France could launch a military action against Libya within hours after the UN had authorized operation said French government spokesman Francois Baroin today, Friday. “The attack will come quickly,” he told radio station RTL.
Meanwhile Reuters reports that Gaddafi’s forces are bombing Misrata.
Norway will participate in any international military action against Muammar Kadaffi in Libya, said Defense Minister Grete Faremo to VG online. “We will contribute to the operation. But it is too early to say exactly in what way”. One possibility is that Norway will send F-16 fighters. “But we will also be launching a major humanitarian operation with transport aircraft”.
China said on Friday that it was concerned about the UN resolution to impose a flight ban over Libya, although the country chose not to use its veto to block it. “We oppose the use of military force in international relationships, and have serious reservations about elements of the resolution, “said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.
Ten countries late on Thursday voted for the resolution while Russia, China, Germany, Brazil and India abstained. The resolution calls for “all necessary measures” to protect civilians against Gadaffi, but no foreign soldiers will be sent to Libya.
Opinion is divided on how soon the United States military mobilization can begin. French diplomats said that along with Britain they could have a military response force ready on Friday, writes Reuters. But representatives of the military in Washington are hesitant. The senior general in the United States, Norton Schwartz, said on Thursday that it may take up to one week until the operation is in progress.
Archive for March, 2011
Gaddafi bombs Misrata while France tries to hurry into military action
March 18, 2011Spring is here and so is the snow!
March 18, 2011The official definition of Spring in Sweden is when the average daily temperature exceeds 0°C for 7 days in a row. This was the picture on 14th March (blue indicating temperatures below zero, yellow for temperatures currently above zero and green for regions where spring had arrived with 7 consecutive days with average temperatures above zero). The headlines were celebrating the arrival of spring.
Arrival of Spring in Sweden 2011-03-14: map by SMHI
Yesterday it felt almost spring like with bright sunshine through the temperature was only 3 C°. The snow and ice from the winter were melting away and it was time to sweep away the gravel and sand laid down at various places through the very cold winter.
But the view from my window this morning has brought us crashing back to reality >>>>>>>
Finspång, 0800 18th March 2011: image k2p
Fukushima Dai-ichi diary for Friday 18th: Radiation decreasing – Is the worst over?
March 17, 2011Today will be one week since the Great Sendai quake and the subsequent tsunami slammed north east Japan. Today will also be a fateful day for the efforts being made to cool the reactors and the spent fuel ponds at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. Though the nuclear plant incident causes much more alarm than anything else the quake and tsunami caused, it is worth bearing in mind that it is still just an incident at the nuclear plant. Radiation leakage has not itself caused any deaths or any destruction so far. If unchecked it has the potential of becoming a disaster but if the eforts to cool the reactor today succeed then it will remain at the level of a very serious nuclear incident caused by the quake and the tsunami.
It needs to be remembered that the massive death and destruction was caused by the quake and the tsunami and has resulted in 20,000+ killed or missing and the wiping out of whole towns. Over 500,000 are displaced and some have lost everything they owned and many of their families. The nuclear plant incident should not be allowed to divert attention from the dire condition further north.
(Sources for my diary are mainly NHK, Kyodo, Asahi, Reuters, BBC, CNN, AFP, IAEA, JAIF and a few private sources. Some interpretation of the news reports is necessary since they all seem to have some bias.)
2200 JST (1400 CET): Sendai Airport has been cleared with the help of US forces and is now being used to fly in relief supplies. Considering the pictures of the tsunami wave flowing across the airport one week ago, that itself is remarkable. It is still very cold tonight for the evacuees but warmer weather is expected tomorrow.
No further news conferences scheduled today and no further news which at least means no further deterioration. If power is restored to the nuclear plant during tonight the corner would have been turned, I think.
2100 JST (1300 CET): It looks like water spraying activities are over for the day and the focus is back on connecting the new high voltage power line. Current effort is to connect to a transformer in the reactor building but work times are very short since the radiation level here is about 20 milli Sieverts / hr. Tokyo police and fire fighters are trying to devise a system which allows spraying for long periods using the high capacity fire trucks designed for tall buildings.
