Japan Earthquake: Nuclear Plants at Fukushima Daiichi

[AtomicWombat]

I see the rails for the overhead crane as highlighted in red, and the large wench on the overhead crane as highlighted in yellow.

large wench ?

I suppose that's one way to get employees to work in high radiation zones!

 

[TCups]

large wench ?

I suppose that's one way to get employees to work in high radiation zones!

Sorry - I looked for an appropriate picture to illustrate, but I couldn't find one

 

[aruna]

Trench dimensions:
3x4x76 meters.
Source: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/28_h37.html

The trench is only 4 m high. In its 16 m inspection shaft, the water is 14.9 m high :?
http://goo.gl/KXFTe

Doesn't that mean that the 4 m trench is already full :?

 

[razzz]

The trench is only 4 m high. In its 16 m inspection shaft, the water is 14.9 m high :?
http://goo.gl/KXFTe

Doesn't that mean that the 4 m trench is already full :?

At this rate of discharge (in the pics) it will take a while to get full.

[URL]http://www.asahi.com/photonews/gallery/fukushimagenpatsu2/images/0402_plant2.jpg[/URL]
[URL]http://www.asahi.com/photonews/gallery/fukushimagenpatsu2/images/0402_plant1.jpg[/URL]

They could stop dumping water on the reactor #2 core to cool it, because that is where the water originates from, but then the core would heat up and make more trouble, so we just live with a little pollution/contamination for awhile.

 

[Jorge Stolfi]

Updated plots of reactor data #1--#3 from NISA / METI, up to release 74 (apr/05 08:00).

http://www.ic.unicamp.br/~stolfi/EXPORT/projects/fukushima/plots/cur/Main.html

No big news, trends basically the same as yesterday.
I still do not know what those numbers mean.
All the best.

 

[AtomicWombat]

From:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/05_25.html"

"Tokyo Electric Power Company says it detected 300,000 bequerels of iodine-131 per 1 cubic centimeter, or 7.5 million times higher than the legal limit in samples taken around the water intake of the No. 2 reactor at 11:50 AM on Saturday.

It also found 200,000 bequerels or 5 million times higher than the limit in samples taken at 9AM on Monday.

Monday's sample also shows 1.1 million times higher than the national limit of cesium-137 whose half-life is 30 years."

They keep "moving the goal posts". It used to be the iodine-131 concentration was 5000 times higher than would normally be found in the reactor. And the level of cesium-137 is not even given - just referenced to the national limit.

I assume I-131 at 300 Mbq/m^3 is a lot.

 

[|Fred]

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn270/tcups/Screenshot2011-04-04annotated.png
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn270/tcups/Screenshot2011-04-04at50940PM.png

I don't think its a transfer chute but rather a pool. As far the rest of the picture is concern I've been trying to read the picture for a few hours and.. I'm not sure of what I'm seeing.


the video is conveniently cut from 13:22 to 15:xx

 

[Jorge Stolfi]

OK, it seems that the questions "How are the RPV temperatures measured?" and "Are those things broken fuel rods?" are not going to get answered that soon.

How about this one, "Why is the word 'pressure' automatically linked in this forum, while 'temperature' is not?"?

 

[Giordano]

From:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/05_25.html"

"Tokyo Electric Power Company says it detected 300,000 bequerels of iodine-131 per 1 cubic centimeter, or 7.5 million times higher than the legal limit in samples taken around the water intake of the No. 2 reactor at 11:50 AM on Saturday.

It also found 200,000 bequerels or 5 million times higher than the limit in samples taken at 9AM on Monday.

Monday's sample also shows 1.1 million times higher than the national limit of cesium-137 whose half-life is 30 years."

They keep "moving the goal posts". It used to be the iodine-131 concentration was 5000 times higher than would normally be found in the reactor. And the level of cesium-137 is not even given - just referenced to the national limit.

I assume I-131 at 300 Mbq/m^3 is a lot.

And 300 Gbq/m^3 is even more...

 

[TCups]

I don't think its a transfer chute but rather a pool. As far the rest of the picture is concern I've been trying to read the picture for a few hours and.. I'm not sure of what I'm seeing.


the video is conveniently cut from 13:22 to 15:xx

@Fred

Do you agree with the position of the crane? Do you think that thin line near the lateral margin of the crane is a short section of an arc? Do you think that jet of steam is under pressure? If those fit, then what other part of a pool comes that near the primary containment's plug other than the transfer chute?

