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Fukushima Resource Page
What you need to know about Fukushima
Daiichi and where to find it.
Compiled by Denis O'Brien, aka The
Gutter Grunt
Last updated on Feb03.2013
Fuku-fry. Photo from: www.veteranstoday.com/2011/10/30/fukushima-sabotage-japanese-journalist-accuses-israel/
Latest News
Feb03.13. Good graphic presentation of
the Fukup.
It has been relatively quite at Fukushima the last couple of months.
No sensational stories or predictions. But today ENENEWS posted this video
of how the reactors work and why they exploded. It's dated Feb.2012, but
it's the first I've seen it. Very nice graphics and clear
explanations. However, note that some experts, like Gundersen are casting
doubt on this type of explanation based on hydrogen explosions. They are
claiming there was an actual detonation of radioactive materials once the
temperatures got to a critical stage. So the video is offered here not as
testimony to what actually happened but as a good way to visualize the reactors
in order to take on board the various theories. Link
Lingering Threats from Fukushima
- What Fukushima looks like.
- Arnie Gunderson radio interview talking
about potential Fukushima fallout on US. Apr24.2012
- The test removal of rods from Reactor #4 is complete. . . and, boy, were they hot. But they were intact. Jul19.2012
TEPCO workers hand-wipe radioactive particles from Reactor #4 fuel rod channel
box.
- Holophi Special
Report on Reactor #4 SFP. Here is a recent report put out by a Swiss
industrial think-tank, Holophi CH, that carefully assesses various possible
outcomes for the Reactor #4 spent fuel pool. None of them are
particularly pretty. April.2012
The link is from a Jul03.2012 summary by the environmental group Bellona.
Jul03.2012
- Japanese "black dust" A troubling
development now reaching Tokyo is a "black dust" that local folks
are measuring at high radioactive levels -- 5x higher than the Ukraine
no-man's land around Chernoybl. This is in the middle of Tokyo -- parks,
playgrounds, the Imperial Palace. Authorities are keeping mum. A
number of these reports have surfaced. Here's one: May15.12
- Arnie Gunderson: The Japanese could suffer
1 million extra deaths over 30 years because of Fukushima. US nuke plants are
socialism in disguise. Begins about 50:00.
Mar12.2012
- Arnie Gunderson: Tokyo soil samples are
too hot to handle in US. Mar05.2012
- Gayle Greene historical paper on low-dose
radiation in re: Fukushima. She is not a nuke expert, or even a
scientist, but this is a very helpful historical analysis. Feb16.2012
- Ian Goddard on a recent Berkely study funded by DOE that makes incredible that low dose radiation is really OK. Jan22.2012 Ian Goddard on new Japanese radiation standards that will kill young girls. Dec11.2011
The technology of Fukushima Dai-ichi and boiled water reactors generally
- Normal procedures for handling spent fuel rods. The following link is to a quick but helpful animation of the way NPPs like Daiichi handle spent fuel rods in normal operation. Of course, Daiichi looks a lot different now. In the animation the SFP is labelled #3. The gold-colored rail above it is now replaced with a steel plate. Everything above that is gone, including the hoists. A free standing crane will lift the rods out of the SFP. The animation shows the area immediately above the reactor [label #1] as flooded during the rod transfer. There is a gate or barrier between the reactor and the SFP that normally retains the water within the pool when the rods are not being inserted or removed. It is not clear from anything I've seen whether the gate at Reactor #4 is in place and the reactor is dry or whether it was flooded when the tsunami hit. Link to animation. Jul14.12
- How
many Sieverts will kill you?
