Japan Declares Nuclear Emergency

[Ryo Hazuki]

I didn't know if to post this in the earthquake thread or not but if you think it belongs there please merge it.

"The operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant reported an abnormality Friday following a powerful earthquake which hit a wide area in northeastern Japan including Fukushima Prefecture, the industry ministry said.

The system to cool reactor cores in case of emergency stopped at the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors of the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., it said.

There are reports that the Japanese PM will declare a nuclear emergency.

Update: There's no evidence of any radioactive leakage, but officials have confirmed that the cooling process for the nuclear plant has not yet gone according to plan.

Update 2: Japan has declared a nuclear emergency.

Update 3: 2000 residents near the Fukushima Nuclear Plant have been urged to evacuate.

Update 4: According to reports, Japanese jets have been ordered to fly over the Fukushima Nuclear plant

Update 5: According to Reuters, a Dam has broken in the same region as the at-risk nuclear power plant.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-nuclear-plant-2011-3#ixzz1GJ31IYTy
"

http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-nuclear-plant-2011-3

[Agent O]

Pretty scary shit. Although a while back an expert on BBC was saying chances of the radiation getting out of hand are still slim. Guess we'll have to see.

[cloudscream]

I'll watch this closely.

[BlackedOut]

All the worst things happening at the same time.

[cloudscream]

Japan raised the severity level (http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Factsheets/English/ines.pdf) of the accident to Level 5. http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/79477.html

[Scube]

Just read a tweet sayin "The 180 technicians working in the Fukushima nuclear plant are giving their lives so that others might live. This is what love looks like."
Sad shit :(

[Dinobot]

Just read a tweet sayin "The 180 technicians working in the Fukushima nuclear plant are giving their lives so that others might live. This is what love looks like."
Sad shit :(

That really is heartbreaking.

[El Muerto]

Yeah, those people are true heroes. I read an article a couple of years ago about people in Chernobyl who did the same thing back in '86. Really fucked up situation.

[Benjamin]

Ugh. It's too bad they can't invent some super protector suit for those guys.

Much love goes to them in any case. They are true heros.

[travz21]

I'm pretty sure they do have those kinds of suits.

[El Muerto]

I'm pretty sure they do have those kinds of suits.

Yeah, they do have protective suits, but no suit can protect them from such high levels of radiation. I read it somewhere that some German experts said that those people probably only have a couple more weeks left.

[travz21]

Really? I thought radiation poisoning was a slow and painful death.

Are the fuel rods not active when they install them or how do they avoid such high levels of radiation if they don't have advanced enough suits?

[El Muerto]

Well I'm not an expert, but I assume that the human body can not really deal with the enormous amounts of radiation they're exposed to right now.. A lot of people who helped stabilize the reactor in Chernobyl died within the same year.

And I really don't know how they install the nuclear plants, but I guess the levels of radiation are much lower.

[Abel]

Man...Japan can't just get a break nowadays. My thoughts and prayers go to them. I'm saddened, really really saddened.