There appears to be a label peeling off the side of the crane. Is that a clue that means anything to you?

PS: Fred - thanks for your feedback. I value your opinions.

 

[FishmanGeertz]

I hope that nuclear power plants all around the world are given safety upgrades to make sure than the Fukashima incident can not happen again.

Are nuclear power plants in earthquake-prone areas such as in California, vulnerable to having their cooling systems knocked out by earthquakes and tsunamis?

 

[razzz]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticality_accident"

Accident types

Criticality accidents are divided into one of two categories:

* Process accidents, where controls placed to prevent any criticality are breached,

and

* Reactor accidents, where deliberately achieved criticality in a nuclear reactor becomes uncontrollable. Excursion types can be classified into four categories depicting the nature of the evolution over time:

and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster#Experiment_and_explosion"

...It was not possible to reconstruct the precise sequence of the processes that led to the destruction of the reactor and the power unit building, but a steam explosion, like the explosion of a steam boiler from excess vapor pressure, appears to have been the next event. There is a general understanding that it was steam from the wrecked channels entering the reactor's inner structure that caused the destruction of the reactor casing, tearing off and lifting the 2,000-ton upper plate, to which the entire reactor assembly is fastened. Apparently, this was the first explosion that many[who?] heard.[23]:366 This explosion ruptured further fuel channels, and as a result the remaining coolant flashed to steam and escaped the reactor core. The total water loss in combination with a high positive void coefficient further increased the reactor power.

A second, more powerful explosion occurred about two or three seconds after the first; evidence indicates that the second explosion resulted from a nuclear excursion.[24] The nuclear excursion dispersed the core and effectively terminated this phase[clarification needed] of the event...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_N-wNFSGyQ"

Listen to the link. Maybe: The first explosion (hydrogen ignites?) voids the atmosphere and causes water to flash to steam across the reactor and then sounds like it happens again, each with it's own explosion and the final sound you hear in the heavy crossbeam hitting the desk with a resounding metallic thud and deep ringing. [edit: disregard hearing the beam land, it's localized background noise the mike picked up, I think)

No go zone, massive release of contamination at this time, then the company later states they will probably never be able to approach Unit 3.

 

[shogun338]

I don't think its a transfer chute but rather a pool. As far the rest of the picture is concern I've been trying to read the picture for a few hours and.. I'm not sure of what I'm seeing.the video is conveniently cut from 13:22 to 15:xx

Your right . Its the smaller pool on the right side of reactor if your looking at it from turbine building . Move left reactor that is leaking steam around it then main spent fuel pool on far left . I have a over flight video on my computer and have lined up the remaining beams and found the place in the photo . Unit 4 has a smaller spent fuel pool on right side so my guess is the layout is the same for Unit 3 .

 

[shogun338]

A – Unit 3 turbine building containing the main turbine, main generator, condenser, condensate pumps, and condensate booster pumps. Roof damage possibly caused by debris from the Unit 3 reactor building (B) explosion
B - Unit 3 reactor building with extensive damage caused by hydrogen explosion
C – Unit 2 offgas line that transports air pulled from the condenser inside the Unit 2 turbine building during normal operation to the offgas building for treatment to reduce radioactivity levels before discharge to the atmosphere
D – Unit 3 offgas line that transports air pulled from the condenser inside the Unit 2 turbine building during normal operation to the offgas building for treatment to reduce radioactivity levels before discharge to the atmosphere
E – Unit 3 reactor building (B) exhaust line to the stack showing extensive damage
F – Unit 3 truck bay used to deliver canisters of new fuel assemblies into the reactor building (B) and its refueling floor
G – Unit 3 access hatch connecting the truck bay elevation with the refueling floor elevation inside the Unit 3 reactor building (B)

 

[Maxion]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticality_accident"



and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster#Experiment_and_explosion"



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_N-wNFSGyQ"

Listen to the link. Maybe: The first explosion (hydrogen ignites?) voids the atmosphere and causes water to flash to steam across the reactor and then sounds like it happens again, each with it's own explosion and the final sound you hear in the heavy crossbeam hitting the desk with a resounding metallic thud and deep ringing. [edit: disregard hearing the beam land, it's localized background noise the mike picked up, I think)

No go zone, massive release of contamination at this time, then the company later states they will probably never be able to approach Unit 3.

