Slashdot Mirror

... here are pictures of the operators of those machines:
http://english.kyodonews.jp/photos/2011/04/84830.html

and the remote control machinery at work:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110411_1f_system1_8.jpg
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110411_1f_system1_7.jpg
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110411_1f_system1_5.jpg
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110411_1f_system1_1.jpg

Maybe, just maybe, they found that the best tool for what they wanted to do is this robot made in America?

... here are pictures of the operators of those machines:
http://english.kyodonews.jp/photos/2011/04/84830.html

and the remote control machinery at work:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110411_1f_system1_8.jpg
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110411_1f_system1_7.jpg
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110411_1f_system1_5.jpg
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110411_1f_system1_1.jpg

Maybe, just maybe, they found that the best tool for what they wanted to do is this robot made in America?

I see in this picture:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110417_1f_1_2.jpg
the reflection of the operators in the wall. I suppose that after that door is the most intense radiation in the building.

The media is getting this material here. You can find video of RC helicopter flights over the buildings, video of the No.4 spend fuel pool sampling operation right down to the surface of the water, photos of the tsunami water marks on the turbine and reactor buildings and photos of the destruction of outlying structures. Also interesting are photos of the emergency staff and their on-site facilities. Much of this stuff is high resolution photography.

A 10 meter tall wall around the buildings in case of Fukushima Daiichi would have prevented almost all the damage that the power station withstand. The surge was 14.7 m but the highest level recorded inside buildings was of 5 m so with the proposed walls they will be prepared to withstand a tsunami of 20-22 m that has not been recorded in the area, but previous records show that the area was flooded by 10-12 m tsunami at least 3 times in the last 5 centuries. Unfortunately, I can't find the link of the article where I read about the records.

From TEPCO:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040910-e.html

Press Release (Apr 09,2011)
Results of the investigation regarding tsunami arrived in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station

...

At Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, on the ocean-side of the main building area, inundation with inundation height of approximately O.P. + 14 to 15 meters (inundation depth approximately 4 to 5 meters) occurred in most of the area. At Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station, inundation with inundation height of approximately O.P. + 6.5 to 7 meters occurred in the ocean-side areas, however, only surrounding areas of Unit 1 and 2 buildings and the south side of Unit 3 building was inundated within the main building area. Accordingly, we have confirmed that the impact of tsunami was relatively larger in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station than Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station.

O.P. Being the reference for sea level.

Best Regards

Sure he is, the readings higher than 53-58 Sv that are common for monitoring post 83 at the boundary of the 20km evacuation zone are only in the monitoring posts named MP-5 to MP-8 in Fukushima Daiichi that go from west to the south of Fukushima Daiichi's premises, but the worst reading comes from the main building at 560 Sv/h, latest measurement.

From the map of MP http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/monitoring/11040201.html it appears that the worst release of radiation was/is from the spent fuel pool of unit 4 or from the discharge channel of units 1-4.

The saddest thing is that despite the historic records and internal research, TEPCO was already aware of the vulnerability of Fukushima Daiichi against a very probable large tsunami and know of cheap counter measures against flooding* but didn't do anything because management was more worried downsizing the company. Now, with their reputation in ruins, with only 10% or less of their previous market value and doing the worst damage to Japan since WWII I think that the Emperor should order to the top managers of TEPCO to commit sepukko in front of NHK's cameras.

* I mean, the large, 10-12 m tall concrete walls: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110407e19.pdf that by the new rules from regulators in Japan, http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110408e3.pdf will need to be built around reactor and turbine buildings with waterproof doors. Certainly, that is expensive because the large perimeter to cover but is a pittance versus the price of a nuclear power plant and even less than the cost of the cleanup of the current mess.