Maybe you've noticed how popular once arcane terms like Sievert and REM have
become since the Fuku-fry. The following link is to a US DOE quick
reference chart that puts Sieverts, REMs, and Grays into perspective relative
to what it takes to kill a human. Hat tip to Undine Shoop, Chief, Health
Physics and Human Performance Branch, Division of Inspection and Regional
Support, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, posted on Enformable.com Radiation
Chart
- Nuke engineer explains another problem w/ Reactor #4. This excellent discussion by nuke engineer Lucas Hixson of another catastrophic "drain-down" scenario of the spent fuel pool at #4 is worth the read just for the clear description of how the SFPs work in these reactors. The Achilles heel here may well be an inflatable seal that is keeping the SFP water out of the reactor core. Be sure to check out the supplemental information provided by Mr. Hixson -- very helpful photos of the Reactor #4 SFP. Article dated Jun14.2012
- Here is an excellent technical description by Dean Curtis at SimplyInfo of the spent fuel rod pools and the challenges TEPCO faces in preventing detonation. There's a lot more to it than just pouring water on those hot rods. Mar26.2012
- Test of fuel rod removal procedure. The upper structure of Reactor
#4 has been removed and the SFP is completely exposed. A removable steel plate covers the
pool. TEPCO now has easy access to the fuel rods. The plans previously
announced were to begin removing the rods early in 2013, which was speeded up
from the original plan of 2014. Now we get another plan revision: any
day now TEPCO will remove 2 of the rods with low radioactivity in order to
test the removal procedures. TEPCO will not provide the date of the test
run in advance "for security reasons." My guess is that when
the TEPCO webcam goes blank, the test is under way. Source: NHK
World-English Jul13.12.
-
Brad Jacoboson on the precarious spent fuel rods pool in reactor #4. Excellent article and a good starting place. May04.2012
-
Robet Alvarez on the size of the spent fuel rod problem and the biological consequences of Cs137 releases. Apr20.2012
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Gordon Edwards on the thermal issues in re: the spent fuel rods pool in reactor #4. Jan23,2012
Web cams and monitoring tools
TEPCO webcam on Daiichi reactors. I check into this web cam constantly throughout the day. The problem is, if anything happens the cam will go black but you won't know if it's because of something routine or a detonation. If this camera goes black after a Richter 7.0 EQ, I'm packin' my bags.
TBS/JNN webcam. Here is another live web-cam aimed at Fukishima Daiichi. It shows the Reactor #4 end of the complex and a lot more information than the TEPCO cam linked to below. It is on a mountain side some distance away, so is often obscured by clouds. Even on a clear day the heat waves distort the image. It's still a better shot in a lot of ways.
Fukushima airport. There is virtually no air traffic to watch; use this to compare with reactor webcam to see if you are looking at radioactive clouds or normal fog.
USGS real-time earthquake map. I suggest you set this map to show all EQ's over Richter 5.0 and check it multiple times a day.
EPA Portland, OR real-time gross gamma radiation monitor.
What went wrong and the long term lessons for the nuclear industry (Most recent report at top.)
- Latest Photos of Reactor #4 [July 2012] Here is a recent shot of Reactor #4 looking at the southeast corner. Much debris has been removed. The SFP is under the steel plates adjacent the pink outhouse, just under the claw of the orange excavator. By comparison, the next photo down is a similar GE BWR at Brown's Ferry, Alabama. This is looking at the SFP. It is similar to what Daiichi #4 looked like on Mar10.2011.
- Kenichi Ohmae summary of what went
wrong. Apr18.2012
- Excellent Arnie Gunderson report for
Greenpeace. Feb.2012
- Kenichi Ohmae 291 page report with chronologies. I cannot emphasize enough the importance and value of this report. It is the most complete analysis available; absolutely incredible in detail. Drawings, tables, photos, clear explanations. Dec21.2011
Roof blown off of reactor #4 on the rt. is evidence of SFP nuclear detonation. See May12.2012 Gunderson report.
Photo from: H2O http://pr.bbt757.com/eng/pdf/finalrepo_111225.pdf
Who to listen to.
Arnie Gunderson — has been arm-pit deep in the nuke facilities for 40 years. Masters in nuclear engineering from Rensselaer Polytech. He has become the main go-to guy for the media who want to know what's going on.
Ian Goddard — very smart dude who knows how to analyze data and explain it clearly. Unfortunately, his website does not tells us anything about him, so he could be just another anonymous bullshitter. But if he is, he’s an effective one.
Kenichi Ohmae — obviously self-serving, self-promoter and likely a part of the collective mind that set this problem up, but he’s well trained PhD from MIT and seems incredibly sincere in getting in there and analyzing this mess. His report on the chronology is superb. Japan will likely try and shut him up sooner rather than later.
Robert Alverez — Senior Scholar at Institute of Policy Studies. This dude is heavy-duty. He has been deeply involved in the US government and involved in everything nuclear from Karen Silkwood case to inspecting NoKo’s nuke operations. He’s seen it all and concludes nuke energy is idiocy.