As stated many times previously in this thread the chernobyl reactor design has nothing in common with the one at fukushima. You cannot draw parallels between the two.

 

[razzz]

As stated many times previously in this thread the chernobyl reactor design has nothing in common with the one at fukushima. You cannot draw parallels between the two.

It's not the designs, it's the reactions. Why 3 explosions in that link for unit 3?

 

[Godzilla1985]

Echoes

 

[AtomicWombat]

"I assume I-131 at 300 Mbq/m^3 is a lot."

And 300 Gbq/m^3 is even more...

What's a few orders of magnitude between friends...

 

[shogun338]

It's not the designs, it's the reactions. Why 3 explosions in that link for unit 3?

The sound in that video has been added in by someone . I have the video of Unit 3 exploding and there is no sound like that . Where did they get the sound that was added to the video ?

 

[Cire]

Do you mean temperature is higher than is being reported? Do you have some supporting reference, link etc.?

Thermocouples have a known failure mode when overheated. First the precision opens up and then an offset develops. It's call decalibration and the sensor will return what appears to be a correct value, when it isn't.

This is why the IAEA keeps saying "The validity of the RPV temperature measurement at the feed water nozzle is still under investigation."

The fact that the water feed nozzle is showing a higher temperature (253 °C in unit 1) is a good indication of a failure. The feed water nozzle has the highest flow of the coldest water in the reactor at this time. At these injection rates the reported temperature is not correct.

 

[Cire]

Japan has asked Russia to send a floating radiation treatment plant, used to decommission nuclear submarines, which will solidify contaminated liquid waste from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Russian media reported.

Interesting.

http://www.tecsec.org/pdf/projectpostru01_e.pdf

 

[shogun338]

The sound in that video has been added in by someone . I have the video of Unit 3 exploding and there is no sound like that . Where did they get the sound that was added to the video ?

The camera is miles away and sound does not travel that fast .

 

[Jorge Stolfi]

Here is a labeled version of my "hallucination". The http://www.spiegel.de/images/image-198534-galleryV9-orwt.jpg" , was posted by AntonL.

1 - fuel rods from one assembly?
2 - wider water tube from center of assembly?
3 - bottom of assembly?
4 - racks from spent-fuel pool?
5 - sleeve of assembly?
6 - sleeve of assembly, burst open, oxidized on outer side?
7 - water in/out pipes from spen-fuel pool?

Item 7 seems to match a model of the SPF shown on NHK. Items 6 of course are more likely to be metal roof panels (but where from?)

OK, time to go to bed...

 

[|Fred]

I'll get back to you later Tcup I need to think more, meanwhile
here is an other diagram of a BWR that looks a lot like fukushima exept that the storage pool and the utility pool are inversed

from the same site, filled with information
http://www.nucleartourist.com/frame/index.html
I've learned that piping and lots of thing in a NPR are color coded... so all the pink stuff we are seeing are coded for something..

 

[|Fred]

thank to the above site I leaned that the BWR 4 by GE was used in the Vermont Yankee (BWR-4) Plant

and looking into this plant I was able to get this picture witch I believe is an accurate representation of what reactor 3 at fukushima looks like (with the exeption of the color coding)
[URL]http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/05/03/1241407279_5282/539w.jpg[/URL]

I know need to think and try to figure what we could be seeing .. on the previous screen grab

 

[shogun338]

Here is a labeled version of my "hallucination". The http://www.spiegel.de/images/image-198534-galleryV9-orwt.jpg" , was posted by AntonL.

1 - fuel rods from one assembly?
2 - wider water tube from center of assembly?
3 - bottom of assembly?
4 - racks from spent-fuel pool?
5 - sleeve of assembly?
6 - sleeve of assembly, burst open, oxidized on outer side?
7 - water in/out pipes from spen-fuel pool?

Item 7 seems to match a model of the SPF shown on NHK. Items 6 of course are more likely to be metal roof panels (but where from?)

OK, time to go to bed...

Short line on #4 is pointing to top edge of spent fuel pool . On the pump cam video you can see this is where they are pouring water into . See pic I posted of spent fuel pool . #2650

 

[razzz]

The sound in that video has been added in by someone . I have the video of Unit 3 exploding and there is no sound like that . Where did they get the sound that was added to the video ?

If I remember right, footage was taken from the next nearest nuclear plant in line of sight. The distance accounts for the delayed sound waves other than that local background noise. What type of sound were you expecting to hear?

