Japan holds the line in nuclear plant crisis

[nadinbrzezinski]

Tokyo (CNN) -- Efforts to cool one of the reactors at a quake-damaged Japanese nuclear power plant have been "somewhat effective" since authorities turned helicopters, fire trucks and police water cannon on the facility, its owner said early Friday.

Japanese military helicopters dumped tons of water on the No. 3 reactor housing, including its spent fuel pool, at the Fukushima Daiichi plant until after midnight Thursday, the Tokyo Electric Power Company reported. Earlier, fire and police trucks turned their hoses on the No. 3 reactor housing for more than an hour, TEPCO reported, and the subsequent steam and lowered radioactivity levels indicated progress.

Experts believe that boiling steam rising from that pool, which contains at least partially exposed fuel rods, may be releasing radiation into the atmosphere.

In Vienna, Austria, a senior official of the International Atomic Energy Agency told reporters the situation remains serious, but there had been "no significant worsening" Thursday.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/17/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html?hpt=C1

Now THIS is good news...

[cali]

1. recced

[hlthe2b]

2. Some very welcome news.... n/t

[fishwax]

we'll take what good news we can get :)

:kick:

[Bonobo]

3. K&R

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. More good news

7:24 p.m. ET Thursday, 8:24 a.m. Friday in Tokyo] The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says engineers have gotten an emergency diesel generator for Unit 6 running to supply energy to Units 5 and 6 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Water injection to the spent fuel pool is continuing.

<6:01 p.m. ET Thursday, 7:01 a.m. Friday in Tokyo> Heightened radiation screening on flights arriving in the United States from Japan has triggered several low-level alerts. An American Airlines plane that arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport from Tokyo on Wednesday created a blip on equipment being used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to screen inbound flights for radioactivity.

cnn blog

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/17/japan-quake-live-blog-obama-pledges-u-s-support/

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

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

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

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

[Cronus Protagonist]

5. I certainly don't believe that headline

Even the body of the text indicates radioactive steam releasing into the atmosphere. In what way is that "holding the line"? Total bullshit. If I were in Japan right now, I wouldn't be there tomorrow.

[TNLib]

7. I think holding the line means no fires, explosions or complete melt downs

nt

[Bonobo]

9. The nation of Japan is grateful if you do not come.

But thanks for your encouraging words.

Completely true to form.

[Cronus Protagonist]

10. You speak for the nation of Japan now?

I guess they raised your government pay grade to B1, right?

Maybe you ought to tell your bosses about this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4775338

[Bonobo]

14. I have nothing to say to you except...

that you consistently prove to have no respect for other people's pain or suffering in this forum.

You are artless in the way you say things and your opinion about what you would do or wouldn't do if you lived here is meaningless.

I personally am grateful that you do not live here. The country would be fractionally less cordial and considerate if you added your weight.

[Cronus Protagonist]

16. Oh, I see, you don't like my STYLE

Got it. Well, tough luck because that's not going to change, and the ever increasing radiation spewing out of these faulty reactors is a worldwide problem. Thanks Japan, GE and all the rest of the corporatists who are responsible for this global disaster.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Blame while propper is more with the OPERATOR

aka TEPCO, and the regulators, more than GE... and no, I am not a fan of nuclear power.

BUt it is like blaming Ford if you crash your car... and the analogy only works for the operator level... as you said this is global.

[Cronus Protagonist]

21. Sure, they are the other corporatists to whom I refer

I didn't want to make an exhaustive list. All the same, I fear for the people there who are believing the corporatist television stations and the government spokespersons. We are clearly not being properly informed.

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. Watch what they do, not what they say

now I have done some of this in the past... the emergency response stick, and time distance our concern in the West Coast is not the radiation... it will be lower than the dose I got when my foot was x-rayed by orders of magnitude, many order of magnitude. My concern are particles... those are more important. But whatch what they do...

[Chris_Texas]

31. Wow...

[Whisp]

26. sorry you have to hear some of these things in the condition you are in.

:(
posting just to let you know I'm thinking of you and your family and wish you the best that can be had.

