Published: April 4th, 2012 at 10:42 am ET
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Title: Severe storms in Japan expose fragile design of Fukushima reactor cover
Source: Enformable
Date: April 3, 2012
[...] Unit 1′s cover is designed to withstand winds up to 25 m/s [...]
According to TEPCO, the cover could be damaged or even worse, totally displaced by winds over the designed load, which would then cause it to “spill over the building”.
The situation could also drastically worsen if temperature or humidity in the reactor building were to increase due to moisture in the building cover.
[...] TEPCO stated that a survey of the last 35 years in the nearby area had received an average maximum wind velocity of 17m/s for a period of 10 minutes.
According to NHK reports, wind speeds [this week] reached 130 kilometers per hour in a Tokyo suburb and 106 kilometers per hour in the center of the capital. Winds of up to 135 kilometers per hour were observed on Sado Island in Niigata on Tuesday evening.
1 meter per second is equivalent to 3.6 kilometers per hour. Therefore the cover at Fukukshima Daiichi has a design load maximum of 90 km/hr (25 m/s) [...]
Source: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110624e15.pdf
[...]
Risks stemmed from the installation of the reactor building cover
(1) Risks stemmed form the installation
In installing the reactor building cover the following risks are considered.
a. The reactor buildings cover becomes damaged by external force (seismic force or wind pressure) over design load, which would spill over to the reactor building.[...]
[...]
Published: April 4th, 2012 at 10:42 am ET
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sending...
RE: Operation KIMONO
Fukushima Disaster Design, Manufacture and Installation of Cover (KIMONO) Reactor Unit 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpKH1eHTNN4
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Is that what they originally refereed to as a tent?
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*referred. Thanks autocorrect
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The wolf huffed and puffed and the house came tumbling down…
I think a wolf pup just came up and practiced a little.. Wait till Dad shows up.
How long does the clown posse think that a flimsy structure like this will hold up, even with all of the holes in it?
Any guesses?
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AGreenRoad, an image of TEPCO heads and government leaders dressed in clown posse outfits and uploaded onto the web, perhaps youtube, would be just the thing. I like your image. I don't have the technical expertise to pull something like this off. But, maybe someone here surely does. ENENEWS could be the launching site for it to go viral. Maybe Whoopie or someone could start the Tweet, too. It would need a catchy slogan along with the moniker "The Clown Posse". Oh, someone please, please, please make this happen!
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It's good to see they continue to design tolerance around averages rather than extremes for these deadly machines. Nothing like being consistently incompetent. Not that the tarp matters one bit.
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Exactly, effen boozos
NO MORE BOOZOS!
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HERE,HERE!
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This clearly shows how much worth are nuclear industry estimates used to calculate the risk. They need some prove for some aspect of safety, so they come up with a nice math formula and just make up some numbers so the output of the formula says "it's safe". Even if formula is correct, if the input data are wrong then the output is wrong as well.
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You nailed it!
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So this would be the same for #4 as well as the others !
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it is already listing to the east, correct ?
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If the SFP (Spent Fuel Pool) in #4 collapses or fails to be kept cool FOR ANY REASON, in a VERY SHORT TIME, all the fuel rods in it will destroy themselves by becoming a huge molten mass. This new radioactive mass will make the ENTIRE Fukushima complex (including reactors #5 and #6 (and their SFP's) into not only the Worlds biggest nuclear disaster but it will be so radioactive that the entire complex will off limits to humans! This new uncontrollable molten mass will spew so much radioactivity (and keep doing so for the rest of our lives) that it will change life as we know it, because it will be spread Globally by the jet stream and or Ocean currents.
BTW: If you have not seen the 1959 movie "On the Beach" you should, it describes a very similar situation…
TEPCO MUST DO 3 THINGS ASAP TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING :
1. TEPCO should be filling the entire #4 building with concrete ASAP in order to create a "Seismic Vessel" to completely encapsulate the SFP making it impossible for it to collapse, because the new "Seismic Vessel" would be one gigantic unit…
2. TEPCO should have no less than 4 backup generators and 4 pumps that EACH could provide ENOUGH emergency power and water should ANYTHING happen to prevent the normal pumps from functioning. Note this includes protecting all the fuel, storage tanks, piping and controls so that it would make these pumps and their generators completely BOMB PROOF so nothing could prevent them from functioning…
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Sorry
3. TEPCO should build and then fill enough tanks to provide standby cooling freshwater for at least one week, so that no matter what happens, the #4 SFP will be kept cool without using seawater, which would serve as a backup source of water if the freshwater proved to not be enough for some unknown reason!
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I think it would be much better if they used rickety plastic tubing and tape, dumped water without any real monitoring, left the whole setup ready to fall and took all their liquid capital and dumped it into executive payouts and some key stockholders bank accounts. You know, what they're doing right now.
Argh.