 

[AtomicWombat]

Here is a labeled version of my "hallucination". The http://www.spiegel.de/images/image-198534-galleryV9-orwt.jpg" , was posted by AntonL.
1 - fuel rods from one assembly?
2 - wider water tube from center of assembly?
3 - bottom of assembly?
4 - racks from spent-fuel pool?
5 - sleeve of assembly?
6 - sleeve of assembly, burst open, oxidized on outer side?
7 - water in/out pipes from spen-fuel pool?

And don't forget the corium melt in the middle of the mess.

I must admit that 1 & 3 look highly suggestive, especially given the location. But until there is more evidence it's all a big maybe. I keep seeing fuel rods all over the place.

As to whether they should have melted or should show up on IR. Once the spent fuel rods have a good air supply they will probably cool by convection and not melt. The IR images are from above not from the side, so this site would be at least partially obscured by what's left of the ceiling. Finally, they would be below the resolution of the IR image, so the IR will just average them with their surroundings.

But, we need more evidence and we will probably never know. Shame.

 

[shogun338]

If I remember right, footage was taken from the next nearest nuclear plant in line of sight. The distance accounts for the delayed sound waves other than that local background noise. What type of sound were you expecting to hear?

The sound comes to soon . Even if the camera was only one mile away it would take the sound of the explosion around 5 seconds or more to reach camera . Camera is more than a few miles away .

 

[Borek]

How about this one, "Why is the word 'pressure' automatically linked in this forum, while 'temperature' is not?"?

This one I can help you with

Physics Forums library has entry for "pressure" but has not entry for "temperature".

Note that you can switch off automatic library linking in your profile.

 

[AtomicWombat]

If I remember right, footage was taken from the next nearest nuclear plant in line of sight. The distance accounts for the delayed sound waves other than that local background noise. What type of sound were you expecting to hear?

The sound "arrives" 2 seconds after the blast. At sea level the speed of sound is 343.2 m/s, so if this is a "faithful" recording, the camera is only about 700 m away, less than half a mile.

Fukushima Daini is about 10 km away and (from memory) I think the camera was around 20 km away at the time.

 

[TCups]

PROPOSED MECHANISM FOR DRYWELL BLAST, UNIT 3, CAUSING BLOWOUT AT TRANSFER CHUTE AND LEAK AT EQUIPMENT POOL

thank to the above site I leaned that the BWR 4 by GE was used in the Vermont Yankee (BWR-4) Plant

and looking into this plant I was able to get this picture witch I believe is an accurate representation of what reactor 3 at fukushima looks like (with the exeption of the color coding)
[URL]http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/05/03/1241407279_5282/539w.jpg[/URL]

I know need to think and try to figure what we could be seeing .. on the previous screen grab

@Fred:

You were right about the orientation. My bad, the video did skip around a bit. I think the previous frame grab is looking in through the side of the small pool -- green arrow -- and that there is either a gate on that side, which I cannot confirm, or worse, a crack in the upper portion of the primary containment. But my earlier error also clears up a discrepancy that was nagging me, now corrected. The screen shot does confirm damage from a blast coming from inside the drywell containment, but shows (relatively) less damage on the equipment pool side than might be expected if the entire gate from the transfer chute on the SFP side blew out. In principle, it would take a tremendous blast to vaporize the contents of the SFP, and a crack as small as seen venting steam on the equipment pool side would not likely explain that.

. . . also

@AtomicWombat
If you look carefully at the diagram, you will see the large wench atop the crane I referred to earlier.

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn270/tcups/Picture56-1.png

Fred, again:

http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/05/03/1241407279_5282/539w.jpg

Does your photo show that an entire section of one side of the drywall containment (perhaps big enough to transfer the pressure vessel head under water to the equipment pool?) has been removed, or am I being fooled by a reflection in the pool? Is that the pressure vessel cap seen in the equipment pool opposite the opening to the reactor vessel? Perhaps the whole side of the equipment pool can be removed, for all I know.

Yes!

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn270/tcups/Picture2-4.png

See annotation. The fuel rod is about to go through the transfer chute (red arrow) the back wall of the primary containment at the drywell head is open and the RPV cap is sitting in the equipment pool (green arrow).

