Can I get a summary of all the nuclear reactors having troubles in Japan

[Electric Monk]

and the extent of the problem at each?

I'm getting a bit confused by the various scattershot reports.

Also, I've heard Japan has 55 nuclear sites, but does that mean 55 power plants each (some?) with multiple reactors, or 55 reactors total?

Yes, I've tried googling, with mixed results. That's part of the reason for my confusion.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

1. Status of quake-stricken reactors at Fukushima nuclear power plants

Fukushima No. 1

-- Reactor No. 1 - Cooling failure, partial melting of core, vapor vented, hydrogen explosion, seawater pumped in.

-- Reactor No. 2 - Cooling failure, seawater pumped in, fuel rods fully exposed temporarily, vapor vented, damage to containment system, potential meltdown feared.

-- Reactor No. 3 - Cooling failure, partial melting of core feared, vapor vented, seawater pumped in, hydrogen explosion, high-level radiation measured nearby.

-- Reactor No. 4 - Under maintenance when quake struck, fire caused possibly by hydrogen explosion at pool holding spent fuel rods, pool water level feared receding.

-- Reactor No. 5 - Under maintenance when quake struck, temperature slightly rising at spent fuel pool.

-- Reactor No. 6 - Under maintenance when quake struck, temperature slightly rising at spent fuel pool.


More info at link: http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/78335.html

[Electric Monk]

2. Thank you. nt

[Rabblevox]

3. Try these:

Overview of Nuclear power in Japan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_Japan

Breaking News:

World Nuclear News:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/

NHK World:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

Japan Times:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news.html

[Electric Monk]

4. Thank you. nt

[stockholmer]

5. some info, including the MOX factor in Unit 3 at Fukushima Dai-Ichi,as well as potassium iodide info

All 6 units at Fukushima Dai-Ichi were either built or designed by GE

Units 1, 2, and 6 were GE-built, Units 3 and 5 were Toshiba-built, GE-designed, and Unit 4 was Hitachi-built, GE-designed.

Units 1,2,3,4,and 5 have the 'light bulb torus' Mark 1 GE containment system (the weakest type), and Unit 6 has the 'over/under' Mark 2 GE containment system.

All 6 reactors at Fukushima Dai-Ichi are now in various states of meltdown and/or systemic cooling/containment failure, the two to watch most closely are Unit 2 (probable pooling-floor vessel breach) and Unit 3, due to the plutonium/uranium MOX fuel (this is one of only 2 MOX fueled reactors in Japan). All but Unit 6 are the weakest type (Mark 1) of GE containment systems. Unit 6 is Mark 2.

If 1 or more of the units has a vessel floor breach,the world will get large varying dispersement doses of radiation. The super-reactive pile of fuel pellets will congeal into a nuclear fire-fueled mass, and bore into the containment building floor, then continue boring into the earth, until it hits the water table. At this point, the water is instantly turned into a super-charged radioactive steam jet that will blow upwards with such force that it shoot through the borehole, then the building and up into the atmosphere at jet stream level.

This will be dispersed world wide, and the radiation levels will be extreme. A nuclear steam kettle, if you will.

The true nightmare is if the floor breach occurs in Unit 3 (the MOX plutonium/uranium fueled one), as not only will the force of meltdown be greater but the deadly plutonium will increase the radioactivity by exponential levels. And if any of this plutonium, even at infinitesimal levels, gets into a person, they are a dead man/woman/child walking.
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With all this a distinct possibility, I cannot blame anyone anywhere for buying potassium iodide tablets.

Those who don't prepare, when the reaper of misfortune happens to beat the odds and pays a visit of this potential level, usually die. We here in the Nordic got a pretty high dose from Chernobyl in 1986, and that was not a floor breach, and certainly was not MOX-fueled.

The bad thing is that KI tablets only protect your thyroid from radioactive iodine, nothing else in terms of other types of radioactive material, no other parts/organs of your body, and most definitely not plutonium.

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Edano Press Conference - Reactors #5 and #6 Now Heating up - Cooling Failure Due to Power Loss

Edano announced that power is not functioning on cooling pumps for the pools in reactors in Units 5 and 6. Both units are filled with spent fuel (far more harmful in case of meltdown due to increased isotope levels) and other radioactive materials. They are preparing for hydrogen-caused blasts of 5 and 6.

Over 11,000msv detected at front gate earlier. He called this a lifetimes worth of Radiation in one hours time.

He also said temp have been rising in both units as well. They have just now started trying to ascertain a way to keep Units 5 and 6 cool, as their previous focus was on the other 4 units.

http://yokosonews.com/live / (english trans)

http://cpswire.com/ie/live-video-streams.html