Japanese reactor crisis

[Mtn]

I heard one talking head say that pregnant women and young children should be out of the area, as they are most vulnerable to radiation, I hope that already happened, before the talking head said it. In the late 80's early 90's I worked at a preschool that had several families that had "survived" Chernobyl, the long lasting effects, the future health issues, and in fact deaths makes one question the term "survival". I just keep praying.

[AtLast]

[QUOTE=Mtn;302259]I heard one talking head say that pregnant women and young children should be out of the area, as they are most vulnerable to radiation, I hope that already happened, before the talking head said it. In the late 80's early 90's I worked at a preschool that had several families that had "survived" Chernobyl, the long lasting effects, the future health issues, and in fact deaths makes one question the term "survival". I just keep praying.[/QUOTE]

I agree with your statement about quality of life in terms of survival from radiation exposure. Something to consider with future building of nuclear power plants worldwide. Frankly, I fear the present and future lack of R&D funds in the US (both public and private- Wall St investors don't like the risk in nuclear power). What is learned by this situation can't be corrected unless research is supported further.

There are so many variables involved in designing and building, then effectively running these plants. Yet, the magnitude of the natural disasters hitting those plants and how they rendered even the battery back up for cooling the cores inoperable demonstrates vulnerability even with the best and the brightest working in this field. And politics do get in the mix that I think blocks the real experts in these fields to build the best and safest plants possible.

Sitting with an elderly Japanese neighbor this past few days and hearing about what radiation posining does to people has been quite sobering. Her initial responses to what her home country is going through, as well as the loss of family still living there was one thing- the shift in her emotional response while hearing of the radiation threat is something else.

The new photos of the damage to the plants in Japan make me want the 50 workers that left for a short time to not be there at all.

Here is a link to a Mayo site about radiation posining and symptoms.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/rad...CTION=symptoms

[Glenn]

ATL;They'll be back. The Japanese are very honorable and proud. They would die for family and friends. Their behavior through all this is exemplary. I have not heard of any major looting, etc. We should learn this from them if this happens to us.

[Diva]

I haven't heard of any looting at all.....one of the things that reporters have noted time and again has been the patience of the Japanese.....and there was a report of a couple in their 70's.....getting their house ~ which still stood ~ back in order after it was flooded. Their faces were happy, they worked as they spoke with reporters. They wanted to get their house cleaned up quickly, so they could go and help others.

I don't wonder at all if this same thing happened here in the US, there are many who would go for the 'something for nothing' plan.

I honor and admire the Japanese people.

[Medusa]

I had to actually go in to the office today rather than working from home and immediately felt the withdrawals from not being able to obsessively watch CNN for updates on the nuclear situation there. Found a livestream directly from NHK on Ustream.

Link for those interested:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk-world-tv

[Julie]

I received an email which was sent from one of our Japanese Members who is in Sendai.
I can't share the entire email (it would be wrong). BUT...

Here are a few of her words. We can learn so much from the Japanese. I wonder if this happened in America, if we would remain so loving and civilized.

"Utterly amazingly where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an earthquake strikes. People keep saying, "Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days when everyone helped one another."

"And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entranceway. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if theyneed help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no."

It just fills me with such respect and admiration for a people who are faced with their mortality, every waking moment during this time.

May Peace be in Japan
May Peace Prevail On Earth

[dreadgeek]

I wanted to add one more thing to the post on radiation.

So, when dealing with radioactivity there's a couple of things to keep in mind:

What kind of radioactive particles are we talking about. (How energetic are they.)
What kind of protection you have.
How long you're exposed.
How often you're exposed.
How intense is the radiation.

So, we spend most of our days bathed in radiation we can see--namely visible light. Visible light, however, is not particularly energetic so it doesn't really hurt us provided the source isn't too strong (which will still hurt your eyes). Radio, infrared and microwaves are even *less* energetic than visible light. We live our lives bathed in those sources of radiation to know real ill effect.* You wouldn't want to be IN a microwave or stand right on top of a very powerful microwave source and, say, camp out there but your cell phone or your radio won't cook you.

Above the visible spectrum, the photons get more and more energetic.** More energetic photons have more opportunity to cause damage and this is why intensity, type of radiation and length of exposure as well as how often you are exposed becomes relevant. DNA has a *remarkable* ability to repair itself. In fact, part of why we are SO resilient as living things is because DNA, by its very nature, has the ability to recreate itself.*** However, even DNA can get overwhelmed. If you are in a, say, field of high gamma radiation for hours at time your body is simply going to have SO many damaged strands of DNA that it will not be able to repair itself effectively. Thus you start to get things like cancers.



* I know people think that cell phones cause problems but they don't. Cell phones are operating in the microwave band and before you think "hey, we use microwaves to cook things!" what is *actually* happening is that the microwaves cause the molecules in the food stuff (like fats and water, both of which are dipole molecules). Think of dipole molecules like little molecular magnets, one side is negative and the other positive. In the presence of an oscillating magnetic field (like microwaves) they will rotate to align themselves with the field. This rotation creates heat and the molecules bump into other molecules which causes them to move. Temperature is the average kinetic energy of molecules or atoms in a substance so the more the molecules rotate, the higher the temperature.