The earlier screen grab is steam venting through one of the cracks near the southwest corner of the equipment pool. The equipment pool "gate" probably survived the blast better because the equipment pool was still full of water with its hydrostatic pressure backing the gate, whereas, at the fuel rod transfer chute, the water opposite the transfer gate had boiled off. The blast was much greater and more concentrated on the south side. And as before, much of the damage on the north side of Bldg 3 was probably the falling FHM.

The "fish eye" photo of the reactor pool would be taken from the deck of the FHM with the photographer's back to the SFP.

 

[AtomicWombat]

@AtomicWombat
If you look carefully at the diagram, you will see the large wench atop the crane I referred to earlier.
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn270/tcups/Picture56-1.png

You've maid my day...

 

[rmattila]

1 - fuel rods from one assembly?
4 - racks from spent-fuel pool?

Difficult to say for certain, since the resolution of the picture is not too good. However, to my eye #1 and #4 look very much like the rack that is used to store and replace in-core neutron flux detectors. These detectors are long (> 10 m) and thin, and need such a rack to enable storage and replacement. This rack would probably be stored in the horizontal position somewhere in the reactor hall, and since unit 4 was undergoing maintenance, it has probably been used recently.

 

[razzz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M22Gt4sswEA"

At about 5:00min. into this video, I believe a great big void is shown in Unit 3, what is it? There are other angles of Units 3 & 4 during the flyover.

At 4:46min in, you talk about rods laying around but #4 rebar is kinda like a pencil's diameter and hanging out of broken concrete all over the place along with other size rebar. Rebar doesn't shine, stainless steel conduit would. like someone else mentioned was used in this construction to shield wiring runs.

 

[artax]

quite disturbing... does he know something we don't?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W7uGvW8xvY&feature=player_embedded#at=54

 

[|Fred]

I believe we have some evidence concurring Tcups analysis .
still there is an issue assuming the part that we see in the video is in deed the temp wall and the slap is joining at the top. The lower part of this temps wall seems missing but it can't be missing otherwise steam would be visible ? If we assumed it is caved like a stair, how do we explained it is caved in rather than out?
when the explosion occurred the blast toke place above the slab exerting a pressure from the equipment pool toward the primary Containment , the top of the wall hit the slab edge and did not move.. but the lower caved in ?

http://i.min.us/imVuLK.jpg

 

[jensjakob]

Fred, TCups

Great analysis - spot on I think.

 

[razzz]

Vacuum? First it sucks in then explodes outwards. Some the structure didn't recover from the first effect. Then some things launched like from a cannon.

 

[PietKuip]

quite disturbing... does he know something we don't?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W7uGvW8xvY&feature=player_embedded#at=54

"Low-level radioactive waste" sounds like a euphemism. They should provide a number for the total activities of what is coming out into the environment. Maybe in units of Chernobyls.

 

[TCups]

PROPOSED MECHANISM OF MULTIPLE BLASTS, BLDG 3: PRIMARY BLAST CAME FROM DRYWELL WITH SECONDARY EXPLOSIONS IN THE UPPER BUILDING AND LOWER BUILDING.

I believe we have some evidence concurring Tcups analysis .
still there is an issue assuming the part that we see in the video is in deed the temp wall and the slap is joining at the top. The lower part of this temps wall seems missing but it can't be missing otherwise steam would be visible ? If we assumed it is caved like a strait, how do we explained it is caved in rather than out?
when the explosion occurred the blast toke place above the slab exerting a pressure from the equipment pool toward the primary Containment , the top of the wall hit the slab edge and did not move.. but the lower caved in ?

http://i.min.us/imVuLK.jpg

No. I maintain, as I have always maintained, that the primary blast came out of the drywell containment, just like the steam venting now. There was very probably hydrogen in the upper building as well. The blast from the drywell, through the transfer chute was the initial fireball seen rising from the southeast corner of Bldg 3. That blast 1) vaporized the remaining water in SFP3 to steam, launching the FHM, and 2) ignited a secondary explosion in the upper building.

The blast from the drywell came from emergency venting of hydrogen from the RPV within the drywell, or quake damage to the pipes entering/exiting the RPV or some combination thereof. Hydrogen, under pressure, with steam, under pressure, displaced the nitrogen, vented to the torus pool and rose into the lower building as well venting through the drywell cap into the upper building. When the RPV got hot enough, it set the whole thing off -- BANG! - BANG! - BANG! -- RPV, upper building blowout, lower building blow out.

