Earthquake has hit Japan

[austere]

That's for the containment building, if you're referring to what I think you're referring to. As per the photos, looks pretty severe.

Yes as you observed, I was talking about the only field that's been updated, i.e. the building status (secondary containment). This next photo you have is even more interesting... hard to really tell what is going on without photographs from within the plant though. I guess it's too much to ask for one though...

We aren't told anything else, so I'm going with that.

As I said, from the information you presented (the activity decaying, which says nothing about the release unless you assume there is no flow), it's way too early to draw such a conclusion. I'm not saying you're reporting things incorrectly or it is wrong, I'm saying they're wrong to jump to that conclusion without further data, but you don't have to take that at face value I guess, interwebs-lol-etc.

[rtw]

From what I understand the moment the earthquake hit Japan the control rods were shot into the core stopping the nuclear reaction. However even though the primary nuclear reaction has been stopped extreme amounts of heat are generated from the shut down reactor.

From this point on, all one would need is 5-7 days of cooling to get everything shut down safely.
The problem is that the cooling systems malfunctioned thus raising the temperature.

Fukushima is a so called boiling water reactor or BWR. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_water_reactor)

The main Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) is a steel container with walls of around 10 cm. Inside this we find the fuel and control rods.

A BWR utilizes a closed loop cooling system which makes the coolant slightly radioactive. This loop goes through a heat exchanger and is cooled down by sea-water via a heat exchanger.

Around the RPV there is a thick concrete shell which adds to the protection.

Around this shell are normal factory walls. These are the square blocks we see on the pictures.

When the temperature rises, the pressure in the closed loop cooling system increases. To avoid an explosion the engineers opened the security valves and bled radioactive steam. This bleeding is done via special filters to reduce the amount of radioactive material released.

This steam contains hydrogen and this is what caused the explosions we have seen.

If the cooling of the core fails the uranium pellets in the fuel rods might drop out and fall to the bottom of the RPV. In a worst case scenario the nuclear reaction might start again. If this happens the core will melt itself out of the RPV causing huge enviromental damage.

digested from: http://www.tu.no/innsikt/article283488.ece

[austere]

Apparently the workers were back in the plant a few hours ago, so Japan isn't throwing in the towel just yet.

[greg]

Apparently the workers were back in the plant a few hours ago, so Japan isn't throwing in the towel just yet.

Can you blame them? If it would avert disaster for many years to come, could people be brave enough to sacrifice themselves to get close to try to put an end to the radiation leak, like Spock did at the end of Wrath of Khan? I guess I'm a nerd, because that scene has been playing in my mind a lot lately.

[Blackbird]

@greg I've been thinking a lot about a movie I saw some time ago, where naval personnel on a nuclear submarine sacrificed themselves to repair a damaged reactor. I forget the name of the film at this time, though.

The news reported that they had evacuated, when they had instead relocated away temporarily from the high radiation.

Still, this doesn't look good. I really hope this situation improves for the better soon.

[gct]

@rtw, I sent to American Red Cross, from what I understand they have agreed to send funds to Japanese Red Cross for their tsunami aid. Of course it would be better to deposit directly to Japanese Red Cross if you can...

[greg]

I bought one of these neat T-shirts from Cafe Press. Proceeds go to the Red Cross. I also recently bought a cool Tron Light Cycle T-shirt and a Galaga shirt there. Yay for neat-o nerd bait.

[rtw]

@rtw, I sent to American Red Cross, from what I understand they have agreed to send funds to Japanese Red Cross for their tsunami aid. Of course it would be better to deposit directly to Japanese Red Cross if you can...

Thanks for that info, I used this page setup by google:

http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/ja ... e2011.html

Here you can donate money directly to the Japanese Red Cross

[Evilmaxwar]

@greg I've been thinking a lot about a movie I saw some time ago, where naval personnel on a nuclear submarine sacrificed themselves to repair a damaged reactor. I forget the name of the film at this time, though.

The news reported that they had evacuated, when they had instead relocated away temporarily from the high radiation.

Still, this doesn't look good. I really hope this situation improves for the better soon.

I believe that movie is k-19

[gct]

Thanks for that info, I used this page setup by google:

http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/ja ... e2011.html

Here you can donate money directly to the Japanese Red Cross

Thanks rtw, I wish I had known that earlier. We should get greg to add that into his thread.

[moozooh]

The workers currently braving the nuclear disaster on site are being recognized as heroes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_50

I hope they will all be duly recognized on the state level.

[greg]

We should get greg to add that into his thread.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that thread.

Anyhow, here's some good news about the reactor:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ ... HOME&TEMPL
It says they're close to restoring power to the reactor to restore electricity there and revive the electric-powered pumps to cool off the rods.

