Asia
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Japan's earthquake, the day after
The nuclear threat
Mar 12th 2011, 3:18 by H.T. | TOKYO
THROUGHOUT Japan’s recent history of earthquakes, fires and tsunamis, none have matched the combined fury of those that battered the north of the country on March 11th, killing hundreds of people and leaving at least 1,000 unaccounted for. But on March 12th the Japanese faced another danger: a nuclear accident.
Two nuclear plants near the coast in Fukushima, a prefecture northeast of Tokyo, were being handled as emergency situations following the failure of systems to cool five nuclear reactors that have overheated. If any were to release large quantities of radioactive material, it could create a whole new level of catastrophe.
At this point, it is hard to gauge the degree of risk. It is an unprecedented situation in Japan, which is one of the world’s most nuclear-intensive countries. Overnight, the government extended the radius from which it evacuated people near the Fukushima First (Daiichi) plant from 3 kilometres to 10km, according to news agency reports. Tens of thousands of people live within the radius.
This morning, the plant, which is operated by Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) and is among the largest in the world, released some of the radioactive vapour that has built up in the first plant, in order to let off some of the pressure. It said radiation levels were not threatening—though in a central control room, they had risen to 1,000 times normal levels.
In its second plant, a few miles away, temperatures in three reactors have been reported to be three times the normal level; Tepco has decided to release pressure there, too. Many Japanese are worried that Tepco may downplay the risks: it has in the past. Whatever the immediate danger, this incident is bound to produce some soul-searching in quake-prone Japan about its nuclear industry, which the government has been keenly trying to promote around the world as a green–and safe–industry.
Since last night, the government of Naoto Kan has appeared ready to share regular data on the status of the plants with the public, though it is obviously anxious not to sow panic. It may not have helped that the initial reports were inconsistent: as the prime minister was telling reporters on Friday evening that the country's nuclear power plants had automatically shut down, as they should, the national news-agency, Kyodo, was reporting "abnormalities" at the Fukushima reactors.
The damage seems to have come from a variety of sources: the earthquake forced the plants to immediately halt operations, as they should have done. But the cooling systems, some of which use sea water to keep the reactor temperatures down, appear to have been affected by the tsunami. And back-up power systems also appear to have failed, though some battery-powered replacements have been brought in.
There is not much talk as yet in Japan of what would happen in the worst-case scenario: that a reactor would overheat to the point that it induced a meltdown, or even an explosion, which could release large amounts of radioactive material. There is plenty of that sort of discussion among pundits in America, however, which the Japanese can hear on international news channels like the BBC.
Mr Kan, the prime minister, visited at least one of the plants by helicopter early Saturday, and returned saying there was no reason to expect adverse health affects for anyone. Whether he is right or not, he has a huge crisis on his hands. Latest reports from the defense ministry indicate the death toll could exceed 1,000; in Fukushima prefecture alone, 1,800 houses were destroyed. Up to 300 bodies were washed ashore after the tsunami, and fires have raged along the north-eastern coastline. Four trains are reportedly missing, as is a ship with 100 passengers.
There are regular aftershocks, too, which inevitably keeps the public on edge and must continue to be terrifying in devastated cities like Sendai, near the epicentre of the quake, and to those who live within Fukushima's nuclear radius.
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IMO,the earthquake in japan mau cause a lot of problem like the earthquake happened in china,wenchuan.The casualties could be 3 or 4 thousand.Unfortunately,a tsunamis followed.It must have unnumberous bad effects on the country and its people.Although I dont’like the nation of japanese,but as a human being,I think we should cry for them,and try to help them.the child is innocent,they should get our help.We live in the same star--the earth,in spite of the hostile attitude between we and the japanese,in spite of the terrible things they japanese have done our pitiful people,we chinese should show mercy on them,CHINA our country should encourage the whole world to help them.we are a caring and righteous nation,this is the time to show the world our country and our nation's spirit an soul.
I, for one, quite like the nation of japanese
Is it sustainable to build dozens of nuclear plants on a wobbly island surrounded by the sea?
why i somehow feel so uncomfortable when i read your comment?you just can not help to bring your anti-Japanese ideology up here even when innocent Japanese crowd are suffering this horrific disaster ,do you?
And please do not represent the others ,thought you probably do it all the time.
Earthquake, earthquake ... Japan should not build any nuclear power plant.
Summer Love - You should come back to planet Earth from the star Earth and meet some Japanese people, I'm sure you will feel better about the nation of the Japanese.
Is it just me, but I can't help thinking that there is a problem with the design of a power plant if it loses power. shouldn't there be some sort of backup at least in which the pumps are powered directly by the plant itself?
Lets hope that the meltdown does not occur.
The lesson is clear, more wind and solar energy, more distributed power generation systems near communities.
