Nuclear emergency declared at quake-damaged reactor

[googlegoogle]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2...reactors_N.htm

[Dave Lane]

Oh and the Japan sinking into the ocean thingie, but I guess thats next week.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

Well except for the 200,000 dead it all went pretty well.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

Oh and the Japan sinking into the ocean thingie, but I guess thats next week.

HAARP is down for the next few weeks.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Donger

HAARP is down for the next few weeks.

...speaking of HAARP and conspiracies...

I just watched "A Beautiful Mind" for the first time the other day. I imagine that Teedubya is like Nash, except Teedubya has pictures of radar rings taped up all over his office.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by loochy

...speaking of HAARP and conspiracies...

I just watched "A Beautiful Mind" for the first time the other day. I imagine that Teedubya is like Nash, except Teedubya has pictures of radar rings taped up all over his office.

Oh yeah. I forgot about the radar rings.

As an aside to that, it should be noted that Atlantis will be in orbit (if all goes well) next week.

[Donger]

They've now got the reactors stable and expect cold shutdown in a few months. Radiation is down to about two million times less than peak levels.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Donger

They've now got the reactors stable and expect cold shutdown in a few months. Radiation is down to about two million times less than peak levels.

So we're not all dead? How did that happen?

Also, what ever happened to googlegoolge? Did he get banned forever? I miss his racist rants about white women with black guys.

[Rams Fan]

Originally Posted by loochy

So we're not all dead? How did that happen?

Also, what ever happened to googlegoolge? Did he get banned forever? I miss his racist rants about white women with black guys.

He was banned. For forever.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by loochy

So we're not all dead? How did that happen?

Also, what ever happened to googlegoolge? Did he get banned forever? I miss his racist rants about white women with black guys.

As of today, no, not a single person has died from radiation exposure.

[Donger]

IAEA sees "significant progress" on Japan atom crisis

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...76L0YF20110722

(Reuters) - Significant progress has been made in efforts to contain and stabilise the situation at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, the head of the United Nations atomic agency said on Friday.

In a statement issued ahead of a visit to Japan next week, Director General Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Tokyo Electric Power Co's plan to achieve a cold shutdown by early 2012 "could be possible."

Japan's government said on Tuesday it was on track with efforts to take control of Fukushima but cautioned that a final clean up of the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986 would take many years.

Tokyo's update on progress to shut down reactors at the plant came four months after a massive earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems at the complex and triggered a series of core meltdowns and explosions.

The Fukushima crisis has prompted a rethink of nuclear power plans worldwide, as well as plans for stricter checks on atomic facilities to avoid any repeat of the disaster.

A cold shutdown means that the uranium at the core is no longer capable of boiling off the water used as a coolant.

Amano stated that "the IAEA welcomes the significant progress the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has achieved overall in implementing its 'Road Map' to contain and stabilise the situation," the Vienna-based agency said in a statement.

Amano, a veteran Japanese diplomat, said TEPCO was ahead of the road map schedule in some areas, without giving details.

"Based on their progress to date, the IAEA notes that their plan to achieve 'cold shutdown' by early next year could be possible," the statement said.

Amano will visit the Fukushima plant on July 25.

[Donger]

Japan to lift some nuclear evacuation advisories

http://news.yahoo.com/japan-lift-nuc...111849727.html

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's government has decided to lift evacuation advisories in some areas more than 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, opening the way for tens of thousands of people to return home, officials said Tuesday.

The advisories warned residents to be prepared to leave in case of worsening conditions at the plant. Although only a warning, many people fled their homes out of fear for their safety or because mandatory evacuation orders in nearby areas deprived them of city services.

Officials said the lifting will allow about 25,000 people covered by the advisories to return home in about a month.

A 12-mile no-go zone, in place since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami sent the nuclear plant into a meltdown, will remain in force. Officials said mandatory evacuation orders will also remain in place in several high-radiation areas outside the 12-mile exclusion zone.

The massive quake and subsequent tsunami destroyed power and cooling functions at the nuclear plant, causing three reactor cores to melt and triggering fires and explosions that spread large amounts of radioactive particles outside the complex.

More than 80,000 residents fled their homes after the disaster. Tens of thousands remain unable to return because of the radiation threat.

Officials at Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that operates the plant, and the government have said in recent weeks that the reactors have stabilized and the amount of radiation being released is now minimal.

"We have hoped to let evacuees return to their ordinary lives as soon as possible. It took five months to finally start the process," said Goshi Hosono, a Cabinet minister in charge of the nuclear crisis. "We will carry this out very cautiously."