A small reduction in radiation was observed when spraying was finished but assessment will take some time.
1900 JST (1100 CET): The authorities are warning of tidal floods in the north east. Due to the earthquake, parts of the coast have sunk and in some areas tides could be 40cm higher than usual. Spring tides will last 8 days but flooding will be slow compared to the tsunami.
1800 JST (1000 CET): Japan’s nuclear safety agency is now calling it a level 5 incident at reactors 1, 2 and 3 of Fukushima Dai ichi, and a level 3 incident at reactor 4. I think the incident at reactor no. 4 where the problems with the spent fuel pond have been so turbulent could be reclassified later to level 4. Three Mile Island was classified at level 5.
The Japanese nuclear agency says it expects electrical cables to be connected at reactors 1 and 2 by Saturday morning.
1700 JST (0900 CET): 5.4 magnitude quake off Ibaraki subjecting Tokyo to some shaking as well.
General Electric has sent nuclear engineers to a Japanese emergency response centre where they are working with Tokyo Electric Power Co. GE designs nuclear reactors, including all six at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant though the plants were constructed by Toshiba.
Reuters reports that US data collection flights have confirmed that contamination has not spread beyond the 30km zone established by the Japanese Government — which of course begs the question why the US established 80 km as the no-go zone for their citizens and which was immediately adopted by many other countries. Abundant caution is no doubt the reason but some accompanying explanation would have helped to prevent some of the questioning of the Japanese imposed 30km zone.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano explained that the water spraying operations were being carried out in shifts to limit exposure and the further spraying operations would be continuing as the personnel were rotated. No details about the effects were yet available but it seemed clear that the water was reaching the target.
1600 JST (0800 CET): In Severe Accident Management, the key step and that which is being carried out now is the use of water for the removal of heat. More stringent operations include the use of sand or rubble or boron in some form to cover the radiating components. It is not impossible to even consider concrete. But all uses of solid materials would limit any further heat removal and would only come into play if heat removal was considered impossible.
An SDF spokesman said “We think got water on the main part today” and “Troops doing the work only absorbed a few millisieverts at most” says the Daily Yomiuri. The Assistant Head of the SDF said that the radiation levels did not significantly hamper the water spraying operations.
1500 JST (0700 CET): 7 days have gone since the quake hit.
More fire trucks including US military trucks are on their way. It will probably take a few hours to make any evaluation of the effects of the water spraying. But the amount of steam rising suggests that the water was reaching its target. But the amounts contained in the sprays (total around 50 tons) is small compared to the capacity of the spent fuel ponds (about 1200 tons). Water spraying is to continue.
There are some 180 people working at the site and braving the radiation levels.
1414 JST: 2 more water jets can be seen – apparently the 3rd wave. Steam continues to rise and is “billowing” rather than a plume.
1410 JST (0610 CET): The strong plumes of steam(?) have subsided somewhat and are now more like clouds rising.
1406 JST: One wave of water spray with 2 trucks seems to be over and plumes of steam(?) can be seen rising from the reactor. Something is being cooled.
1400 JST (0600 CET): Water spraying has resumed at reactor no.3 by the SDF. Seven trucks are being used. The water jets are clearly visible from NHK pictures from 30km away and – at least by eye – are much more accurately directed onto the building than yesterdays helicopter drops.
1300 JST (0500 CET): Radiation levels have been consistently falling at one measuring point since the water spraying on Thursday evening. The measurement location is at one station about 1km west of reactor no. 2. The radiation reading at 5 a.m. Friday came to 279.4 microsievert per hour, compared with 292.2 microsievert per hour at 8:40 p.m. At around 9am this was down to 271 micro Sieverts. Thursday. It is not certain that this was due to the water spraying but the situation is at least stable and is not deteriorating. The trend is encouraging.
