NISA Says Core Meltdown Caused Explosion; Three Reactors Face "Worst-Case Scenario"

Sorry to say, but it appears that a total meltdown of all three Fukushima reactors is inevitable.

Meltdown Caused Nuke Plant Explosion: Safety Body

TOKYO (Nikkei)--The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said Saturday afternoon the explosion at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant could only have been caused by a meltdown of the reactor core.

e.nikkei.com...

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Radiation leaks in Fukushima pose serious threat to health

...But the latest explosions at the No. 3 reactor was accompanied with not only white smoke, which is peculiar to a hydrogen explosion, but also with fire and gray-brown smoke billowing higher than that witnessed Saturday, leading experts to suspect another abnormality in the reactor.

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Japan Faces Potential Nuclear Disaster as Radiation Levels Rise after third explosion at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant

...The succession of problems at Daiichi was initially difficult to interpret — with confusion compounded by incomplete and inconsistent information provided by government officials and executives of the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power.

But industry executives in close contact with officials in Japan expressed extreme concern that the authorities were close to losing control over the fuel melting that has been ongoing in three reactors at Daiichi, especially at the crippled No. 2 reactor where the containment has been damaged.

Tokyo Electric Power said Tuesday that after the explosion at the No. 2 reactor, pressure had dropped in the “suppression pool” — a section at the bottom of the reactor that converts steam to water and is part of the critical function of keeping the nuclear fuel protected. After that occurred, radiation levels outside No. 2 were reported to have risen sharply.

“We are on the brink. We are now facing the worst-case scenario,” said Hiroaki Koide, a senior reactor engineering specialist at the Research Reactor Institute of Kyoto University. “We can assume that the containment vessel at Reactor No. 2 is already breached. If there is heavy melting inside the reactor, large amounts of radiation will most definitely be released.”

reply to post by GoldenFleece


With all due respect, but do we need yet another thread on this?

I'm in chat now and we're seeing a "Japanese disaster" thread pop-up every 5-10 minutes now. It's getting ridiculous.

reply to post by Rising Against


I know what you mean exactly... I also second this....there are so many ongoing threads about this I don't even know which one to choose and what is even going on. Thanks though op I know your intentions are good

reply to post by Rising Against


Well sadly the few threads that are active are 15+ pages, so i'm not sure if posting this new info there would get it to the right people. There needs to be some rhyme and reason to it, having to try to keep track of 15 threads is insane.

Anyone willing to pick 1 thread and keep it to that 1 thread? Most of this information is doubled, trippled, over numerous threads. 1 central location for FACTS and SOURCEs, then maybe an open ended one for discussion?

Originally posted by phishyblankwaters
reply to post by Rising Against

 

Well sadly the few threads that are active are 15+ pages, so i'm not sure if posting this new info there would get it to the right people. There needs to be some rhyme and reason to it, having to try to keep track of 15 threads is insane.

Yeah, I know what you mean, and I don't want to hijack this thread or anything as well but It's just becoming frustrating to see thread after thread being made on the exact same thing here.

Apologies to the OP also, but I just needed to vent my frustration and highlight this issue because It really is getting annoying now.

reply to post by Rising Against


I was going to say much the same thing but then I refrained as I've gotten so confused over which thread held which info that I wasn't 100% sure if this thread needed to be started or not.....

See how confused I am, I'm not even making any sense!

I don't think we need more threads but what do I know


ETA I think this disaster could do with its own Forum to be honest.

Hey, sorry for another thread, but Japanese officials are finally saying that all three reactors are on the brink of a full meltdown and I didn't see that anywhere else.

They've said very little since the beginning and I thought this was important information, as there seemed to be a lot of confusion and conjecture over the actual situation.

reply to post by Rising Against


I'm sure the OP understands, the OP is correct as of last time I checked that information is not in any of the threads I'm following, but seems to confirm what many here have been saying.

That explosion was caused by a meltdown, core 2 has been breached, and the cooling for the other reactors is still problematic.

We all knew from the start, as we learned with Chernobyl, we won't get the facts until late in the game. We were right. It's still not doomsday, but I think we can finally put that "Why I'm not afraid of the Japanese Reactors" article into the BS bin.

I'm still a little confused, they are saying that explosion, which was taped, was actually a meltdown?

So the fuel rods, or possibly the spent rods in storage, lost coolant. The tsunami knocked out the backup generators used to pump in coolant. The replacements were also suffering breakdowns.

So the fuel rods become exposed and heat up, boiling the water, creating hydrogen, then exploding. Is this essentially what they are saying?

===============

ETA I think this disaster could do with its own Forum to be honest.

Wow, stealing my thoughts are you? lol. I was thinking the same thing, something as BIG as this event might warrant a temporary forum section just for this topic. Breaking news is flooded, fragile earth is flooded.

Mods, is it at all possible to create a temporary section dedicated just to this disaster? This way we can keep all the information in 1 zone, instead of filling up unrelated zones with the same info.

Short of that, i think we should take the links and sources from here and add them to the largest active Japan disaster thread and keep the discussion going there.

Originally posted by phishyblankwaters

I'm still a little confused, they are saying that explosion, which was taped, was actually a meltdown?

That's exactly what they're saying, which I thought was significant in itself.

Originally posted by Rising Against

Originally posted by phishyblankwaters
reply to post by Rising Against

 

Well sadly the few threads that are active are 15+ pages, so i'm not sure if posting this new info there would get it to the right people. There needs to be some rhyme and reason to it, having to try to keep track of 15 threads is insane.

Yeah, I know what you mean, and I don't want to hijack this thread or anything as well but It's just becoming frustrating to see thread after thread being made on the exact same thing here.

Apologies to the OP also, but I just needed to vent my frustration and highlight this issue because It really is getting annoying now.

edit on 15-3-2011 by Rising Against because: (no reason given)

I'll bet you skim around the major media looking for the most up to date news. I have, and it seems that ATS has better updating that the MSM. Tip: Sskip the old threads no matter how informative they were at one time (minute) and stick to examining the newer ones that have rational headlines. (Sign!) The world isn't perfect anywhere is it?

reply to post by Aliensun

The MSM rarely updates anything except for the latest official deception or government press release.

Prime example, this AP story from 35 minutes ago:

Japan works to contain nuclear threat after quake

By ERIC TALMADGE and SHINO YUASA, Associated Press – 35 mins ago

SOMA, Japan – A nuclear power plant damaged by fire and explosions emitted a burst of radiation Tuesday, panicking an already edgy Japan and leaving the government struggling to contain a spiraling crisis caused by last week's earthquake and tsunami.

"Government struggling to contain" a "burst of radiation," right! As usual, the people will be the last to know the truth.

I actually spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out what was really happening, which isn't easy when there's very little official comment beyond the standard soothing assurances that this wouldn't become the next Chernobyl. At least they got that right...

Looks like governments, corporations and media are the same everywhere.

Once again, I'd like to formally apologize for investigating this minor story and for posting quotes and a perspective that I hadn't seen anywhere on ATS. I've learned my lesson. From now on, everything should be added to one 300 page thread so no one has to spend more time expressing their annoyance than ignoring me.

Or better yet, I'll just repeat whatever the various "Japanese officials," "experts" and "international scientists" say:

Japanese officials had previously said radiation levels at the plant were within safe limits, and international scientists said that while there were serious dangers, there was little risk of a catastrophe like Chernobyl in Ukraine, where the reactor exploded and released a radiation cloud over much of Europe.