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"10.45pm GMT: Now there are reports from nuclear plant operator Tepco that the Fukushima No 2 plant has lost cooling to three of its reactors.

It was one reactor in the Fukushima No 1 plant that had been the cause for concern earlier – so this news is certainly unwelcome."

British newspaper, The Guardian
-very good and quickly updated live page. Probably faster than the BBC because I'd say the BBC puts relatively higher value on accuracy and authority of news than its speed. But there's not much in it.

The situation doesn't look too promising...
 
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"2239: Japanese nuclear safety officials have said the problems at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant represent "no immediate health hazard" to people living nearby. Some 45,000 people living within a 10km (6-mile) radius of the plant were told to evacuate as radiation levels rose to 1,000 times above normal in one reactor."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

The BBC sticks to the official line; and that's a value in its news. But when the Japanese authorities have been criticised of underplaying the severity of nuclear incidents I think there's also value in finding sources from further afield which might be a little more speculative
 
The China Syndrome in Japan?

Not one but two reactors could be headed for meltdown. U.S. Rushes Coolant to Japan Nuclear Plant to Prevent Meltdown. Primary power was lost. A backup generator failed to start. Plant is venting radioactive steam... God, I hope this does not happen.

11.31am: The Associated Press has more details on the state of emergency issued at nuclear plant after its cooling system failed:

Chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano says the nuclear power plant in Fukushima developed a mechanical failure in the system needed to cool the reactor after it was shut down in Friday's earthquake.

He said the measure was a precaution and there was no radiation leak at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant. He said the facility was not in immediate danger.


----------------------------------------------

Thats pretty bloody serious.... eeeek :eek:
 
0014: Japan declares a state of emergency at the Fukushima-Daini power plant, where three of its reactors failed, the Associated Press reports. It says a state of emergency is already in place at the nearby Fukushima-Daiichi plant, where two reactors failed.
 
And this is why we have passive cooling and shutdown systems, so you don't have to rely on mechanical means for core safety. It is my understanding that these reactors should have control rods to pretty much kill the core, however since it's a BWR that doesn't mean the heat will stop. I'll bet money that the safety systems aren't up to par, and since these were constructed in the 80's there certainly isn't any passive control systems.
 
Tonga (thousands of miles away) was just hit by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake. Eerie coincidence. And there was just another magnitude 6.8 aftershock in Japan. :(

Open your wallets for this one. Unlike Haiti, the Japanese government won't waste the money, and it will do some good.
 
Heart Breaking

I was overwhelmed watching the Tsunami videos on TV. I cannot imagine. My thoughts are with our Pacific neighbors.
 
I have some family members visiting Japan and a number of friends living there. They've been posting pictures and video on Facebook all the time, from the Chiba area mostly. While they're all ok, this situation with the nuclear reactors definitely have me worried. They're a few hours away from those reactors, though not far from the Ichihara oil refinery fire. Really hoping this doesn't just get worse.

jW
 
I pray that this will not turn into another Chernobyl situation.

Building standards in Japan are far higher than they were in the old USSR. If anything, it would be more like a 3 Mile Island than a Chernobyl. I just saw a nuclear power expert on the news who said that the odds of a Chernobyl, while certainly not 0%, are low. He's more worried about disposal of nuclear waste if the plant needs to be decommissioned.

That said, it is an old plant (from the 1960s) where they are most concerned about a possible meltdown. It doesn't have a modern containment dome.
 
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Radiation leaks? In Japan? I hope they have someone keeping an eye out for really, really large reptiles
 
Guys,

Please stop speculating about the situation of the Japanese nuclear reactors, protocols, and regulations, or how they--those specific ones--work.

Unless you are an expert with a background in chemical/nuclear engineering, and an expert not only on just nuclear reactors but also Japanese nuclear regulations, then you aren't really in a place to criticize from halfway around the world. We derive 30% of our power from nuclear reactors, we know what we are doing. We aren't unnecessarily paranoid about nuclear power like the west is.

We know very little about the situation with the Japanese reactors, and even less about the reactors themselves.

Comparing them to the 30+ year old standards of the impoverished USSR is rather inappropriate.
 
best of luck with the complications at the nuclear plant ... on top of the best Japanese engineers, I am sure some others from around the world are there to help also.

this will definitely not be like Chernobyl
 
how far is Sendai from Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

so much radiation!!!:eek:

Sendai is well north of Tokyo. 189mi/304km.

Hiroshima is 894km/482mi south of Tokyo, with Nagasaki being 960km/596mi south of Tokyo.

