Tohoku Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Disaster!!!

[Jack]

Relatives in the US are starting to get annoying as fuck. I guess even the most level-headed of them finally turned to the dark side of US news hype and asked what my evacuation plans are. My snide response, "I've got two dates this weekend, but I will get up early to join the rest of the hoarders Saturday morning."

I have been watching CNN and BBC, especially CNN makes you want to leave the place right away. The hype is higher than the radioactivity levels in Fukushima. Fuck, people in California are stocking up on Iodine pills in anticipation of radioactive particles blown this way by the wind.

Maybe they should take those 24 hour news channels off the air for a while.

[Coligny]

Sitrep for Daiichi (unfortunately from the NY Times):

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/16/world/asia/reactors-status.html?hp

[2triky]

In other words, calm the f*ck down.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2011/0317/Fear-of-Japan-s-nuclear-crisis-far-exceeds-actual-risks-say-scientists

[McTojo]

Geez, never thought I'd be happy to hear from McTojo, thought you might have had another of those long weekends and set off for the northern kens.

How did you know..? I never tell anyone about my trips until after I return. you know, I purchased a Granclass seat on the Hayabusa for March 16! I had to stay up all night online just to get that damn ticket. I was one of the lucky few who snapped up the first batch of tickets, and I lucked up for some reason. You know how depressed I was when I had to refund it last week? I had a nice trip planned out, too. Tokyo to Shin-Aomori, then to Tsugaru to stay at an onsen hotel. The next day I was going to ride the stove oven train in Goshogawara. The stove oven engine is a once a year event where you ride on a locomotive in the middle of winter, and you can cook on the train engine's stove and enjoy hot sake.

Talk about bad timing. That fucking earthquake ruined everything.

[FG Lurker]

Maybe they should take those 24 hour news channels off the air permanently.

FTFY.

[Jack]

FTFY.

FTFY? Fixed that for you?

[Bucky]

Just the facts ma'am. Excellent article in the LA Times that I found very informative.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-sci-japan-quake-reactor-qa-20110314,0,3403230.story

[FG Lurker]

Just the facts ma'am. Excellent article in the LA Times that I found very informative.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-sci-japan-quake-reactor-qa-20110314,0,3403230.story

Not a bad article, but I think it gets one key thing incorrect:

My understanding with regards to the GE reactors is that the problem is not about melted fuel burning through the containment. The problem is that back in the 60s when these reactors were designed there was some concern by GE engineers that the containment couldn't handle the internal pressure buildup in the event of a complete loss of cooling ability. Essentially if all cooling was lost the containment could explode from the resulting internal pressure buildup. GE later released upgrades for these reactors to improve their ability to withstand pressures generated due to a loss of coolant.

The big questions are, "Did Japan implement these upgrades?" and, "Were the upgrades enough to address the potential issues?"

The reactors have been without coolant for several days and have not exploded. From what I can tell a shut down reactor needs the most coolant during the first week after shutdown and then things stabilize with much less heat generation from the fuel. The next couple of days will be pretty telling as to whether Japan implemented the upgrades and if the upgrades were enough to address the concerns of those 1960s engineers.

[Greji]

Talk about bad timing. That fucking earthquake ruined everything.

Did do too much good for the people living in that Iwate and Miyagi and they didn't even know about your trip.

[McTojo]

Did do too much good for the people living in that Iwate and Miyagi and they didn't even know about your trip.

I'm wondering if I should put together a slideshow from my 2008 onsen book highlighting before and after shots of many of the onsen areas I stayed at. Two I know for sure were destroyed which is really disheartening....Naruko was one of my greatest journeys in Japan.

[Mike Oxlong]

Not a bad article, but I think it gets one key thing incorrect:

My understanding with regards to the GE reactors is that the problem is not about melted fuel burning through the containment. The problem is that back in the 60s when these reactors were designed there was some concern by GE engineers that the containment couldn't handle the internal pressure buildup in the event of a complete loss of cooling ability. Essentially if all cooling was lost the containment could explode from the resulting internal pressure buildup. GE later released upgrades for these reactors to improve their ability to withstand pressures generated due to a loss of coolant.