The saddest thing is that despite the historic records and internal research, TEPCO was already aware of the vulnerability of Fukushima Daiichi against a very probable large tsunami and know of cheap counter measures against flooding* but didn't do anything because management was more worried downsizing the company. Now, with their reputation in ruins, with only 10% or less of their previous market value and doing the worst damage to Japan since WWII I think that the Emperor should order to the top managers of TEPCO to commit sepukko in front of NHK's cameras.

* I mean, the large, 10-12 m tall concrete walls: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110407e19.pdf that by the new rules from regulators in Japan, http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110408e3.pdf will need to be built around reactor and turbine buildings with waterproof doors. Certainly, that is expensive because the large perimeter to cover but is a pittance versus the price of a nuclear power plant and even less than the cost of the cleanup of the current mess.

In your old link. From TEPCO:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11041202-e.html

Press Release (Apr 12,2011)
Fire at the sampling equipment at the water discharge channel, Units 1-4, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (2nd release)

At approximately 6:38 AM, April 12th, fire has been found at the
distribution switchboard containing batteries located in the sampling
equipment switchbox situated close to the south water discharge channel
for Units 1-4. The self defense fire fighting team conducted the fire
fighting at an early stage. At the same time, at approximately 6:45 AM,
we reported to the Futaba fire authorities.
As a result of the fire fighting, it is confirmed that the fire has been
under control without fire or smoke.

There is no impact on the external release of radioactive substances or on
the cooling capability of the reactor from this incident. There has been
no change on the monitoring figures of the surrounding environment.
We will continue monitoring the status of the plant and the surrounding
environment around the Power Station. We will investigate the cause in
detail.
(Previously announced)

The Futaba fire authorities confirmed fire extinguishment on site survey
at 9:12 AM, April 12th. We will investigate the cause in detail.

TEPCO did many things wrong in the early hours from the disaster, but they are very straightforward now and I have my highest respect for whoever was the manager that ordained the evacuation from site when in the fire in unit 4 the radiation surged to very dangerous levels. He didn't requested from his men suicide heroism like the russians in Chernobyl.
Kyodo has TEPCO's pictures of just when the tsunami hit the station:
http://english.kyodonews.jp/photos/2011/04/84500.html

Another interesting piece from Kyodo, that highlights the value of prevention and emergency preparedness:
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/84552.html

OPINION: What worked and what did not: views from the field
By Rajib Shaw
TOKYO, April 11, Kyodo ...
In Kamaishi, Iwate prefecture, an eight-story tsunami evacuation building stood undamaged very close to the shoreline. On the hazard map, distributed by the city government, this building was designated and marked as an evacuation building with clear instruction that people need to evacuate higher than the fourth floor. What is more interesting is that, on March 3 (also the day of the 1933 Showa Sanriku earthquake and tsunami) an evacuation drill was performed with local residents and school children. Therefore, tsunami awareness was rather fresh in their minds and people took shelter in evacuation buildings and on a nearby evacuation road (a pre-designated road on the nearby mountain with access stairs), immediately when they felt the earthquake. This shows the importance of evacuation drills and disaster education. ...
For early warning systems to be effective, a proper risk communication mechanism, which links both information provider and receiver, is needed. In the March 11 disaster, the tsunami warning and tsunami advisory were issued within three minutes after the event.

The warning was broadcast though the Japan Meteorological Agency webpage, television, radio, social networking media, and also through announcements from the town and city offices. However, in several places, init

TEPCO has put back online units 3, 2 and 5. From their press release:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040809-e.html

-Kashima Thermal Power Station Units 6: shutdown due to the earthquake
-Kashima Thermal Power Station: Units 2 resumed generating power at
  5:45 pm April 7th.
-Kashima Thermal Power Station: Units 5 resumed generating power at
  9:27 am April 8th.

Yesterday they put online unit 3, I'm impressed that they managed to put those units online in such a short time even with the ground still shaking.

