7.9 and 8.8 Earthquakes in Japan

Weather forecast ticker on the bottom reporting freezing temperatures in Northern Honshu tonight... :-/

http://twitter.com/TimeOutTokyo actually is a really good news source tonight.

BBC says that last blast breached the containment chamber at #2.

Time Out Tokyo (linked above) translated TV speeches as they air. Like, right now.

'Anyone within a 30km radius, please remain indoors, whether you're in your office or homes.'

Well, this is worse than believed.

TEPCO chief is acknowledging the breach in the #2 reactor containment walls and that unknown levels of radiation have escaped, not clear yet how they stopped the radiation from escaping or if it is continuing to escape un-checked.

TimeOutTokyo: 'As of 10.22am, we are talking about radiation levels that can damage human health. Please embrace this information calmly.'

If all workers do in fact leave the plant, the nuclear fuel in all three reactors is likely to melt down, which would lead to wholesale releases of radioactive material — by far the largest accident of its kind since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.

and the breaking news at the top of the NYT site was: "Workers leave plant"

400 mSv radiation on site!!!!

Ohhhhhh shit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionizing_radiation

For comparison, the average 'background' dose of natural radiation received by a person is around 3.6 mSv (360 mrem) per year. The lethal full-body dose of radiation for a human is around 4–5 Sv (400–500 rem).

so just to be clear, that would be 100x the lethal dose of radiation?

mSv vs. Sv

Just learning on the fly here. Same entry:

Approximately 134 plant workers and fire fighters engaged at the Chernobyl power plant received high radiation doses (70,000 to 1,340,000 mrem or 700 to 13,400 mSv) and suffered from acute radiation sickness. Of these, 28 died from their radiation injuries.

ah

Just FYI: Current winds are blowing due west to Hawaii and the West Coast.

I'm more concerned about the workers leaving.

If they leave it to meltdown, it's all fine as long as the core is stable and contains the fuel, correct? Do we have any reason to think the radiation levels are a sign it isn't completely containing the fuel?

the ny times article paints a pretty grim picture

Press conference on NHK just mentioned an evacuation recommendation for everyone within a 20km radius

"largest accident since Chernobyl" doesn't really mean much, since that would be true of basically any notable nuclear event since then, and this is the first.

Just FYI: Current winds are blowing due west to Hawaii and the West Coast.

― taco al pastorius (Steve Shasta), Monday, March 14, 2011 9:23 PM (14 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

id read that it was likely to be diluted by the 5-7 days it would take to get there, but i dunno if what i read was prior to this most recent leak

"largest accident since Chernobyl" doesn't really mean much, since that would be true of basically any notable nuclear event since then, and this is the first.

― stet, Monday, March 14, 2011 9:24 PM (8 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

well, apparently much worse than 3 mi island but i think we knew that already

*throws out bananas*

3MI was several years before chernobyl. but yeah this must be up to second-worst ever by now.

Yes, if this was rated a 4 as of 2 days ago, compared to TMI's 5 and Chernobyl's 7, this has to be a 6 minimum, with a potential for 7.

uhhh really hoping to read a reassuring article by a nuclear expert ASAP

Meltdown is basically OK as long as the containment chambers hold, afaik. But the chamber is breached in #2.

xxxp yes, TMI was a 5 on the 1-7 scale (7=Chernobyl). This was 4 last time I checked; am guessing it's going to get upgraded now tho.

Those reassuring articles saying that everything will be fine are now a couple days old, subsidized and brokered of course by the boards of the huge nuclear power proponents.

This can't really become a 7 -- Chernobyl exploded while the reactor was running at full tilt and exposed that to the air. It had a global impact. These reactors were all scrammed as soon as the quake started, it's just not in that league.

yeah really really disappointed that ive been otm about nuclear reactors itt :(

xp yeah plus chernobyl literally had no containment chambers. and no one was evacuated until pointlessly late. this is still dismayingly bad though.

deej would like to take a moment to point out hes been otm in this thread

he's disappointed by his sheer otmness.

:(

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that 4 days later nuclear reactors are still exploding, leaking radiation and catching fire = we don't really have an idea how bad this can get. I'm hoping that the sea water works but the situation today has gotten much worse rather than better.

deej would like to take a moment to point out hes been otm in this thread

― ice cr?m, Monday, March 14, 2011 9:36 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark

this was the gallows humor joke i was already making

Reactor No. 4 (not in operation at time of quake) is reported to be on fire now.

yeah no one really knows whats gonna happen, take for example that this whole situation was predicated on the fact that the back up generators werent put on high enough ground, theres always an aspect of chaos and the unexpected

lol exception granted deej, apologies

Yeah, I don't want to come across like the guy in link way upthread who said "it can't ever get worse than eating a banana", but otoh nobody is saying that this can get to Chernobyl territory. Even just the scrams and the evacuations have already prevented that.

From Australian ABC: "Mr Edano said the figures that have been released to date measuring the level of radiation around the plant have been misquoted as micro sieverts. He said the unit attached to the figures should have been milli sieverts which are 1,000 times stronger and much more damaging to human health."

Meanwhile that US Aircraft carrier yesterday parked just West offshore was like: "uh... we're gonna go about 70 miles south of here, thanks guys"

everything is fine no worries we will just be way the fuck over here

100 mili sieverts are enough to make a human male infertile

100 mili sieverts are enough to make a human male infertile

― mookieproof, Monday, March 14, 2011 11:03 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

find all the gay japanese

Radiation level "briefly nine times normal level" west of Tokyo: Kyodo News

I feel like what is happening in Japan right now is so scary that I'm just not processing it at all.

Yes. I feel similarly.

just a brief blast of radiation let's be cool (and sterile)