Chronology of Fukushima News and related radioactive stuff

Fukushima reactor No. 2 is now down for the count as the fuel rods are now exposed according to the news source Jiji who had quoted the plant operator.

A meltdown assumed imminent at this point.

Nuclear fallout is in the air.

Seawater is being pumped into the reactor in a last ditch effort to prolong the situation.

WASHINGTON — American Navy officials in Japan said early Monday that 17 military personnel who had been aboard three helicopters assisting in the earthquake relief effort had been exposed to low levels of contamination.
Cmdr. Jeff A. Davis, a spokesman for the American Seventh Fleet in Japan, said the Navy personnel — who apparently had flown through a radioactive plume from a damaged nuclear power plant — had been ordered to dispose of their uniforms and to undergo a decontamination scrub that had successfully removed radioactive particles.

“They received very, very low levels of contamination,” Commander Davis said in a telephone interview from Japan early Monday.

SEOUL -- The U.S. 7th Fleet has moved its ships and aircraft away from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Japan after low levels of contamination were detected in the air and found on the crews of three helicopters returning from disaster relief missions near Sendai.

The contamination found on the 17 crewmembers was easily removed by washing with soap and water, and the ship and aircraft move is only temporary, according to a 7th Fleet release.

Nuclear fuel rods at a quake-stricken Japanese nuclear reactor are now fully exposed, Jiji news agency said, quoting the plant's operator, Tokyo Eletcric Power Co .

The report referred to the Fukushima Daiichi complex's No.2 reactor, where levels of water coolant around the reactor core had been reported as falling earlier in the day.

The Jiji report said a meltdown of the fuel rods could not be ruled out.

Tens of thousands of people have taken part in an anti-nuclear demonstration in southern Germany. The demonstration had been planned for some time, but after the news of Japan's nuclear emergency, organisers were overwhelmed by crowds of around 50,000 people who turned up.

The demonstrators, who stretched in a 45km chain from Neckarwestheim power plant to the city of Stuttgart, were demanding that the German government move away from nuclear power.

People know that it's good to take potassium iodide to protect against radiation, to help protect against thyroid cancer (potassium iodide does not protect any other organs).

But taking potassium iodide when there is no radiation can actually damage the thyroid gland ... at least in some individuals. A doctor told me that potassium iodide is given to people with hyperthyroid disease in order to partially kill the thyroid - i.e. to lower thyroid function.

The Japanese nuclear reactor hit by the tsunami went into 'meltdown' today, as officials admitted that fuel rods appear to be melting inside three damaged reactors.

That means there is a risk that molten nuclear fuel can melt through the reactor's safety barriers and cause a serious radiation leak.

There have already been explosions inside two over-heating reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, and the fuel rods inside a third were partially exposed as engineers desperately fight to keep them under control after the tsunami knocked out emergency cooling systems.

Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said it was 'highly likely' that the fuel rods inside all three stricken reactors are melting.

The Fukushima I and Fukushima 3 nuclear reactors have both previously experienced explosions, and are in some stage of meltdown.

Today, Kyodo News reports:

Fuel rods at the quake-hit Fukushima ... No. 2 reactor were fully exposed at one point after its cooling functions failed, the plant operator said Monday, indicating the critical situation of the reactor's core beginning to melt due to overheating.

17.47 Lam Thuy Vo from the Wall Street Journal tweets:

Twitter Travelling to #Sendai we saw so many lines in front of supermarkets. 7-Elevens, most of them closed.

17.43 Prof Chris Busby, a British scientist who specialises in the health effects of radiation, tells the BBC that he fears authorities are playing down the scale of the disaster:

Quote This is already a radiological catastrophe. Particularly when talking about the plutonium reactor. Plutonium can't be detected by the Geiger counter.

It is very important to understand that this situation is changing every minute and that no one knows for sure if deadly radiation will make it to the U.S. west coast.

BBC Update 1:53pm PST

“The New Scientist’s Short Sharp Science blog has been asking nuclear scientists about the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. It says: “The real fear is that harmful radioactive material will escape from the reactor core.”

Fox News is reporting that the fuel rods in ALL three damaged reactors are set to meltdown. This is not fear mongering this is simple fact. The BBC is also reporting that Japanese Officials are in full scale panic mode. Moscow officials have not ruled out the fact that Japan may be covering up the extent of the damage.

Japanese officials have upgraded the nuclear alert level to a level 5 incident meaning that large quantities of radioactive material have been released and there is a high probability of significant public exposure.

The alert level was raised after the nuclear fuel rods became completely exposed and the nuclear reactor completely lost its cooling ability.

The size of the evacuation area has been expanded from a 20 KM radius to a 40 KM radius (about 25 miles) with the nuclear alert level upgrade.

