Asahi Newspaper in Japan Confirms Core Meltdown May Have Occurred at Fukushima

Asahi Newspaper in Japan confirms core meltdown may have occurred at Fukushima reactors #2 & #3. 


The information shows that, at the time of the problem in March, when TEPCO was saying that there was no meltdown, as of information on May 16, it may have melted down. The Japanese is ambiguous. 


In keeping with responsible reporting on this accident, the facts, once verified must be reported. So, a meltdown may have occurred, but, according to data from TEPCO on the date of the incident and soon after the incident, there was no way to verify nor deny any meltdown. The final paragraph of the news story shows how this incident unfolded. 

Asahi Shinbun (3:01AM JST 5/17/2011):

東京電力福島第一原子力発電所の２、３号機でも炉心溶融が起こり、原子炉圧力容器の底に燃料が崩れ落ちるメルトダウンが起きていたとみられること が、１６日に東電が公表したデータで裏付けられた。３号機では溶けた核燃料がさらに下の格納容器内に落ちた恐れもある。専門家は事故直後から指摘してお り、細野豪志首相補佐官も１６日の会見で２、３号機でのメルトダウンの可能性を示唆した。

The data disclosed by TEPCO on May 16 shows that core meltdown may have occurred in the Reactors 2 and 3 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. In the Reactor 3, the melted fuel may have dropped to the Containment Vessel. Nuclear experts have pointed to the possibility [of meltdown in the Reactors 2 and 3] and Prime Minister's Assistant Goshi Hosono hinted at the possibility in the May 16 press conference.

　東電が４月１７日に示した工程表は、６～９カ月で原子炉を安定した状態で停止させるとした。１号機に続き２、３号機でもメルトダウンの可能性が出てきた ことにより、工程表の大幅な見直しは必至だ。炉心を冷やすシステムづくりに時間がかかり、高濃度の放射能汚染水の処理も膨大になるからだ。

According to TEPCO's "roadmap" on April 17, it was going to take between 6 to 9 months to shut down the reactors. The revision of the "roadmap" will be inevitable now that both Reactor 2 and Reactor 3 may have had a meltdown, as it will take more time to build a cooling system for the reactor core, and the massive amount of highly contaminated water will need to be processed.

　今回公表された地震直後のデータは原発内の中央制御室にあり、電源復旧に時間がかかったことや、記録紙に放射性物質が付着しているため整理に時間がか かっていた。公表されたのは、記録紙に打ち出されたグラフや当直長がつける運転日誌などで、大型ファイル４冊分にあたる。

The data disclosed on May 16 was the data right after the earthquake on March 11. It took TEPCO some time to retrieve the data from the central control room of the plant because of the long period of power outage and the radioactive materials on the recorded printout. The data in 4 large binders includes graphs on the printout and operation diaries kept for each shift.

　データによると、圧力容器内の圧力が、２号機は３月１５日午後６時４３分に、３号機は３月１６日午後１１時５０分に、それぞれ下がった。圧力容器の密閉性が損なわれ、圧力が抜けたとみられている。

According to the data, the pressure inside the Reactor 2 RPV (Reactor Pressure Vessel) dropped at 6:43PM on March 15 (JST), and the pressure inside Reactor 3 RPV dropped at 11:50PM on March 16. The integrity of the RPVs were compromised, it is thought, and the pressure went down.

　圧力容器の底には制御棒や計測機器を外から通すための数多くの貫通部がある。メルトダウンした核燃料が圧力容器の底にたまり、その熱の影響で機器が溶け るなどした結果とみられる。３号機内の汚染水からは、原子炉内の核燃料が損傷して出るテクネチウムなどの放射性物質も確認されていることから、溶けた燃料 がさらに圧力容器から格納容器内に落ちた可能性もある。

There are many channels that go through the bottom of the RPV [16 centimeters thick] to insert control rods and measurement devices. The melted fuel went down to the bottom of the RPV, and may have melted the devices at the bottom. The contaminated water from the Reactor 3 has been found to contain the radioactive materials like technetium that are produced when the nuclear fuel gets damaged, indicating that the melted fuel may have dropped from the RPV into the Containment Vessel.

　東電は会見で「プラント全体の事象を追いかけられておらず、評価できていない」と明確な判断を示さなかった。

In the press conference, TEPCO refrained from saying anything definite. "We haven't fully grasped the situation at the plant, and we haven't been able to evaluate it."

　一方、細野氏は会見で炉心に水が入らなかった時間について「１号機は１４時間９分、２号機は６時間２９分、３号機は６時間４３分と短くない」とし「炉心の完全な溶融（メルトダウン）の可能性をみておかないといけない」と話した。

PM Assistant Hosono said that there was no water being poured into the Reactor 1 for 14 hours and 9 minutes, Reactor 2 for 6 hours and 29 minutes, and Reactor 3 for 6 hours and 43 minutes. He said "We should be prepared for the possibility of the complete meltdown of the reactor core."

