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Video of reactor 1 at Fukushima plant

• giberson 16y ago
  Is it exploding, or are they doing a pressure release?
  • cloudwalking 16y ago
    That doesn't look like a very controlled pressure release. edit: BBC says it's an explosion but article is completely devoid of details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12720219 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12720219
    • david2777 16y ago
      CNN too, http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.nuclear/index.html?hpt=T1 http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.nuclea...
  • csulok 16y ago
    it looks to me like a still-standing structure completely disappeared. watch the replay a couple times. there's a white building not unlike 2 other to the right, is partially covering a lightning rod. when you see the shockwave, it's no longer there, at all.
    • uxp 16y ago
      This picture just appeared on Wikipedia, of which I am guessing is the building that may or may not be the one that possibly exploded. Maybe someone more knowledgable than myself can identify what the building is used for. The 2011 Sendai earthquake article says " the outer structure of reactor number 1's containment building had blown off, releasing a large cloud of dust and vapour." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2011-03-12_1800_NHK_S%C5%8Dg%C5%8D_channel_news_program_screen_shot.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2011-03-12_1800_NHK_S%C5%8... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Sendai_earthquake_and_tsunami http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Sendai_earthquake_and_tsun...
      • uvdiv 16y ago
        I have no clue what's going on (and I Am Not An Engineer), but I'm fairly sure that in this photo http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Fukushima_I_NPP_1975.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Fukushima... The longer, rectangular buildings on the seaside are the turbine halls, and the square buildings next to them (in the inland direction) are the containment buildings.
        • po 16y ago
          That's correct. Of the four, it's the small building on the right that is reactor number one: the one that is melting down.
      • rwmj 16y ago
        Wikipedia deletionists have already put a speedy deletion tag on that. Go Wikipedia!
      • nossralf 16y ago
        http://www.ansn-jp.org/jneslibrary/npp2.pdf http://www.ansn-jp.org/jneslibrary/npp2.pdf That PDF has a schematic of the containment building on page 4. The "MARK-I" image corresponds to the Fukushima I-1 building.
        • uvdiv 16y ago
          More detailed cutaways: http://i.imgur.com/Oj4kg.png http://i.imgur.com/Oj4kg.png http://i.imgur.com/CckjP.jpg http://i.imgur.com/CckjP.jpg from, respectively, Madgi Ragheb, UIUC https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/mragheb/www/NPRE%20457%20CSE%20462%20Safety%20Analysis%20of%20Nuclear%20Reactor%20Systems/Containment%20Structures.pdf https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/mragheb/www/NPRE%20457%20CSE%20462... NRC http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/teachers/03.pdf http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/teachers/03.pdf
  • dekz 16y ago
    Well at 47 seconds in the video there is a white structure, then at 48 it's obliterated.
• koski 16y ago
  If I understood correctly, there has been an explosion in Fukushiman Dai-ichi's nuclear plant. And this is it.
  • angus77 16y ago
    That's correct.
• phreeza 16y ago
  skip to 0:46 for a closeup replay of the explosion
• zach 16y ago
  Here's a link to the middle of the video where they replay the explosion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg4uogOEUrU#t=46s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg4uogOEUrU#t=46s
• ck2 16y ago
  http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=d_LFixACgsQEvVMNHMag3MAIw9-fM http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=d_LFixACgsQEvVMNHMag3MA... There is almost guaranteed significant radiation release. quote from slashdot: The outer walls of the Reactor 1 building have partially blown off, leaving only what looks like a steel frame. NHK is saying that a sensor within 5km of the plant is detecting radiation levels approaching 1015 microsieverts - that is apparently a year's worth of radiation exposure EACH HOUR People in the danger zones are being told to cover faces with wet towels, avoid eating vegetables and other fresh foods, and refrain from drinking tap water.