The upgraded alert level comes on news that wind has carried the radioactive cloud 100 miles north of the reactor.

Update: 2:55pm PST - The Guardian reports that independent experts in the field cannot get reliable data from the Japanese government and that there is a history of info doctoring and cover-ups related to Japan’s nuclear facilities. Link

Update: 2:49pm PST – Russia Today is reporting that radiation levels near the Fukushima nuclear plant are RISING.

Israel recalls diplomats' families from Japan, says no connection to nuclear fears
Sources say Foreign Ministry had pulled non-essential staff out of desire to give them a break from wave of aftershocks and stressful situation.
Foreign Ministry sources said the return of the families was not connected to fears of a nuclear crisis or concerns of radioactive leaks, but rather a desire to give them some "temporary rest and relaxation" from having to contend with aftershocks.

The Japanese nuclear safety agency says explosion heard at Unit 2 of Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Earlier a cloud of radioactive dust billowed from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant after it suffered its second explosion in three days.

If we could rely on the Japanese and American governments to inform us of any danger, we wouldn't have to be so vigilant.

But given the American government's cover up of the severity of the BP oil disaster, the health risk to New Yorkers after 9/11, and numerous other health issues, we will have to educate and empower ourselves.

As ABC News notes, experts says that Japan has a long history of nuclear cover-ups.

Update: 4:25pm PST - Kyodo has reported that the suppression pool may have been damaged which would increase the risks of radiation greatly. The containment vessel could have also been damaged! Operators of the plant have been told to evacuate. 50% of the length of the fuel rods exposed.

Update: 4:14pm PST – Explosion heard at Unit 2 of Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, nuclear safety agency says – AP – Live Press Conference – During the first part of the conference it was reported that this explosion could be the worse by far.

Update: 4:08pm PST – Reuters flash says explosion heard at reactor #2!

A quake-stricken nuclear plant in Japan has been hit by a third explosion in four days, amid fears of a meltdown.

The blast occurred at reactor 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which engineers had been trying to stabilise after two other reactors exploded.

One minister has said it is "highly likely" that the rods might melt. Radiation levels near the plant have risen

There was no immediate word on exact damage from the third blast, which tore through the unit 2 structure.

The latest blast occurred after cooling water dropped repeatedly in unit 2, with the nuclear fuel rods partially exposed - risking an overheat of up to a temperature of 2,200 degrees Celsius.

Damage to the hermetically-sealed reactor container dramatically increases the risk of serious radiation leaks.

Authorities at the Fukushima Daiichi complex, damaged in Friday's 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, are now trying to prevent catastrophic damage to three of the plant's reactors.

Japan has asked the US for help to stop the American-designed reactors plunging into uncontrollable meltdown.

NHK reports:

The sound of a blast was heard Tuesday morning at the troubled No. 2 reactor of the quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the government said.

The incident occurred at 6:10 a.m. and is feared to have damaged the reactor's pressure-suppression system, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said, citing a report from the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.

Unfortunately, radioactive fallout from the reactor leaks is going to hit the United States and Canada. Alaska, Hawaii and the west coast of the United States should prepare themselves for the invisible hazard that can rain down upon them within days or over the next weeks and months. in Meltdown Japan - Fallout Tracking - News - Health Solutions

Technicians are battling to stabilise a third reactor at a quake-stricken Japanese nuclear plant that has been rocked by a second blast in three days.

Nuclear regulators say the General Electric-designed reactors involved in the emergency are very similar to 23 reactors used in the U.S, reported MSNBC.

AFP

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - California is closely watching the crisis at a Japanese nuclear plant, but officials downplayed the threat that a radioactive cloud blown across the Pacific could pose for the US West Coast.

Japanese nuclear reactor update: Amid signs of progress, new problems
Scientists warn of risks from spent-fuel cooling pools and plutonium-rich, mixed-oxide fuel inside one nuclear reactor, even as the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors appear to be coming under control.

The General Electric-designed nuclear reactors involved in the Japanese emergency are very similar to 23 reactors in use in the United States, according to Nuclear Regulatory Commission records.

The NRC database of nuclear power plants shows that 23 of the 104 nuclear plants in the U.S. are GE boiling-water reactors with GE's Mark I systems for containing radioactivity, the same containment system used by the reactors in trouble at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. The U.S. reactors are in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

Japan’s nuclear crisis verged toward catastrophe on Tuesday after an explosion damaged the vessel containing the nuclear core at one reactor and a fire at another spewed large amounts of radioactive material into the air, according to the statements of Japanese government and industry officials. In a brief address to the nation at 11 a.m. Tokyo time, Prime Minister Naoto Kan pleaded for calm, but warned that radiation had already spread from the crippled reactors and there was “a very high risk” of further leakage.