Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Japan is Fucked Nuke Edition

Combine this report with the one below, and there you have it.


NUKE CRISIS: No More Water In Spent Fuel Pools, And A Crucial Power Line Has Been Delayed

THE LATEST: All of the water is gone from one of the spent fuel pools, says U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission chief Gregory Jaczko. That means there's nothing to stop the fuel rods from getting hotter and melting down, according to the AP.

Meanwhile TEPCO says it can't confirm when a power line meant to ease the crisis will be completed. This contradicts an earlier report that said the powerline was nearly ready, which caused the market to shoot higher.

Japan's Police Agency raised the quake death doll over 4,000, with more than 8,000 missing.

The Japanese Nuclear Agency will brief the press at 8PM ET, according to CNBC.

14:54 ET: The Japan electric company says that a new power line that will solve the nuclear crisis is nearly ready, according to the AP. That headline has seen markets rebound as a result.

The wire could help to bring electricty back to the complex, which could assist with the cooling of the reactors.

This follows disturbing comments from US authorities. Energy secretary Steven Chu says a reactor may have experienced "partial meltdown" and that the situation is worse than 3 Mile Island.

Also U.S. nuclear regulatory committee chief Gregory Jaczko said radiation levels are "extremely high." Jackzko also believes reactor 4 has no water and has called for radius to be evacuated larger than that called for by Japanese officials.


EARLIER: The UK's Foreign Office is now advising all British citizens in Tokyo, and north of Tokyo, to move away from the area, according to Sky.

The U.S. government is telling its citizens that live within 50 miles of Fukushima to remain indoors or evacuate, according to Reuters.

Click here for a map showing the affected area >

UPDATE 12:36: Now the EU Energy Commissioner responsible for the earlier catastrophe comment says he did not say a catastrophe was going to happen, rather that it was his fear.

IAEA has denied the situation is "out of control," via CNBC.

UPDATE 11:55: Fuel rods in reactors 4, 5, and 6 are now exposed and four reactor units have core damage, according to the IAEA (via Bloomberg).

The EU energy minister responsible for the earlier comments claims he got his information from the EU, IAEA, Japan, and media reports.

UPDATE 11:01 Horrible headline crossing the wires via RanSquawk: EU ENERGY CHIEF SAYS POSSIBLE CATASTROPHIC EVENT IN NEXT HOURS.

He's also -- and this is via Dow Jones -- calling the situation "out of control"

The market briefly got hammered by this but has already recovered.

Update 9:16: DigitalGlobe has a great before-after image of the explosions at the reactors.

2 comments:

Cletis said...

Dude, this is a great place to get an education. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK.

Himself said...

You're too kind Cletis, but it's also an education putting it all together.

It's great though isn't it, this knowledge thing. As Stephen Fry said of the net, 'We have the knowledge of the ages at our fingertips, how bad is that?'