Also, they put forward a plan to reinforce Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPS, the largest in the world, in accordance with the new, upgraded regulations for the operation of NPS in Japan, in http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040708-e.html and graphics http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110407e19.pdf

The new walls aside from protecting the buildings from tsunami waves, I think they will act as an additional barrier in case the reactor building suffer fire or explosions, like the one in unit 3 in Fukushima, that sent debris damaging several buildings around the unit, I don't know if they will provide some radiation protection to workers in case of emergency.

The amended regulations say:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110408e3.pdf

Article 17-2 The organization shall draw up plan for each of the folloeing in
order to improve system for maintaining reactor facilities under circumstances where tidal waves cause loss of function to all the facilities receiving alternating-currentpower, all the reactor cooling facilities utilizing seawater and all the facilities for spent fuel pool cooling (“Station Blackout”).
(1) Allocate staff in order to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout.
(2) Train staff who operate to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout.
(3) Install power source cars, fire-fighting vehicles, fire fighting hoses and other equipments necessary for operation to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout.
2. The organization shall conduct activities to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout based on the plans mentioned above.
3. The organization shall conduct periodic evaluation on the matters mentioned in Paragraph 1. and 2. and based on such evaluation, take necessary measures.

Now, we shall be looking the start of improvement works in a pair of months in NPS around the world; that, if the nuclear industry really wants to survive this disaster.

TEPCO has put back online units 3, 2 and 5. From their press release:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040809-e.html

-Kashima Thermal Power Station Units 6: shutdown due to the earthquake
-Kashima Thermal Power Station: Units 2 resumed generating power at
  5:45 pm April 7th.
-Kashima Thermal Power Station: Units 5 resumed generating power at
  9:27 am April 8th.

Yesterday they put online unit 3, I'm impressed that they managed to put those units online in such a short time even with the ground still shaking.

Also, they put forward a plan to reinforce Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPS, the largest in the world, in accordance with the new, upgraded regulations for the operation of NPS in Japan, in http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040708-e.html and graphics http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110407e19.pdf

The new walls aside from protecting the buildings from tsunami waves, I think they will act as an additional barrier in case the reactor building suffer fire or explosions, like the one in unit 3 in Fukushima, that sent debris damaging several buildings around the unit, I don't know if they will provide some radiation protection to workers in case of emergency.

The amended regulations say:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110408e3.pdf

Article 17-2 The organization shall draw up plan for each of the folloeing in
order to improve system for maintaining reactor facilities under circumstances where tidal waves cause loss of function to all the facilities receiving alternating-currentpower, all the reactor cooling facilities utilizing seawater and all the facilities for spent fuel pool cooling (“Station Blackout”).
(1) Allocate staff in order to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout.
(2) Train staff who operate to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout.
(3) Install power source cars, fire-fighting vehicles, fire fighting hoses and other equipments necessary for operation to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout.
2. The organization shall conduct activities to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout based on the plans mentioned above.
3. The organization shall conduct periodic evaluation on the matters mentioned in Paragraph 1. and 2. and based on such evaluation, take necessary measures.

Now, we shall be looking the start of improvement works in a pair of months in NPS around the world; that, if the nuclear industry really wants to survive this disaster.

TEPCO has put back online units 3, 2 and 5. From their press release:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040809-e.html

-Kashima Thermal Power Station Units 6: shutdown due to the earthquake
-Kashima Thermal Power Station: Units 2 resumed generating power at
  5:45 pm April 7th.
-Kashima Thermal Power Station: Units 5 resumed generating power at
  9:27 am April 8th.

Yesterday they put online unit 3, I'm impressed that they managed to put those units online in such a short time even with the ground still shaking.

Also, they put forward a plan to reinforce Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPS, the largest in the world, in accordance with the new, upgraded regulations for the operation of NPS in Japan, in http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040708-e.html and graphics http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110407e19.pdf

The new walls aside from protecting the buildings from tsunami waves, I think they will act as an additional barrier in case the reactor building suffer fire or explosions, like the one in unit 3 in Fukushima, that sent debris damaging several buildings around the unit, I don't know if they will provide some radiation protection to workers in case of emergency.