Officials say most of the radiation in the reactor cores leaked out earlier in the crisis and what's left inside does not pose much danger. TEPCO has been injecting nitrogen into the reactors as a precaution to prevent further hydrogen explosions, said Osamu Suda, a Cabinet Office official in charge of evacuees.

Areas where the evacuation advisories are being lifted must work out plans within several weeks to decontaminate buildings and restart public services for the returning residents, Suda said. A government panel is currently compiling guidelines for the decontamination to address concerns from residents and support their resettlement process.

Also Tuesday, officials said they are considering allowing residents of areas within a 1.9-mile (3-kilometer) radius of the plant to make their first brief visit to their homes later this month.

Residents of the no-go zone and other high-risk areas will not be able to move back to their homes at least until the crippled reactors are stabilized further, Suda said. TEPCO and the government plan to bring the reactors to that status by early January.

Some experts say that target is too ambitious.

[loochy]

I find nuclear power absolutely fascinating. I kind of wish I had taken that career path instead of the one I did.

[Ebolapox]

TEH D00M!

[Donger]

Japan PM says tsunami-hit nuclear plant is stable

http://news.yahoo.com/japan-pm-says-...101639982.html

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's prime minister announced Friday that the country's tsunami-damaged nuclear plant has achieved a stable state of "cold shutdown," a crucial step toward the eventual lifting of evacuation orders and closing of the plant.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's announcement was intended to reassure the nation that significant progress has been made in the nine months since the March 11 tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant into meltdowns in the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

But experts say the plant 140 miles (230 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo remains vulnerable to problems and its surroundings are contaminated by radiation and closing the plant safely will take 30 or more years.

"The reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant have reached a state of cold shutdown," Noda said. "Now that we have achieved stability in the reactors, a major concern for the nation has been resolved."

Radiation released from the plant has been significantly reduced, and additional safety measures installed at the plant ensure stability even in the event of another major disaster, he said.

Noda said he hopes conditions will improve quickly so that the people who have been displaced by the crisis can return home "even a day sooner."

"There are many issues that remain," Noda said. "Our battle is not over."

The government's official endorsement of the claim by Tokyo Electric Power Co. that the reactors have reached cold shutdown status is a necessary step toward revising evacuation zones around the plant and shifting the focus from simply stabilizing the facility to actually starting the arduous process of shutting it down.

But Noda acknowledged the assessment has some important caveats.

The government said Fukushima Dai-ichi has reached cold shutdown "conditions"— a cautious phrasing reflecting the fact that TEPCO cannot measure the temperatures of melted fuel in the damaged reactors in the same way as with normally functioning ones.

Even so, the announcement marks the end of the second phase of the government's lengthy roadmap to completely decommission the plant.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano praised TEPCO and the government for making "significant progress" in reaching the goal.

Officials can now start discussing whether to allow some evacuees to return to less-contaminated areas — although a 12-mile (20-kilometer) zone around the plant is expected to remain off limits for years to come. The crisis displaced some 100,000 people.

"We hope this will be a step toward allowing our residents to return home, but the road ahead is long and difficult," Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato told reporters.

Noda said the government will step up decontamination efforts and will ready 1 trillion yen ($12.8 billion) for urgently needed projects next year. He also said 30,000 workers will be trained.

A cold shutdown normally means a nuclear reactor's coolant system is at atmospheric pressure and its reactor core is at a temperature below 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius), making it impossible for a chain reaction to take place.

According to TEPCO, temperature gauges inside the Fukushima reactors show the pressure vessel is at around 70 C (158 F). The government also says the amount of radiation now being released around the plant is at or below 1 millisievert per year — equivalent to the annual legal exposure limit for ordinary citizens before the crisis began.

Yet, the complex still faces numerous concerns, triggering criticism that the announcement of "cold shutdown conditions" is based on a political decision rather than science. Nobody knows exactly where and how the melted fuel ended up in each reactor, and the plant is struggling with the vast amount of radioactive water that has collected in the reactor basements and nearby storage areas. Officials, including nuclear and environment minister Goshi Hosono, admitted the possibility of mechanical glitches, water leaks or other unexpected troubles down the road, but said ample protection is now in place to avert another disaster.

TEPCO President Toshio Nishizawa apologized for the accident, and vowed to further stabilize the plant and reduce its radiation release until it is finally closed.

Akira Yamaguchi, a nuclear physicist at Osaka University, said the government's definition of cold shutdown is disputable.

"But what's most important right now is that there aren't any massive radiation leaks any more," he said.

Putting longer-term issues aside, he warned that much of the backup equipment installed at the plant since the crisis began is makeshift and may break down. He said winter cold could test their strength.

[Hydrae]

That is good news.

I wonder, did the power company pay for new homes for all those in the 12 mile zone?