It'sJustMe
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This article gives more details on the #1 temperature rise today, MM and more. Fair use:
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/80389.html
Restoration work at Fukushima nuke plant faces challenges
TOKYO, March 23, Kyodo
Work to restore power and vital cooling functions at the troubled reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant stricken by the March 11 powerful quake and tsunami has encountered difficulties, such as a rise in a reactor's temperature and detection of high-level radiation, the government's nuclear agency said Wednesday.
All six reactors at the crisis-hit plant were reconnected to external power as of Tuesday night. Despite the positive move, the temperature in the No. 1 reactor vessel briefly topped 400 C degrees, requiring large amounts of seawater injected into the reactor to cool it down, according to the agency.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said high-level radiation amounting to 500 millisievert per hour was detected at the No. 2 reactor's turbine building a couple of days ago, which is preventing workers from trying to restore electricity at a control room.
The plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. also said two workers who had been installing a makeshift power source from Tuesday night were injured and taken to hospital, but they were not exposed to radiation.
Meanwhile, water-spraying operations to cool down a spent nuclear fuel pool at the No. 4 reactor continued, using trucks with a concrete squeeze pump and a 50-meter arm capable of pouring water from a higher point. Firefighters will shoot massive amounts of water at the No. 3 reactor's fuel pool in the afternoon, the agency said.
Now that the reactors are reconnected to an external power grid and lighting in the No. 3 reactor's control room is restored, workers are focusing on transmitting power to each piece of equipment, such as data measuring instruments and feed-water pumps, after carefully examining its condition.
Regaining functions in the control rooms are thought to allow for more intensive work to help bring the crisis under control, as operators at present cannot remain in the rooms for long hours due to high radiation levels and power outages.
The nuclear agency said the utility firm aims to restore a pump by Thursday to inject freshwater into the core of the No. 3 reactor, instead of seawater that has currently been poured using fire pumps.
As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, the temperature of the No. 1 reactor vessel dropped to 390 C degrees, but it was still above the maximum temperature of 302 C degrees set by its designer. To deal with the situation, the utility known as TEPCO had increased the amount of water injected into the reactor by 9 times.
Nishiyama said the reactor vessel is not expected to start melting at these temperatures, and that TEPCO will carefully continue to inject massive amounts of water into the No. 1 reactor so as not to raise the pressure in the reactor.
High pressure in the reactor increases the risk of damage to the facility, and workers would be required to release radioactive steam from the reactor to lower the pressure.
As part of routine monitoring activities, helicopters of the Self-Defense Forces examined temperatures at the Fukushima nuclear power station Wednesday morning.
After the March 11 earthquake and massive tsunami knocked out power at the plant, the cooling functions failed at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors, while the pools storing spent nuclear fuel at the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 units have also lost all their cooling functions.
==Kyodo
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/80389.html
Restoration work at Fukushima nuke plant faces challenges
TOKYO, March 23, Kyodo
Work to restore power and vital cooling functions at the troubled reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant stricken by the March 11 powerful quake and tsunami has encountered difficulties, such as a rise in a reactor's temperature and detection of high-level radiation, the government's nuclear agency said Wednesday.
All six reactors at the crisis-hit plant were reconnected to external power as of Tuesday night. Despite the positive move, the temperature in the No. 1 reactor vessel briefly topped 400 C degrees, requiring large amounts of seawater injected into the reactor to cool it down, according to the agency.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said high-level radiation amounting to 500 millisievert per hour was detected at the No. 2 reactor's turbine building a couple of days ago, which is preventing workers from trying to restore electricity at a control room.
The plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. also said two workers who had been installing a makeshift power source from Tuesday night were injured and taken to hospital, but they were not exposed to radiation.
Meanwhile, water-spraying operations to cool down a spent nuclear fuel pool at the No. 4 reactor continued, using trucks with a concrete squeeze pump and a 50-meter arm capable of pouring water from a higher point. Firefighters will shoot massive amounts of water at the No. 3 reactor's fuel pool in the afternoon, the agency said.
Now that the reactors are reconnected to an external power grid and lighting in the No. 3 reactor's control room is restored, workers are focusing on transmitting power to each piece of equipment, such as data measuring instruments and feed-water pumps, after carefully examining its condition.
Regaining functions in the control rooms are thought to allow for more intensive work to help bring the crisis under control, as operators at present cannot remain in the rooms for long hours due to high radiation levels and power outages.
The nuclear agency said the utility firm aims to restore a pump by Thursday to inject freshwater into the core of the No. 3 reactor, instead of seawater that has currently been poured using fire pumps.
As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, the temperature of the No. 1 reactor vessel dropped to 390 C degrees, but it was still above the maximum temperature of 302 C degrees set by its designer. To deal with the situation, the utility known as TEPCO had increased the amount of water injected into the reactor by 9 times.
Nishiyama said the reactor vessel is not expected to start melting at these temperatures, and that TEPCO will carefully continue to inject massive amounts of water into the No. 1 reactor so as not to raise the pressure in the reactor.
High pressure in the reactor increases the risk of damage to the facility, and workers would be required to release radioactive steam from the reactor to lower the pressure.
As part of routine monitoring activities, helicopters of the Self-Defense Forces examined temperatures at the Fukushima nuclear power station Wednesday morning.
After the March 11 earthquake and massive tsunami knocked out power at the plant, the cooling functions failed at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors, while the pools storing spent nuclear fuel at the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 units have also lost all their cooling functions.
==Kyodo
From the horse's mouth. And it's not getting better, although getting the lights on does help. And certainly not hyperbole. Meltdowns, neutron beams, unexplained repeated smoking, high radiation levels, explosions, fires, contamination of air, sea, groundwater, tap water, dairy, vegetables, evacuation of US military and personnel, apologetic admissions of fubar, etc etc etc plus inconceivable economic black hole in the middle of a global recession which also is getting worse.