SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - Japanese Tsunami

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BBC reporting this now as well. Not good. Like I already said, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is a Three Mile Island and not a Chernobyl - I'm skeptical it's going really bad since they've had so much time since the shutdown, of course, but you never know...

[edit]

BBC says:

Quote:

Japan's NHK TV showing before and after pictures of the Fukushima-Daiichi plant. It appears to show that the outer structure of one of four buildings at the plant is no longer there.

:o

Okay, this sounds bad. Fingers crossed even harder, looking for said pictures...

i cant find pictures of this either but i saw it on the NHK live streaming and yupp the 1st reactor hall has its walls blown out just the frame is standing:down:

well i found something
Edit: you can actualy see the shock wave at 0:47 O.o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg4uogOEUrU

From NHK:

Quote:

The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says 2 radioactive substances, cesium and radioactive iodine, have been detected near the Number One reactor at the Fukushima Number One nuclear power station.

The agency says this indicates that some of the metal containers of uranium fuel may have started melting.
The substances are produced by fuel fission.

That is very, very... not good. These is reactor material, and these are what caused the massive contamination at Chernobyl. So this is already suggesting that the meltdown is uncontained... the question now is how much of the stuff got out.

From BBC:

Quote:

0755: AFP says an explosion has been heard at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant, and says Japanese TV is showing a white cloud above the plant.

0810: Japanese media reports say that radioactivity has risen 20-fold outside the Fukushima-Daiichi plant.

0828: Japan's NHK TV showing before and after pictures of the Fukushima-Daiichi plant. It appears to show that the outer structure of one of four buildings at the plant is no longer there.

0847: NHK TV carrying advice to people to protect themselves against radiation. Experts say people should cover their mouths and noses with wet towels. Exposed skin should also be covered and people should wash after coming indoors. People should also avoid vegetables and other fresh food, as well as tap water, until authorities give the all-clear.

Again, very worrying timeline here.

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Latest, as per I-25's video:

Quote:

0855: Some pictures have come through now on Japanese TV of that explosion. It looks very strong. You can see debris being blasted from the building, then a cloud of smoke mushrooming up from the plant.

This is terrible.

:( Talk about having 3 disasters at once, a Earthquake, Tsunami and a Nuclear Accident.

HunterICX

From what I'm reading now, it seems like this was a hydrogen explosion outside the reactor. So there is hope that the reactor core is still contained.

(big image, link: )
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...I_NPP_1975.jpg

This is Wiki's aerial picture of the powerplant.

Now, looking at the video, it looks like what blew is the building that is on the far left in the aerial image. Now look to the far right, where you have a unit under construction - and it's very clear that the building which blew in the video indeed contains the reactor. So here's to hoping that the pressure vessel held and it was just steam or hydrogen outside of it blowing.

Saw this on another forum, dunno if its accurate at all but heh.

http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/438/fallout.jpg

Nope, in fact that map makes no sense :O:

Seems there have been some small and one big explosion around 10 a.m. GMT (an hour ago), and the core is said to be melting right now - not good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CCIP (Post 1617721)

(big image, link: )

Now, looking at the video, it looks like what blew is the building that is on the far left in the aerial image. Now look to the far right, where you have a unit under construction - and it's very clear that the building which blew in the video indeed contains the reactor. So here's to hoping that the pressure vessel held and it was just steam or hydrogen outside of it blowing.

yup.. no doubt about it the one that blew was the #1 containment unit. on NHK i saw the full uncropped image and you can clearly see its the 1st one which is the one on the far right like you say in the wiki aerial pic

Hm, in fact if this was a hydrogen explosion, that might be an indication of a very bad scenario here...

Quote:

The BBC's environment correspondent Roger Harrabin says he understands the blast at the nuclear plant may have been caused by a hydrogen explosion - also one of the possibilities laid out by Walt Patterson of Chatham House. "If nuclear fuel rods overheat and then come into contact with water, this produces a large amount of highly-flammable hydrogen gas which can then ignite," our correspondent says.

"This is starting to look a lot like Chernobyl" Walt Patterson, an associate fellow with Chatham House, has told the BBC after seeing pictures of the explosion at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant. "The nuclear agency says that they have detected caesium and iodine outside the unit, which certainly indicates fuel melting at the very least," he says. "Once you have melting fuel coming into contact with water, that would almost certainly be the cause of the explosion."

More from Walt Patterson of Chatham House. He says the presence of the radioactive caesium in the surrounding area does not pose a huge threat to public health in the immediate aftermath of the explosion. "What would be serious is if there was an explosion or fire that lifted this stuff high in the air, meaning it could get carried over a wide area."

Latest from BBC newsfeed:

Quote:

1040: Japanese authorities say troops found between 300 and 400 bodies in the coastal city of Rikuzentakata, which was devastated by the tsunami - NHK.