This morning the focus has been on the power line installation and on Friday at 2pm the water spraying will restart. It seems it was not possible to do both simultaneously. The SDF fire trucks will address reactor no.3 and police fire trucks will be working on reactor no.1. More fire trucks have been despatched from Tokyo. The performance of the trucks is such that helicopter water drops are not being considered. Over 30 trucks are expected to be in operation including trucks especially designed to fight fires in very tall buildings with a water discharge point 22m above street level. But water spraying is only a stop-gap measure and the real stability will only come once the cooling systems and water circulation has been restored.
The new power cables are in place but they now have to be reconnected to the cooling system pumps once the pumping systems have been checked out. Working shift durations are still restricted by the radiation levels. Reactor no.2 systems could be connected sometime during Friday night. Reactors no. 3 and 4 will be next to be reconnected and this is targeted for Sunday.
0600 JST: Summary of the status by Japan Atomic Industry Forum is here Fukushima status 2200 17th March
IAEA Slide show on BWR’s and the Fukushima status is here
18th March – 0500 JST (2100 CET 17th): The spraying of water by the fire trucks (and possibly even the helicopter water dumps) on the evening of the 17th did give some small but measurable decrease in radiation levels at the gate of the power plant. Spraying activities stopped at around 8pm on 17th and will resume this morning. Hopefully the high voltage power line which has now been laid upto the plant can be activated and the cooling systems brought back into operation today. This work will be slow since exposure to radiation leads to very short working shifts. This could take till tomorrow. This makes the spraying operations particularly critical for today to win the time necessary to get the power restored. The plan is for engineers to reconnect power to unit 2 once the spraying of water on the unit 3 reactor building gives some effect. The water spraying operations are being carried out by SDF and police personnel and TEPCO has even come in for criticism from the SDF for insufficient information which could have endangered their personnel.
Gaddafi sets his sights on Benghazi
March 17, 2011While the situation in Japan captures the world’s attention, Gaddafi’s troops are ready to attack Benghazi. All the talk about no-fly zones by European countries and NATO have not led to anything – yet. Reuters reports:
Libyan government soldiers battled rebels on the road to the insurgent stronghold of Benghazi on Thursday as the United States raised the possibility of air strikes to stop Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.
The army told people to leave opposition-held locations and arms dumps. But its advance on Benghazi — and the prospect of a decisive battle in the insurrection — was hampered by clashes around Ajbadiyah, a strategic town on the coastal highway.
Slow-paced international efforts to halt the bloodshed moved up a gear when the United States, previously cool on the idea of a foreign military intervention, said the U.N. Security Council should consider actions beyond a no-fly zone over Libya.
Fukishima Dai-ichi status updates on Thursday 17th “It is not going to be another Tjernobyl”
March 17, 20112000 CET: From the IAEA – Engineers plan to reconnect power to unit 2 once the spraying of water on the unit 3 reactor building is completed, the statement says. “The spraying of water on the unit 3 reactor building was temporarily stopped at 1109 GMT (2009 local time) on 17 March. The IAEA continues to liaise with the Japanese authorities and is monitoring the situation as it evolves”
1900 CET: The installation of the new high voltage power line to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant and the restarting of the cooling systems seems now to be the critical and perhaps decisive step. Hopefully this can be done on Friday.
A Russian nuclear expert has said Japan should concentrate its efforts on restoring power to the Fukushima nuclear plant – rather than trying to cool its reactors by dropping water from helicopters. “One can only put out forest fires like this, by pouring water from helicopters. It is not clear where this water is falling,” Gennady Pshakin from the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering in the city of Obninsk told Reuters. “They need to start circulation pumps, at least one, maybe not at a full capacity, but I am not sure they have enough power. Diesel generators and mobile power stations which they sent there do not have enough capacity.” He added that it was not going to become another Chernobyl, saying that it was a “totally different situation”.