** From radio to gamma rays keep in mind that we are talking abou the same stuff. Gamma rays aren't one thing and radio waves another. Pump enough energy into a radio wave (i.e. increase its frequency) and it will not act 'like' a gamma ray it will *be* a gamma. These are all just photons at different energies. Another word for talking about EMF waves is frequency. To get a sort of visceral feeling for what is happening, use a very familiar experience--hearing a siren. As you get closer to a sound source the pitch rises and the noise level increases. As the sound source retreats the pitch falls and the noise level decreases. The waves get shorter on the approach and longer as you and the siren pull away from one another. Now, what is happening with light is *not* that as you move toward a light source the waves get shorter. Rather, gamma rays are shorter (higher frequency) than radio waves (lower frequency). A low wavelength--literally the length between the peaks and troughs of the wave--in water is less disruptive than a high wavelength. Gamma rays are more disruptive because their higher energy means they are more likely to react with some atom in your body. Visible light rays are just gamma rays slowed down and mellowed out or radio waves with a Type A personality.

*** Part of why DNA is so good at self-repair is because of its very structure. DNA is made up of four amino acids making four 'letters'--ATGC. Now, the interesting thing about DNA is that if one point on the strand is A then its opposite will be T, if one strand is G the opposite will be C. Not might, not sometimes, but IS. This means that as long as one side of the strand is correct, the other side of the strand will be correct. Genes are simply patterns of repetition of those four letters. Another type of damage that radiation can cause are replication errors. The difference between, say, Huntington's chorea and not is, if memory serves, less than a dozen repeats.

Cheers
Aj

[dreadgeek]

So, I know that a number of folks posted about getting Potassium Iodide and expressing some concern about it being unavailable. I'd like to put your minds at ease.

Potassium iodide works by preventing the thyroid gland from absorbing radioactive iodine-131, an isotope (kind) of iodine produced in nuclear fission reactions. The thyroid will only take up so much iodine, and Potassium iodide is treated by the body as iodine. So, if you saturate the thyroid with Potassium iodide it won't take up (absorb) the radioactive material.

Now, should you be taking it right now? No. Will it hurt you? Probably not*, Potassium iodide has other uses. But at this point, there is simply no need for you to be taking it--at least not if you aren't already taking it. Firstly, the radiation near the nuclear plant has not and, at this point, is not likely to reach the West coast of the United States. As I said last night, in order for there to be a serious risk of a radiation risk on the West coast all of the worst possible things would have to happen in sequence. While it is very scary, it is simply not that big a threat to the continental United States.

You aren't doing yourself any harm--at least none that I could find--but you aren't doing anything helpful either.

*If you are allergic to iodine you should *not* take potassium iodide.

Cheers
Aj

[dreadgeek]

Japanese Earthquake Update (17 March 01:15 UTC)
Injuries or Contamination at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Based on a press release from the Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary dated 16 March 2011, the IAEA can confirm the following information about human injuries or contamination at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Please note that this list provides a snapshot of the latest information made available to the IAEA by Japanese authorities. Given the fluid situation at the plant, this information is subject to change.

Injuries

2 TEPCO employees have minor injuries

2 subcontractor employees are injured, one person suffered broken legs and one person whose condition is unknown was transported to the hospital

2 people are missing

2 people were 'suddenly taken ill'

2 TEPCO employees were transported to hospital during the time of donning respiratory protection in the control centre.

4 people (2 TEPCO employees, 2 subcontractor employees) sustained minor injuries due to the explosion at unit 1 on 11 March and were transported to the hospital

11 people (4 TEPCO employees, 3 subcontractor employees and 4 Japanese civil defense workers) were injured due to the explosion at unit 3 on 14 March

Radiological Contamination

17 people (9 TEPCO employees, 8 subcontractor employees) suffered from deposition of radioactive material to their faces, but were not taken to the hospital because of low levels of exposure

One worker suffered from significant exposure during 'vent work,' and was transported to an offsite center

2 policemen who were exposed to radiation were decontaminated

Firemen who were exposed to radiation are under investigation

The IAEA continues to seek information from Japanese authorities about all aspects of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Temperature of Spent Fuel Pools at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Spent fuel that has been removed from a nuclear reactor generates intense heat and is typically stored in a water-filled spent fuel pool to cool it and provide protection from its radioactivity. Water in a spent fuel pool is continuously cooled to remove heat produced by spent fuel assemblies. According to IAEA experts, a typical spent fuel pool temperature is kept below 25 ˚C (77 F) under normal operating conditions. The temperature of a spent fuel pool is maintained by constant cooling, which requires a constant power source.

Given the intense heat and radiation that spent fuel assemblies can generate, spent fuel pools must be constantly checked for water level and temperature. If fuel is no longer covered by water or temperatures reach a boiling point, fuel can become exposed and create a risk of radioactive release. The concern about the spent fuel pools at Fukushima Daiichi is that sources of power to cool the pools may have been compromised.