[Never_Scurred]

I don't "personally" know anybody in Japan so my only concern is with who i've done or am currently doing business with. I contacted all my sellers and asked them if they and their families were okay and they're all good (thus far).
Pretty sure we can expect serious price gouging on all imports until everything settles down. My copy of Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets came in the mail beat to shit and scuffed up but I wiped it down so it looks like a lightly used disc. Can't be mad at my seller tho, he did the best he could to insure good service in spite of everything going on around him. With that being said, any sellers inflating prices on their jp goods can go eat a bowl of boiled baby dicks.

[Skykid]

I don't "personally" know anybody in Japan so my only concern is with who i've done or am currently doing business with. I contacted all my sellers and asked them if they and their families were okay and they're all good (thus far).
Pretty sure we can expect serious price gouging on all imports until everything settles down. My copy of Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets came in the mail beat to shit and scuffed up but I wiped it down so it looks like a lightly used disc. Can't be mad at my seller tho, he did the best he could to insure good service in spite of everything going on around him. With that being said, any sellers inflating prices on their jp goods can go eat a bowl of boiled baby dicks.

I've got no idea why you would think the disaster would impact the cost of items from Japan, unless there are levies on goods with radioactive properties.

There's also no reason for your MMP to be beat to shit either, it's not like it was swept up by the Tsunami and inadvertently landed in a post box. Someone is responsible for that damage, especially if it was inadequately packaged.

[rancor]

I've got no idea why you would think the disaster would impact the cost of items from Japan..

Because the price of electricity per Kw/h is going to skyrocket, gasoline is impossible to get even at its current hyper-inflated price, store shelves are bare, etc. Price-wise things aren't so bad at the moment, but I can definitely see that some items will become exponentially more expensive in Japan in the future. Or maybe not. I could be wrong.

[Skykid]

I've got no idea why you would think the disaster would impact the cost of items from Japan..

Because the price of electricity per Kw/h is going to skyrocket, gasoline is impossible to get even at its current hyper-inflated price, store shelves are bare, etc. Price-wise things aren't so bad at the moment, but I can definitely see that some items will become exponentially more expensive in Japan in the future. Or maybe not. I could be wrong.

Sure, but he's talking about videogames. I can understand if the gas crisis caused shipping to increase (although I don't think it will), but why would it drive up the cost of games. They're not rationing those out are they?

[TLB]

Guys, can we get back to Japan? We're talking about reactors and videogames.

[Never_Scurred]

I've got no idea why you would think the disaster would impact the cost of items from Japan..

Because the price of electricity per Kw/h is going to skyrocket, gasoline is impossible to get even at its current hyper-inflated price, store shelves are bare, etc. Price-wise things aren't so bad at the moment, but I can definitely see that some items will become exponentially more expensive in Japan in the future. Or maybe not. I could be wrong.

Sure, but he's talking about videogames. I can understand if the gas crisis caused shipping to increase (although I don't think it will), but why would it drive up the cost of games. They're not rationing those out are they?

What I said was more of a reaction to some ebay sellers taking advantage of the main import sites inability to replenish their stock because of the whole crisis and whathaveyou. (though its not like P-A, YesAsia and the like were doing such a good job of keeping stock in the first place)
I mean, you got people selling MMP/PS for nearly $200 bucks cause its backordered to fuck everywhere else. Some people are opportunists like that.

Guys, can we get back to Japan? We're talking about reactors and videogames.

Japan makes the games I like to buy, the people I buy from are Japanese and I have transactions going on with these people since before the incident. So, barring the reactor mess, i'd say i'm pretty much on topic here.

[GaijinPunch]

Japan makes the games I like to buy, the people I buy from are Japanese and I have transactions going on with these people since before the incident. So, barring the reactor mess, i'd say i'm pretty much on topic here.

Nobody particularly gives a fuck at this point, is my guess.

[antron]

Never_Scurred, you have a very appropriate avatar.

[Never_Scurred]

Nobody particularly gives a fuck at this point, is my guess.

you have a very appropriate avatar.

[Kakizaki]

I swear I have heard a few reports that power may be back up (to a limited degree anyway) at the Fukushima plant. Did anyone else hear or read this? I can't seem to find any articles about it.

[bitkid]

Yes I read that they hooked up an external line to the power grid to run the pumps.

[Blackbird]

I just hope the damage can be "reversed" now that it's gotten to this point. Cooling pumps, please work!

[Evilmaxwar]

New power line or no, i have trouble believing the cooling systems will just go back online after suffering all these explosions, heat and fire. Watching CNN and seeing images of helicopters dropping water from air. This is not a good sign.