1700 CET: About 300 tons of water has been sprayed so far by helicopter and fire trucks. It is now 1 am Friday in Japan and there is little fresh news. But this is a case of “no news is good news”. There are no reports of any increased radiation levels but this kind of “stability” can be deceptive. Helicopter water drops are planned again for Friday. The power line to restore high voltage power is still being installed and is taking longer than expected but is still expected to be ready on Friday. The cooling systems still have to be repaired before they can be restarted.
So far in terms of death and destruction the Fukushima nuclear plant is a pinprick compared to what has happened further north. But the spectre of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and of Tjernobyl elsewhere is probably what leads to the imbalance in the coverage. But unfortunately it is probably diverting some attention and resources from those in need.
1400 CET: At least 20 of the workers risking their lives at the Fukusima Dai-ich nuclear plant are suuffering from exposure to radiation.
Water shot out from the military trucks seem to have reached their target judging from the steam that was generated which in turn means that some cooling must have occurred. Apparently the military trucks are more effective than the fire trucks since the water cannons can be operated from within the safety of the cab. The effect on radiation levels is small so far.
They are hoping to connect the plant to external power during Thursday.
1240 CET: Breaking – Radiation levels have shot up after the shooting of water from water cannon. This may mean that the water is reaching its target and is evaporating on contact with the overheated spent fuel.
TEPCO Press conference. Tepco spokesmen mainly repeat questions but provide no answers. One said that they had existing procedures in the Crisis Management Plan and they followed all procedures. The spokesman only gave me the impression that since this accident is not in the book they had no idea what to do. Hardly any new information. No idea how much water the helicopters dropped. No information on the progress of the new power line. No information about the use of water cannon for cooling. A generally inept performance by TEPCO.
Some history from Reuters about TEPCO:
Five TEPCO executives resigned in 2002 over suspected falsification of nuclear plant safety records and five reactors were forced to stop operations.
In 2006, the government ordered TEPCO to check past data after it reported finding falsification of coolant water temperatures at its Fukushima Daiichi plant in 1985 and 1988, and that the tweaked data was used in mandatory inspections at the plant, which were completed in October 2005.
1200 CET: First attempt with the police riot truck water cannon was broken off due to high radiation levels. Another attempt is being made to shoot cooling water into the spent fuel ponds starting about 30 minutes ago.
The risk for a blackout in Tokyo seems to have been averted as the the evening load period comes to an end.
1000 CET: So far Tokyo has averted a blackout situation – but demand came close to the limit.
Radiation readings on this Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) site.
The Defence Minister said that he “expected” the cooling water actions to “be successful”. The water cannon fire trucks are all from the Tokyo police or from the SDF. This sounds as if the cooling efforts have now been taken away from TEPCO and handed over to the military. TEPCO seems to be continuing with efforts to restore power to the plant with a new power line.
0900 CET: No further word about the fire trucks and the water cannon. 11 more fire trucks are on their way.
An unprecedented massive blackout could take place in Tokyo on Thursday evening. Trains have been asked to reduce services and the authorities are asking for all to avoid using power if possible.
0800 CET: US unmanned aircraft from Guam have taken pictures over the plant which have been supplied to Japan. None of the evacuees from the area have needed decontamination says Fukushima prefecture.
TV pictures of the helicopter operation show much of the water spray missing the target buildings.
Kyodo News reports Japanese Government irritation with US statements:
Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told a congressional hearing, ”There is no water in the spent fuel pool and we believe that radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures.”
But a Ground Self-Defense Force chopper, which doused the overheating spent nuclear fuel pool with water Thursday morning at the No. 3 reactor, found that water is left in the pond at the No. 4 unit, according to the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.
0700 CET: SDF helicopters have made 4 sorties for dumping water on reactor #3. There is still some water left in the reactor #4 spent fuel pool. Helicopters had lead plates installed for protection during the operations today. Radiation decreased only very slightly as a result and no further helicopter sorties are planned today. The riot police water cannons are expected to be used shortly. Each truck carries only 4 tons of water which is discharged in just one minute. This will require many refillings of the trucks and will take time. Spent fuel pools at reactors #3 and 4 are the priority. For reactors #5 and 6 temperatures are increasing but slowly and boiling will not occur for a few days yet.