Gordon Edwards — PhD in mathematics from Queens University, Ontario. Co-founder of Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.
Who the idiots, apologists, and deniers are.
Peter Lyons, — Obama's Ass’t Sec. for Nuclear Safety pushing nuke plants. Dec16.2011
Joseph Oehmen, — MIT professor. Idiot? Decide for yourself. Here's what he's on the record for saying:
"I repeat, there was and will not be any significant release of radioactivity from the damaged Japanese reactors," wrote Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Dr. Joseph Oehmen on March 13. "By 'significant' I mean a level of radiation of more than what you would receive on -- say -- a long distance flight, or drinking a glass of beer that comes from certain areas with high levels of natural background radiation." Check out the final paragraph of this piece if you're still not convinced.
Yoichi Shimatsu — Conspiracy monkey claiming the US had secret nuclear warhead inside Daiichi and that Israel sabotaged the reactors with a stuxnet virus.
Jim Stone — Probably the most wacked-out of all, but he is gaining ground among the wacko groupies. Stone claims there was no Richter-9 earthquake, but rather Israel detonated a nuke to produce the tsunami. His "evidence" is that a R-9 earthquake would have done huge damage to Sendai and the rest of Japan, but the vids and photos of the buildings prior to the tsunami hitting show no significant damage. Why would Israel do such a thing? Well, according to Stone, because Japan was one of the countries who offered to provide Iran with uranium enriched to 20%.
Evan Douple — A PhD who is Assoc. Chief of Research of Japan-US joint Radiation Effects Research Foundation to follow Hiroshima/Nagasaki victims. Incredibly on NPR Douple has advocated head-in-the-sand, let's don't even do any monitoring of vicitms approach.
Jim Al-Khalili — another self-promoting academic, prof of physics at UK's U.of Surrey. In a BBC program he does his best to convince the world that there's no problem at Fukushima, but Ian Goddard rips him to pieces.
Michel Chossudovsky — Blatent self-promoter and somehow associated with a website GlobalResearch.ca , but there is no info on him there. He has a lot of information on Fukushima, but it tends to be poorly sourced and a lot of conspiracy hoo-doo that suggests the scholarship is lacking. For example, this graphic is published without any information as to where it came from, what it refers to, or what it actually means. IOW it appears to be a gratuitous scare tactic— at least it scares me since I live in Vancouver.
Chart from: http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28870
Resources
Archived Posts
-
Dec09.12 The current situation: Deteriorating; tentatively bleak.
4:00am PST The Nicholls EQ map shows EQs still popping at an exceptionally high rate (~1/hr), virtually all of them from the same spot in the trench about 150 mi due east of Fukushima. The depth and magnitude of these shakes has been very consistent: 4.5-5.3 and about 35 km. This pattern is raising concern in Japan because it is so similar to the pattern preceding the 3/11 monster. EQs were going off at about the same rate for two days, followed by a quiet period of 7 hours, followed by the loss of 19,000 souls and the nuclear mess the whole world is now in.
According Iori Mochizuki's Fukushima Diary a number of post-7.3 problems are surfacing at or around Diaichi:
- Eye-witness report that "Reactor 4 looked like it was about to fall down."
- Pressure "out of control" at one unidentified reactor.
- Hydrogen concentration increasing inside Reactor 1.
- Well water has suddenly gone foul with sediment in Ibaraki, (36° 19.557' N 140° 27.052' E) 90 mi. south of Fukushima, although Iori may mean the prefecture instead of the town.
It probably doesn't make matters any better for the folks in Japan that their government has said it will shoot down the NoKo missile that is scheduled for a test flight in the next few days.
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Dec07.12 Noon PST The Fukushima hit by 7.3 richter EQ and 1 m. tsunami. Here's what my resources are saying 12 hours after the initial shock. [4:45 am Saturday, Dec08, Tokyo]
- I see MSNBC report on the latest 7.3 EQ near Fukushima, with 1 m tsunami.
- Live TEPCO webcam shows good, clear shot. Everything quiet and looking normal. Helpful
- Live TBS webcam is up and clear. Helpful.