  • deleted 16y ago
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  • koski 16y ago
    "This is starting to look a lot like Chernobyl" Walt Patterson, an associate fellow with Chatham House, has told the BBC after seeing pictures of the explosion at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant. "The nuclear agency says that they have detected caesium and iodine outside the unit, which certainly indicates fuel melting at the very least," he says. "Once you have melting fuel coming into contact with water, that would almost certainly be the cause of the explosion." (BBC) (EDIT) More from Walt Patterson of Chatham House. He says the presence of the radioactive caesium in the surrounding area does not pose a huge threat to public health in the immediate aftermath of the explosion. "What would be serious is if there was an explosion or fire that lifted this stuff high in the air, meaning it could get carried over a wide area."
    • wazoox 16y ago
      This is quite different from Chernobyl, which didn't even have a proper confinement wall. It's unlikely that it can get as bad as Chernobyl was.
      • JanezStupar 16y ago
        It seems that proper containment is gone in this case...
• koski 16y ago
  Kyodo News agency said radioactive caesium had been detected near the site, quoting the Japanese nuclear safety commission. Radioactivity rose 20-fold outside, reports said. (EDIT: this was before the explosion) The plant "may be experiencing nuclear meltdown", Kyodo and Jiji reported before the explosion, while public broadcaster NHK quoted the safety agency as saying metal tubes that contain uranium fuel may have melted.(AFP)
  • JonnieCache 16y ago
    "Chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano has told a press conference that he cannot confirm that the explosion at the nuclear power plant was the reactor, saying details of the incident remained unclear. He said authorities were prepared for the worst emergency but urged people to remain calm and not to listen to rumours. He also asked them to conserve electricity." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/12/japan-tsunami-earthquake-live-coverage#block-41 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/12/japan-tsuna...
  • sliverstorm 16y ago
    Is 20-fold increase in radioactivity actually hazardous? I was under the impression dangerous levels of radiation are many, many times above normal background radiation and typical 'acceptable' levels of exposure. See http://www.geigercounters.com/Danger.htm http://www.geigercounters.com/Danger.htm for example. Occupational acceptable exposure is 25x that of non-occupational.
    • Wientje 16y ago
      The average radioactive dose a person gets per year is about 3,6 to 5 milliSievert a year (for Belgium) of which 2,6 mSv from natural sources, 0,95mSv from medical examinations and 0,05mSv from industry (of which 0,01mSv due to nuclear power) So when they say around the reactor the dose in an hour is about the same as you get a year, then this is about equivalent to two scans in a hospital. Note: this is talking about low levels where the only influence radiation has is increasing the chance of cancer. If there are very high doses >100mSv involved, there will be direct radiological damage which can be strongly compared to damage from burning.
• anigbrowl 16y ago
  Some more information plus links to official press releases etc. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2316371 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2316371
• deleted 16y ago
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  • hartror 16y ago
    A nuclear explosion? No chance, it will "simply" leak, worst case it catches fire and goes Chernobyl but spreads its radiation over a more populated area, which is probably worse that a nuclear weapon going off.
  • ubernostrum 16y ago
    So, don't laugh, but... Head over to Fark, look up whatever the latest thread is. Yes, there are trolls and idiots. There are also knowledgeable people providing useful information. I'm basically refreshing that every few minutes and using it as my baseline for what's going on.
  • wazoox 16y ago
    Come on, there is absolutely no way for a nuclear plant to make a nuclear explosion. Nuclear fuel at high temperature touching the cooling water separates the water in O and H2, which is an highly explosive cocktail, didn't they show you that in high school? The main danger now is of a fire lifting radioactive material away. This isn't in any case an immediate life-threatening risk, except for the people in the power plant immediate vicinity.
  • jensnockert 16y ago
    As I understood it (when discussing it with someone in the know), was that it was likely caused by zirconium in the fuel-rods reacting with water. This hydrogen should be taken care of, but without (enough?) electrical power levels of hydrogen gas builds up. This does not mean that containment is broken, or that there is an imminent danger to outsiders. But it is a very serious situation, especially since there seems to be at least two more reactors in similar situations at Fukushima Daiichi. (http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_reactors_1203111.html http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_ear... also refers to a problem at Fukushima Daini.)
