Nuclear accident follows Japanese earthqauke

[An Inspector Calls]

And then page 3 (BBC)

page 4 (FT)

etc.

etc.

Meltdown has always been a possibility, right from the word go. People were simply not jumping to conclusions.

There's no admission on TEPCO's part, merely some confirmation of what was always highly likely.

And it's still not entirely clear what has happened. Was the core wrecked at the time of the earthquake, and what we have is a submerged debris pile rather than a corium?

[biffvernon]

TEPCO have released a vast quantity of logging data at http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/index10-j.html

It's all in Japanese. It appears that it was leaked to a newspaper so TEPCO have quickly released it officially to pre-empt further embarrassment.

Edit: Looks like the government instructed TEPCO to release the data:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-co ... 610-e.html

On April 25th, 2011, we received an instruction notice from Nuclear and
Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
per Article 67-1 of Act on the Regulation of Nuclear Source Material,
Nuclear Fuel Material and Reactors.
(Announced on April 26th, 2011)

As per the instruction notice, we collected as much plant data as possible
at the time of the earthquake, sorted and reported to NISA today.

Also, as it was confirmed that part of plant parameters of Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Station posted to our website from April 18th, 2011
were incorrect, we verified data including the other part, compiled and
reported to NISA.

[biffvernon]

Tepco have suddenly become a lot more sharing and open:

A day in the life of a worker:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k86qoCi ... dded#at=39

And loads of pictures with annotation:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/

[Ippoippo]

Here's an interesting snippet, related to that data release....


Edano caught off guard by new pre-tsunami nuclear plant info

Top government spokesman Yukio Edano said Tuesday he was unaware of the latest information that the cooling system at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was shut down manually.

‘‘I learned about it for the first time from today’s media reports,’’ Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano told a news conference, adding that he would seek verification of the story from plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co, and if true, urge it to explain to the central government how and why the measure was taken.

Only after that would the government make its assessment about the action and ask TEPCO to fully disclose such information, he said.

TEPCO released data Monday of the Fukushima plant immediately after the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the plant’s critical cooling systems, with the findings raising the prospect that the cooling system was shut down manually.

No, there may have been good reason to manually shut it down... but the point is why wasn't the government informed. If not immediately (lots of other things happening, everyone was busy), but in the next few hours afterwards.

It's like "ohhhh, yeah, didn't we tell you about that back two months ago"

[biffvernon]

Not sure about this 'local magnitude 6' thing. The behaviour of a particular building is complicated. Frequency and amplitude of shocks vary with local foundation geology and a good shaking is not the same as a fault actually going through the site. There was a video showing a ~50cm vertical step in a road surface a short distance from the power station but nothing quite like that has shown up actually within the site. The whole area is thought to have move down about 70cm and east about 2.5m.

Now that a data-fest has been liberated we are getting a clearer picture of what happened in the early hours and days:
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201105170428.html

[mr brightside]

Hehe, the hilarious world of online forums. I've bumped into all sorts of characters over the years; bigots, wind up merchants, snipers and some folk who are just completely crackers- all have a place in my opinion. The Inspector needn't infer anything from that, as nothing is being implied.

Apologies to kenneal for mis-spelling your name.

This is, far and away, the best review of the Fukushima situation I've seen.

Clear explanations, great diagrams, photos, links to videos and other sites.

Caution, numbers are involved.

http://www.galcit.caltech.edu/~jeshep/f ... il2011.pdf

Ok, so it's 167 pages long, but you'll learn stuff on just a quick skim through. More graphic than text.

Thanks for that Biff, it took me a week of tea breaks to get through and i was pleased at how digestible it all was.

9. ...Fukushima, like Chernobyl before it, makes clear that human beings and nuclear power plants also cannot coexist.

I've always held the belief that unless the human race wants to make a step change in the way we're heading, whether we like it or not we are going to need nuclear. The last estimate i heard was that fusion could be running cost effectively and viably within 30yrs if the right funding and co-operation was seen, although this may have been greatly simplified.

Most nations can't even control their birth rates in plain view of a finite fossil fuel supply, populations continue to boom creating more individuals reliant on oil and gas and yet nuclear power is still largely looked upon with furrowed brows. If nuclear power could supply the grid and hydrogen fuel cells power our personal and public transport solutions, it would free up coal for open fires and crude oil for fuelling recreational internal combustion engines. I suppose i should stop masquerading as a cyber-sage and turn my computer off, as it's wasting Drax's coyl

[RenewableCandy]

The last estimate i heard was that fusion could be running cost effectively and viably within 30yrs if the right funding and co-operation was seen, although this may have been greatly simplified.

I remember it well...it dates back to when I was a child (30 years ago, in fact).

...coyl...

Actually I'm rather fond of Drax, it's kind-of part of the furniture 'round here...having said that I think the best place for coyl is to stay in t'hoyl!

[mr brightside]

I remember it well...it dates back to when I was a child (30 years ago, in fact).

It was in an episode of the Horizon program.

Actually I'm rather fond of Drax, it's kind-of part of the furniture 'round here...having said that I think the best place for coyl is to stay in t'hoyl!

Aye, in my coyl 'oyl waiting to go on t'fire

[An Inspector Calls]

Well, if Candi and Mr Brightside really are interested in where we are with fusion instead of remembered whimsy, there's an interview with Prof Steve Cowley of JET on what's happening:

http://eandt.theiet.org/magazine/2011/0 ... cowley.cfm

(While you're with IET you can pick up the announcement by the HSE on UK nuclear power, information about UK shale gas, and note the shortage of UK power engineers. Just think, Candie, you could leave academia, join the nuclear industry, and double your salary).

[mr brightside]

and note the shortage of UK power engineers.

Couldn't find the article itself, but i'm sure there isn't a shortage of people with transferrable skills; especially in installation and maintenance.

[An Inspector Calls]

It's here:
http://eandt.theiet.org/magazine/2011/0 ... demand.cfm

never mind transferrable skills, just basic skills would be nice.

[kenneal - lagger]

Why would Candy want to leave a growing industry with a bright future, Renewables and Insulation, for an industry in its death throes?

[An Inspector Calls]

She's in academia. Nuff said?

[Ippoippo]

Pensioners come forth for Fukushima

[2 As and a B]

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