Japan Earthquake News

[trax1]

Well, the last explosion at number 3 reactor damaged the cooling system at the adjoining number 2 reactor, so we're into the 3rd emergency at the Fukushima plant.

I'm about to lose my electric power, so I'll see you later.

Here's a map of recent quakes: http://www.oe-files.de/gmaps/eqmashup.html

Man thats a lot of after shocks, you can see quite a few in the 6 & 7 range, and unfortunately I'm sure there will still be more to come.

As for your power I'm sure you guys will be experiencing rolling blackouts for some time to come as Japan depended for a lot of it's power from nuclear reactors & who knows how long it will be before they are able to get those back online, if ever.

[trax1]

Also here's a little fact about the quake I saw on TV, it moved the island of Japan 8ft & the quake slightly sped up the rotation of the Earth causing the day to be shortened by 1.8 microseconds.

[Xasthur]

Also here's a little fact about the quake I saw on TV, it moved the island of Japan 8ft & the quake slightly sped up the rotation of the Earth causing the day to be shortened by 1.8 microseconds.

Holy hell.

[Rolex]

My power is on now, obviously...

The 3rd reactor building (Reactor #2) that was stabilized a few days ago is likely to explode as they have to release pressure. The explosion of the adjoining building damaged the pumps on the fire trucks being used to pump sea water into the reactor. They're trying to get other firetrucks but they may not get there in time.

What an astounding cascade of bad luck. It's like a movie. If they get through this last episode, the reactor emergencies will be contained.

Let it be.

(update) The entire core is exposed. It is now in meltdown.

[VonMessa]

My power is on now, obviously...

The 3rd reactor building (Reactor #2) that was stabilized a few days ago is likely to explode as they have to release pressure. The explosion of the adjoining building damaged the pumps on the fire trucks being used to pump sea water into the reactor. They're trying to get other firetrucks but they may not get there in time.

What an astounding cascade of bad luck. It's like a movie. If they get through this last episode, the reactor emergencies will be contained.

Let it be.

(update) The entire core is exposed. It is now in meltdown.

Oh my 

Good luck and stay safe.

[moot]

Rolex I hope you can keep us in touch every now and then.  It is just unreal.

Best of luck..

[B-17]

Holy hell.

well, according to a couple of different sources, japan has actually moved over 5. something meters-->scientists are going :banana which is completely paradoxical--> people dying/freezing/_____!! hello?!

[Rolex]

They've been able to get the water level back up. Not all the way, but it helps.

The containment vessel is not damaged. Remember that there is not enough heat generated to penetrate the containment walls. They'll vent some more to relieve pressure, and they're going to open more holes in building to try to reduce the inevitable blast as the hydrogen meet the outside air.

I'm not worried. The tsunami was a catastrophe, this is a serious problem, but it'll be handled. There's not a serious radiological problem from all of this so far. It's minute. I'm still amazed at how well the physical structures have held up after all that has been thrown at them.

[B-17]

im amazed as well. i mean, sure, the japanese designed their buildings intelligently and able to withtstand a serious earthquake, but now they've undergone a massive earthquake, and 50+ aftershocks--> with a tsunami to boot. its one thing to survive, its a completely differet thing to endure. and yeah, im not too worried--> we humans always find a way eventually. not always a good way, but we solve the problem.

[Rolex]

Here is a photo of the (toll) highway a little north of where I live. The 9.0 quake about 180 miles away did this.

[VonMessa]

They've been able to get the water level back up. Not all the way, but it helps.

The containment vessel is not damaged. Remember that there is not enough heat generated to penetrate the containment walls. They'll vent some more to relieve pressure, and they're going to open more holes in building to try to reduce the inevitable blast as the hydrogen meet the outside air.

I'm not worried. The tsunami was a catastrophe, this is a serious problem, but it'll be handled. There's not a serious radiological problem from all of this so far. It's minute. I'm still amazed at how well the physical structures have held up after all that has been thrown at them.

The reports in The Washington Post are saying that the secondary containment wall was breached during the hydrogen explosion.  The integrity of the primary containment vessel is still good, though

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/world/japan-nuclear-reactors-and-seismic-activity/

[trax1]

Yeah it's unbelievable all the things that have been thrown at the Japanese people in the last few days, if it's not one disaster it another.

They built those nuclear reactors over 40 years ago and look how well they've held up under the circumstance, they built the reactor itself extremely well, I mean the containment buildings around the reactors have exploded & the reactor itself has still held up, I think it goes to show just how safe nuclear power actually is when the thing is built right, even with all that's happen at the reactors the radiation release has been minimal, you'd get no more exposure standing at the gates of the nuclear plant then you'd get from a CT scan, the Japanese knew what they were doing when they built these reactors, it's only when countries cut corners building them that things go wrong like Chernobyl.

[Rolex]

That's a poorly-worded article and could easily be misunderstood.

The building surrounding the reactor and its containment vessel should not be called a "secondary containment building." It's just a simple structure covering everything.

The containment vessel that the reactor is enclosed within is undamaged.

The containment vessels has far exceeded their design limits by a factor of 100 and withstood every possible worse-case scenario intact. It's ridiculous to say that it's not as robust as TMI.

The radiation chart doesn't show how little the workers have been exposed to, only the amount they could have been exposed to if they were unprotected. They have been protected since day one. The comparisons aren't valid.

The most glaring error is the units of radiation. The units shown are milli sievert (Sv)  = mSv

The units released in Fukushima are μSv which is 10^-3 smaller (1,000 times) less than they are showing!

Astounding mistake. If they say that is equal to a CT scan, it would be 1/1000th of a CT scan.

[VonMessa]

I was wondering on both points.

I figured that it was just the actual building that it was in.

I also wondered about the accuracy of the "readings".  Indeed there is a distinct difference between milli and micro   

Media hype or honest mistake?

[EskimoJoe]

VonMessa, I'd suggest that it a few numbers and facts were mixed up in the process
of the media getting all this jumble of news from overseas. Honest mistake? Possibly.
Media hype? Possibly as well.

Things are a mess right now, from the media to ground zero. I would take the news
with an extra grain of salt at this point.