The IAEA can confirm the following information regarding the temperatures of the spent nuclear fuel pools at Units 4, 5 and 6 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant:


Unit 4
14 March, 10:08 UTC: 84 ˚C (183.2 F)
15 March, 10:00 UTC: 84 ˚C (183.2 F)
16 March, 05:00 UTC: no data

Unit 5
14 March, 10:08 UTC: 59.7 ˚C (139.46 F)
15 March, 10:00 UTC: 60.4 ˚C (140.72 F)
16 March, 05:00 UTC: 62.7 ˚C (144.86 F)

Unit 6
14 March, 10:08 UTC: 58.0 ˚C (136.4 F)
15 March, 10:00 UTC: 58.5 ˚C (137.3 F)
16 March, 05:00 UTC: 60.0 ˚C (140 F)
(All conversions to Fahrenheit were done by me, they are not in the original)

The IAEA is continuing to seek further information about the water levels, temperature and condition of all spent fuel pool facilities at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Cheers
Aj

[Martina]

So they did drop water from a heliocopter. If they can keep them cool till they get that power line up, it sounds like they can avert a total meltdown. At least we can see a scenario that might work now. i find that comforting.

Wild to see the U.S. government basically call the Japanese govt/TEPCO on their lies. But it's public safety, and Japanese officials and corporate folks are notorious for lying to the public.

[AtLast]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51456.html

Nuclear Regulatory Commission sounds alarm on Japan nuclear crisis

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories...#ixzz1GowqOT3G

I don't know what to make of the descrepancies announced today by the NRC. I am feeling that it has got to be damn difficult with all of what is going on in Japan to get all info out. Don't know if this is helpful, either in the middle of this.

Apparently, our military over there are going to do testing to see if what we are hearing from Japan is reliable.

Any thoughts- or other info anyone has come across?

[dreadgeek]

According to both the BBC and Reuters TEPCO officials have reported to the IAEA that they are going to connect power up to unit 2 after they are done spraying unit 3. If that is the case that's the first piece of really good news we've had. Power means pumping and pumping means water.

I'll update as I find out more.

Cheers
Aj

[dreadgeek]

Japanese Earthquake Update (18 March 10:15 UTC)

Japanese authorities have informed the IAEA that new INES ratings have been issued for some of the events relating to the nuclear emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants.

Japanese authorities have assessed that the core damage at the Fukushima Daiichi 2 and 3 reactor units caused by loss of all cooling function has been rated as 5 on the INES scale.

Japanese authorities have assessed that the loss of cooling and water supplying functions in the spent fuel pool of the unit 4 reactor has been rated as 3.

Japanese authorities have assessed that the loss of cooling functions in the reactor units 1, 2 and 4 of the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant has also been rated as 3. All reactor units at Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant are now in a cold shut down condition.


Cheers
Aj

[dreadgeek]

Japan Earthquake Update (18 March 2011, 06:10 UTC)

Temperature of Spent Fuel Pools at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant - UPDATED

Spent fuel removed from a nuclear reactor is highly radioactive and generates intense heat. Nuclear plant operators typically store this material in pools of water that cool the fuel and shield the radioactivity. Water in a spent fuel pool is continuously cooled to remove heat produced by spent fuel assemblies. According to IAEA experts, a typical spent fuel pool temperature is kept below 25 °C (77 F) under normal operating conditions. The temperature of a spent fuel pool is maintained by constant cooling, which requires a constant power source.

Given the intense heat and radiation that spent fuel assemblies can generate, spent fuel pools must be constantly checked for water level and temperature. If fuel is no longer covered by water or temperatures reach a boiling point, fuel can become exposed and create a risk of radioactive release. The concern about the spent fuel pools at Fukushima Daiichi is that sources of power to cool the pools have been compromised.

Concern about spent fuel storage conditions has led Japanese officials to drop and spray water from helicopters and trucks onto Unit 3 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (See earlier update).

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has reported increasing temperatures in the spent fuel ponds at Units 5 and 6 since 14 March. An emergency diesel generator at Unit 6 is now powering water injection into the ponds at those Units, according to NISA.

The IAEA can confirm the following new information regarding the temperatures of the spent nuclear fuel pools at Units 4, 5 and 6 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant:

Unit 4
13 March, 19:08 UTC: 84 °C (183.2 F)
Unit 5
17 March, 03:00 UTC: 64.2 °C (147.56 F)
17 March, 18:00 UTC: 65.5 °C (149.9 F)
Unit 6
17 March, 03:00 UTC: 62.5 °C (144.5 F)
17 March, 18:00 UTC: 62.0 °C (143.6 F)

(All conversions performed by me. Not in original text)

Cheers
Aj

[dreadgeek]

Japan Earthquake Update (18 March 2011, 12:25 UTC)

Japanese authorities have informed the IAEA that, prior to the earthquake of 12 March, the entire fuel core of reactor Unit 4 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant had been unloaded from the reactor and placed in the spent fuel pond located in the reactor's building.

Clarification

Contrary to several news reports, the IAEA to date has NOT received any notification from the Japanese authorities of people sickened by radiation contamination.

In the report of 17 March 01:15 UTC, the cases described were of people who were reported to have had radioactive contamination detected on them when they were monitored.

Cheers
Aj