The new power transmission line is still being installed. Progress is hindered by having to limit the time workers can spend within the plant. To reactivate the plant’s cooling systems will need the repair of some of the pumps.
0000 CET (midnight): A new power line is being laid to the Fukushima Daiichi plant to help restore the reactor cooling systems: Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) spokesman Naoki Tsunoda has said it is almost complete, and that engineers plan to test it “as soon as possible”, according to the Associated Press. Reviving the electric-powered pumps might allow the engineers to finaly cool the overheated reactors and spent fuel storage ponds.
The IAEA has released information about the temperature of the water in the spent fuel storage pools inside reactors 4, 5 and 6 at Fukushima Daiichi. Spent fuel that has been removed from a nuclear reactor generates intense heat and the water is usually kept below 25C. The IAEA says that the temperature of the pool at reactor 4 was 84C on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday morning, it was 62.7C at reactor 5 and 60C at reactor 6. Current reports say the pools at both reactors 3 and 4 are boiling. Reactor 4’s pool may even be dry.
Kyodo News says that Tokyo police plan to use a water cannon truck to attempt to cool a spent fuel rod pool Thursday in a bid to contain the disaster at the troubled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station in Japan.
The government earlier studied a plan to deploy Ground Self-Defense Force choppers to spray water over the spent fuel pools, but the Defense Ministry said Wednesday afternoon it had given up on the idea due to the high radiation level.
The U.S. military, meanwhile, will operate a Global Hawk unmanned high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, possibly on Thursday, to take images of the inside of the building that houses the No. 4 reactor, according to Japanese government sources.
Status by Kyodo News:
Among the six reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., part of the No. 2 reactor’s containment vessel, key to enclosing harmful radioactive substances, suffered damage in the pressure-suppression chamber connected to the vessel following Tuesday’s apparent hydrogen explosion.
An estimated 70 percent of the nuclear fuel rods have been damaged at the plant’s No. 1 reactor and 33 percent at the No. 2 reactor, Tokyo Electric said Wednesday.
The cores of the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors are believed to have partially melted with their cooling functions lost in the wake of Friday’s magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami.
The government’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Wednesday that the water level had dropped in the No. 5 reactor, which was not in service when the killer quake jolted northeastern Japan, posing the risk of overheating. The agency said it will closely monitor data on the reactor to prevent the problems that occurred at other reactors.
TEPCO delayed using sea water for cooling until instructed to
March 16, 20111700 CET: The water cannon fire truck has arrived on site but using the scatter-gun approach of helicopter sprays and fire engines at a precision nuclear plant smacks of desperate measures. They are in the same class as praying for rain.
I hope I am wrong but it seems like the main strategy being applied by TEPCO is now one of “hoping for the best”.
A commentator on NHK World has said that TEPCO did not take the initiative to use sea-water cooling at Fukushima because of the damage it could do to any future plant operation and only did so when instructed to by the Ministry and the Government.
TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) is the owner and operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. None of the reactors where sea water has been used for cooling are likely to ever operate again.
The commentator criticised TEPCO’s crisis management and said that TEPCO should have reacted faster. NHK World also reported that the radioactive plume of steam coming from reactor no. 3 on Wednesday morning was first noticed by a NHK helicopter team from 30 km away and long before there was any news from TEPCO. When first contacted the TEPCO spokesman did not know what it was and whether it was smoke from a fire or a steam leak.
Sarkozy is using the Sendai quake and Fukushima troubles to play politics
March 16, 2011Sometimes Sarkozy’s opportunism for gaining economic advantage is almost as vulgar as bunga bunga Berlusconi’s sex parties. But it is also – I think – a very clever move. Sarkozy is attempting to take a pre-emptive lead by being in the forefront of denigrating the Japanese nuclear program so that he can – by contrast – promote French nuclear technology and the French nuclear plant manufacturer Areva and thus preserve the French dependence on nuclear power.