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"It Didn't Occur to Us to Turn On the System"
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2012/04/teleconferencing-system-update-it-didnt.html
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BBL Off to watch Right This Minute
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I don't think they can pour that much concrete, because of the sheer weight of it .. it would sink into the boggy soil and further offset the building at #4…
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DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH,CAP'N!
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Hey CaptD. I'll post that to FB
You guys see this? Fallout special with Leuren Moret today! starts at noon est
Orion Talk Radio :: Nuked Radio with RadChick Home
http://oriontalkradio.com/Default.aspx?PID=27
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By all laws of physics, the cover should have blown off in the typhoon winds. Can tepco be this lucky?
It's played like a drama on tv. I reiterate, can tepco be this lucky?
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The levels increased 400% during the storm ? did the #4 pool become low on water !
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http://enenews.com/tokyo-radiation-monitor-spikes-to-400-average-as-storm-passes-fukushima-japan-video
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xdrfox…Amy Goodman, "Democracy Now". In this morning's program, April 4, Amy reported in her starting news headlines that a power outage had caused the cooling systems at Fuku to be "briefly" turned off. Haven't found anything else on it.
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dharmasyd,
Thx, maybe some news on it in a few days, good folks @ "Democracy Now", did a hell of a job during the BP Gusher !
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I wouldn't be concerned, it was designed for a level of 25m/s and it will have a 15-40% safety margin. So the building max wind load will probably be a max of 35m/s for a duration of 10 minutes.
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Gaff: "Don't worry! Be happy!" Just like they were on March 10, 2011?
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The tent is still there so tepco still have a bit of luck.
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@cindy. I think you absolutely right. Adding weight to the building at this point in time might cause the whole damn mess to collapse. The logistics involved I don't think is doable. Concrete trucks as far as the eye can see.
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This would also cause TEPCO to spend some of their precious money… It'll never happen….
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Maybe they should start thinking about lots of tents over number 4.
If a tent works on 1, why not on 4?
More tents for everyone.. Free tents for all..
That is where they may have to go, since I seem to remember that over 100,000 people are still in 'emergency' shelters, nearly a year after this disaster.
How about designing a radiation lead foil sided tent that will contain at least some of the radiation that may spill out if 4 collapses?
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No way would that even work, even to contain the massive Bq inside a tent, then what? Hope the wind doesn't exceed 25 m/s and blow it down in the next 300 years?
No go.
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Generally the circus does not go on in bad weather..
The "Big Top" comes down..
Darn.. they can't do that now..now can they?
RSOE EDIS ..weather report.
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_update_read&edis_id=ST-20120403-34761-JPN&uid=12487
I don't know how waterproof the tent on reactor 1 is..but the others..particularly 3 and 4 are open to the elements.
There was some mention of this in the NRC docs..
Brushed off..
I guess.. it doesn't really matter..not a safety issue according to the NRC..
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I really do believe that the scope of this disaster is so vast and so far reaching that on a scale of one to ten, the industry has had to decide that a little humidity is nothing compared to a lack of sound structural containment (of which they do not have, and, i'm sure long for deeply). I bet they are using a whole new measuring stick amongst themselves. Many issues become "not a safety issue" because if something goes wrong, deaths or disease will number in the hundreds or thousands over a long time period rather than in the millions. Where once a leaky pipe got the attention of entire crews, and some plant operators hushed such leaks up to keep the plant running, Fukushima has hundreds of leaking pipes, falling walls, spewed, exposed fuel rods and leaning towers, missing spent fuel pools, etc. I think the NRC is now hoping that TEPCO and the Japanese government are focusing on preventing the deaths of millions, especially Japanese civilians and not bothering with the thousands or those that cannot be helped and who are already exposed. The problem for us all is that such repair technology for such emergencies do not exist but in the minds of the most creative who are usually not employed in the industry.
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speaking of high winds, (a bit off topic, perhaps) the dust storms in Iraq are known to be fierce … and often loaded with DU.
There's a great interview re: DU 'dirty bombs' with Joe Cortina at Brother Nathaniel's website: http://www.realzionistnews.com/?p=710
It's unreal how many tons have been expended fighting for 'democracy.' And now FUKU dust added to the mix.
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The military doesn't care if Americans..our brothers and sisters suffer the effects of deploying these weapons.
The soldiers can tell their woes.. to the walls of the badly run Veteran's Hospitals..
http://www.cpeo.org/lists/military/1997/msg00409.html
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So, well said, Heart of the Rose. And, let us not forget the military men who were set directly in harms way during nuclear testing detonations so that the effects of the radiation on the human body could be measured. Of course, the entire local civilian population of ranchers and farmers, Pacific Islanders, indigenous peoples in North America, and untold numbers of animals were not apprised that they were part of the experiment. It is my generation that is now showing the long term health effects of this practice, but, the medical establishment doesn't even consider the release of such high volumes of radiation into the environment a possible cause to the outbreak of illness and ill health we are seeing in this country. They blame much of it on living longer. Go figure.
