JAIF: Earthquake Report No. 37

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1301486904P.pdf

Earthquake Report — JAIF

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We have been reporting a status of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station by summarizing news aired by NHK, which is Japanese national broadcasting company. We regard it as most credible news among many news sources and I am happy to say that NHK’s English website has gotten enriched and now you can see movies and English scripts at http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/society.html.
Given this situation, we decide to simply place these scripts as it is for the record in case that it will be deleted from the website later, rather than summarizing news as we did.

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No. 37

Today’s NHK news regarding status of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station as of 21:00 on March 30

• Kaieda urges safety steps at other nuclear plants
  Japan's industry minister has urged power companies across the country to secure emergency energy sources for their nuclear power stations.
  Banri Kaieda told reporters on Wednesday that the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant was due to a failure to secure emergency electricity and a loss of cooling systems at the reactors.
  Kaieda urged utility companies to secure mobile generators as a source of emergency power that can safely cool nuclear reactors, and to ensure water-supply routes for fire engines.
  He demanded that the companies confirm emergency steps and conduct drills within a month, or stop operating their nuclear power plants.
  Kaieda added that putting an immediate end to operations at nuclear power plants is out of the question, because Japan relies on them for about 30 percent of its electricity.
  NHK has learned that 90 percent of the 15 nuclear power stations nationwide, excluding the 2 quake-hit plants in Fukushima, have decided to introduce new emergency power generators, including mobile generators.
  Some utilities have already conducted simulations for cooling procedures based on a scenario in which emergency generators have failed to work at their nuclear reactors.
  Wednesday, March 30, 2011 16:57 +0900 (JST)


• TEPCO halts work to remove radioactive water
  The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has suspended work to move highly radioactive water from the basement of the turbine building into the turbine condenser at the No. 1 reactor.
  Tokyo Electric Power Company suspended the operation on Tuesday morning after the condenser became full of water.
  The work began on Thursday after water in the basement of the turbine building was found to contain radiation about 10,000 times higher than would normally be found inside an operating nuclear reactor.
  The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says the water is now about 20 centimeters deep, half the initial level.
  TEPCO is studying a plan to move water from a tunnel outside the turbine building into an on-site waste disposal facility with a capacity of more than 25,000 tons.
  The water contains radioactive substances, and its level is only 10 centimeters below the top of the tunnel.
  TEPCO also planned to move highly radioactive water from the basements of the turbine buildings of the No. 2 and No. 3 reactors into turbine condensers with a capacity of 3,000 tons each. But both condensers turned out to be full.
  Plant workers are now using pumps that can draw 10 to 25 tons of water per hour to move water from the condensers' storage tanks into other tanks. They then hope to move water inside the condensers into the storage tanks and fill the condensers with the highly radioactive water from the basements.
  Wednesday, March 30, 2011 16:37 +0900 (JST)


• Air may be leaking from reactors No. 2 and 3
  Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says air may be leaking from the No 2 and No 3 reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
  The agency was responding at a news conference on Wednesday to speculation that low pressure inside the 2 reactors was due to possible damage to the reactors' pressure vessels.
  It said some of their data show pressure is low, but there is no indication of large cracks or holes in the reactor vessels.
  The agency said fluctuations in temperature and pressure are highly likely to have weakened valves, pipes and openings under the reactors where the control rods are inserted.
  Wednesday, March 30, 2011 15:15 +0900 (JST)


• Radioactive elements in No.1 reactor tunnel
  Japanese nuclear safety officials say radioactive iodine and cesium have been found in water at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant coming from a tunnel outside the turbine building of the No.1 reactor.
  The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says the levels of radioactive substances detected are low, at one-to-ten percent of those occurring in an operating nuclear reactor.
  The agency says the type of radioactive substances found in the water in the tunnel indicates some relation to the contaminated water in the basement of the No.1 reactor turbine building. It says the water in the tunnel will not be released into the sea.
  Wednesday, March 30, 2011 12:57 +0900 (JST)