The amended regulations say:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110408e3.pdf

Article 17-2 The organization shall draw up plan for each of the folloeing in
order to improve system for maintaining reactor facilities under circumstances where tidal waves cause loss of function to all the facilities receiving alternating-currentpower, all the reactor cooling facilities utilizing seawater and all the facilities for spent fuel pool cooling (“Station Blackout”).
(1) Allocate staff in order to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout.
(2) Train staff who operate to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout.
(3) Install power source cars, fire-fighting vehicles, fire fighting hoses and other equipments necessary for operation to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout.
2. The organization shall conduct activities to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout based on the plans mentioned above.
3. The organization shall conduct periodic evaluation on the matters mentioned in Paragraph 1. and 2. and based on such evaluation, take necessary measures.

Now, we shall be looking the start of improvement works in a pair of months in NPS around the world; that, if the nuclear industry really wants to survive this disaster.

TEPCO has put back online units 3, 2 and 5. From their press release:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040809-e.html

-Kashima Thermal Power Station Units 6: shutdown due to the earthquake
-Kashima Thermal Power Station: Units 2 resumed generating power at
  5:45 pm April 7th.
-Kashima Thermal Power Station: Units 5 resumed generating power at
  9:27 am April 8th.

Yesterday they put online unit 3, I'm impressed that they managed to put those units online in such a short time even with the ground still shaking.

Also, they put forward a plan to reinforce Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPS, the largest in the world, in accordance with the new, upgraded regulations for the operation of NPS in Japan, in http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040708-e.html and graphics http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110407e19.pdf

The new walls aside from protecting the buildings from tsunami waves, I think they will act as an additional barrier in case the reactor building suffer fire or explosions, like the one in unit 3 in Fukushima, that sent debris damaging several buildings around the unit, I don't know if they will provide some radiation protection to workers in case of emergency.

The amended regulations say:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110408e3.pdf

Article 17-2 The organization shall draw up plan for each of the folloeing in
order to improve system for maintaining reactor facilities under circumstances where tidal waves cause loss of function to all the facilities receiving alternating-currentpower, all the reactor cooling facilities utilizing seawater and all the facilities for spent fuel pool cooling (“Station Blackout”).
(1) Allocate staff in order to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout.
(2) Train staff who operate to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout.
(3) Install power source cars, fire-fighting vehicles, fire fighting hoses and other equipments necessary for operation to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout.
2. The organization shall conduct activities to maintain reactor facilities under Station Blackout based on the plans mentioned above.
3. The organization shall conduct periodic evaluation on the matters mentioned in Paragraph 1. and 2. and based on such evaluation, take necessary measures.

Now, we shall be looking the start of improvement works in a pair of months in NPS around the world; that, if the nuclear industry really wants to survive this disaster.

here:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040307-e.html

-Today at around 9:30 am, we detected water containing radiation dose overc
  1,000 mSv/h in the pit* where supply cables are stored near the intake
  channel of Unit 2. Furthermore, there was a crack about 20 cm on the
  concrete lateral of the pit, from where the water in the pit was out
  flowing.(We already informed.) During the same day, we injected fresh
  concrete to the pit, but we could not observe a reduction in the amount
  of water spilling from the pit to the sea.
  Therefore, we considered that a new method of stopping the water and
  determined to use the polymer. Necessary equipment and experts of water
  shutoff will be dispatched to the site and after checking the condition,
  we're doing continuous work to stop water by injecting polymer(April 3rd).
-Monitoring posts of No. 1 ?No.8 set up near the boundary of power station
  area have been restored. We will periodically monitor the data and
  announce the results of monitoring.

This crack maybe explains why the levels of I-131 had not dropped at the same rate than in the previous days in the readings of I-131 and Cs-137 published by MEXT in their readings of radiation and contamination of water by prefecture page. In most prefectures they have dropped to levels that are not detectable but in a few the levels of Cs-137 have increased.

