Japan Earthquake: 8.9 Magnitude Earthquake Hits, 19-Feet High Tsunami Feared

There were originally 800 workers at the Fukushima plant. Most have evacuated including the 21 who were injured & are in hospitals. The 70 'brave souls' have remained behind to try to prevent a catastrophic explosion.


Update--CNN says the workers are rotating in & out a few at a time to minimize exposure. An expert says there's a 'design flaw' with this type of reactor's containment system & that eventually all 32 of this type of reactor that exist in the world will have to be shut down.

Kathy wrote:I definitely think Japan is not telling all about how bad the radiation problem is.
People in Hawaii, Alaska and California, I would be very worried about the radiation that may be headed your way.

I have to wonder where is Obama? He seems very quiet lately. Now is the time we need a real leader.

I agree....I don't think that Japan is telling the people what is really going on.....I would be concerned if I lived any where near the reactor or on the US Coast near Japan.....They only give you bits and pieces of information and you basically have to read between the lines and decipher for yourself what is really going on......

Wait till Glenn Beck gets a load of this.....wonder what he'll do with his pots & pans tomorrow to try to explain with what's come to light.....

Reactors #4, 5, & 6 were shut down some time ago.....way before the earthquake/tsunami. They contain spent fuel rods stored in 'pools.' Even spent they are still very hot & dangerous & must be continuously covered & cooled with water. The fire in #4 is because the water in the 'pool' decreased & exposed the spent rods. They're trying to keep the spent rods covered but #4 is in crisis & #5 & 6 are in trouble.

No pots, no pans, no lids. Unlike in #1, 2, & 3--which have containment vessels around their active rods.....the spent rods in #4, 5, & 6 aren't contained *at all*--if the water in the pool reduces then the rods get exposed, start to melt, & give off mucho radioactivity. This may be what the expert on CNN meant by 'design flaw.'

CNN reported a short time ago that the 70 who stayed behind were exposed to lethal levels of radiation.

Hearing things like this makes me count my blessings, even though I barely have anything left.

Scary stuff--

http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/nuclear_waste_storage/nuclear_waste_storage.html

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nuclear-waste-lethal-trash-or-renewable-energy-source

Phillymg wrote:Scary stuff--

http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/nuclear_waste_storage/nuclear_waste_storage.html

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nuclear-waste-lethal-trash-or-renewable-energy-source

Scary.....Scary......Scary......

Unconfirmed reports--The remaining 50 workers were evacuated from the Fukushima plant because it was unsafe for them to remain there.

The 50 heroes have been on the job at great risk to their lives--
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/asia/16workers.html?_r=1&

If I'm hearing this right.....the plant has had NO electricity. It's been operating on battery power. They've been using *fire engines* to manually pump the seawater into the containers of #1-3 & into the pools of #4-6.

This is truly unbelievable to watch unfold.

CNN--

Japanese officials have confirmed that the 50 workers have been pulled from the plant at least temporarily.

Here's an Australian site confirming the info--

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/quake/8224569/Fukushima-50-evacuate-quake-hit-plant

A European official is calling the disaster an 'apocalypse.'

ABC News, Huffingpost, and CNN say the same thing - the 50 have left.

I saw a Reuters report dated a minute ago that said the workers were let back in?

Tara wrote:I saw a Reuters report dated a minute ago that said the workers were let back in?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/16/us-japan-quake-idUSTRE72A0SS20110316

Thank God.

What does this mean?

"Japan's chief government spokesman said it was "not realistic" to think the Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima, 240 kms (150 miles) north of Tokyo, would reach the start of a nuclear chain reaction, but said officials were talking to the U.S. military about possible help."

It seems that explosive nuclear chain reactions are only possible with nuclear weapons.....not with nuclear power plants. Only non-explosive nuclear chain reactions lasting a few seconds can happen in power plants.....called 'Criticality Accidents.'

http://www.answers.com/topic/criticality-accident

So what he's saying is technically true.....but kind of off topic since he's not talking about an accident involving a nuclear weapon.

