BBC: Fukushima Daiichi Updates (begins 9.30pm PST)

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0146 : Tepco says the reactor 3 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been emitting white smoke for about 45 minutes, Kyodo News reports. The plant's reactor 4 was the one where a fire broke out earlier this morning, Tepco said.

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0117: Live Japanese television pictures appear to show white smoke still billowing in the area of the building housing the No.4 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, despite reports that a new fire there was under control.

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0029: Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) says it will be extremely difficult to spray water from a helicopter to cool down a storage pool for spent nuclear fuel in the No.4 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Earlier Japanese news agency Kyodo reported that the storage pool could be boiling, while Tepco said readings showed high levels of radiation, making the building inaccessible.

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0236: Mr Edano, Japan's chief government spokesman, says workers trying to douse the reactors with water were forced to retreat when radiation levels surged there.


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

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0349: Japan says it is ready to ask the US military for help in battling the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant, the AFP news agency reports.

BreakingNews Breaking News
Update: Workers allowed back in to damaged nuclear plant after radiation levels fall - Reuters
25 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

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0433: France is now urging its nationals in Tokyo to leave Japan or head to the south of the country, Reuters reports. It says Paris has asked the Air France carrier to provide planes for the evacuation.

Thanks for all the work on the updates. It really is appreciated.

"...It's basically a sign that there's nothing left to do but throw in the towel," Lochbaum said.

"This is a slow-moving nightmare," said Dr Thomas Neff, a research affiliate at the Center for International Studies, which is part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The government has ordered some 140,000 people in the vicinity to stay indoors. A little radiation was also detected in Tokyo, 150 miles (240 kilometers) to the south, triggering panic buying of food and water"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42084187/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

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0320: Staff have now been evacuated from Fukushima because of a spike in radiation levels, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference.


Are they in, or are they out - I'm confused!! :crazy:

ordered out and then later allowed in... Edano said they were ordered out.

K&R and all that.

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0252: Two crew members on an Australian search and rescue helicopter showed low levels of radiation contamination after they were forced to make an emergency landing in Fukushima on Wednesday, AFP news agency reports. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was quoted as saying the radiation was detected on their boots. They landed about 12 miles (20km) outside the exclusion zone surrounding the plant.

and that would place them at 50 km from the center, or 24 miles

700 in core and 3,500 in pools.

If pools empty rods heat up and burn. Quake may have cracked pools.

White 'smoke' is probably steam from burning rods.

Rods burning in water would make hydrogen. Hydrogen can explode.

Explosions mess up everything.

Info from this post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=655722&mesg_id=656901

no, explosions are great... and they are good for your complexion too.

(Gallows from way too many years of EMS)

The Japan nuclear safety agency says TEPCO is attempting to build a road to Fukushima Daiichi No.4 reactor to allow fire trucks into site
by Reuters_TonyTharakan at 9:32 PM

Nobody wants to give that order but Tokyo is in harms way.

they were offered a choice of Chernobyl or Afghanistan - the ones who picked Afghanistan are mostly still living - the others - hardly any.

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0456: More on the evacuation of French nationals from Japan. The BBC's Chris Hogg in Tokyo says the evacuation will begin on Thursday. Two French planes are already on their way to Japan.

City is a ghost town. Thousands of cars trying to leave in any direction. Standing room only on buses. Interviewed a dozen or so locals - they really don't care where they end up - they just want to get as far away as possible. One lady said she would take the train to Hong Kong if possible - she may have quite a wait!

They are really, really scared.

Ok - they are now showing Tokyo - not a ghost town but mass exodus occurring.

They are now in full panic mode from what I can tell

Also, the young man whose boss told him to head south now.

I have no links - can someone find this doc?

Tepco said they would get right on it!

Here's the synopsis in the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/14/japan-radiation-leak-cover-up

In a newly released diplomatic cable obtained by WikiLeaks, politician Taro Kono, a high-profile member of Japan's lower house, tells US diplomats that the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry – the Japanese government department responsible for nuclear energy – has been "covering up nuclear accidents and obscuring the true costs and problems associated with the nuclear industry".