I predict his line will be that the Japanese nuclear plants were old fashioned and that French nuclear technology is different and inherently safe. He will walk the fine line between supporting “the Japanese people in their hour of need” while criticising TEPCO, its handling of the Fukushima problems and the outdated technology (the 6 reactors at Fukushima Dai-ichi were built starting in 1963 and came into operation between 1970 and 1979).
No other country relies as heavily as France on nuclear power. It relies on nuclear power for 75% of it domestic supplies. It has 19 plants and 58 reactors. France is also at the forefront of nuclear technology, and President Sarkozy knows the debate over nuclear energy following events in Japan will affect the fortunes of the giant nucelar group Areva.
Like other countries, France is to check its nuclear reactors following the problems in Japan. But President Nicolas Sarkozy’s faith in the country’s nuclear programme seems unshaken. “France has made the choice of nuclear energy, which is an essential element of its energy independence and the fight against greenhouse gases,” he told his cabinet today. “This choice has been unseparable from an unfaltering undertaking to ensure a very high level of safety at our nuclear installations. I remain today convinced of the pertinence of these choices.”
French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he will call a special G20 meeting to discuss the energy sector in light of events in Japan. France currently holds the G20 presidency. France has also called a meeting of G7 finance ministers to respond to the crisis in Japan, Reuters reports. Finance Minister Christine Lagarde says the meeting will look at “how we can take part in their debt issues and how we can react on a financial level”.
From Paris, the BBC’s Christian Fraser says that France’s decision to offer it Tokyo-based citizens the chance to leave is partially motivated by domestic political problems. “Obviously it is a precaution and they might be accused of scaremongering but their new Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has been keen to get on the front foot, to show that they are in charge of the situation,” he said.
Related: Does France have special information about Fukushima?
Fukushima Dai-ichi situation worsening and TEPCO is unsure how to proceed
March 16, 20111100 CET: The SDF helicopter cooling attempt was aborted for high radiation levels above the plent. New cooling attempts will use a water cannon on a fire truck borrowed from the US military.
From Paris, the BBC’s Christian Fraser says that France’s decision to offer its Tokyo-based citizens the chance to leave is partially motivated by domestic political problems.
0830 CET: Japanese TV reports that an SDF helicopter has taken off to spray water onto the plant. Helicopter spraying will be difficult to direct accurately and was thought to be a “last resort”. This suggests that other options are not feasible.
It is snowing in Fukushima.
0730 CET: Some workers have returned as radiation levels have fallen at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. While the Nikkei has risen some 6%, TEPCO shares have tanked. They were untraded but were bid down by the daily limit and are down 24.7%.
The operation could take on a military footing and responsibility could shift from TEPCO to the military. The Japanese Defence Minister has just said that if cooling efforts fail, the SDF would move in and SDF helicopters would spray water onto the plant.
TEPCO press releases are worthless and give virtually no information and the main source of public information is by the Chief Cabinet Secretary’s Edano’s press conferences. He himself is impressive and generates some trust but it means that all information is being “politically” vetted so as not to be too alarmist. But just the filtering of information itself leads to assumptions (which may or may not be justified) that the actual information is worse than is being released. TEPCO’s communications and press conferences are not impressive.
Status at 0600 CET 16th March:
Work at the reactors may have stopped because radiation levels were too high. Radiation is fluctuating and has reached high levels at times. Levels were being reported in milli Sieverts(mS) rather than micro Sieverts (μS). For short periods levels upto 11 mS (11,000 μS). The normal working limit of 100 mS was raised 3 days ago to 250 mS and levels have been higher in parts of the plant.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant is being continuously subjected to new problems. All problems are unprecedented in the wake of the quake and the tsunami but TEPCO’s ability to cope is now raising cause for concern. Personnel from Toshiba, the manufacturer of the plant, have been called in by TEPCO. The initial plant design was to withstand earthquakes of magnitude 8.2 and it has been through a magnitude 9.0 quake some 15 times stronger than the design value. But the height of the tsunami wave was something not designed for. TEPCO spokesmen are getting testy when questioned and this is also an indication that they are frustrated and confused.