Also, American atomic experts dispatched on site say the containment pool in reactor 4 is now almost certainly dried out enough to expose the spent fuel rods. Japan news report is not saying the same thing but when interviewed live and confronted with the discrepancy, Japan government official would evade the question, actually admitting he does not know, or do not want to tell. It would seem all the info the Japanese government has is coming from the power company. and it would seem the company is not very transparent.

If the containment pool in reactor 4 is truly dried out, this is very bad news. The rods could heat up, maybe melt and/or start to burn and the resulting radiation levels are likely to make the whole area a no mans land, rendering all work in the area completely impossible.

So i hope they succeed in restoring the cooling pumps, this whole catastrophe really needs a positive development for a change...

[Skykid]

Guys, can we get back to Japan?

Dude, you need to loosen up slightly, every time you post in the thread you're playing on-topic policeman. It was a slight deviation of a couple of posts, life goes on, nuclear reactors can still melt down. Give us our freedom damn you!!

I've had Tsunami's and nuclear disasters beamed into my consciousness 24/7 for seven days straight, to the point where I'm having dreams about it. If the TV is anything to go by, there's actually no news worth reporting anywhere else in the entire world right now.

Which seems odd.

Anyway, as I'm still plugged into BBC News 24 and nothing else, there seems to be a widening discrepancy regarding the severity of the nuclear plant situation between the US specialists and the Japanese government. There are many interviews with Japanese saying they don't trust their government as the 2nd explosion wasn't broadcast on TV? (Can anyone in Japan confirm this?)

The US expert has urged US citizens to go beyond the current suggested evacuation zone to 80 kilometers based on his judgement (it's currently at 30km right? That's quite a difference.)

What's the tone like in JP, any of this uneasiness ringing a bell?

[Observer]

Guys, can we get back to Japan?

Dude, you need to loosen up slightly, every time you post in the thread you're playing on-topic policeman. It was a slight deviation of a couple of posts, life goes on, nuclear reactors can still melt down. Give us our freedom damn you!!

I've had Tsunami's and nuclear disasters beamed into my consciousness 24/7 for seven days straight, to the point where I'm having dreams about it. If the TV is anything to go by, there's actually no news worth reporting anywhere else in the entire world right now.

Which seems odd.

Anyway, as I'm still plugged into BBC News 24 and nothing else, there seems to be a widening discrepancy regarding the severity of the nuclear plant situation between the US specialists and the Japanese government. There are many interviews with Japanese saying they don't trust their government as the 2nd explosion wasn't broadcast on TV? (Can anyone in Japan confirm this?)

The US expert has urged US citizens to go beyond the current suggested evacuation zone to 80 kilometers based on his judgement (it's currently at 30km right? That's quite a difference.)

What's the tone like in JP, any of this uneasiness ringing a bell?

The general sentiment is they don't trust the government. I have someone only 50 km away from the freaking power plant (definitely not enough if they are already leaving Tokyo), unable to evacuate due to lack of fuel and pretty much left there in despair unless they bring vehicles or something to get people the hell out.

I no longer know what to think really, and it annoys the fuck out of me that people dismissed this quite fast over here (or just politicised it to criticise the local government) but they fed us for weeks and weeks about the earthquake in Chile, which was just as bad (minus the nuclear apocalypse) and happened in a country right next to us, but... yeah. I'm not making much sense today, I really had an awful day and the news certainly don't help at all to ease my mood.

[greg]

Guys, can we get back to Japan? We're talking about reactors and videogames.

Good idea. But first, here's a picture of Paula Deen riding a speeder bike on Endor:

If the TV is anything to go by, there's actually no news worth reporting anywhere else in the entire world right now.

Well, there's the crap in Libiya and our President's indecision on whether or not to make the country a no-fly zone, thereby giving the rebels a chance to oust Gaddafi, a man who apparently even Bin Laden thinks is no good. But anyhow, that would deserve its own topic, and I'm really not that interested.

I swear I have heard a few reports that power may be back up (to a limited degree anyway) at the Fukushima plant. Did anyone else hear or read this? I can't seem to find any articles about it.

Yeah, I linked to an article on that above. The article is constantly being updated and re-written though. I don't think they were successful yet though.

[Skykid]

it annoys the fuck out of me that people dismissed this quite fast over here

Sorry, I'm not sure I get you there, you mean they dismissed the whole earthquake/Tsunami really fast? That would be totally odd, because here in the UK it's the only thing anyone is talking about. And I mean literally, it's all we hear all day long from every news source you can imagine, and they're taking it pretty darn seriously.

[greg]

I was just thinking, why don't we have some sort of badass firefighting robots who can go in there with big hoses and stuff? I mean, we have robots that can walk into volcanoes and stuff. Why can't we roll them into overheating nuclear reactors?

I'm watching NHK and the water the helicopters are dropping are only misting by the time they reach the ground because they're flying so high.