This is the last measuring from TEPCO:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/monitoring/11040205a.pdf

Radiation Dose measured at Monitoring Post of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (Sv/h)
Until the recovery of automatic transfer system of measurement data, data will be reported based on visual observation by regular patrol of monitoring posts.
Date of Measurement MP-1MP-2MP-3 MP-4MP-5 MP-6 MP-7 MP-8
2011/4/2 PM 18 56 61 62 130 200 370 280
2011/4/1 PM 19 59 69 68 150 210 390 300

Where in the fucking hell are the measures of deadly levels or radiation? Even at the main Building that does have the highest levels of radiation at 840 Sv/h, most people working there have not still reached the maximum limit of 250,000 Sv for workers in a emergency situation. This is bad, many heads at TEPCO should roll but people here shouldn't be parroting infotaiment reports.

You can read press releases from TEPCO:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/index-e.html

These releases document the "official" status of the plant. Believe what you will.

I wonder if they were really being shut down, or if the licenses were ending and they planned to get an extension as has been done fairly routinely in many other places. (until now)

If they'd really planned to shut them down, I would have expected that something to replace them would be ready or nearly so. Japan does have a few odd issues with power that complicate things though....
The northern part of the country uses 50 Hz while the rest is 60 Hz. There are only a couple of places where they're doing the conversion (not sure if it is from DC or the other frequency).

If the output of the plant is DC, it would be okay to run the generators off-speed. If that were the case, I'd think they could actually remove some heat the way it happens in operation, by having steam go through the turbine, into the condeser, and water pumped back from there to cool the reactor.

If the fuel really has melted down, doesn't that mean it's all in one blob with no moderation by control rods (as in gone critical)? Unless it can be spread out, to not have critical mass, and maybe have accomplish that at a higher mass with the help of some boric acid to absorb neutrons, it'd seem that it'd keep burning down to where it hits ground/sea water then continually spew out steamy nasties...

There were reports of large amounts of boric acid being procured from France and South Korea, and I saw reports that about 25 tons was being transported from Diablo Canyon in California by Vandenburg Air Force Base personnel

This Reactor Concepts Manual from the NRC explains the various cooling methods for these reactors. Unit 2 uses the G.E. Mark I Containment as pictured on page 16.

One of the cooling methods involves "poisoning" which is adding water with boric acid. I've wondered if any of the water being injected had boric acid in it. I haven't heard it mentioned in the NHK reports or those from TEPCO.

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/teachers/03.pdf

The airborn radiation around Japan is not as high as is has been previously.

http://www.bousai.ne.jp/eng/index.html

TEPCO Daily reports
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/index-e.html

Some of the U.S. data looks to be of questionable authenticity (but I believe that any nastier looking data still wouldn't reveal a serious threat since brief spikes don't add up to much long term) Look at various parts of the U.S. Some also show spike before the earthquake... and earlier quake or complications from other problems? (Stuxnet???)

http://www.epa.gov/japan2011/rert/radnet-data-map.html

TEPCO has been slow at some reporting in previous incidents.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/07072001-e.html

Diablo Canyon near San Luis Obispo just shut down one of the two units due to a (secondary) cooling issue.

I wonder if they were really being shut down, or if the licenses were ending and they planned to get an extension as has been done fairly routinely in many other places. (until now)

If they'd really planned to shut them down, I would have expected that something to replace them would be ready or nearly so. Japan does have a few odd issues with power that complicate things though....
The northern part of the country uses 50 Hz while the rest is 60 Hz. There are only a couple of places where they're doing the conversion (not sure if it is from DC or the other frequency).

If the output of the plant is DC, it would be okay to run the generators off-speed. If that were the case, I'd think they could actually remove some heat the way it happens in operation, by having steam go through the turbine, into the condeser, and water pumped back from there to cool the reactor.

