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Fukushima nuclear fuel rods in ‘partial meltdown’

‘Partial meltdown’ at crippled Fukushima nuclear plant Rick Wallace, Tokyo The Australian * March 29, 2011 HIGHLY radioactive water, endangering workers and hindering repair efforts at the Fukushima nuclear plant, was the result of a “partial meltdown” of the fuel rods in the plant’s No 2 reactor, Japan’s chief government spokesman admitted yesterday.

Chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said the water was believed to have temporarily come into contact with the partially melted fuel rods inside the reactor…….‘Partial meltdown’ at crippled Fukushima nuclear plant | The Australian

 

March 29, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Fukushima ground contaminated with 3 types of plutonium

3 types of plutonium detected at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant  – CNN.com  29 March 11, Three types of plutonium have turned up amid the radioactive contamination on the grounds of the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, its owner reported Monday.The plutonium is a byproduct of nuclear reactions that is also part of the fuel mix at the damaged No. 3 reactor.It was found in soil at five different points inside the plant grounds, the Tokyo Electric Power Company said late Monday….. 3 types of plutonium detected at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant – This Just In – CNN.com Blogs

March 29, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Widening USA area of radiation contamination from Fukushima

Japan’s nuclear contamination spreads to more U.S. states March 28, 2011 CNN) — Minuscule levels of radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant incident have been detected in a widening number of U.S. states, but the Environmental Protection Agency reaffirmed this week that the levels represent no threat to public health……
Japan’s nuclear contamination spreads to more U.S. states – CNN.com

March 29, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | 1 Comment

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) turn to France for help in nuclear emergency

Tokyo nuclear operator seeking French help: minister, Google news, (AFP) –  29 March 11, PARIS — Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), operator of Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, is seeking help from France to tackle the “critical” situation, Industry Minister Eric Besson said Monday. Continue reading →

March 29, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Workers struggle as Fukushima nuclear plant radiation increases

Mounting problems, including badly miscalculated radiation figures and no place to store dangerously contaminated water, have stymied emergency workers struggling to cool down the overheating plant and avert a disaster with global implications.

Radiation in seawater may be spreading in Japan, – NZ Herald News, By Shino Yuasa Mar 28,2011. Highly radioactive iodine seeping from Japan’s damaged nuclear complex may be making its way into seawater farther north of the plant than previously thought, officials said today, adding to radiation concerns as the crisis stretches into a third week. Continue reading →

March 28, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Repair work at Fukushima nuclear reactor hampered by high radiation levels

High Radiation Levels Continue to Hamper Work at Crippled Japanese Nuclear Plant, Voice of America, 26 March 11, Steve Herman | Tokyo High radiation levels at a crippled Japanese nuclear power plant continue to slow efforts to bring the situation under control. The Fukushima-1 complex has suffered repeated trouble since a massive earthquake and tsunami struck on March 11.

Workers at the Fukushima-1 nuclear plant are trying to remove pools of highly radioactive water that may have seeped from reactor cores or  where used fuel rods are stored at four of the six reactors.

It is the latest challenge at the crippled facility, which has been beset by a series of hydrogen explosions and radiation leaks since the March 11 tsunami destroyed its cooling system.  Since then, fire engines and concrete trucks have been used to pour thousands of tons of seawater onto the reactors and into the fuel rod pools……
High Radiation Levels Continue to Hamper Work at Crippled Japanese Nuclear Plant | News | English

March 26, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Radioactive iodine 1250 times legal limit in sea off Japan

Radioactive iodine in sea off Japan, Sydney Morning Herald, March 26, 2011 – The operator of Japan’s disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear plant has detected radioactive iodine 1250 times the legal limit in Pacific Ocean waters nearby, the nuclear safety agency says…….Radioactive iodine in sea off Japan

March 26, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Upward trend of radiation from Fukushima causes anxiety over tap water

The overall situation at the Fukushima plant remains of serious concern, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. The deposition of radioactive iodine and cesium varies across 10 prefectures on a day to day basis but “the trend is generally upward,”

Anxiety in Tokyo over radiation in tap water The Star, 24 March 11, TOKYO (AP): Workers loaded trucks with boxes of bottled water to distribute across the city Thursday after residents cleared store shelves following warnings that Tokyo’s tap water had elevated radiation coming from Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear complex. Continue reading →

March 26, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Radioactive iodine and cesium from Fukushima nuclear plant

Report: Emissions from Japan plant approach Chernobyl levels, USA Today, By Michael Winter, 24 March 11. Emissions of radioactive iodine and cesium from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant have approached levels after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, New Scientist reports. Austrian researchers made the calculations by using the global network of detectors designed to sniff out clandestine nuclear bomb tests.

Iodine-131 is being released at daily levels 73% of those detected after Chernobyl, while the daily amount of cesium-137 is about 60%, according to researcher from Austria’s Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics…… Report: Emissions from Japan plant approach Chernobyl levels –

March 26, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Japanese nuclear plant beset by new problems

an even bigger problem when the water inside the reactor is much more radioactive than usual and is under extremely high pressure, as it has been in all three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant at various times since the earthquake and tsunami…..

New Problems Arise at Japanese Nuclear Plant, NYTimes.com, By KEITH BRADSHER March 23, 2011 “……..nuclear engineers say some of the most difficult and dangerous tasks are still ahead — and time is not necessarily on the side of the repair teams. Continue reading →

March 24, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, technology | Leave a comment

Conflicting information on state of spent nuclear fuel rods at Fukushima

“We believe that secondary containment has been destroyed and 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.”

Foreigners Advised to Leave Tokyo; US Citizens OK’ed to Evacuate, by: Nancy Roberts 18 March 11, Conflicting Information on Exposed Fuel Rods US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Greg Jacszko testified before Congress on Wednesday that he believes there is no water in the spent fuel pool in one of the Fukushima reactor buildings, leaving the fuel rods exposed and in danger of overheating: Continue reading →

March 24, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Winds could carry Fukushima nuclear radiation across Japan’s mainland

Global rescue teams depart as winds threaten to turn nuclear cloud inland * Brendan Nicholson  The Australian * March 22, 2011 AUSTRALIAN authorities have warned that the wind direction in the region surrounding the stricken Japanese nuclear reactors was set to change last night and could carry radioactive contamination over the mainland.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency said the prevailing wind had been carrying radiation out to sea since the Fukushima Daiichi power stations were damaged. But during the next 36 hours, a wind change is likely to produce a complex pattern of wind directions over mainland Japan.”Any radioactivity that may occur from deterioration in the current status of any of the Fukushima Daiichi reactor units is predicted to pass across mainland Japan during this time.”

ARPANSA said the wind should swing back out over the ocean after that time.ARPANSA has recommended that Australians within 80km of the power plant move out of the area….Global rescue teams depart as winds threaten to turn nuclear cloud inland | The Australian

March 24, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment | Leave a comment

25 embassies in Tokyo shut due to nuclear radiation concerns

Nuclear fears shut 25 embassies in Tokyo  Herald Sun,  March 23, 2011 THE nuclear emergency following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has led 25 embassies to temporarily shut their doors in Tokyo, Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said today.As of yesterday; “eight of them had transferred their functions outside Tokyo or Japan”, Matsumoto told AFP by email……Nearly two weeks after the double disaster ravaged the country’s Pacific coast on March 11, workers were battling to avert catastrophe at a crippled nuclear power plant, located 250 kilometres northeast of Tokyo.

The foreign ministry’s press division said the following countries had closed their doors: Angola, Bahrain, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Kosovo, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Panama and Switzerland Nuclear fears shut 25 embassies in Tokyo | Herald Sun

March 24, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Radiation concerns: Evacuation advised for foreigners from Tokyo

Foreigners Advised to Leave Tokyo; US Citizens OK’ed to Evacuate, by: Nancy Roberts 18 March 11, As conflicting information fueled further fears over the potential for radiation emanating from the Fukushima nuclear facility, Germany, Britain and Australia have advised their citizens to leave Tokyo, some 170 miles from the affected plant. Americans have been advised to move beyond a 50 mile radius from the facility, far greater than the 12-mile limit set by the Japanese government.
US citizens and dependents working for the American Embassy or other government institutions have been authorized to evacuate at government expense. The American Embassy remains open, and American dependents have not been ordered to leave, but may “exercise the opportunity” to evacuate, according to Under Secretary of State Patrick F. Kennedy……Foreigners Advised to Leave Tokyo; US Citizens OK’ed to Evacuate

March 24, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Fukushima cooling effort increasingly being done by robots

More robots sent in to tackle crisis at Fukushima, New Scientist, 24 march 11, Robots from other nations are joining in the efforts to stabilise the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.In addition to the Monirobo radiation monitoring robots reported previously, the Japanese have also used an unmanned fire engine. This was operated by the Tokyo Fire Department, which introduced its first robot, the Rainbow 5 water sprayer, in 1986. Such robots are used for fires which are too large or too hazardous for human fire-fighters to approach. The engine sprayed seawater from an eight-hundred-metre hose directly into the spent fuel rod pool at No. 3 reactor for thirteen hours to prevent overheating.A much more powerful unmanned water cannon has now been flown in from Australia. Made by Bechtel Corporation, the system is manoeuvred into place remotely and can spray nine thousand litres a minute out to a distance of a hundred and fifty metres…… One Per Cent: More robots sent in to tackle crisis at Fukushima

March 24, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, technology | Leave a comment

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