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It's a point of contention..isn't it?
Putting our best and brightest in harm's way..while catering to the corporations and procuring the possessions of others.
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yes, all along the way, lies and deception, and beaucoup deniros if your one of the 'in' crowd. I would rather work an honest days work.
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umm..I have this saying …."My dad was a working man..good enough for him..good enough for you…."
My kids love it…
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Thanks, Heart of Rose, Wow! (from your link):
"600,000 pounds of DU dust and fragments which
lie on Gulf War battlefields."
Just about impossible to cleanup… as is looking FUKU land.
I once was in Idaho (to see if Jack McLamb was real) and reading one of [his] 'Aid and Abet' newsletters on the side of the road (Logan pass hiway), and a guy pulled up next to me and I struck up a conversation, then mentioned what I was reading (a DU article w/Doug Rokke)… He glowered at me, seethed a couple cuss words, and sped off. Probably some mil man with a haunted conscience.
(I look like any Joe, not a hippy or anything, heh heh)
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@skizexq..wow..cool weird story!..I've seen clips of people in the Gulf War area… taking geiger counters along the walls after shelling..and the holes read elevated radiation..in their living rooms!
.
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PS.Why..are the Gulf War veterans dying fast?
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/06/13/are-gulf-war-veterans-dying-fast/
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I AM a Gulf war Veteran !!
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Namaste!
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Another post on DU weapons..
BOB NICHOLS: The War on Sperm in Iraq
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/09/10/the-war-on-sperm-in-iraq/
Use of DU weapons needs to end..
It's like..overkill already…Goliath.
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The use of this weaponry against a virtually defenseless country and it's entire population, based on the flimsiest of reasons, is not one of our proudest moments. We better hope there is not a vengeful God.
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No need to hope, many of us know there is no god at all.
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Perhaps not Richard, but that shouldn't free us to use this weaponry like we do.
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Oh yes, you're right there.
To me, justice will only cone with real physical down to earth actions.
Things like wishing, hoping, praying – they're a waste of time and the officials involved in this disaster know it.
The longer we simply chat and pray, the more justice is not served.
Real tangle actions are required (have been for over a year now).
So yes, the weaponry is unethical, but a real fight is the only way to stop them. Anything else is laughable to TPTB.
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Damn. Cone = come
I shouldn't get into a chat on my phone while at work
doh.
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Ah, richard, in all practices of martial arts, a very real and very tactile action, the body is trained to follow a mind cleared of what may cloud insight and perception. To do this, pray and meditation are often utilized to good effect. The saying is – where one's attention is, so is one's energy. Perhaps, had TEPCO employees spent a little more time at a Shinto shrine deepening their connection with nature and the world around them, we wouldn't be facing this disaster. Just a thought.
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Richard – I admire your enthusiasm for taking up the cause. In the battle for securing a safer, more just world there is plenty of room for both "down to earth" actions and for "wishing, hoping, and praying". Taking up one type of action doesn't necessarily have to exclude the other and I would be happy to join the fight with anyone who combines them. For many, the prayer and meditation aspects are used as a source of strength and that would be, whether a believer or not, for the better of us all.
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Buffalo and Vic, thanks for your reminders.
I've got to watch myself getting more verbose then maybe I sometimes should.
And reading my stuff back I've used the word fight, when I'm not really that inclined.
I guess I'd like to see some greater third party action. From my remote location it's hard to figure what to do. And I'd probably stand out if I actually arrived in Japan
I'm gonna do some reconsidering. There must be some action plan. Or maybe not.
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I've enjoyed our exchange, Richard. I think, for now, just working to keep the issues alive until more reinforcements arrive is all we can do. Best wishes!
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Whether there is a god or not is irrelevant!
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Everyday i must wonder what my gas to run my car has cost someone. This reflection is the least that i owe. And, i also buy carbon offsets to promote companies to seek greener fuel alternatives. It costs me forty bucks a year to do this. For Americans, it is the lives of innocents and brutal people alike, but, mostly innocents who may stand in the way of our oil, so they must be coerced to grant us access. Our entire driving culture is structured to make sure that most Americans remain unaware of this so that they can blissfully drive where they shall with nary a care. Few Americans are more aware of the lives lost putting gasoline into their cars than they are of the dangers and realities of nuclear energy or plutonium laced warheads, and certainly give little thought to the circular link between them all.
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thanks, again, Rose,I haven't been to VT today, I'll chk em out.
excellent articles there often.
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Re: the Bob Nichols piece (comments section)
now there's a qoute! :
"Psychopathology at the very top is the only explanation. Those in power do not care about anything or anyone but power, world domination, and the almighty dollar.
We are allowing those without conscience in positions of power to weaken, sicken, and kill us all.
If we are not angry about the world being radioactively poisoned – on purpose?!? Then we don’t really know what the hell is going on."
Cathy Garger
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