Update on Japanese nuclear emegergency

Beyond Nuclear has received the following email at 11:10 a.m. from Philip White of the Citizens Nuclear Information Center Tokyo:

Offsite power was lost to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants. All diesel generators for Fukushima-I Units 1 and 2 are out of action. In order to provide power to cool the reactors, emergency generators are being trucked there now by TEPCO and the "Self-Defense Force".  (From Japanese news reports.)

People within a 3 km radius of the Fukushima-I plant (also known as Fukushima Dai-ichi) have been asked to evacuate. This includes Okuma Town and Futaba Town. They are instructed to do so calmly because there has not been a leak of radiation and there is "enough time". People between 3 km and 10 km of the plant have been told to stay in doors. (Prime Minister and Cabinet web site)

There was a fire at the Onagawa nuclear power plant, but it has been extinguished. (Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency update.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/11/japan-earthquake
People within 2km of the Fukushima nuclear plant have been told to evacuate as a precaution against radioactive leakage from the reactor, which is subject to a state of emergency, Sankei reports (Japanese link). The authorities said earlier there has been no radiation link from the plant but it has a problem with its cooling system.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/11_50.html
Reactor cooling equipment fails at TEPCO
(NHK news)

The government has declared an emergency situation at one of Tokyo Electric Power company's nuclear power plants in quake-stricken Fukushima Prefecture. It says no radioactive materials have been leaked.

Tokyo Electric said an equipment failure has made it impossible to cool two reactors at the Fukushima Number One plant.

The firm says it does not have enough electric power to cool the reactors, which automatically stopped operating when the quake struck.

The government has taken precautionary measures to ensure the safety of nearby residents. But it says that the residents should remain calm, and that currently no evacuation is needed.

The power company is sending eight power generators to the site, and the Ground Self Defense Force is sending one more.

BREAKING NEWS: JAPANESE REACTOR EMERGENCY

JAPAN HAS DECLARED ITS FIRST TIME EVER NUCLEAR POWER PLANT EMERGENCY.

THERE ARE 54 OPERATING REACTORS IN JAPAN. IN THE WAKE OF THE EARTHQUAKE THAT HIT JAPAN, HERE IS WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR ABOUT THE FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR SITE:

The electrical grid is down. The emergency diesel generators have been damaged. The multi-reactor Fukushima atomic power plant is now relying on battery power, which will only last around 8 hours. The Magnitude 8.9 quake hit 10 hours ago followed by two aftershocks of magnitudes 6.8 and 7.1 nine hours ago. It is unclear which of these damaged the reactor cooling system or when the battery power was turned on.

The danger is, the very thermally hot reactor cores at the plant must be continuously cooled for 24 to 48 hours. Without any electricity, the pumps won't be able to pump water through the hot reactor cores to cool them. Once electricity is lost, the irradiated nuclear fuel could begin to melt down i8n as little as an hour. If the containment systems fail, a catastrophic radioactivity release to the environment could occur. 

In addition to the reactor cores, the storage pool for highly radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel is also at risk. The pool cooling water must be continuously circulated. Without circulation, the still thermally hot irradiated nuclear fuel in the storage pools will begin to boil off the cooling water. Within a day or two, the pool's water could completely boil away. Without cooling water, the irradiated nuclear fuel could spontaneously combust in an exothermic reaction. Since the storage pools are not located within containment, a catastrophic radioactivity release to the environment could occur. Up to 100% of the volatile radioactive Cesium-137 content of the pools could go up in flames and smoke, to blow downwind over large distances. Given the large quantity of irradiated nuclear fuel in the pool, the radioactivity release could be worse than the Chernobyl nuclear reactor catastrophe of 25 years ago.

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