The big questions are, "Did Japan implement these upgrades?" and, "Were the upgrades enough to address the potential issues?"

The reactors have been without coolant for several days and have not exploded. From what I can tell a shut down reactor needs the most coolant during the first week after shutdown and then things stabilize with much less heat generation from the fuel. The next couple of days will be pretty telling as to whether Japan implemented the upgrades and if the upgrades were enough to address the concerns of those 1960s engineers.

Answer: Most probably they did not.

[Mike Oxlong]

Explanation of the storage of spend fuel rod in Fukushima...

On top of the reactor...

BRILLIANT...

http://yfrog.com/2p2g2z

/speechless

Seems they were just doing what the Yanks have been doing...

U.S. nuclear plants store more spent fuel than Japan's, experts say

[Iraira]

Talk about bad timing. That fucking earthquake ruined everything.

Dude, you are seriously acting like a little bitch right about now. Did you also get a run in your stockings and was your chiffon cake over-cooked as a result of the earthquake/tsunami? You are so beyond French (apologies to Coligny).

[2triky]

Better than nothing.

====

Radiation levels lowered after water injection

Radiation levels dropped a little on Thursday at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after a water injection by pump trucks.

In a news conference early Friday, Tokyo Electric Power Company says the radiation levels at the west gate of the power plant was down by nearly 20 points to 292 microsieverts per hour at 8.40 PM on Thursday.

The figures follow an hour-long operation by police and Self-Defense Forces to inject water from pump trucks into the No. 3 reactor building. It's possible the level of pool water used for cooling nuclear fuel was reduced.

At 11 PM the radiation level dropped again to 289 microsieverts per hour.

The company says it saw steam billowing from the building after the water injection, which suggests the operation had some success.

Friday, March 18, 2011 02:54 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/18_05.html

[Bucky]

Mrs. Bucky just mentioned to me that she had read that a few days ago TEPCO had asked the government if they could abandon Fukushima.

"Yup, we're done here. "

But the government told them to get their asses back in there and complete the job.

Not sure of the source, but if it is true, those TEPCO guys need to be strung up.

I imagine we can anticipate a few suicides by TEPCO execs in the coming months "atoning" for the problems.

[2triky]

I imagine we can anticipate a few suicides by TEPCO execs in the coming months "atoning" for the problems.

Perhaps they can jump in to the crippled reactors with clothing dipped in boric acid to sop up some radiation in the process.

[Mike Oxlong]

Japan Turned Down Early American Offers of Help for Fukushima Reactors

[Yokohammer]

Hey McTojo,

Now's the time to show your deep love of Japan.

Come on up here and do some volunteer work. You seem to have the time to enjoy the country, here's your chance to give a little back.

[cstaylor]

Mrs. Bucky just mentioned to me that she had read that a few days ago TEPCO had asked the government if they could abandon Fukushima.

"Yup, we're done here. "

But the government told them to get their asses back in there and complete the job.

I expect TEPCO to declare bankruptcy after this is all finished, and Japan should fire everyone above bucho level at the Japan NRC as well.

Mrs. Bucky must have read the Mainichi: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/everyone-at-the-power-plant-is-battling-on-without-running-away-20110318-1bztj.html

[Catoneinutica]

I expect TEPCO to declare bankruptcy after this is all finished, and Japan should fire everyone above bucho level at the Japan NRC as well.

Mrs. Bucky must have read the Mainichi: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/everyone-at-the-power-plant-is-battling-on-without-running-away-20110318-1bztj.html

That shit ain't gonna happen: this is Japan. Chernobyl was one of the key moments when Gorbachev and the nomenklatura realized the Soviet we-don't-need-the-West's-technology-and-expertise model wasn't going to work any longer. Will Fukushima have a similar clarifying effect on Japan's ruling elite? I really doubt it. Maybe it's the "shame culture," but the whole country seems to have an atavistic need to go run and hide like a big four-island hikkikomori. Really, the only two times since the Edo era it's emerged from its shell have both been after it's gotten a thorough rogering from Big Daddy.

Japan is shutting down, sputtering out, North-Korea-izing. This whole nuke debacle is just another step in the process.

