Japanese Nuclear Meltdown Effect – Not in My Back Yard (NIMBY)

The Japanese Nuclear Plant Explosions would have sent shivers down the throats of everyone living near Nuclear Plants.Note Japanese Nuclear Plants are thought to be one of the safest just like the French Nuclear Power Stations.However the Earthquake and the subsequent Tsunamis have thrown the Nuclear Plant’s safety features out of gear.The reactors have already shown minor explosions and some  radiation leak.While  the Nuclear Energy Reactors have not totally melted down and led to a full blown  radiation hazard like Chernobyl or even Three Mile Island,the danger remains.The Japanese are desperately trying to put a lid by cooling the reactors using sea water which implies that the situation is as bad as it gets since the reactors will be permanently damaged by the sea water.

Note the cooling systems of the Nuclear Plant has failed in 3 of the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.Japan relies heavily on Nuclear Energy meeting 30% of its Electricity Needs with 54 reactors under operation.Like France,Japan has a great Nuclear Plant safety record.This Nuclear Disaster is going to throw most of the Nuclear Plants being proposed in serious jeopardy.Nobody would want a Nuclear Reactor near his home.Expect Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) to grow to a giant scale in the Developed Countries.Even developing countries in Asia like India,Vietnam which are thinking of building a series of Nuclear Plants will face serious opposition.I for one would seriously think of relocating to a more safer place if I was living anywhere near 100 kms of a Nuclear Plant.

Another blast at nuclear plant in tsunami-devastated Japan

Japan’s nuclear safety agency said six workers were injured in today’s explosion but it was not immediately clear how, or whether they were exposed to radiation. They were all conscious, said the agency’s Ryohei Shomi.

Earlier, Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the reactor, said three workers were injured and seven missing.

The reactor’s inner containment vessel holding nuclear rods was intact, Edano said, allaying some fears of the risk to the environment and public.

TV footage of the building housing the reactor appeared to show similar damage to Saturday’s blast, with outer walls shorn off, leaving only a skeletal frame.

More than 180,000 people have evacuated the area in recent days, and up to 160 may have been exposed to radiation.

Earlier today, pressure had jumped inside Unit 3, forcing the evacuation of 21 workers. But they returned to work after levels appeared to ease.

Timeline: Japan’s unfolding nuclear crisis

FRIDAY, MARCH 11

(All local times, when reported by Reuters)

19:46 – The government reveals a cooling problem at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on the northeast coast which bore the brunt of the quake and tsunami. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says the government has declared an emergency as a precaution but he says there is no radioactive leak.

21:34 – TEPCO confirms water levels falling inside reactors at the plant, and says it is trying to avert the exposure of nuclear fuel rods by restoring power to its emergency power system so that it can pump water inside the reactors.

21:49 – Jiji news agency says evacuation area around the plant is extended to 3 km from 2 km and quotes authorities as saying no radioactive leak has been confirmed.

21:55 – The government says radiation has leaked from one of the plant’s reactors.

22:45 – Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Japan advised that a heightened state of alert has been declared but no release of radiation had been detected.

It says Japanese authorities also reported a fire at the Onagawa nuclear power plant, which has since been extinguished.

“They say Onagawa, Fukushima-Daini and Tokai nuclear power plants were also shut down automatically, and no radiation release has been detected,” the statement says.

SATURDAY

00:38 – The World Nuclear Association, the main nuclear industry body, says it understands the situation is under control, and water is being pumped into the reactor’s cooling system. An analyst at the association says he understood a back-up battery power system had been brought online after about an hour, and begun pumping water back into the cooling system.

00:40 – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States has transported coolant to the stricken nuclear plant. “We just had our Air Force assets in Japan transport some really important coolant to one of the nuclear plants,” Clinton says at a meeting of the President’s Export Council.

01:27 – Jiji says Fukushima prefecture expects cooling function at the plant to be restored by 1630 GMT (0130 local)

01:46 – Jiji quotes TEPCO as saying pressure inside the No. 1 reactor at the plant has been rising, with the risk of a radiation leak. It plans to take measures to release the pressure, the report says.

02:00 – Kyodo news agency quotes TEPCO as saying pressure inside the No. 1 reactor rose to 1.5 times designed capacity.

03:04 – Japan’s nuclear safety watchdog confirms TEPCO is considering steps to lower the pressure in a container in the No. 1 reactor. A spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says it is unknown whether radiation levels are high in the container, which is inside a turbine building.

03:13 – Kyodo news agency quotes Japan’s trade minister as saying a radiation leak could take place at the plant.

03:14 – Cabinet Secretary Edano says TEPCO realizes the need to release pressure inside the plant, that this could cause a small radiation leak.

06:37 – U.S. officials say the U.S. military did not provide any coolant for the Japanese nuclear plant, despite Clinton’s earlier remarks. They say U.S. Air Force “assets” in Japan delivered coolant to a nuclear plant. One U.S. official says Japan had asked the United States for the coolant but ultimately handled the matter on its own.

07:19 – TEPCO says it has lost its ability to control pressure in some reactors of a second nuclear power plant at its Fukushima facility. Pressure is stable inside the reactors but rising in the containment vessels, a spokesman says, although he did not know if there would be a need to release pressure at the plant at this point, which would involve a release of radiation.

09:34 – Kyodo news agency says Japan has begun evacuating about 20,000 people from vicinity of the nuclear plants.

10:07 – TEPCO has begun releasing pressure from No. 1 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the Trade Ministry says. TEPCO says it will prepare for the release of pressure from the second nuclear plant, the Fukushima Daini plant, as pressure mounts. TEPCO and the authorities battle to contain rising pressure at the plants. They say thousands of residents in the area have been evacuated.

17:47 – Cabinet Secretary Edano confirms an explosion and radiation leak at Fukushima Daiichi. “We are looking into the cause and the situation and we’ll make that public when we have further information,” Edano says. “At present, we think 10 km evacuation is appropriate.”

20:43 – TEPCO plans to fill the leaking reactor with sea water to cool it and reduce pressure in the unit, Edano says.

“The nuclear reactor is surrounded by a steel reactor container, which is then surrounded by a concrete building,” Edano says. “The concrete building collapsed. We found out that the reactor container inside didn’t explode.”

“We’ve confirmed that the reactor container was not damaged. The explosion didn’t occur inside the reactor container. As such there was no large amount of radiation leakage outside,” he adds.

“At this point, there has been no major change to the level of radiation leakage outside (from before and after the explosion), so we’d like everyone to respond calmly.”

“We’ve decided to fill the reactor container with sea water. Trade Minister Kaieda has instructed us to do so. By doing this, we will use boric acid to prevent criticality.”

Edano says it will take about five to 10 hours to fill the reactor core with sea water and around 10 days to complete the process. He says due to the falling cooling-water level, hydrogen was generated and leaked into a space between the building and the container. It mixed with oxygen and exploded.

22:21 – The IAEA quoted Japanese authorities as saying they are preparing to distribute iodine to people living near the stricken nuclear power complex. Iodine can be used to help protect the body from radioactive poisoning.