In 2008, Kono told them: "The ministries were trapped in their policies, as officials inherited policies from people more senior to them, which they could then not challenge." He mentioned the dangers of natural disasters in the context of nuclear waste disposal, citing Japan's "extensive seismic activity, and abundant groundwater, and questioned if there really was a safe place to store nuclear waste in the 'land of volcanoes'."



Here's the link to the document:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/175295

choppers from the Self Defense force cannot douse the reactor

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/78496.html

It is on the advisory.

I hope they are not developing a micro weather, preventing them from that.

You would need to supply a water stream for approximately ~5 years, and since the radiation is leaking the water would be radioactive
as it flows off or goes up as steam. Can't contain it - containment is broken.

Think of trying to put out a small sun with a firehose. Not even worth thinking about.

It just melts or burns now.

if they have developed a micro weather... it just complicates matters...

Oh and the fact they posted that, they tried that.

Poor saps. the pilots got unnecessarily exposed

there was no reason to expose them to that.

(All times are local in Japan GMT+9)

2:33pm

Al Jazeera's correspondent, Harry Fawcett reports from Akita, Japan, "White smoke is rising from the Fukushima facility, where the remaining workers have had to stop their efforts to contain the crisis.

"Earlier the operating company said it had seen flames at unit four. Officials are also considering dropping water, or boric acid, by helicopter to control the flames."

desperation

(All times are local in Japan GMT+9)

2:52pm
TS Gopi Rethinaraj, a nuclear scientist, tells Al Jazeera, "It will take at least 3 or 4 days to get a defnite idea of this emergency (nuclear) situation.

"The pathways are difficult to determine because the reactor itself is a very complex device.

"But we should take assurance from the fact that - will not be any worse than the Chernobyl accident.

"It is a very peculiar situation, compared to other countries, these nuclear reactors are operating under unique seismic conditions.

"It is the first time in history that the accident was triggered by an external disaster, so in future, countries will need to be sensitive about pwhere the reactors are placed."

Nothing to do with this discussion, but thought you (and others) might enjoy it. She lives 130 Km from Chernobyl, goes there and takes picures. Quite a story teller as well. I ran across it one day, and at least one other person has posted it on DU.

Elena Filatova

http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/index.html

The first story on the left side menu, Ghost Town and Land of Wolves, is amazing.

http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/chapter1.html

600-900 years before it will be safe to rebuild. Holy crap!!!

Loved the story about the Buffalo or Bison or whatever it was we shipped over.

exclusion zone

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0524: Taro Kono, a Japanese opposition politician, criticises the government for not releasing information about the smoke above the Fukushima nuclear plant earlier. He tells the BBC that a three-hour delay in informing people has caused concern among the population.



Although, he may have a point.:eyes:

when politicos start fighting the shit has officially hit the fan

The part about the wind power and the grid is beginning to look like a global pattern of suppressing wind and solar.

I'm going to post that part in my thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x653404

Japanese authorities have informed the IAEA that a fire in the reactor building of unit 4 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was visually observed at (2045 GMT) ... As of (2115) of the same day, the fire could no longer be observed. FULL STORY at www.reuters.com

by Reuters_TonyTharakan at 10:34 PM
Reply

Latest from Kyodo News: 80,000 personnel mobilised for rescue work, death toll nears 3,700 english.kyodonews.jp

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano asks public to refrain from panic buying of fuel english.kyodonews.jp
by Reuters_TonyTharakan at 10:42 PM

Last one... we are NOW in a panic

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0539: The Japanese government has decided to accept the help of doctors from overseas as an exceptional measure to treat survivors of the devastating earthquake, foreign ministry officials are quoted as saying by Kyodo. The news agency says that Canada and several other countries have offered to dispatch medical teams.