[Bonobo]

27. I just wish that there could be one thread that the people who feel threatened

by potential good news don't have to invade and spread their insensitive comments.

[thewiseguy]

11. You do not speak for the entire nation of Japan

Just because you live there it does not make you the spokesperson for the Japanese people or their sentiment.

[Duende azul]

12. Obviously you didn't pay attention.

The situation is fucked up. But IF they can avoid a complete meltdown they have done the best thing possible at this moment.
So nadin is right. This is good news.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. It is not futher deteriorating

if they can get the water somehow and get systems back on line, they have a better chance fighting the casualty. We are still facing a partial meltdown, I prefer this than the worst case that truly is not nice.

[we can do it]

15. Thanks and Keep It Coming. Don't Let the Bastids Get You Down

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Nah I am just asuming there are a few land mines that is all

:-)

[Cronus Protagonist]

18. Every day it gets worse

How is that NOT deteriorating?

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Actually read the whole story

They have gotten this in somewhat of a control... as much as I use the word losely.

If they get the systems back on line they can start cooling it down. That does not mean radiation is not escaping, since it is. That does not mean I did not want to scream at my radio this afternoon when talking of a reporter who had a failrly high level of rads in shoes... and yes all she needs to do is use soap and water... but we have had no hydrogen explosion and they might have finally got power to pump water in. Here is the critical thing... as long as they keep the rods under water, the water is pretty good at actually catching quite a bit of it... if the rods are dry, then they go "hot."

[thewiseguy]

20. Here is my opinion...

I think that the Japanese government is not updating the situation as they used to previously. They are desperate to put any good news that they can out there. I read on Kyodo news that their assessment was based on the fact that before they sprayed water on the Nuclear 3 power plant they measured a 292 micro SV/ hr 1 km from the plant and they measured a 278 micro SV/hr from the same spot 24 hours later.

Given that radiation levels are fluctuating a bit I do not think you could draw these conclusions. I could use the very same numbers and claim that their water spraying did not help bring the radiation levels down significantly.

The United States reaction has been more significant in my opinion. They are offering to evacuate the US military members and have an evacuation zone much larger than the Japanese. I guess you have one government that is doing its best to avoid panic in face of bad news and another that is looking out for its citizens given the information they know.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Yep, that falls in the watch what they do, not what they say department

but the IAEC was reporting that they might have power to bring generators (that we flew) on line, If that works it is good news

[marions ghost]

28. Michio Kaku was again advocating Chernobyl option

just now on Lawrence O'Donnell. He's the physicist at City Univ NY. (Was on Countdown re Deepwater Horizon explaining why nuking the BP runaway oil well was a dumb idea).

-------------------The Chernobyl Option

The current approach to the crisis involves spraying water on the reactors as well as a fuel-rod storage pool that's heating up — but Kaku said that strategy was like using "squirt guns against a raging forest fire."

Unless there was quick relief, the workers fighting against the meltdown might have to withdraw — potentially leaving the complex vulnerable to multiple meltdowns and a fallout-spewing fire.

"I would personally advocate the Chernobyl option," Kaku said. "Do what Gorbachev did in 1986. Call out the Japanese air force, get the Japanese army to bring a fleet of helicopters armed with sand, boric acid and concrete and entomb this entire reactor. Bury it in concrete."

Kaku says we need to do this now.

[daleo]

32. He's a very good physicist

And well worth paying attention to.

[marions ghost]

33. He makes sense

and puts his opinions out very clearly.

I will listen to what he has to say on this.

[catenary]

29. Some people won't be happy until or unless it actually does escalate into a worldwide

tragedy. I know some of them personally.

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. Well on that acount it has...

but LBN has what looks like a worsenng and from CNN blog

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/17/japan-quake-live-blog-obama-pledges-u-s-support/

fer the record I am hopping it stays at this level, as bad as it is

I need to load twitter on my BIL puter

Here from LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4776101

[daleo]

34. It doesn't matter what people want, pro or con

Nature bats last, and it doesn't care about cheerleaders or hecklers.