• High radiation levels in waters off Fukushima
  The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says radioactive iodine in excess of 3,300 times the national limit was found in seawater near the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Tuesday afternoon. This was the highest measured in waters off the plant.
  The level of radioactive iodine-131 found 330 meters south of a water outlet of the plant was 3,355 times regulated standards at 1:55 PM on Tuesday.
  The outlet is used to drain water from the plant's No. 1 to No. 4 reactors.
  Radioactive iodine-131 measured 50 meters north of the water outlet of the No. 5 and No. 6 reactors was 1,262 times the regulated standards at 2:10 PM on Tuesday.
  This was also the highest reading at this location.
  An agency official told reporters on Wednesday morning that people in a 20-kilometer radius area from the troubled plant have been ordered to evacuate and the radioactive substance will be significantly diluted in the ocean by the time people consume marine products. The official added that efforts need to be made to prevent the contaminated water from flowing into the sea.
  Airborne radiation levels continue to decline in most prefectures, including Fukushima and nearby Ibaraki.
  Municipalities measured the radiation levels between 00:00 AM and 9:00 AM on Wednesday.
  Wednesday, March 30, 2011 12:23 +0900 (JST)


• Aerial photos reveal Fukushima plant damage
  Aerial photographs of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant show the scope of the devastation caused by tsunami and hydrogen explosions.
  NHK obtained the high resolution photos taken from an unmanned plane on March 20th and 24th. An aerial survey firm in Niigata Prefecture, Air Photo Service, took them at the request of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company.
  One photo shows a large hole on the roof of the turbine building of the No.3 reactor. It was apparently created when debris hit the roof in a hydrogen explosion.
  Part of a pipe is missing between the reactor building and an exhaust stack.
  Heavy oil tanks were swept away from the pier by the tsunami and drifted 150 meters westward, blocking a road for vehicles needed for restoration work.
  Containers and passenger cars are piled up at the foot of a hill to the west of the No.4 reactor.
  Another photo shows pump trucks connected by hoses in a line that stretches from the pier to the first four reactors.
  Wednesday, March 30, 2011 08:48 +0900 (JST)


• Radiation levels falling in waters off Fukushima
  The science ministry says levels of radiation in seawater near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant are on the decline.
  The ministry has been collecting seawater samples at 4 locations 30 kilometers off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture since March 23rd. The locations were at intervals of 20 kilometers from north to south.
  The ministry started the research after waters near the plant's drain outlets were found to be contaminated with a high density of radioactive substances.
  The ministry said 1.5 to 3.9 becquerels of radioactive cesium-137 per liter were found in seawater samples taken on Sunday. The amounts represent 1,000 to 2,600 times the levels measured in the same area 2 years ago.
  But the current levels are only one-fifth to one-tenth of those detected on March 23rd.
  The density of radioactive iodine-131 is also decreasing. It now stands at 5.4 to 15 becquerels per liter.
  The ministry said radiation density in the seawater is higher than normal, but it is declining.
  Cesium-137 is said to remain in the environment for a longer time than other substances as it takes roughly 30 years to lose half of its radioactive intensity.
  The Marine Ecology Research Institute says cesium-137 will not be directly absorbed into fish through gills but some species can accumulate the element by eating plankton and smaller fish.
  It's believed that through this process, the density of cesium in fish can increase 10 to 100 times the level in the seawater.
  It usually takes some time for radioactive material to be detected in fish after it flows into the sea. In many cases, such substances are found in flatfish and Japanese seaperch 2 to 3 months after a confirmed leak into the sea.
  However, unlike mercury, such elements are eliminated from fish in several weeks.
  Wednesday, March 30, 2011 06:25 +0900 (JST)

End

[DCKit]

1. In order to beat the Nnewcuelur apologists to it....

in my mind, this is all good news.

They will hold the line, and it will never get worse. Until it does.