. Earth Science News .




.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Japan's nuclear disaster - six months on
by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) Sept 11, 2011

Six months after Japan's massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami sparked the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, emergency crews are struggling to stop radiation seeping out.

Embattled operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) says it hopes to bring all crippled reactors to stable "cold shutdown" by January, although decommissioning the 1970s-era plant will take decades.

-- The plant comprises six boiling water reactors. At the time of the quake, reactors five and six were in cold shutdown awaiting maintenance. Reactor four was undergoing maintenance and there are no rods in the core.

-- The disaster hit on March 11 when a magnitude-9.0 seabed quake rocked the plant and sent a 14-metre (46-foot) ocean wave crashing into it, knocking out its power supply, reactor cooling systems and backup diesel generators.

-- Reactors one and three suffered meltdowns and hydrogen explosions that damaged buildings housing them and that of nearby reactor two, which also suffered a meltdown as its fuel melted through its pressure vessel.

Fires and explosions also damaged the building housing reactor four.

-- Operations to hose down reactors initially used corrosive seawater, creating more than 100,000 tonnes of radioactive runoff. Spills and emergency releases dumped contaminated water in the Pacific, angering Japan's neighbours.

-- Power supplies have been reestablished. A decontamination facility using French and US technology has been operating since mid-June to cleanse the radioactive run-off water, which is then pumped back into reactors one, two and three as coolant in a closed circuit.

-- Units one and three are showing temperatures below 100 degrees Celsius, crucial to stabilising the site. Nitrogen has been injected into the units to prevent further explosions.

-- High radiation levels in some parts of the facility beyond the capabilities of measuring instruments continue to hamper work.

-- TEPCO has sprayed an industrial resin over much of the site, using mostly remote controlled equipment, in an effort to trap radioactive particles.

-- Tens of thousands of people remain evacuated from homes, farms and businesses in a 20 kilometre (12 mile) radius around the plant and in pockets beyond. TEPCO and the government face a massive compensation bill.

-- Many activists and scientists have said the evacuation zone is not wide enough and does not account for unpredictable spread of fallout. The government has warned some areas near the plant may be uninhabitable for years.

-- The government has imposed a ban on a range of vegetables and dairy produce from parts of Fukushima prefecture and several neighbouring regions and banned fishing in the vicinity of the plant.

-- Cases of contaminated water, beef, vegetables, tea and seafood have been detected, including green tea from Shizuoka, 360 kilometres from the plant.

-- Japan has said that 770,000 terabecquerels of radiation were released in the first six days of the disaster, more than twice the initial estimate.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
A world of storm and tempest
When the Earth Quakes




 

.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries






. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



DISASTER MANAGEMENT
UN agency tackles post-Fukushima safety, Iran
Vienna (AFP) Sept 10, 2011
A global safety "action plan" in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster and growing suspicions that Iran is developing nuclear weapons will dominate a meeting of the UN atomic watchdog next week. Also in focus for the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) board of governors in Vienna from Monday to Friday will be Syria, North Korea and tentative first steps towards a Middle East free o ... read more


DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Silence as Japan marks six months after tsunami

Italy says vulnerable to neighbours' nuclear mishaps

Japan's nuclear disaster - six months on

Military rescue helicopter missing in Indonesia

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Samsung files patent complaint against Apple in France

Two radiation generators mark major milestones in helping protect the US

Apple wins key German patent case against Samsung

Honeywell Wins Ground Systems and Mission Operations At Goddard

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Critters on Ocean Floor Communicating in Synchronized Rumbles

Romania vows to fight illegal fishing in the Danube delta

Russia's Putin voted 'Baikal's worst enemy'

U.S., Europe sign world fishing pact

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Arctic ice cover hits historic low: scientists

Global warming brings crab threat to Antarctica

Iceland receives Chinese request for land purchase: ministry

China tycoon makes Iceland environment pledge

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Homeowners, taxpayers pay billions to fight invasive pests

A scientific 'go' for commercial production of vitamin-D enhanced mushrooms

China plant resources need additional protections

EU to maintain safety checks on food from Japan

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Tropical Storm Maria Makes It A West Side Story

UN steps in as Pakistan floods kill 200

One dead as Hurricane Katia remnants hit Britain

NASA Sees 4 Tropical Cyclones in the Atlantic

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Sudan parliament okays Blue Nile military action

Somali soldier kills five during food aid handout

Munitions blast kills two children in Darfur: UN

One killed in Senegal rebel attack

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Scientists probe connection between sight and touch in the brain

Australopithecus sediba paved the way for Homo species

Human brain evolution, new insight through X-rays

Ancient human DNA still with us


Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily Express :: SpaceWar Express :: TerraDaily Express :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News
.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2011 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement