Fukushima meltdown and Japans future after the Tsunami

Fukushima meltdown and Japans future after the Tsunami - Aaron Sneddon

A contributing commentator suggested the following link - Don't just pray for those in Japan, it will not help, if you really want to help, then make a donation, Red Cross:

http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now/Make-a-single-donation/Japan-Tsunami-Appeal

I don't know much about Nuclear Fission or structures of Nuclear Power stations, but on my Twitter account (twitter.com/aaronsneddon) yesterday I predicted a nuclear explosion and meltdown at the Fukushima power plant, you see, you just cant trust the media. At times, its not the media you cant trust, its just that the media get their information from their "Sources", Japan has only known to be giving out realistic news in the past few years, before that it was all propaganda. The news channels and organisations get their base stories from the organisations that provide the news.

The Fukishima plant is managed by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Toden/TEPCO) was formed in 1951. Reactor number 1 in the plant was built in 1971, that's 40 YEARS OLD! A quick note to say that Chernobyl's reactor number 1 was not built until 1977!

So, information given out by the TEPCO has until now been small, they obviously haven't wanted to scare anyone. Hilary Clinton yesterday sent coolant (I haven't read, but believe Boron is the coolant of choice, as used in Chernobyl) to the plant. Managers at the plant decided that since the rods were overheating because of the high temperature brought on by the low water levels, and the water going past boiling point. In order to cool things down a bit, since the heat cannot go through into the turbines because the plant is shut down, it was decided to vent some of the heat, therefore allowing a certain amount (A small amount they said) into the atmosphere, apparently it would blow out to sea.

Images shown on the news indicated White airborne material either caused by Venting or another unspecified explosion not documented in the TEPCO press info. See the TEPCO rolling press info here: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11031220-e.html It could be from 5:22AM (Or shortly after where the statement below was made)

- We decided to prepare implementing measures to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessel (partial discharge of air containing radioactive materials) in order to fully secure safety. This preparation work commenced at around 10:33AM and completed at 10:58AM.

The venting has been done, there was a medium sized explosion, no fire, just white coloured smoke, this could mostly be steam. Now, we've not heard whats going on inside the reactor plant.

Reactor 1 at Fukushima has a containment chamber built around it, this is so that if there is a meltdown of the rods and unit, the chamber can keep all the material that's blown up inside the chamber, Chernobyl didn't have this. Problem is, heat builds up inside the containment chamber, the only way to let this out is to vent it, letting out more Caesium and Uranium into the atmosphere, who is to say the wind wont turn in toward Shiroishi, Kakuda, Minamisoma and other cities, like the city affected hugely by the Tsunami, Sendai, not to mention Natori.

So, Japan has had earthquakes that have killed a relatively small number of people, then the Tsunami came in from the sea and killed thousands (I think at least 3000 are dead, current estimates are just over a thousand, but this is not true, its at least 3000), now we have the problem of a nuclear catastrophe, killing hundreds and possibly thousands over a number of years through Thyroid Cancer and other types of cancer caused by the exposure to radiation in the air.

Japan is in for a tough ride, here's my take on it, just like above:

Eastern Japan (The worst hit pats due to the Tsunami coming in from the North Pacific, the West of Japan was sheltered more from the Tsunami) will become desolate for a while, at best cities will take many years to rebuild and cost many millions to repair, at worst chemicals which have overflowed will have contaminated the lowlands making it uninhabitable, worse still if Fukushima melts down and spews out radioactive materials completely (Today this situation is well advanced) then the East of Japan will become a nuclear wasteland. China will have to shake hands and work with Japan, possibly housing Japan's new nomads in its already packed land.

This is not a scare tactic, I have nothing to win by doing this, I ain't no nuclear scientist, in fact pretty uneducated, But i fear the worst for the East of Japan now and for the next century. Never before has one country been so threatened, not only threatened, but attacked, attacked by earthquake, mass flooding and nuclear meltdown.

Update: A few facts to get the doubters thinking:

Chernobyl's reactor had no protective "jacket" on, making an immediate impact after the meltdown. Japan reactors do have protective reinforced domes to protect the outside environment due to nuclear meltdown inside the reactor chamber. The reason that the Japanese Fukushima accident is not so severe is because of the protective domes, however it is now thought that at least one dome is damaged, exposing the outer atmosphere to the radioactive materials that were previously contained in the jacket.

Chernobyl had a full "Meltdown" in only one reactor, currently the whole 6 reactors on the Fukushima site are not functioning properly (Though 5 and 6 were not actually "Online" before the accident began), the cooling systems have failed, so too any redundant backup systems, meaning that if the situation deteriorates we have up to 6 reactors with their cores melting rather than one, making the likelyhood of a worse situation than Chernobyl very likely. Note although 5 and 6 were not in action before the accident, they were still loaded with fuel, they too are not cooling properly.

Out of a 1-7 scale in terms of seriousness, Fukushima is officially level 4 but should be level 6, Chernobyl was level 7, The Fukushima situation is clearly deteriorating, meaning level 7 is likely.

Here are a few links, which people may find of interest.

Tepco rolling press releases: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/index-e.html and gallery: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/gallery/nuclear-e.html

Welcome to Fukushima: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6KcR-7pBMw

Webcam@ Fukushima: http://www.baysider.com/webcam/3054 - Forget the subject, look at the snow. Right now many need help in Japan, I suggest donating to the Red Cross to help. Note that praying for those in Japan will not help, you need to take real action : http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now/Make-a-single-donation/Japan-Tsunami-Appeal

Wiki Article on Sendai: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sendai

Sendai Airport, now almost completely destroyed: http://www.sdj-airport.com/english/index.html

Sendai Tourism: http://www.stcb.or.jp/eng/index.html

Aaron Sneddon: Article only published with credit to Aaron Sneddon

Extras:

To pessimists such as Supermatt and the like, here are a few quotes from experts, and some facts, tell me the situation is in control, and that the containment enclosures are still working, they are not:

"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," NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing."

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"Yukiya Amano, the head of the nuclear watchdog agency, says he plans on going to Japan as soon as possible. When asked if events were out of control, he answered: "It is difficult to say."

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Yesterday, an explosion caused the containment vessel covering the Number 2 reactor to crack, releasing into the air a surge of radiation 800 times more intense than the recommended hourly exposure limit in Japan. (AP)

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The worst is a full-scale meltdown of the reactors caused by overheating, which would release much larger amounts of radiation into the air than has yet occurred.  In that case, the damage could potentially approach the level of the Soviet Union's 1986 Chernobyl disaster, for which estimates of deaths vary from 4000 to close to one million. AP

Police say 5,178 are confirmed dead and another 8,606 people are still missing. BBC

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Regarding the death tolls from this awful situation: Police say 5,178 are confirmed dead and another 8,606 people are still missing. (BBC)

A contributing commentator suggested the following link - Don't just pray for those in Japan, it will not help, if you really want to help, then make a donation, Red Cross:

http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now/Make-a-single-donation/Japan-Tsunami-Appeal