• deleted 16y ago
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• anigbrowl 16y ago
  Evacuation zone was just doubled to 20km.
  • LogicHoleFlaw 16y ago
    Well, the radius was doubled. The affected land area quadrupled.
    • buro9 16y ago
      Area of a 10km circle is 314 km2 Area of a 20km circle is 1257 km2 Assuming they go to 30km or 50km next: Area of a 30km circle is 2827 km2 Area of a 50km circle is 7854 km2
      • mistermann 16y ago
        I have a feeling most people on HN know how to calculate the area of a circle. ;)
        • Retric 16y ago
          <pedantic> True, but calculating the land area by doing so is a mistake because ~50% of that 20KM circle is over the ocean.</pedantic> http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&biw=864&bih=471&q=37%C2%B0+25%E2%80%B2+17%E2%80%B3+N,+141%C2%B0+1%E2%80%B2+57%E2%80%B3+E&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=%2B37%C2%B0+25%27+17.28%22,+%2B141%C2%B0+1%27+57.28%22&gl=us&ei=F4d7Te_KNMaC0QG2w-DuAw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ8gEwAA http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&biw=864&bih=471&#3...
          • rphlx 16y ago
            Should we count lakes and other self-contained bodies of water on land?
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  • user24 16y ago
    interesting. But, you know, it would still not be good even if the weather wasn't heading for the USA.
• cskau 16y ago
  Watching BBC, it seems mainly the walls and roof have been blown out. The main steel structure is still standing, and the expert in the studio was saying something like there still is a chance of the 3-Mile Island like scenario. That is that the nuclear material is still contained within the core structure.
• koski 16y ago
  what I understand now is that the blast at the nuclear plant may have been caused by a hydrogen explosion (pressure) or If nuclear fuel rods overheat and then come into contact with water, this produces a large amount of highly-flammable hydrogen gas which can then ignite. Right? Can anyone with more knowledge and experience of this confirm?
  • m104 16y ago
    The explosion was likely a containment failure of the previously reported (radioactive) steam that had been building up in the containment building. More info: http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_reactors_1203111.html http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_ear...
  • craigmccaskill 16y ago
    That's certainly possible, theoretically. However, I'm not sure if those conditions can actually be met (rods should not ever come into contact with water and nothing should be able to ignite the gas, especially not at higher pressure levels).
    • uvdiv 16y ago
      No, actually the fuel pellets never need to come in contact with water; it is their cladding, which is a zirconium alloy ("Zircaloy"), which can react with steam under extreme conditions. It's a redox reaction: Zr + 2H2O --> ZrO2 + 2H2 or something similar. This actually happened at Three Mile Island, and there was a hydrogen explosion in the containment building there (which did not break). (I am not an engineer)
      • craigmccaskill 16y ago
        That makes more sense, thanks.
  • koski 16y ago
    An attempt to explain the risk to the Fukushima nuclear plants following the earthquake: The plants are designed to shut automatically, which halts the main nuclear fission reaction, but there is a residual amou ntense heat within the system. Back-up generators should kick in to power the coolin mechanisms needed to dissipate that heat - b they fail, as appears to have happened here, temperatures rise. If this isn't stopped, the reactor vessel itself could eventually melt an eak. Right? Has anybody found any documents if Japan has been notified or warned about these backup systems of these plants? It sound like a design failure to me. (I know nothing about nuclear power plants)
• brg 16y ago
  Can someone provide background information on the type of reactor at Fukusima, it's age, and it's failsafe mechanism. I was under the impression that no modern reactor would sustain criticality in the event of a failure.
  • hartror 16y ago
    From wikipedia: "Fukushima I – 1 BWR First criticality: March 26, 1971". So it isn't a "modern" reactor, not sure what the fail safes are but I have read from some sources all the fail safes are older generations which require power.
    • brg 16y ago
      Thanks, wiki continues to provide detailed information in the deep links on the page. It seems we are witnessing a case of failure upon failure. Truly a horrific tragedy for the country and the world.