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


I didn't know there was a medical emergency - are the injured numbers posted anywhere

but they have a slew of layers ranging from sheer logistics... food, water, blankets, shelter... to transport, to rescue, to medical.

They should be able to use about 20 medical teams with hospitals.

Reason that will be low for us is that we already have them there, two carriers and one marine carrier

More than 500 bone marrow transplant centres in Europe have been asked to receive victims of the nuclear accident in Japan if necessary, authorities at a European medical organisation said Tuesday.

We're working to the model that we might be required to take 200 or more people" suffering from the effects of radiation, "but I think it is remote that that would happen," said the head of the group's Nuclear Accident Committee (NAC), Professor Ray Powles. He said the EBMT on Tuesday asked all its 536 centres by email if they would be able to treat some patients who have suffered radiation exposure from the the quake-hit Fukushima No.1 plant in Japan.

"You will be aware there is real concern about the possibility that a significant number of workers attempting to control the damaged nuclear power station" in Japan may receive "doses or whole body radiation over the next week or so," said the email, seen by AFP.

"In the unlikely event that many Japanese power station workers are irradiated (but not contaminated), we would like to evaluate the capacity to provide humanitarian treatment in EU countries if Japanese medical resources are overwhelmed."Powles told AFP in a telephone interview from London that the workers at the plant will not suffer the effects of the radiation for another three days, "so that's why we put this in place three days in advance." AFP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iifCTv8hS-RBslubO4WxAX3jv1mQ?docId=CNG.6e08417f70f28fda6826317bef892420.b11

but that you can bet OUR own hospitals are also on alert. They will need to treat far and above the capacity in Japan

Said info has dried up and no updates since we were told Plant Workers had returned, well over an hour ago.

She said that people are now frustrated and angry that the information has been underplayed and are now beginning to believe the various authorities have beenn paying fast and loose with the truth. She quoted one lady as saying that "...the government's primary concern is that I die calmly."

The people are now not awaiting official instruction - they are evacuating themselves and if the government does not step up - the lack of information will cause the panixc they sought to avoid.



(yep, nothing like a lack of information in a situation like this to ensure fear and panic!)

NHK reporting Japan self-defense forces are preparing to pour water on Daiichi No. 3 reactor from helicopter
by Reuters_TonyTharakan at 11:15 PM

a coupe of hours ago, as too dangerous and not practical. There was talk of a boron drop too - Korea is sending 50tonnes over.

Japanese TV reporter said a few minutes ago that there had been no new updates for well over a hour.

:-)

Shit meet fan.

they're in, they're out. They're up, they're down. It's on fire, the fire is out, it's on fire again, no it's not!

I cannot get any clear new info - I don't know which report is the most pertinent.

There seems to be a temporary info blackout and news agencies seem to be regurgitating old reports.

AW SHIT....

NHK reporting Japan self-defense forces are preparing to pour water on Daiichi No. 3 reactor from helicopter

by Reuters_TonyTharakan at 2:15 AM

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

In that at least the government has acknowledged that there is a problem

With Chernobyl the government totally hid the problem for several days and no one was evacuated until later.

(All times are local in Japan GMT+9)

3:36pm


Acording to Kyodo news agency, workers at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant have been moved to a bunker at the site after a rise in radiation levels.


Through AJE

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0653: South Korea is planning to ship boric acid to Japan, Kyodo news reports. It says Japan requested the boric acid, which is used to stop fission nuclear reactions, after its own supplies were largely used up at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

oh and GE is sending ten power generators... right now on NHK

I bet the AF is doing that.

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0709: Steve Herman of Voice of America tweets: "It just started snowing here in Fukushima-ken."

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

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0719: A helicopter used to pour water over one of the reactors has taken off, Japanese TV reports.

did they already announce this because they are talking about it as if I already knew. Did not mention which reactor and have now moved on to discuss nukes and active faults

as highly possible...

I did type a transcript at one point

SO BBC must be taking it as official.