- TBS historical camera 2012.1207_17.23@2:41-2:49 shows the EQ, no visible effect on the facility. Helpful.
- USGS EQ map says 7.3 at 08:18 UTC -- followed by a couple bumps over 5.0. New Zealand has just has a 6.3. Helpful
- ENENews is covering MSM reports. As usual the comments are the most helpful. Helpful.
- Nicholls EQ map is back online. Holy shit -- 17 EQs over 4.5 in the last 28 HOURS. Invaluable.
- Jap gov't EQ map -- minimal info. Helpful.
- Japanese gov’t EQ "predictor" says "No information." Worthless.
- Fukishima Diary is reporting in real time. Helpful
- Fairewinds says nothing, except begging for money, as usual. Worthless.
- JapanTimes not a word on any seismic activity 12 hours after this flurry began. Worthless
- Fukushima Update says nothing. Worthless.
Dec07.12 5:00 am PST The Fukushima hit by 7.3 richter EQ and 1 m. tsunami. The area has been bouncing along at 5-12 EQ a week for quite a while. Today is the worst since 3/11. Here's what my resources are saying 5 hours after the initial shock.
- I see MSNBC report on the latest 7.3 EQ near Fukushima, with 1 m tsunami.
- Live TEPCO webcam shows good, clear shot. Everything quiet and looking normal. Helpful
- Live TBS webcam is down. Worthless.
- TBS historical camera 2012.1207_17.23@2:41-2:49 shows the EQ, no visible effect on the facility. Helpful.
- USGS EQ map says 7.3 at 08:18 UTC -- followed by multiple bumps over 6.0 Helpful
- ENENews is down at first but comes up. Says nothing. Worthless.
- Nicholls EQ map is scrambled.. Worthless.
- Jap gov't EQ map -- minimal info. Almost worthless.
- Japanese gov’t EQ "predictor" says "No information." Worthless.
- Fukishima Diary is reporting in real time, and using the event to beg for money, as per usual. Helpful
- Fairewinds says nothing, except begging for money, as usual. Worthless.
- JapanTimes says nothing. Worthless
- Fukushima Update says nothing. Worthless.
TEPCO webcam shot ~6am PST
Jul03.12: This problem appears to be at least temporarily resolved, although information is very hard to come by.
NYT reports sagging Reactor #4 not a problem Now the New York Times is reporting on the sagging Reactor #4 and its cache of fuel rods. This report adds about 14,000 "unused" fuel rods to the worries. Previously, the focus has been on the 1300 spent fuel rods in the pool, but now comes revelation of "204 unused nuclear fuel assemblies . . .[e]ach assembly contains approximately 50 to 70 rods." I have not seen these unused fuel rods discussed before and I don't know how much or whether they would contribute to a blow-out if the pool goes dry or breaks up in an earthquake. NYT repeats the TEPCO propaganda: a reactor containing thousands of radioactive fuel rods in a pool 100 feet off the ground in a building that is listing and is sitting on one of the most active faults on Earth is not a risk. The NYT report is dated Jun26.2012
Jap government finally admits the obvious. Japanese "nuclear crisis minister" Goshi Hosono has admitted there's a big problem with the spent fuel rod pool (SFP) of Reactor #4 and they have accelerated plans to remove the fuel rods. Removal will start "next year." A tarp structure is being put in place now to try and control the radioactive dust that will be kicked up. This is a dangerous and delicate operation even in the best of circumstances, such as when the SFP is not mangled and the building and cranes are intact. Now 1535 fuel rods have to be lifted out of the mangled pool one at a time and quickly re-submerged in another pond nearby. This is one reason you cannot just flip the reactor switches to "off" and walk away from Fukishima. It will take upwards to 20 years to close this plant down. Hosono is floating the idea that they will need to train a new generation of plant operators just for the shut-down phase. Chicago Tribune report is dated Jun21.2012
Arnie Gunderson -- latest analysis of Daiichi with emphasis on status of reactor #4. Probably best analysis to date. He has revised his EQ fears from a Richter 7.0 to 7.5. Some of the best video I've seen of the problems. May12.2012
More cooling water problems at Reactor #4. The cooling water flow has been dropping sporadically the last few days. TEPCO is flushing pipes and struggling to keep the reactor cool. Aug31.2012 Aug31.2012