　また原子力安全委員会の班目（まだらめ）春樹委員長は１６日の定例会後の会見で「３月下旬に２号機で高濃度汚染水が発見された時点で、メルトダウンして いたという認識があり、助言した。１号機と３号機も、事故の経緯を考えると同じことが起こっているとの認識を持っていた」と語った。

Haruki Madarame, chief commissioner of the Nuclear Safety Agency spoke after the regular meeting of NSA on May 16. "When the highly contaminated water was found coming from the Reactor 2 in late March, we recognized that the reactor had had a meltdown, and advised [the government]. We also knew that the Reactor 1 and 3 had the same situation, looking at how the accident unfolded."

　東電によると、機器の記録から、運転中だった１～３号機は地震によっていずれも自動停止。配管の破断などの兆候はみられないとしている。非常用ディーゼ ル発電機も正常に起動していたという。東電はこれらの記録や地震計のデータをもとに、地震直後は機器が正常に作動し、津波到達までは大きな損傷はなかった とみている。（中村浩彦、佐々木英輔）

According to TEPCO, based on the records, the Reactors 1, 2 and 3 stopped automatically after the quake, and there was no sign of any physical damage to the reactor. Emergency diesel power generators were working. TEPCO concluded that all the equipments were working normally after the quake and there was no major damage to the plant until the tsunami hit.

Thanks to EX-SKF Blogspot!

Nuclear Crisis in Japan? When the Cure is Worse Than the Disease

I recently concluded an interview with a new publication that is under the support of Casey Research and that publication s called the International Man. It is a publication geared towards the expat or people thinking of expatration out of the USA or other western nations into the developing world in order to find their success and new opportunities.


You can subscribe to the International Man here.

BING CROSBY - BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?

We spoke of many things related to Japan and one of the most difficult questions dealt with the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear accident. I was asked how this chain of events would affect the Japanese and world economy.


Not to belittle a serious situation, I replied that, in and of itself, the disaster followed by the nuclear accident at Fukushima is, in the long run view of things in Japan, a blip on the screen. The nuclear problems in Fukushima are serious to be sure, but for the over-all view of Japan, that alone is not such a huge event. It is the ping-pong effect that this incident is going to have on Japan that is difficult to access the total damage that it will cause. Specifically, how much bungling will the incompetents running this country into the ground will cause with their ill-conceived and poorly considered "solutions".


Consider: There are only 750,000 people living in the Miyagi area where the earthquake and tsunami struck hardest. This disaster and the nuclear power plant accident has displaced about 400,000 (if anyone has exact figures, please send along!). Had this accident happened in Hamaoka or Tokai, south of Tokyo, it would have been an entirely different story. There are 35 million households in the Tokyo area alone.


At the end of World War II, Japan had over 2 million dead soldiers. Almost 1 million dead civilians and her cities were carpet bombed into ruin. Yet Japan recovered. This earthquake, tsunami and nuclear incident is in a small corner of Japan. Once again, not to belittle a very dire and serious situation, but it is the aftereffects of this situation - combined with Japan's debt versus GDP and a rapidly aging society - along with an exodus of cheap foreign labor that's what's really going to hurt this country.


The actual disaster is bad enough. But it is the after effects that are going to kill us. You've heard the expression that the "Cure is worse than the disease?" Well here is a case example happening in slow motion right in front of our faces.  It is the "ping-pong" effect. And the repercussions of this ping pong effect are spreading wider and wider and everyday brings a new facet to this problem as it continually evolves.  


That ping-pong effect could have very serious and long term effects and cause huge damage to the Japanese economy and, in turn, seriously hurt the world economy.

One of the worst things to come out of the Fukushima accident is, not only radiation leaking out into the ocean is - quite surprisingly -  the fact that radiation has been detected in unsafe levels in tea leaves in farms in Odawara - south of Tokyo. This is very bad for those farmers and a real head scratcher as to how this has come about. It also, on the other hand, dampens complaints that some people have about the government covering up and lying about the radiation levels. If the government were always lying and covering up as some claim, then this information would have never seen the light of day. I'll be the first to suggest that everyone should be skeptical of everything they hear and see on the mass media or from what the government says, but I also have always said that each person needs to research facts. This is why I list the radiation levels in Tokyo that are published daily by a non-governmental, science research group, the Advanced Science and Technology Unit. on this blog. See here. This group does not publish conjecture and just facts as to daily radiation levels. (The fact that a government group has also researched a published results of radiation levels in food in Fukushima, Miyagi and now Kanagawa proves that there are reliable reports coming out about radiation levels of concern to the public well-being.)


But, in the long run, and for the over-all view of the health of the nation, let's examine briefly the shockingly great deal (poor deal for the public) the Japanese government has given to TEPCO, the owners of the nuclear power plant, to bail out that company. First off, any thinking person should be dead set against a government bailout of any privately owned company. Why do privately owned companies get to enjoy profits (TEPCO charges the highest utility rates in the region and owns 44% of the market and is the #1 energy company in all of Asia) and pocket them but when they lose money, they get bailed out by the public? It is also a crime that TEPCO carried no casualty insurance. (Global Research has a great article on this here.) You or I lose our drivers license if we have no car insurance but a big company in bed with the government can run a nuclear power plant without insurance!?