    • cosmicray 16y ago
      The Three Mile Island accident occurred on Wednesday, March 28, 1979. TMI Unit 2 received its operating license on February 8, 1978. So the Fukushima I appears to be slightly older than TMI.
  • brg 16y ago
    To answer my own question, Fukushima is a first generation bwr: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_Water_Reactor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_Water_Reactor It lacks the safety mechanisms of an abwr. Namely even after the control rods are deployed, heat can continue to build up. Hence the plant requires forced cooling, in this case provided by diesel and electric pumps. After the earthquake the diesel pumps failed and cooling was effected by battery power. While the government rushed in new diesel generators, they were not installed in time to prevent the build up of pressure resulting in this explosion.
    • gregholmberg 16y ago
      Japanese officials believe that the tops of the fuel rods are exposed. Agency officials said a team of National Institute of Radiological Sciences detected cesium, a radioactive substance contained in nuclear fuel rods, near the No. 1 reactor of the No. 1 nuclear plant, leading them to suspect nuclear fuel rods in the reactor began melting amid the high temperatures. The nuclear safety agency said in the afternoon that the level of cooling water in the No. 1 reactor likely had dropped to 1.7 meters below the top of nuclear fuel rods, leading officials to suspect that about half of the rods' length had been exposed. Reactor meltdown feared / Quake disabled Fukushima N-plants' cooling systems http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20110312dy01.htm http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20110312dy01.htm
• ajb 16y ago
  Any opinions on what the thing rising up very quickly during the explosion is? I initially thought it was the roof, but I'm wondering now if it isn't actually a flame from burning hydrogen. Ideas?
  • uvdiv 16y ago
    It looks like a hydrogen flame to me. The color is right (faint blue, barely visible), and see how fast it rises straight up? (I am not an engineer)
• oemera 16y ago
  Real quick, what does that mean for the rest of the world? Do we have to fear something?
  • brazzy 16y ago
    Still hard to say. Fortunately, the wind is forecast to go out towards the Pacific for the next few days. But if the situation escalates as badly as Chernobyl, enough stuff may get out for everyone to get some.
  • tomjen3 16y ago
    Yes, you will likely be death in the next 100 years. Seriously though the structure that contained the reactor isn't the only thing that protects the reactor (it was at Chernobyl, which is why it went badly) it is also protected by a thick concrete container (which is pretty much what was eventually built around the Soviet reactor) which means that in the event of a meltdown the structure will contain the radioactive stuff. So in summary: unless you are really close (which you shouldn't be) or have a burning desire to be inside that reactor building you will die of something else entirely (most likely something boring).
  • adrianN 16y ago
    No. Even if shit gets real and the reactor goes Chernobyl, Japan is sufficiently far away from the western world that it doesn't matter at all. People weren't concerned about radiation from the nukes in Bikini either.
    • patrickgzill 16y ago
      Except the prevailing winds called the westerlies would put the radiation over California in a matter of days.
      • marshray 16y ago
        At which point it would likely be so dilute as to not be a significant contributor to mortality.