Wind Turbines, may get damaged but don't cause damage to anyone outside the wind park. Solar panels may get damaged, but don't cause damage to humans.
Solar can be repaired faster than wind. Both can be repaired faster than nuclear.
Japanese companies have the technology.
Summer love dislikes the Japanese...
Strictly Speaking likes the Japanese....
Blue Seahorse dislikes Summer Love....
Ahd1 mocks Summer Love and likes the Japanese...
Cloudwarrior dislikes Summer Love but likes the Chinese and the Japanese....
Country Road dislikes Cloudwarrior and the Japanese
I dislike everyone...
Misanthrophy.....Its just easier than reading these posts.
As of 10 min ago they are saying meltdown is possible. There is a cloud formation coming in from east, that will be on top of northern Japan in a day or 2 and will last for a couple day or more. I assume the winds are in the same direction.
1.It is probably better to have meltdown now before cloud cover cools the vapor making it more likely to contaminate the mainland. Higher heat would lead to higher atmosphere and ultimately an north eastern course into the pacific.
or
2. Trying to put keep it cool, maybe cloud seeding, but they've already said they are releasing radioactive material.
Because of this Im guessing they are going with number 2. My question is how able are they to cloud seed on a building thats about the size of the planes themselves.
god bless these people,the tragedy like Chernobyl should never happen again..while,we should really consider what the technology bring to us,maybe we a little maniac about it.
Our prayers and thoughts with the people of Japan, they are going through difficult times, and we are sorry about that, let's all support and show some love to Japan.
some idiots have changed to subject 'like' and 'dislike' as if they are on facebook.
Just for your information (not my opinion, I respect Japanese):
'This earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that Karma? When you’re not nice then the bad things happen to you…"
-By Sharon Stone
This thread is ludicrous. Do you all realize that there is a small possibility of one of the most horrific meltdowns in human history? Get some perspective and discuss your opinions of Japanese culture and history elsewhere.
Let us hope nothing comes to pass.
@Martin de Mars
I hate her Karma theory...I don't believe Chinese people deserved that Earthquake in 2008 and I don't believe Japanese people deserved this one either...
@Summer Love
Don't use words "we" and "Chinese," please. You are just like your government, always trying to be the speak person for 1.3 billions, but you should remember there are so many Chinese that don't think in this racialist or nationalist way.
'Do you all realize that there is a small possibility of one of the most horrific meltdowns in human history?'
I don't think this is possible. I think many other people here also have very strong confidence in Japanese ability of handling emergency. They will get the situation under control.
How much of a blathering idiot could Hilary Clinton be? Well you just found out!
She blabbered w/o knowing the full details as usual that the US provided "special type of" coolant! And then we have this news:
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSN1125270120110311?ca=rdt
"The U.S. military did not provide any coolant for a Japanese nuclear plant affected by a massive earthquake on Friday, U.S. officials said."
Of course because the coolant in these reactors is water! They are called Boiling Water Reactors (BWR).
You would think that would have provided clues to some people. Btw if this had been GwB the media would have had a field day with this "gaffe". What a shame! You have the SoS of a country that practically invented reactors and nuclear energy NOT knowing what coolant BWRs use. Einstein and Oppenheimer must be rolling in their graves!
I really hope there is no meltdown and that the Japanese are able to get the reactors under control. The latest update is, while the radiation levels are still a lot below any threat, have been steadily inceeasing during the past hours because of the pumping of the radioactive vapor.
My prayers are with the Japanese people and I wish them all the luck in getting this situation under control.
This article comes off as a bit alarmist and premature. Certainly couldn't hit the recommend button.
The facilities just got hit by a worst case situation; and we are not exactly seeing a Chernobyl transpiring.
I bet any radiation is probably coming from secondary sources (water heated by the reactor?). A reactor itself is a pretty tightly sealed structure, with high pressured, high temperature water, so it doesn't exactly drip liquids.
As for claims of a meltdown - well that won't exactly be known for a while, since it could encompass just a minor compromise of the integrity of a fuel rod I believe, on up to the whole aparatus getting damaged.
Otherwise, these vague statements in the article don't help - "though in a central control room, they had risen to 1,000 times normal levels?
What are the REMS or Sieverts that are considered normal, and what is the magnitude now?
With regards to some comments about wind and solar - could you cite one case where such source for energy generation support baseload requirements?
@Jordan5941
Oh my God, you're right. As soon as I read your post and realised my mistake I rushed off to telephone Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission and offer my expertise.
They told me that there was nothing I could do (being in another country and not having the faintest notion of nuclear safety) and so I am back here writing on this forum.
PS: I like LaContra!
I am really scared now.
'Shaking, smoke at problem Japan nuclear plant'