The bailout package is $62 billion (USD).  Japan cannot afford this bailout. It is, also, not really a bailout as such. There will be no bonds issued. TEPCO has 30 years to repay so the actual plan is to have the Japanese government print our way out of this mess.


Throw on top of that the point that a privately owned company is giving up some control to the government and you really have to wonder what people are thinking about. Why in the world would anyone want such an inept and useless bunch of people like the Japanese government - a government who has nearly bankrupted this nation - to take over a privately owned corporation? I think this is beyond comprehension. 


Think about it folks, we are already at 225% debt to GDP. This debt is growing like a dangerous anuerism near the heart of the public. Giving this government more control and more leeway to spend and throw money at problems is not the solution. Adding another $62 billion dollars to Japan's debt mountain is not going to help us at all. The public has shown a willingness to save, but the government has not shown a willingness to stop the spend and the printing. This, plus a recession, deflation, aging population, exodus of cheap foreign labor, and some more problems that will surely pop up as we go - just as sure as the sun will rise in the east - shows that it is not the actual disaster that is going to kill us. 


The thing that is going to do us in is not the disease (all of our problems). It's the cure prescribed by the fools running Japan's government (easy credit, printing money and more debt) that will surely kill us all.


Judging from the way things are going and how the government's answer to problems is always the same, it shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone when the day soon comes that Japan's debt to GDP nears 250% ~ 300%. Could it be that far off? I don't think so.


The cure is certainly worse than the disease.

Radioactive Contamination Found Outside of 50 Kilometer Exclusion Zone. Is This a Threat to Tokyo?

The news has it that radioactive fallout from the Fukushima crippled reactors have contaminated an area outside of the government sanctioned 50 kilometer exclusion zone.

This is very bad news for those poor folks living in the contaminated area and north of there. I hope that this situation can be resolved as soon as possible and that those poor folks - all of them - affected by this tragic incident can soon return to normal lives as soon as possible. 

Even with this information, as has been stated over and over on this very blog, this new information still does not constitute a threat to Tokyo. Why? As I have written, since the beginning of this mess, in Life in Tokyo Goes On:


"First the good news. For those of us living in Tokyo or to the south or west of the nuclear accident, we are in pretty good shape. Why? Think about it; All weather systems and storms come up from China or the southern island of Kyushu direction. They then hit western Japan, Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto in the Kansai area, and then move on up into to Kanto region where Tokyo is. The storms always move this way. 

This means that the prevailing winds are always blowing from the south or the west. This is good news for us in Tokyo as the nuclear fallout will head north or out over the Pacific ocean.


The prevailing winds in Japan blow from south or west. They always have. Radioactive materials, since they are materials, and in many cases, "heavy," cannot blow upwind nor can they flow upstream.

Think about it, dust does not blow against the wind. Sludge does not flow upstream. It can't. It's not my wishes, it's simply the way nature works.... Physically impossible.

If this accident had happened at the power plants south of Tokyo, Hamaoka or Tokai, then we might have a major problem here in Tokyo... (I can say that, while very surprised that they agreed to it, I am happy that Hamaoka is being decommissioned!)

The Fukushima nuclear accident is most definitely a problem for those living near the disaster area - or north of it - but for those of us living 230 kilometers upwind from it, in Tokyo, it is merely an inconvenience (not to belittle a major problem).

The fact that the "new" area where the contamination has been found is downwind from the Fukushima nuclear power plants, but a quick glance at a relief map of Japan shows you a "valley" between mountains that is a perfect funnel for the wind (always has been) to blow through that area. That mountain range is called the Ou mountain range. 

It would have been very irresponsible for anyone (me) to point that out to people before the fact, I think. It would have been "よけな話" since I am neither a meteorologist, geologist, nor trained in any area of nuclear science. If I had pointed that out, it would have been fear mongering or sensationalism.

Here is a standard relief map of Japan. Notice the Ou mountain range with the highest peak being Mt. Zao (dark black circle) - red arrows point to the apex of the Ou mountain range. There are blue arrows that show the direction of prevailing winds. People who really stopped to think about it who lived in that area must have suspected the worst was to come. Poor folks.

I suspect that, now some people will put two and two together and seriously consider leaving with their children. I would think long and hard about it if I lived in the "line of fire" of the blue arrows. I think it would be prudent to do so.

Here is a map of the "newly" affected area:

Here is a map just released of the affected area outside of the exclusion zone. I have added a red arrow showing the direction of contamination outside the stated exclusion zone. It is downwind heading straight for Mt. Zao and the Ou mountain range. Of course, the contamination will turn, with the wind, when it comes against the Ou mountain range. Like I said, considering weather conditions (direction of prevailing winds) this should come as no surprise to anyone.

While this news about the contamination being blown outside of the exclusion zone is bad news for sure, it shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone. It certainly doesn't show any extra danger to Tokyo which is 230 kilometers to the south.

As the old saying goes, "You don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." 


To see the current level of radiation in Tokyo (and to see that it is 100's of times within the safe levels and to compare to before the nuclear incident), click here: If that link doesn't work, copy and paste this: 
http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/emergency/monitoring.tokyo-eiken.go.jp/monitoring/past_data.html