If the fuel really has melted down, doesn't that mean it's all in one blob with no moderation by control rods (as in gone critical)? Unless it can be spread out, to not have critical mass, and maybe have accomplish that at a higher mass with the help of some boric acid to absorb neutrons, it'd seem that it'd keep burning down to where it hits ground/sea water then continually spew out steamy nasties...

There were reports of large amounts of boric acid being procured from France and South Korea, and I saw reports that about 25 tons was being transported from Diablo Canyon in California by Vandenburg Air Force Base personnel

This Reactor Concepts Manual from the NRC explains the various cooling methods for these reactors. Unit 2 uses the G.E. Mark I Containment as pictured on page 16.

One of the cooling methods involves "poisoning" which is adding water with boric acid. I've wondered if any of the water being injected had boric acid in it. I haven't heard it mentioned in the NHK reports or those from TEPCO.

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/teachers/03.pdf

The airborn radiation around Japan is not as high as is has been previously.

http://www.bousai.ne.jp/eng/index.html

TEPCO Daily reports
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/index-e.html

Some of the U.S. data looks to be of questionable authenticity (but I believe that any nastier looking data still wouldn't reveal a serious threat since brief spikes don't add up to much long term) Look at various parts of the U.S. Some also show spike before the earthquake... and earlier quake or complications from other problems? (Stuxnet???)

http://www.epa.gov/japan2011/rert/radnet-data-map.html

TEPCO has been slow at some reporting in previous incidents.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/07072001-e.html

Diablo Canyon near San Luis Obispo just shut down one of the two units due to a (secondary) cooling issue.

Here is the last post from IAEA:
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident Update (28 March, 23:00 UTC)
Japan Confirms Plutonium in Soil Samples at Fukushima Daiichi.

After taking soil samples at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japanese authorities today confirmed finding traces of plutonium that most likely resulted from the nuclear accident there. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told the IAEA that the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) had found concentrations of plutonium in two of five soil samples.

Traces of plutonium are not uncommon in soil because they were deposited worldwide during the atmospheric nuclear testing era. However, the isotopic composition of the plutonium found at Fukushima Daiichi suggests the material came from the reactor site, according to TEPCO officials. Still, the quantity of plutonium found does not exceed background levels tracked by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology over the past 30 years.

Also, Japan's NISA has this report:
http://www.nisa.meti.go.jp/english/files/en20110329-5.html
That points to TEPCO's original analysis:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110328e14.pdf

You have a very nice blog, but perhaps it would have been better to go directly to the source?

http://eq.wide.ad.jp/index_en.html
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/monitoring/index-e.html

Tepco has translated the Monitoring data at Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Stations, with all the measures available from 17/march/2011 to 20/march/2011:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/monitoring/index-e.html

The next link points to the page in japanese that shows the monitoring data since the emergency was declared:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/monitoring/index-j.html

Tepco has translated the Monitoring data at Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Stations, with all the measures available from 17/march/2011 to 20/march/2011:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/monitoring/index-e.html

The next link points to the page in japanese that shows the monitoring data since the emergency was declared:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/monitoring/index-j.html

Actually, they still do, but it's just the highlights and don't do much explanations:

Japans Atomic Industrial Forum has better presentations, aparently from TEPCO data:

World nuclear news has some explanations of the events, as does MIT NSE Nuclear Information Hub

Those are the places I turn to when people start talking about normal media coverage. I just saw a CNN report that started out with clips of people saying that there was another explosion and that there was a fire on reactor 4. I went "shit" and checked. Turns out those were old clips from a few days ago when there were explosions and fires.

It looks to me like things are more or less under control. The cores should now be in cold shutdown putting out nominal heat. Barring another accident (explosion, earthquake, tsunami, pump propeller breaking up and tearing a hole through a pipe, etc.) they should have things sorted out in a week or two. Not to say it's not a mess. Food from fukushima might need to be thrown out for a week or two while cesium decays and there will be rolling blackouts until this stabilizes enough for workers to take a look at the other 3 nuclear plants and restart them. but still it won't be anywhere near the disaster the media makes it out to be.