My understanding is that all the nuclear reactors at Fukushima are under threat of melting down right? Is there a threat that they will explode in chain reaction? Is that what he's trying to say?

This is where I am seeking information about what is going on in Japan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

I think 'melting down' of a nuclear reactor is a different thing than a nuclear chain reaction which is what always happens when a nuclear weapon is intentionally exploded & would happen if a nuclear weapon were accidentally exploded. In a nuclear reactor's Criticality Accident there can be explosions of other things that are near the fuel rods but the rods don't explode. They melt & give off radioactivity. However the heat of the rods melting can cause other things around the melted rods (like hydrogen) to explode which then can cause the radioactivity to spread widely. Don't know for sure--just what I read quickly in that link above & a couple of other sites. Chernoble did not have a nuclear chain reaction. It had meltdown & then other things exploded causing the radioactivity to spread way up into the stratosphere & also widely around the geographical area. I heard that the Chernoble plant had alot of graphite in it which was what exploded after the rods melted.

To answer your question Tara I think the govt spokesman was trying to make people feel better by saying there would be no nuclear chain reaction.....which of course there wouldn't be since it's not a nuclear weapon.....either just tossing that remark out there as a spin tool or trying to reassure people that even in the worst-case scenario it wouldn't be like Hiroshima & Nagasaki where the air itself exploded.

The rods 'melt' when they are no longer being cooled down with water or other fluids such as when there is a crack/leak/breach in the container that's holding them. As soon as they melt they give off radioactivity. They also give off heat that can cause further problems such as explosions & fires that in turn can cause the container to explode or disintegrate.....leaving the rods fully exposed & melted.....a meltdown.

Expert on the ED show said that when the rods fully melt through the bottom of the reactor down into the ground.....the melted mass eventually hits water.....which creates 'steam explosions' that spread the radioactivity widely.

I was listening to CNN and they were saying the biggest unknown is having 6 reactors in the same area.
No where else are there that many in one place having issues. This is really really sad for everyone. Prayers ongoing....

Quiethawk wrote:I was listening to CNN and they were saying the biggest unknown is having 6 reactors in the same area.
No where else are there that many in one place having issues. This is really really sad for everyone. Prayers ongoing....

Sad and scary.

This is truly scary. Now they are saying the nuclear situation is more serious than Three Mile Island? That area still isn't right.

Sending prayers.

Japan quake live blog: Yen hits 16-year high vs. dollar

"The yen reached a nearly 16-year high against the U.S. dollar in trading Wednesday, "

"U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a congressional committee Wednesday that the situation at Japanese nuclear power plants is "more serious than Three Mile Island," but Americans should rest assured that U.S. nuclear power plants are safe."

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/16/japan-quake-live-blog-death-toll-expected-to-rise-as-crews-reach-more-areas/?hpt=T1

I was so disappointed when I tuned into The Today Show this morning and they were doing regular programming. No problem as I just flipped over to CNN which seems to be doing the best job covering this story

Just saw on CNN that the death toll is over 4300 with over 8000 missing

mrgolf wrote:Just saw on CNN that the death toll is over 4300 with over 8000 missing

Continued prayers being sent.

I caught Glenn Beck's pots and pans explanation yesterday. (knarf and I usually watch Glenn together before going over to dinner at need2b's house ) Pretty amusing really.

Glenn used a pressure cooker to explain why everyone is safe because the core is inside the cooker. Only problem is that in the 1970s they didn't put the spent fuel rods inside "the pressure cooker."

US govt advising Americans within 50 miles of the Fukushima plant to evacuate or take shelter. Tokyo is 150 miles away.

http://twitter.com/CNBCbrk/status/48074245573586945

Japanese govt only recommending a 12-mile evacuation radius.

US govt official says the US believes that Reactor #4's pool with spent fuel rods is completely empty of water & that the rods have been left completely exposed & therefore melted.

Glenn Beck hasn't gotten the pot & pans out yet today.....