DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS DIARY. Please recommend the new Mothership instead.
This is another clearinghouse diary for discussion and commentary about the ongoing nuclear disaster(s) in Japan. Previous diaries can be found listed in the Mothership.
Please be kind to Kossacks with low bandwith and avoid video and photos, but any info and updates, from whatever sources are available to you, are what these diaries are all about.
As per good practice and Meteor Blades' request if you offer new information in the comments, please remember to source it, preferably with a link.
Visit the Mothership for information on donations, best places to get reliable updates, and so on.
To put the nuclear concerns in the larger context and to update the situation:
Over 10,000 people remain missing and new information on the extent of the devastation is still coming in. See this interactive feature from the New York Times to see how the tsunami literally wiped all evidence of civilization off the map in many places.
Regarding the nuclear disaster that somehow continues to grow with every passing day:
On our minds from previous ROVs this evening: is the current reactor fire out or not? And if not, how are they going to extinguish it if no one can get near enough to pour water on the blaze? ... People within a radius of 12.5 miles of the stricken reactors have been evacuated, and those within 19 miles have been advised to protect themselves from atmospheric particulates (stay indoors, don't run air conditioning, and so on). That 19-mile ring appears to be closed off to both incoming and outgoing traffic.
A few Hours ago (please note, the account of the press conference is both from my notes I took during the press conference as it was broadcast on NHK as well as from NHK updates): Edano gave a press conference where he indicated that the radiation levels had been fluctuating hour by hour, had increased into the milli-seiverts range, but had dipped below that (into the hundreds of micro-seiverts range) later on. He also indicated that the last 50 nuclear plant workers had been evacuated due to high radiation levels, but hoped they could return soon.
Prior to the press conference, NHK reported that the maximum exposure level for plant workers regulation had just been increased 2.5x in order to allow workers to get close enough to the holding pools for long enough to be able to do anything.
Edano indicated that at the time of the presser, radiation readings had dropped some.
In regards to the smoke that has been billowing from the plant again today (Wednesday morning in Japan, Tuesday night in the US), he said it was not entirely clear where the smoke was coming from, but that it was likely due to vapor coming from the containment vessel in reactor #2. He said they were planning to continue to try to figure out what was going on, and at that time, there was no need to change evacuation instructions.
At a question and answer session that followed the presser, Edano, when asked what was going on with plans to get water to reactor #4, answered that those plans had been delayed, but that they were still planning to do so. Exactly how they planned to do so was not made clear. Edano basically said he'd let the press know when the joint commission between the government and TEPCO knew. Plans to drop water and boric acid by helicopter had been considered, but there were worries that such action would do more harm than good due to water being dropped all at once. He indicated slow addition of water would be best, and that they were trying to pump water from the ground. He also indicated they were considering the possibility of getting help from better equipped countries.
When asked whether reactor #4 were going critical or not, Edano answered, "Everything is possible in this world that we are living in. Nothing has zero possibility but assessments right now and within the scope of info that we have right now, I don’t think we have to address ciriticality. We are making sure that this will not become a real risk." Temperatures at that reactor continue to rise.
When asked about the status of reactors #5 and #6, Edano indicated that the temperatures of those reactors were also continuing to rise, but that they were doing all they could to keep them cool.
Edano was asked about the containment status of reactor #3 and seemed to indicate that perhaps, possibly, it had been breached and that possibly it was a source of leaking radiation.
To me, personally, the press conference did not leave me feeling particularly hopeful. As Julia stated in the beautifully done, previous ROV from which I have shamelessly copied whole sections (thank you, Julia!),
Things are likely to get worse for the people of the region, and perhaps for people farther afield as well.
FOR REACTOR STATUS UPDATES, Kyodo News has a helpful list. The current one is given below. (H/T to Woolie in the comments)
-- Reactor No. 1 - Cooling failure, partial melting of core, vapor vented, building damaged Saturday by hydrogen explosion, seawater being pumped in.
-- Reactor No. 2 - Cooling failure, seawater being pumped in, fuel rods fully exposed temporarily, vapor vented, building damaged Monday by blast at Reactor No. 3, damage to containment vessel on Tuesday, potential meltdown feared.
-- Reactor No. 3 - Cooling failure, partial melting of core feared, vapor vented, seawater being pumped in, building damaged Monday by hydrogen explosion, high-level radiation measured nearby on Tuesday, plume of smoke observed Wednesday, damage to containment vessel likely.
-- Reactor No. 4 - Under maintenance when quake struck, fire Tuesday possibly caused by hydrogen explosion at pool holding spent fuel rods, pool water level not observed, fire observed Wednesday at building housing reactor, no water poured in to cool pool.
-- Reactor No. 5, No. 6 - Under maintenance when quake struck, temperature slightly rising in spent fuel pool.
A few links to media coverage:
NHK WORLD English (live from Japan)
Al Jazeera English (live streaming)
CNN
BBC
Washington Post
Guardian UK
Kyodo News
Reference Information
Many thanks to boatsie who started the mothership process and provided much initial information from her diary on the subject, "we are assuming melt down has occurred" & upgraded to 9!
Live Streaming:
NHK Live: NHK
Al Jazeera Live: Al Jazeera Live
France24 Live: France24 Live
Twitter – Real Time Updates:
IAEA
WFP
#earthquake: Twitter # earthquake
#japan: Twitter #japan
#tsunami: Twitter #tsunami
The Five Star Seneca Doane DKos disaster preparedness primer
Link to a document about how the nuclear fuel rods are storedNHK Japan Live
An interesting 1st person narrative on what the exclusion zone around Chernobyl is like 25 years after the accident (yes, I am aware this situation is different from Chernobyl -- it's just interesting and tangentially applicable, and slightly heartening [slightly]).Updated by middleagedhousewife at Tue Mar 15, 2011 at 10:30 PM PDT
UPDATE: MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...) citing Reuters states that the workers who were evacuated are now back at the plant: "The workers were allowed back into the plant less than an hour later after the radiation levels had fallen, Reuters reported."
(H/T to Cassandra Waites)
Updated by middleagedhousewife at Tue Mar 15, 2011 at 11:39 PM PDT
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UPDATE #2: There is a new mothership diary posted http://www.dailykos.com/...
Please rec the new mothership and unrec the first one. I've already changed the links in the intro to the new one.