As to the release of these pictures, while information is good and all, after this is all said and done TEPCO will still have to keep these power plants secure, and there are reactors just like these that will have to stay online until new ones are built. I understand Fukishima Daini and others use the same models. Handing high-res pictures of the facility to potential nuclear terrorists sounds like a bad idea, and the people who know what to censor are slightly busy at the moment.

Actually, they still do, but it's just the highlights and don't do much explanations:

Japans Atomic Industrial Forum has better presentations, aparently from TEPCO data:

World nuclear news has some explanations of the events, as does MIT NSE Nuclear Information Hub

Those are the places I turn to when people start talking about normal media coverage. I just saw a CNN report that started out with clips of people saying that there was another explosion and that there was a fire on reactor 4. I went "shit" and checked. Turns out those were old clips from a few days ago when there were explosions and fires.

It looks to me like things are more or less under control. The cores should now be in cold shutdown putting out nominal heat. Barring another accident (explosion, earthquake, tsunami, pump propeller breaking up and tearing a hole through a pipe, etc.) they should have things sorted out in a week or two. Not to say it's not a mess. Food from fukushima might need to be thrown out for a week or two while cesium decays and there will be rolling blackouts until this stabilizes enough for workers to take a look at the other 3 nuclear plants and restart them. but still it won't be anywhere near the disaster the media makes it out to be.

As to the release of these pictures, while information is good and all, after this is all said and done TEPCO will still have to keep these power plants secure, and there are reactors just like these that will have to stay online until new ones are built. I understand Fukishima Daini and others use the same models. Handing high-res pictures of the facility to potential nuclear terrorists sounds like a bad idea, and the people who know what to censor are slightly busy at the moment.

Maybe it's because the truth of the actual situation is not conducive to a good night's sleep if you actually live in Japan.

Today, at approximately 10am, we observed 400mSv/h at the inland side of the Unit 3 reactor building and 100mSv/h at the inland side of the Unit 4 reactor building.

In addition, there are tens of thousands reported missing, tens or hundreds of thousands of refugees in temporary shelter and the weather is cooling rapidly and bringing a chance of snow. Did I mention rolling blackouts, blocked roads and ongoing earthquakes?

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/index-e.html

Just read the Fukushima updates. How come nobody links to this?

If the #4 pool is NOT dry, then that NRC official should be fired...

That said, I can't understand why the spend fuel pool is not inside any containment structure and not at ground level.
This is not a "First generation product" issue. This is a cost savings issue.

Old Post. This is a complete status update: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11031404-e.html

This is bad news right here: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11031403-e.html

Indeed. It would help probably the global set of journalists to just refresh this page every hour or so. It was obvious for quite a while that an explosion outside the third reactor was likely, since it was experiencing exactly the same sequence as the first reactor.

1 Sievert is quite enough for acute radiation poisoning (nausea, dizziness, possible hair loss within 24-48 hours) and a ~5-10% chance of dropping dead in a month or so. 3 Sievert gives you a chance in two to croak within 30 days. So pretty serious. By the way, the two guys who were in the control room, who were taken to the hospital with symptoms from the prompt dose?

2 TEPCO employees felt bad during their operation in the central
    control rooms of Unit 1 and 2 while wearing full masks, and were
    transferred to Fukushima Daini Power Station for consultation with a
    medical advisor.

Yea. Probable goners.

So yeah, 1,100 uSv/h (110 mrem/h, the value being tossed around in various media reports) at the borders of the Fukushima Daiichi plant is "a lot" of radiation exposure for the general public. But recall that that was the peak, and it's been dropping steadily since then.