 

[razzz]

quite disturbing... does he know something we don't?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W7uGvW8xvY&feature=player_embedded#at=54

In my travels around YouTube I found a flyover after the sea surge. Units 5&6 not shown up close but if they got saltwater in their equipment it wouldn't take long to ruined a bearing, shaft, wiring connections or a lot of other stuff. Can't find a report on how high the sea reached at the complex. Shouldn't forget about sand either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUGAbMVG-qc"

 

[TCups]

ARE EXPOSED FUEL RODS SEEN ON TOP OF THE DAMAGED NORTH END OF BLDG 3? -- VERY UNLIKELY WITHOUT CONFIRMATORY THERMAL IMAGES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M22Gt4sswEA"

At about 5:00min. into this video, I believe a great big void is shown in Unit 3, what is it? There are other angles of Units 3 & 4 during the flyover.

At 4:46min in, you talk about rods laying around but #4 rebar is kinda like a pencil's diameter and hanging out of broken concrete all over the place along with other size rebar. Rebar doesn't shine, stainless steel conduit would. like someone else mentioned was used in this construction to shield wiring runs.

Regarding the infamous rod-like objects on the upper level of Bldg 3. While I can propose a theoretical mechanism for fuel rods getting there (albeit a bizarre mechanism - being yanked out of the SFP by a ballistic FHM), in the absence of IR thermal images showing a heat signature from the area of the rods, they almost certainly are not spent fuel rods open to the air. What they are, I am not sure.

 

[TCups]

Fred, TCups

Great analysis - spot on I think.

Thanks, Jens.

@Fred: If this proposal turns out to be correct, and I think after several missteps, it is pretty close, then you, sir, get as much credit as me. Your photos were invaluable and your dogged skepticism when something didn't fit eventually pointed to what may be a reasonable explanation. I also note that you haven't wholeheartedly endorsed it yet, so I wonder if I may have made another mistake you will catch

Thank you, Fred!

Now, what the heck happened at Unit 4?!

 

[AntonL]

Analysis of sea water near Unit 2 water leak
http://www.meti.go.jp/press/2011/04/20110405007/20110405007-4.pdf
[PLAIN]http://i.min.us/imZSrg.GIF

with levels 5.4MBq/cm³

Tepco seem to have a new policy - reporting I-131, Cs-134 and Cs-137 only,
the others are for us to guess.

 

[TCups]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M22Gt4sswEA"

At about 5:00min. into this video, I believe a great big void is shown in Unit 3, what is it? There are other angles of Units 3 & 4 during the flyover.

At 4:46min in, you talk about rods laying around but #4 rebar is kinda like a pencil's diameter and hanging out of broken concrete all over the place along with other size rebar. Rebar doesn't shine, stainless steel conduit would. like someone else mentioned was used in this construction to shield wiring runs.

Guessing, but . . .

That "void" if you stare into it, is probably the depths of SFP3. You can see part of the wall (blue lines), a faint green glow deep in the depths of the hole (green arrow), (Photoshop/Image/Adjustments/AutoColor) that may be fuel, if there was some water left, or if they got some water in there before the fly over -- otherwise wouldn't the glow be red? "X" might be about where the blast came out of the transfer chute.

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn270/tcups/Picture4.png

 

[TCups]

VIDEO WITH AUDIO OF UNIT 1's EXPLOSION?

Can anyone find the video of Unit 1 exploding with an audio track instead of a voice over? If both videos were taken from about the same place, it would be very interesting to count the booms. If Unit 1's explosion has only 1 boom and Unit 3's has 3 booms, then they aren't echoes. Conversely, if Unit 1's explosion also has 3 booms, then they are echoes.

I must get dressed and get to work . . .

 

[Giordano]

Analysis of sea water near Unit 2 water leak
http://www.meti.go.jp/press/2011/04/20110405007/20110405007-4.pdf

with levels 5.4MBq/cm³

Tepco seem to have a new policy - reporting I-131, Cs-134 and Cs-137 only,
the others are for us to guess.

This is crazy high... Is it really sea water? It's not water taken directly from the leak!?

 

[artax]

Just been posted...Here is the first flyovers/stabilised/higher definition.

There might be some more information in here.

 

[orndorf]

If the plan is to pump out all the highly radioactive water from the basements of reactors 1-3 won't the radiation levels outside skyrocket?

The water in the basement is shielding the upper levels and outside from higher levels of radiation right?That was some strange looking steam at 1:40 artax,looked like a mixture of smoke and steam.