2011 Sendai Earthquake & Tsunami

[Bunkertor]

CNN on right now

[Crostorm]

TEPCO report the loss of emergency cooling function is also the No. 1 nuclear power plant Hukushima 3

[Chacor]

Latest I've seen is there are concerns that a second reactor could blow, yes. The radioactive caesium and iodine was known much earlier and this was known BEFORE the government declared "no meltdown" so I wish people would stop declaring that to be true when it isn't.

[Crostorm]

Nuclear accident rated at level 4
The Japanese government rates the accident at the Fukushima Number One nuclear power plant at level 4 on an international scale of 0 to 7.

Two radioactive substances, cesium and radioactive iodine, were detected near the Number One reactor at the plant on Saturday. Their presence indicates nuclear fission of uranium.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said that fuel in the reactor partially melted. It's the first such accident in Japan.

A level 4 on the International Nuclear and Radiologocal Event Scale includes damage to fuel and release of significant quantities of radioactive material within an installation.
It's the same level as a criticality accident at a nuclear fuel processing plant in Tokai Village in Ibaraki Prefecture, south of Fukushima, in 1999.

The agency called the accident very regrettable even though it was triggered by an earthquake.
Sunday, March 13, 2011 07:08 +0900 (JST)
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/13_06.html

[Chacor]

The leak was well-contained within the compound of the plant though so that's a very good thing.

[Crostorm]

Another quake of 6.2

[Crostorm]

BREAKING NEWS: Radiation believed to leak from reactor of Fukushima No. 1 plant: Edano (11:13)
BREAKING NEWS: Top of MOX fuel rods 3 meters above water at Fukushima plant: TEPCO (11:06)
NEWS ADVISORY: 1,167 missing in Fukushima Pref., adjacent to hardest-hit Miyagi (11:04)
BREAKING NEWS: 19 more people exposed to radiation in addition to 3 found Sat. (11:01)
BREAKING NEWS: Fukushima plant radiation at 882 micro sievert vs 500 allowable in 1 hour (10:59)

http://english.kyodonews.jp/

[RL3AO]

BTW, if you get any messages about the "super moon" causing the earthquake, tell them that its non-sense. In fact, at the time of the quake, the moon was farther then earth then its average distance from earth. Sure it will be closer to earth next week, but it wasn't at the time of the quake.

[Chacor]

Latest from WashPost: Japanese government has backtracked on "no meltdown".

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said radiation at the reactor exceeded legal limits and that it was "highly possible" a partial meltdown was underway.

"Because it's inside the reactor, we cannot directly check it, but we are taking measures on the assumption of the possible partial meltdown," he told reporters, according to the Associated Press.

[Chacor]

Japan now saying a second explosion is possible but would not cause significant damage.

[Chacor]

USGS and JMA both upgrade the magnitude to 9.0 from 8.9 and 8.8 respectively. This makes it the fifth most powerful earthquake on record worldwide.

[Chacor]

Japanese authorities say a 63-year-old man has been rescued drifting at sea 15 km from the Fukushima coast. Miracle.

[HURAKAN]

USGS and JMA both upgrade the magnitude to 9.0 from 8.9 and 8.8 respectively. This makes it the fifth most powerful earthquake on record worldwide.

I can't find a link where it says that the USGS has upgraded it to 9.0 ... can you post it? I don't want to share an information in facebook without a link to back it up.

[Chacor]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... gp_wmt.php

11/03/11 5:46:23

Epicenter: 38.321 142.369
MW 9.0

[Bunkertor]

This interactive feature provides a "before" and "after" sat-view.

http://www.spiegel.de/flash/0,,25462,00.html

[RL3AO]

Do we know if the reactors fully SCRAMed before losing power?

[Stephanie]

Nuclear accident rated at level 4
The Japanese government rates the accident at the Fukushima Number One nuclear power plant at level 4 on an international scale of 0 to 7.

Two radioactive substances, cesium and radioactive iodine, were detected near the Number One reactor at the plant on Saturday. Their presence indicates nuclear fission of uranium.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said that fuel in the reactor partially melted. It's the first such accident in Japan.

A level 4 on the International Nuclear and Radiologocal Event Scale includes damage to fuel and release of significant quantities of radioactive material within an installation.
It's the same level as a criticality accident at a nuclear fuel processing plant in Tokai Village in Ibaraki Prefecture, south of Fukushima, in 1999.

The agency called the accident very regrettable even though it was triggered by an earthquake.
Sunday, March 13, 2011 07:08 +0900 (JST)
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/13_06.html

I feel for the poor people that work there now and live around it. They are going to need a lot of health support now.

[Chacor]

For context, Three Mile Island rated a 5 and Chernobyl a 7 on that scale. Japan has suffered a 4 before, in 1999.

[Chacor]

Japanese PM's spokesman now on BBC World News TV, says confirmed dead 1200+ missing 1000+.

[Chacor]

#
1507: NHK reports that the death toll now stands at 1,351. In Miyagi prefecture, 515 deaths have been confirmed in the cities of Higashimatsushima, Kesennuma and Sendai. The bodies of between 200 and 300 people swept away by the tsunami were discovered on beaches near Sendai. In Minamisanriku, most buildings have been washed away and about 10,000 people remain missing, NHK adds. Police in Miyagi say the death toll is almost certain to exceed 10,000.