BREAKING NEWS: Japan Nuclear Crisis

[irishspirit]

CNN) -- An explosion sent white smoke rising above at a nuclear plant where a massive earthquake and tsunami crippled cooling systems in northeastern Japan's Fukushima prefecture, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said Saturday, citing the country's nuclear and industrial safety agency.

The Tokyo Electric Company said four workers on the ground were injured, NHK reported.


It was not immediately clear where the blast occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, or what caused it.


One expert said the explosion was "clearly a serious situation," but may not be related to problems inside the plant's nuclear reactor.


Other effects of the tsunami may have caused the blast, said Malcolm Grimston, associate fellow for energy, environment and development at London's Chatham House.



http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/as...ex.html?hpt=T1

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[irishspirit]

Huge blast at Japan nuclear power plant


A massive explosion has struck a Japanese nuclear power plant after Friday's devastating earthquake.

A huge pall of 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.
The offshore earthquake triggered a tsunami which wreaked havoc on Japan's north-east coast, sweeping far inland and devastating a number of towns and villages.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12720219

[irishspirit]

Nuclear fall out map

map.jpg

[irishspirit]

Nuclear reactors work on the principle that nuclear fission releases heat, which can be harnessed and used to heat water into steam to drive turbines.
A typical nuclear reactor uses enriched uranium in the form of fuel 'pellets', each roughly the size of a coin and about an inch long. The pellets are formed into long rods known as bundles, and housed inside a heavily insulated, pressurised chamber.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/h...ml/reactor.stm

[Luke]

So far no NUCLEAR explosion.

What blasted was either:

*Auxiliary diesels fuel
*Nitrogen byproducts store
*elements of steam/cooling instalations

No raise in contamination levels was reported, beside caesium after the emergency venting procedures.
So far core meltdown and runaway chain reaction are off the books - as long as moderation medium is there.
(Better it stays that way, crossfingers)

In major "nuclear events" - 3mile/USA and Chernobyl the moderation medium (graphite rods) were not lowered, which resulted in runaway fission. According to known sources, this is not the case in Japan.

There might be a problem with coolant, but they risk seawater contamination BEFORE any airborne event will take place.

[irishspirit]

1. 1052: Neil McKeown in Nakameguro, Tokyo writes: "The evacuation zone has been extended to 20km by the government. However TepCo [the Tokyo Electric Power Company] appeared in a news conference and promised to release new radioactivity readings after 6pm. It is now 7.30pm and they have not done so. People are getting extremely frustrated at the lack of news coming from TepCo and the government - they have yet to confirm if the building that suffered an explosion housed a reactor, and we have no indication how much radiation has been released or in what direction winds are blowing." Have Your Say
   
   

[irishspirit]

1. 1057: Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says serious damage to the nuclear reactor container is unlikely despite the explosion at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant - Kyodo news.
   
   

That is good to hear.

[irishspirit]

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

[irishspirit]

[irishspirit]

1. 1103: Japan's Kyodo news is also reporting that the four people injured in the nuclear plant explosion are conscious and their injuries are not life-threatening.
   
   

thats good news

[irishspirit]

it has also been confirmed that there was a radiation leak. searching links, as just seen on the wires.

[Swami]

That doesn't look good Irishspirit...
CNN just said one fuelcell melted down, any more info on that one Irish...?
Thx for the flow of info you create in here

[irishspirit]

http://rt.com/on-air/

Russia today as always has an excellent feed.

[InCiDeR]

Sky News report that new tsunamis on their way. They now evacute people to higher grounds.

[irishspirit]

There has been 4 Tsunami alerts (high) issued today thus far. These are very much real. Not sure what is causing them, I am checking into this though. Info is flying to fast to keep up with it.

[irishspirit]

1. 1110: An attempt to explain the risk to the Fukushima nuclear plants following the earthquake: The plants are designed to shut down automatically, which halts the main nuclear fission reaction, but there is a residual amount of intense heat within the system. Back-up generators should kick in to power the cooling mechanisms needed to dissipate that heat - but if they fail, as appears to have happened here, temperatures rise. If this isn't stopped, the reactor vessel itself could eventually melt and leak.
   
   

[irishspirit]

Where anything to get into the air and the golf stream, he its its forecast for the next while.

http://www.stormsurfing.com/cgi/disp...cgi?a=npac_250

[irishspirit]

: A full quote from Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano's press conference: "As reported, we have been informed that there was some kind of an explosive phenomenon at Fukushima No 1 nuclear power plant, although it has yet to be confirmed whether [the explosion] was that of a nuclear reactor itself. At present, after the talks among political party heads held a while ago, government officials including the prime minister and the minister of economy, trade, and industry, along with experts, are making all-out efforts to get hold of and analyse the situation, and to take measures."

[irishspirit]

Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano also said that the current level of radioactivity at the power plant was "within the range that was anticipated" when it was decided that steam would be vented from the reactor to release pressure.

[irishspirit]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquak...usc00020fv.php another 6.1

[irishspirit]

Authorities extend evacuation area to 20kms around Daiichi nuclear plant after explosion, Kyodo News Agency reports.

http://www.cnn.com

[irishspirit]

Reuters says Japanese PM to hold press conference at 20:30 local time

live now on your news station: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

[irishspirit]

Naoto Kan: "This is an unprecedented disaster that we are suffering."

Naoto Kan: More than 50-60 countries have expressed sympathies, US President Barack Obama has called. (Wonder if he laughed and asked do you want another one?(

[irishspirit]

Not good, CNN just reported on the live feed there has in fact been a meltdown at Reactor #1.

Will confirm with a link when up

[irishspirit]

Edano says no explosion at nuclear reactor container at Fukushima plant.

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