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Sun, 2011-03-20 10:15 — mdmcdonald
Nuclear Engineering Issues

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AlMac99 bevcorwin Harry Sauberman Kathy Gilbeaux Maeryn Obley mdmcdonald
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Maps - Crowd-Sourced Realtime Radiation Monitoring

Sun, 2011-04-03 22:27 — Kathy Gilbeaux

There are now hundreds of radiation-related feeds from Japan on Pachube, monitoring conditions in realtime and underpinning more than half a dozen incredibly valuable applications built by people around the world. They combine 'official' data, 'unofficial' official data, and, most importantly to us, realtime networked geiger counter measurements contributed by concerned citizens.   Now we're even seeing some tracking radiation measurements of tap water.

Google Earth powered by Pachube.com

rdtn.org

Japan Geigermap


Summaries of Fukushima, Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island by Professor Magdi Ragheb, Ph.D.

Thu, 2011-03-31 20:57 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Three nice summaries of the 3 big nuclear powerplant accidents by Professor Magdi Ragheb, Ph.D. – of the University of Illinois Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering (NPRE) Department – a nice balance for both the lay person and the techie:

 

Three Mile Island Accident

Highly radioactive water leaks from Japanese nuclear plant

Mon, 2011-03-28 15:01 — Katie Rast

 Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:10am EDT

 TOKYO (Reuters) - Highly radioactive water has leaked from a reactor at Japan's crippled nuclear complex, the plant's operator said on Monday, while environmental group Greenpeace said it had detected high levels of radiation outside an exclusion zone.

 Reflecting growing unease about efforts to control the six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi complex, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T) (TEPCO) had appealed to French companies for help, the Kyodo news agency said.

The plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was damaged in a March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left more than 28,000 people dead or missing across northeastern Japan.

Fires, explosions and radiation leaks have repeatedly forced engineers to suspend efforts to stabilize the plant, including on Sunday when radiation levels spiked to 100,000 times above normal in water inside reactor No. 2.

AP IMPACT: Nuclear Plant Downplayed Tsunami Risk

Sun, 2011-03-27 21:44 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by YURI KAGEYAMA and JUSTIN PRITCHARD - Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) -- In planning their defense against a killer tsunami, the people running Japan's now-hobbled nuclear power plant dismissed important scientific evidence and all but disregarded 3,000 years of geological history, an Associated Press investigation shows.

The misplaced confidence displayed by Tokyo Electric Power Co. was prompted by a series of overly optimistic assumptions that concluded the Earth couldn't possibly release the level of fury it did two weeks ago, pushing the six-reactor Fukushima Dai-ichi complex to the brink of multiple meltdowns.

Instead of the reactors staying dry, as contemplated under the power company's worst-case scenario, the plant was overrun by a torrent of water much higher and stronger than the utility argued could occur, according to an AP analysis of records, documents and statements from researchers, the utility and the Japan's national nuclear safety agency.

(Full story in the link below)

Radiation Levels at Japan Nuclear Plant Reach New Highs

Sun, 2011-03-27 20:52 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Washington Post: Chico Harlan and Brian Vastag, Sunday, March 27, 

TOKYO — Already-grave conditions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant worsened Sunday with the highest radiation readings yet, compounding both the risks and challenges for workers trying to repair the facility’s cooling system.

Leaked water sampled from one unit Sunday was 100,000 times more radioactive than normal background levels — though the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the plant, first calculated an even higher, erroneous, figure that it didn’t correct for several hours.

Tepco apologized Sunday night when it realized the mistake; it had initially reported radiation levels in the leaked water from the unit 2 reactor as being 10 million times higher than normal, which prompted an evacuation of the building.

After the levels were correctly measured, airborne radioactivity in the unit 2 turbine building still remained so high — 1,000 millisieverts per hour — that a worker there would reach his yearly occupational exposure limit in 15 minutes. A dose of 4,000 to 5,000 millisieverts absorbed fairly rapidly will eventually kill about half of those exposed.

(Full story in links below)

WIDE Project Updates with some newly translated information and Message

Sun, 2011-03-27 19:54 — bevcorwin

Wide Project Updates with some newly translated info:

http://eq.wide.ad.jp/index_en.html

 

Message from WIDE project:

http://msg.wide.ad.jp

Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) - Higher Levels of Radioactive Iodine in Seawater Detected - March 26, 2011

Sat, 2011-03-26 16:48 — Kathy Gilbeaux

UPDATE AS OF 9:30 A.M. EDT, MARCH 26, 2011

Japanese scientists yesterday detected higher levels of radioactive iodine in seawater at water outlets near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

"Iodine 131 was detected at a level 1,250 times the national safety limit," Hidehiko Nishiyama of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said during a news conference. Officials said there is no immediate danger to residents near the plant from these levels.

Samples taken on Friday were significantly higher than those taken on Wednesday, which had 147 times the legal concentration of I-131. Authorities said the concentration of radioactive materials in the water will decrease as the water is diluted by ocean currents. Indeed, a sample taken at 8:50 a.m. on Friday had one-fifth the concentration of I-131 as the earlier measurement. Three subsequent measurements that morning showed fluctuation. All were below the highest level found at 8:30 a.m. on Friday.

Japanese Disaster Spawns Nuclear Safety Reviews Worldwide

Sat, 2011-03-26 11:40 — Kathy Gilbeaux

While many feared radiation from a stricken Japanese nuclear facility would drift across the Pacific and settle on the United States, fallout of a different kind certainly has—deep concern about the safety of nuclear reactors.

The belated brouhaha follows a series of disasters at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, which lost power and experienced what’s thought to be a partial meltdown of two reactor cores after the country was struck by a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11.

In the days that followed the catastrophe, conflicting reports about the causes of explosions, the amount of radiation released, and the prospects of ending the threats helped fuel confusion and shine a spotlight on the issue of nuclear safety and preparedness. Americans and others worldwide began asking that age-old question, “Can it happen here?”

25 March 2011 New York - Secretary-General's Statement on the International Response to the Situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan

Fri, 2011-03-25 11:24 — bevcorwin

NY - Secretary General's Statement on the International Response to the Situation at the Fukushima DaiIchi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan URL:

http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=5170

IAEA - Fukushima Nuclear Accident Update Log

Thu, 2011-03-24 23:42 — Kathy Gilbeaux

IAEA - most recent update, and links to all updates

http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

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