I have revised my view that TEPCO was in control of the situation. TEPCO seems to be unsure how to proceed.
Reactor #3 containment vessel is damaged and emitting steam (smoke?) and radiation. TEPCO does not know what it is. Workers near the central control room were evacuated temporarily(?). Workers are evacuated at levels higher than 259 Milli Sieverts.
Reactor #4 spent fuel pool is getting dangerous again. Pictures of the fire on 15th here were shown by TEPCO. It seems as if radiation levels here are also too high for workers to approach and attempt cooling. Winds and/or radiation levels are preventing the use of helicopters to dump water onto the reactor#4 spent fuel pool through a hole in the building roof. No other way to get cooling started seems to have been found.
Reactor #4 at Fukushima Dai-ichi still unstable and could become critical.
March 15, 2011While the situation at reactors # 1, and 3 is stable with cooling by sea-water ongoing, the situation of the spent fuel pool at reactor no. 4 is still very serious and radiation leakage is still continuing. Reactor no. 2 suppression vessel is damaged and cooling is ongoing but the situation was not yet considered stable. Radiation levels are too high for technicians to get close to the reactor #4 pool to inject sea-water. The pool temperature was at 84°C and double the normal temperature of about 40 °C. The 20km zone evacuation around the plant was completed on Tuesday afternoon.
The option of trying to drop water by helicopter through a hole in the roof has been discarded since the pool is offset from the hole.
The use of specialised fire trucks with equipment which would allow water to be injected into the pool is being considered.
Getting fresh cooling water into the pool is now becoming very urgent and unless this is achieved the situation could become critical. As the temperature increases hydrogen could be produced and another hydrogen fire with an associated release of radiation becomes more probable.
Reuters reports that “Two workers are missing after Tuesday’s explosion at one of the reactors at a crippled Japanese nuclear plant, the country’s nuclear safety agency said.
The agency did not identify the missing workers, but said they were in the turbine area of the No.4 reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was damaged by last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami”.
Does France have special information about Fukushima?
March 15, 2011o600 CET : Wednesday 16th: France is now urging its nationals in Tokyo to leave Japan or head to the south of the country, Reuters reports. It says Paris has asked the Air France carrier to provide planes for the evacuation. The BBC’s Chris Hogg in Tokyo says the evacuation will begin on Thursday. Two French planes are already on their way to Japan.
It could be that France has access to some special information that the problems at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plants are much worse than anything being reported in Japan or by the IAEA, but the almost orchestrated negativity from French Agencies is noteworthy.
Politicians and agencies are positive about support for Japan regarding the earthquake and the tsunami, but the negativity is focused around the Fukushima nuclear plant and is particularly noticeable from Agence France Presse, the French Nuclear Agency and French Radio.
I tend to be extremely suspicious of French nuclear politics and cannot help feeling that there is an agenda here which involves being as negative as possible about the Japanese nuclear industry to later show up how the French nuclear industry is so much better.
- France’s nuclear safety authority says it classifies the Fukushima plant accident as level six. The maximum is level seven, used only once for the 1986 Chernobyl accident, Reuters reports. The Japanese Nuclear Agency has classified the event as Level 4.
- Europe’s Energy Commissioner says Japan’s nuclear disaster is an “apocalypse”, adding that Tokyo has almost lost control of events at the Fukushima power plant, AFP report.
- AFP reports that several countries are screening passengers on flights arriving from Japan.
- Radio France to withdraw staff in Japan after nuclear accidents: Dow Jones
But at the same time France’s Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has said: “We expressed our admiration for the dignity and the courage shown by the Japanese during this unprecedented ordeal. We expressed our confidence in the way the Japanese authorities have faced the aftermath of the disaster with such efficiency, which the whole world has recognised.”
The k2p blog 