Unfortunately, tha'ts not the case. TEPCO's Japanese-language press releases have far more detail than the English-language ones. The most recent radiation levels (Japanese PDF, but you can ask Google Translate to turn it into English) are around 4000-5000 uSv/h, with one pants-shitting spike last night in the neighborhood of 200,000 usV/h. Yes, 0.1-0.2 Sieverts per hour, no typo, although it was only that high for a couple of readings.

To put that in perspective, all of those numbers are bad. If you threw out the rulebooks, continuous exposure at current numbers (5 mSv/h) would probably start to affect your workers' health in about a month. Continuous exposures at the peak figure (0.2 Sv/h) means you can come in for one 8-hour shift, and if you want to live, you must take a few months off to recover.

TEPCO's been pretty good at releasing the information. They're just releasing it in Japanese, not English.

So yeah, 1,100 uSv/h (110 mrem/h, the value being tossed around in various media reports) at the borders of the Fukushima Daiichi plant is "a lot" of radiation exposure for the general public. But recall that that was the peak, and it's been dropping steadily since then.

Unfortunately, tha'ts not the case. TEPCO's Japanese-language press releases have far more detail than the English-language ones. The most recent radiation levels (Japanese PDF, but you can ask Google Translate to turn it into English) are around 4000-5000 uSv/h, with one pants-shitting spike last night in the neighborhood of 200,000 usV/h. Yes, 0.1-0.2 Sieverts per hour, no typo, although it was only that high for a couple of readings.

To put that in perspective, all of those numbers are bad. If you threw out the rulebooks, continuous exposure at current numbers (5 mSv/h) would probably start to affect your workers' health in about a month. Continuous exposures at the peak figure (0.2 Sv/h) means you can come in for one 8-hour shift, and if you want to live, you must take a few months off to recover.

TEPCO's been pretty good at releasing the information. They're just releasing it in Japanese, not English.

Despite all the tech developed since 1986, coverage of the progress of the cooling of the Daiishi plant has been absolutely atrocious in terms of speculation and lack of, well, at least one independent person , organisation or government (i.e. not this press release site, now down) providing reports containing hard facts, e.g. telephoto / satellite imagery, radiation count, etc.

To repeat myself from yesterday:

Fact 1: this was an old nuclear reactor without a satisfactory containment solution;

Fact 2: this was an old nuclear reactor without passive safety: i.e. power is required to prevent meltdown, rather than meltdown being prevented by design;

Fact 3: backup generators and batteries were supposed to deal with Fact 2;

Fact 4: you can only have so many on-site backups;

Fact 5: Chernobyl's failure was the result of a very dangerously planned and even more dangerously aborted attempt to test what would happen if Facts 1 to 3 applied;

Fact 6: while everyone's learnt the lessons leading to Chernobyl's failure, older reactors have not tackled the problems which led to Chernobyl deciding that tests in Fact 5 were necessary in the first place.

Fact 7: one side of the debate will conclude that nuclear power is universally evil; the other side will claim that circumstances were so shockingly unlikely that they could not have been planned for, ignoring in particular Facts 1, 2, 4 and 6.no-one

If you really want to know, here's the press releases from TEPCO which runs the plants. It's far more informative and far less alarmist than most of the reports going around. Yes, they are evacuating. Yes, there has been some unknown level of radiation leakage, but we don't know how bad it is just yet.

Those who want to review how the safety mechanisms of a BWR work should read this.

Tokyo Electric Power Company is providing regular updates with real information:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html

It appears the news services are reporting from a parallel universe where things are completely different.

And you live in an area of North America with the cheapest electricity (ie, you are an outlier).

Seattle charges $0.04 - $0.08 per kWh (cheaper rate for first 10-16 kWh per day, depending on season).
In New York City, electricity costs around $0.20 per kWh (they say it's $0.10 for the actual juice plus $0.10 for delivery of said juice).
That's a 5x difference.

Near as I can tell, the rate in Tokyo is around $0.15-$0.20 per kWh (from a quick glance at http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/service/custom/guide/guide04-e.html ).

How about the power infrastructure?