[cstaylor]

That shit ain't gonna happen: this is Japan.

I hope you're wrong about that. If anything is in need of a complete restructuring, it's TEPCO's management culture. Since top-level ministry officials often get plum jobs at companies like TEPCO, they've got to go too, otherwise they'll just water-down any security reforms.

[Catoneinutica]

I hope you're wrong about that. If anything is in need of a complete restructuring, it's TEPCO's management culture. Since top-level ministry officials often get plum jobs at companies like TEPCO, they've got to go too, otherwise they'll just water-down any security reforms.

TEPCO's pretty much a paradigm of Japanese bureaucracy: amakudari buffoons, the kind that destroyed JAL, at the top, general contractors in the middle, and scummy subcontractors and sub-subcontractors at the bottom, the yak links becoming more explicit as you move down.

There will certainly be some cosmetic changes, but a comprehensive reorganization, hearings, open investigations, jail time - that'd be a seismic shift the likes of which Japan's ruling class is utterly incapable absent overwhelming gaiatsu.

[matsuki]

That shit ain't gonna happen: this is Japan. Chernobyl was one of the key moments when Gorbachev and the nomenklatura realized the Soviet we-don't-need-the-West's-technology-and-expertise model wasn't going to work any longer. Will Fukushima have a similar clarifying effect on Japan's ruling elite? I really doubt it. Maybe it's the "shame culture," but the whole country seems to have an atavistic need to go run and hide like a big four-island hikkikomori. Really, the only two times since the Edo era it's emerged from its shell have both been after it's gotten a thorough rogering from Big Daddy.

Japan is shutting down, sputtering out, North-Korea-izing. This whole nuke debacle is just another step in the process.

This...with all these nuclear reactors offline/out of commission, take advantage of the situation and set a single country-wide standard of 60hz. Can't be that hard to make adapters to use to transition.

[AML]

Well, this fucked dolphin is leaving the pod. ( for 2 weeks anyway)

Hopefully when we get back things will b back to normal regarding gas, food, power cuts, stupid hoarding people, after shocks, and radiation levels.

[canman]

AML, I am not going to criticize your decision, but what will two weeks do for you? Do you think that the radiation will miraculously
disappear after two weeks. I have heard another group of foreigners saying the same thing, leave for a week or two, but what is the point. If you are going to leave, wouldn't it be better to head back and try starting over in your home country, or staying and making the best of it.
I'm staying, because I really don't think it is going to be as bad as everyone fears, and this has become my second home, and I can't just leave everybody who can't leave in the lurch. I was here for the good times and will be hear for the tough times.
Again, this is not a criticism of your decision, just my feeling.
CM

[L S]

I was just watching video footage of a plane flying over and trying to see into one of the spent fuel rod structures to "glimpse" any water.

Maybe this is happening and I just haven't seen it reported, but why aren't they flying any drones in to try and check out the structures better? A drone helo could hover and peer into the holes in the structure to see if there is water. And it is a hell of a lot safer...

[IkemenTommy]

I want to create a list of companies that fucked up and failed during this crisis. Just to start off:
TEPCO
JR East
Softbank

Feel free to add more to this list if you wish.

I'm going to add:
Mizuho Bank

[matsuki]

AML, I am not going to criticize your decision, but what will two weeks do for you? Do you think that the radiation will miraculously
disappear after two weeks. I have heard another group of foreigners saying the same thing, leave for a week or two, but what is the point. If you are going to leave, wouldn't it be better to head back and try starting over in your home country, or staying and making the best of it.
I'm staying, because I really don't think it is going to be as bad as everyone fears, and this has become my second home, and I can't just leave everybody who can't leave in the lurch. I was here for the good times and will be hear for the tough times.
Again, this is not a criticism of your decision, just my feeling.
CM

Less people here means less traffic, crowding and energy demand. Every little bit helps...though I'm not going anywhere

[L S]

[IkemenTommy]

AML, I am not going to criticize your decision, but what will two weeks do for you?
CM

I'm looking forward to this 3 day weekend in Tokyo with all the inaka people heading home and FGs running away scared like French (no offense, Coligny).