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• foobarbazetc 16y ago
  http://twitter.com/#!/martyn_williams/status/46537158915391488 http://twitter.com/#!/martyn_williams/status/465371589153914... The reactor DID NOT explode. HN is becoming a bit sensationalist today. Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_Water_Reactor_Safety_Systems#Containment_system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_Water_Reactor_Safety_Sy... Basically, this bit: The reactor building (the shield wall/missile shield) is also made of steel-reinforced, pre-stressed concrete 0.3 m to 1 m (1–3 feet) thick. The concrete surrounding the building is now gone (due to excess pressure). Second edit: [6:54 a.m. ET, 8:54 p.m. Tokyo] The explosion at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant was not caused by the nuclear reactor but by "water vapor that was part of the cooling process," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Saturday. He said no harmful gases had been emitted by the explosion. [6:44 a.m. ET, 8:44 p.m. Tokyo] Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan confirms that the evacuation area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has been increased to 20 kilometers. But no one has been harmed by radiation, he says. Third edit (from the BBC): 1218: It seems clear now from Mr Edano's comments that the nuclear plant building that was blown apart earlier did house a reactor, but the reactor was protected by its metal casing. 1216: Government spokesman Yukio Edano says the pressure as well as the radiation at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant has fallen following this afternoon's explosion. So the "explosion" has actually helped the situation. Fourth edit: Looking like Sendai just got hit with another earthquake. I hope that hasn't caused any more damage to the reactor. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc00020m9.php http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us... Fifth edit: From http://twitter.com/#!/norishikata http://twitter.com/#!/norishikata "Blast was caused by accumulated hydrogen combined with oxygen in the space between container and outer structure. No damage to container." "Trend of μ Sv/h of Unit 1 this afternoon. 1,015(at 15:29), blast (15:36), 860(15:40), 70.5 (18:58). After blast, radioactive level lowered." "TEPCO's efforts to depressurize the container was successful. Additional measures are now taken tonight using sea water and boric acid." Things are looking up.
  • jensnockert 16y ago
    While damage to internal containment structures are possible, the building is likely to be resistant to these kinds of explosions. A (what I guess) is a similar explosion happened in the reactor building in TMI, and the risk of an explosion such as this seems to be well known. The reactor building was probably prepared to absorb the explosion away from the containment structures, making it look much worse than it is.
• jensnockert 16y ago
  Got a mail from WANO relayed to me, below is the interesting part about the explosion. ----- 1. Hydrogen explosion occurred at 15:36 between containment and reactor building of Fukushima Daiichi unit 1. Walls of reactor building were blown out or damaged. 2. It was confirmed that unit 1 containment integrity was maintained. Explosion was not inside the containment as it is inert. 3. Radiation level at the Fukushima Daiichi site border once increased when containment vent was conducted and reached 1,015 micro Sv per hour around the time when explosion occurred; however, the radiation level turned to decrease after the explosion down to 860 at 15:40 and 70.5 micro Sv per hour at 18:58. 4. Government has agreed to TEPCO decision to fill the entire containment up with sea water. The filling sea water will contain boron. TEPCO started the work for filling up at 20:20.
  • jensnockert 16y ago
    WNN (http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_reactors_1203111.html http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_ear...) was updated with news that the sea water injection has started.
  • sophacles 16y ago
    What is the significance of boron in the seawater? (It just reads like one of those understated but extremely important bits you find in these sorts of alerts :-| )
    • jensnockert 16y ago
      Boron has a high neutron cross-section, it therefore absorbs neutrons and slows down the fission process. In a PWR you add it into the water as a way to moderate the reaction, but in a BWR (like the reactor 1 in Fukushima Daiichi) you only add it as a last resort, since it is incredibly hard to clean out of the system.
    • ElliotH 16y ago
      Boron absorbs neutrons. This stops nuclear reactions in progress.
  • 16y ago
• brown9-2 16y ago
  Does anyone know what the flashing colors and lines separating regions on the map of Japan in the lower right of the screen represent?
  • elliottcarlson 16y ago
    Areas under Tsunami watch (I believe)...
• dablue 16y ago
  Know why Japan is now clearing all this up now? Cuz the USA offered to send emergency help. Imagine the USA team going over and finding nothing really happened, an entire hoax. This bombing was crafted to short the stock markets. It's pitiful what the rich do for their market gains.
  • dablue 16y ago
    Whoever downvotes this also believes that 9/11 incident was an accident. It was cleverly crafted as well.
• nazgulnarsil 16y ago
  fuck everything about shitty government monopolies on dangerous aging infrastructure. not politically popular = not getting renovated this year! (ad infinitum)
  • mousa 16y ago
    I don't think renovating a nuclear power is difficult to stir up popular support for if the experts want it renovated badly. I doubt private industry would have had any more foresight.
• famousactress 16y ago
  Can someone please build a user-css for youtube that makes it so I never accidentally see the comments posted there?
  • mberning 16y ago
    Check out youtube comment snob.