It has been announced by Japanese officials that high levels of radiation have been detected in the ocean near the Fukushima plant. Justin McCurry writes:
"Japanese officials have conceded they are no closer to resolving the nuclear crisis at Fukushima Daiichi power plant, as new readings showed a dramatic increase in radioactive contamination in the sea."
Fukushima nuclear power plant has been closely scrutinised as reports flow in on the progress of the situation - Japan's nuclear board raised the nuclear alert level from four to five and the JAIF warned last week of products such as dairy and spinach being restricted for shipping. Explosions and reports of nuclear fuel rods melting at the power plant have meant progress on the situation has been closely followed.
Industry body the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum are currently publishing daily updates of the status of power plants in Fukushima which give great detail into the condition of each reactor. Ranked from a level of low to severe, the update records the conditions of core and fuel integrity, water level and containment amongst other key information. These are some of the most in-depth and recent records and show how the crisis is being handled.
Friday's report detailed the dangers of radiation to workers, stating that two workers were hospitalised on March 24th 'because of the possible high exposure dose of their foot skin' - yesterday's report stated that the workers had been discharged from hospital. However the dangers facing those working at the plant continues to be a subject of concern as does radiation seeping into drinking water, after twice the safe level of radioactive iodine for young children, was found in Tokyo tap water last week.
The table below shows the status of the reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi (the largest of the Fukushima power plants) and is colour coded to show the severity. Green for low, yellow represents high and red shows those of severe significance as judged by the JAIF. We have used JAIF's update 49 as of 21:00 local time as this is the most up to the minute data we can get.
A table of major incidents and accidents at the plants can be found in our spreadsheet as can the data for Daini, Onagawa and Tokai Daini Nuclear power stations. What can you do with this data?
Data summary
| Unit | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electric / Thermal Power output (MW) | 460 / 1380 | 784 / 2381 | 784 / 2381 | 784 / 2381 | 784 / 2381 | 1100 / 3293 |
| Type of Reactor | BWR-3 | BWR-4 | BWR-4 | BWR-4 | BWR-4 | BWR-5 |
| Operation Status at the earthquake occurred | In Service -> Shut - down | In Service -> Shut - down | In Service -> Shut - down | Out - age | Out - age | Out - age |
| Core and Fuel Integrity | Dama - ged (400) | Dama - ged (548) | Dama - ged (548) | No fuel rods | Not Dama - ged (548) | Not Dama - ged (764) |
| Reactor Pressure Vessel Integrity | Un- known | Un- known | Un- known | Not Dama - ged | Not Dama - ged | Not Dama - ged |
| Containment Vessel Integrity | Not Dama - ged (estim - ation) | Damage and leak Susp - ected | Not Dama - ged (estim - ation) | Not Dama - ged | Not Dama - ged | Not Dama - ged |
| Core cooling requiring AC power 1 | Not Funct - ional | Not Funct - ional | Not Funct - ional | N/A | Funct - ional | Funct - ional |
| Core cooling requiring AC power 2 | Not Funct - ional | Not Funct - ional | Not Funct - ional | N/A | Funct - ioning (in cold shut down) | Funct - ioning (in cold shut down) |
| Building Integrity | Severely Dama - ged | Slightly Dama - ged | Severely Dama - ged | Severely Dama - ged | Open a vent hole - to avoid hydro - gen explo - sion | Open a vent hole - to avoid hydro - gen explo - sion |
| Water Level of the Rector Pressure Vessel | Fuel exposed | Fuel exposed | Fuel exposed | Safe | Safe | Safe |
| Pressure of the Reactor Pressure Vessel | Gradu - ally incre - asing | Un- known / Stable | Un- known | Safe | Safe | Safe |
| Containment Vessel Pressure | Decre - ased a little after incre - ase | Stable | Stable | Safe | Safe | Safe |
| Water injection to core | Cont. (Fresh - water) | Cont. (Fresh - water) | Cont. (Fresh - water) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Water injection to Containment Vessel (AM) | TBC | TBC (Sea water) | TBC | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Containment venting (AM) | Temp stopped | Temp stopped | Temp stopped | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Fuel Integrity in the spent fuel pool | Un- known (292) | Un- known (587) | Damage susp - ected (514) | Possibly Dama - ged (1331) | Not Dama - ged (946) | Not Dama - ged (876) |
| Cooling of the spent fuel pool | Water injection to be considered | Sea water injection contin - ue | Sea water spray continue | Sea water spray continue. Hydrogen from the pool exploded | Pool cooling capa - bility was recov - ered | Pool cooling capa - bility was recov - ered |
| Main Control Room Habitability & Operability | Poor due to loss of AC power (Lighting work - ing in unit 1 & 2 ) | Poor due to loss of AC power (Lighting work - ing in unit 1 & 2 ) | Poor due to loss of AC power (Lighting work - ing in unit 3 & 4 ) | Poor due to loss of AC power (Lighting work - ing in unit 3 & 4 ) | Not dam -aged (estimate) | Not dam -aged (est |
No comments:
Post a Comment