In short, at least 5 - 10 hour's drive.

BL.
 
Keep the tasteless joke posts out of here.

As someone knowing people in Fukushima and Sendai who lost everything but their lives yesterday (though one guy's cat was killed), these posts are crap, and I have already reported two, and will continue to do so.

Keep it clean, this isn't the time to be joking, and it's pretty tasteless, about as bad as CNN's Godzilla jokes; sometimes I wonder if it just doesn't register with people just because it didn't happen to them.

This is the worst devastation Japan has seen in a few hundred years.

Considering how terrible this is, having (so far) a mere thousand or two dead/missing (almost all so far being a result of the tsunami and not the quake itself) is a miracle, and a testament to the warning systems, the building codes and construction, and the seriousness with which these issues are taken by the Japanese and the preparedness they show.

Times like this I truly admire the Japanese. And, like Kobe after the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, Japan will rebuild better, more beautifully, more gracefully, and be stronger than ever, in just a few years' time. Kobe is absolutely stunning today, and in time so too will Sendai be. Japan will not treat this like Katrina.
 
Keep the tasteless joke posts out of here.

As someone knowing people in Fukushima and Sendai who lost everything but their lives yesterday (though one guy's cat was killed), these posts are crap, and I have already reported two, and will continue to do so.

Keep it clean, this isn't the time to be joking, and it's pretty tasteless, about as bad as CNN's Godzilla jokes; sometimes I wonder if it just doesn't register with people just because it didn't happen to them.

This is the worst devastation Japan has seen in a few hundred years.

Considering how terrible this is, having (so far) a mere thousand or two dead/missing (almost all so far being a result of the tsunami and not the quake itself) is a miracle, and a testament to the warning systems, the building codes and construction, and the seriousness with which these issues are taken by the Japanese and the preparedness they show.

Times like this I truly admire the Japanese. And, like Kobe after the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, Japan will rebuild better, more beautifully, more gracefully, and be stronger than ever, in just a few years' time. Kobe is absolutely stunning today, and in time so too will Sendai be. Japan will not treat this like Katrina.

+1

Very well said.

BL.
 
Guys,

Please stop speculating about the situation of the Japanese nuclear reactors, protocols, and regulations, or how they--those specific ones--work.

Unless you are an expert with a background in chemical/nuclear engineering, and an expert not only on just nuclear reactors but also Japanese nuclear regulations, then you aren't really in a place to criticize from halfway around the world. We derive 30% of our power from nuclear reactors, we know what we are doing. We aren't unnecessarily paranoid about nuclear power like the west is.

We know very little about the situation with the Japanese reactors, and even less about the reactors themselves.

Comparing them to the 30+ year old standards of the impoverished USSR is rather inappropriate.

Phht...I guess you're new to the internet on this side of the world. You should check NewsVine...where every American is an expert in politics, science, engineering, sociology, pschology, blah blah blah...oh, yeah...the most popular field "economics" in these past years. And Digg...forget about it...that one extends down to the gutter expertise! ;)

Keep it clean, this isn't the time to be joking, and it's pretty tasteless, about as bad as CNN's Godzilla jokes; sometimes I wonder if it just doesn't register with people just because it didn't happen to them.

I wouldn't take it personally. This is just how people are. I mean, when September 11 happened, I'm sure nearly everyone in the Middle East thought it was somewhat funny and joked a lot about it. It's just that most of them didn't have internet access. And then we wiped those smiles off their face by dropping 500 lb bombs on their "brothers"! :p
 
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Explosion reported at Fukushima plant.
An explosion has been heard from a Japanese nuclear power plant hit by Friday's devastating earthquake.

Reports said smoke was seen coming from the plant at Fukushima and several workers were injured.

Japanese officials fear a meltdown at one of the plant's reactors after radioactive material was detected outside it.

A huge relief operation is under way after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 600.

Hundreds more people are missing and it is feared about 1,300 may have died.

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared a state of emergency at the Fukushima 1 and 2 power plants as engineers try to confirm whether a reactor at one of the stations has gone into meltdown.

Japan's NHK TV showed before and after pictures of the Fukushima plant. They appeared to show that the outer structure of one of four buildings at the plant had collapsed.

Cooling systems inside several reactors at the plants stopped working after Friday's earthquake cut the power supply.

Japan's nuclear agency said on Saturday that radioactive caesium and iodine had been detected near the number one reactor of the Fukushima 1 plant.

The agency said this may indicate that containers of uranium fuel inside the reactor may have begun melting.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12720219
 
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