchrom]

2. Recommend

[jpak]

7. The thermal images from that plant did not look good - there is a major heat source in there

not that anyone will tell us what it is....

[flamingdem]

10. I agree. Yesterday it was just the pro-nuke crowd claiming those hot spots

were at an acceptable temperature.

Of course there is no way to know that, and no explanation for the hot spots.

[noneisthenumber]

13. Reputable Sources For US Radiation Levels

Are there any? Links please.