<------- NHK monitoring for me

Here, from AJE

(All times are local in Japan GMT+9)

4:19pm
Japanese government suspects that containment vessel at unit three may be damaged.

BBCWorld BBC Global News
#Nuclear workers at #Fukushima plant allowed to back to work, after being evacuated: http://bbc.in/e29Rho
8 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

0725: The total number of dead or missing is now more than 11,000 Japan's NHK TV reports - the first time since WWII that so many people have been killed in Japan in a natural disaster

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

chopper opps, they are injecting water from SDF chopper into reactor number three

as per BBCWorldTV - so there's a jam at the airport and some pretty edgy foreigners finding themselves stranded in Japan.

Lufthanser added itself to the long list of airlines not flying to Tokyo until situation resolves.

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0755: Turkey is advising citizens to postpone non-essential travel to Japan, Reuters reports, while Australia is advising its nationals to consider leaving Tokyo and the eight worst-affected prefectures.

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

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0806: Japan's NHK TV reports that a helicopter that is to drop water over Reactor Three will pass over the reactor many times. It says the helicopter can't stay too long over the plant because of the risk of radiation to the crew. Images of the helicopter show it scooping water from the sea into a red container similar to those used in fire-fighting operations around the world.

Nuclear plant operator says it's not easy to bring equipment to the Daiichi site due to debris on roads

by linda.noakes at 4:14 AM

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

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0816: Prices for private jets have leapt up as thousands of people trying to get out of Japan put in orders, Reuters reports. "I got a request yesterday to fly 14 people from Tokyo to Hong Kong, 5 hour 5 minutes trip. They did not care about price," Reuters quotes Jackie Wu of Hong Kong Jet as saying.

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

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0827: Following that item on the demand for private jets, Reuters is also running a story on the flight of foreign bankers from Tokyo. This despite a denial from the Tokyo-based International Bankers Association that any exodus was under way.

Fuck, the rats always leave the ship first!

TEPCO says it is still unable to resume work on cooling the reactors due to radiation risk.

by Reuters_MarkKolmar at 4:26 AM

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

The World Heath Organisation says there is no evidence of significant international radiation spread from Japan, and that governments and the public should take steps to stop unfounded rumours of radiation spread.

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

The Japanese cabinet secretary says radiation levels around the nuclear plant are not at sufficient levels to cause an immediate health risk.

by Reuters_MarkKolmar edited by Reuters_MarkKolmar at 5:01 AM

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

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0901: Army has aborted an operation to spray water on the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Japan's NHK TV reports.

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

THIS: Is the Wikileaks document the CBC was talking about.

Japan was warned more than two years ago by the international nuclear watchdog that its nuclear power plants were not capable of withstanding powerful earthquakes, leaked diplomatic cables reveal.

An official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in December 2008 that safety rules were out of date and strong earthquakes would pose a "serious problem" for nuclear power stations. The Japanese government pledged to upgrade safety at all of its nuclear plants, but will now face inevitable questions over whether it did enough. AEA

While it responded to the warnings by building an emergency response centre at the Fukushima plant, it was only designed to withstand magnitude 7.0 tremors. Friday's devastating earthquake was a magnitude 9.0 shock.

The news is likely to put further pressure on Japan's Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, who has been criticised for "dithering" over the country's response to the ongoing crisis
at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8384059/Japan-earthquake-Japan-warned-over-nuclear-plants-WikiLeaks-cables-show.html

Kyodo is reporting that the defence minister says it has not been possible to drop water from helicopter onto the reactor. It says this appears to be due to high radiation levels.
by Reuters_MarkKolmar edited by Reuters_MarkKolmar at 5:16 AM

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

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0913: Chief cabinet secretary Edano says preparations are being made to inject water from the ground into Reactor Four at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

US military water cannon being prepared at nuke site .NHK
comment by sota at 5:30 AM

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

TEPCO says it is pouring water into reactors 5 and 6 at Daiichi.

by Reuters_MarkKolmar at 5:31 AM

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2