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March 21, 2011 The nuclear
power plants in Japan after the March 11 , 2011 earthquakes could become
a major nuclear disaster. Continuing Updates: INES Leaflet on Nuclear Accidents Continuing Updates on Earthquakes around the world
April 1, 2011 - Day 22 of Disaster Unit Status 1 · Reactor cold shutdown, stable water level, offsite power isavailable. · No reactor coolant is leaked to the reactor containment vessel. · Maintain average water temperature below 100°C in the Pressure Suppression Chamber. 2 · Reactor cold shutdown, stable water level, offsite power is available. · No reactor coolant is leaked to the reactor containment vessel. · Maintain average water temperature below 100°C in the Pressure Suppression Chamber. 3 · Reactor cold shutdown, stable water level, offsite power is available. · No reactor coolant is leaked to the reactor containment vessel. · Maintain average water temperature below 100°C in the Pressure Suppression Chamber. 4 · Reactor cold shutdown, stable water level, offsite power is available. · No reactor coolant is leaked to the reactor containment vessel. · Maintain average water temperature below 100°C in the Pressure Suppression Chamber. Other A campaigner's sound truck entered the site through the west locked car gate around 1:08 pm today. After driving in the site, the car left through the same gate around 1:20 pm. We reported this event to the Fukushima Prefecture Police Department. We have shut the gate with our own vehicles after the campaigner's vehicle left. March 31, 2011 - Day 21 of Disaster
March 30, 2011 - Day 20 of Disaster Status of Reactors 1 · Reactor cold shutdown, stable water level, offsite power is available. · No reactor coolant is leaked to the reactor containment vessel. · Maintain average water temperature below 100°C in the Pressure Suppression Chamber. 2 · Reactor cold shutdown, stable water level, offsite power is available. · No reactor coolant is leaked to the reactor containment vessel. · Maintain average water temperature below 100°C in the Pressure Suppression Chamber. 3 · Reactor cold shutdown, stable water level, offsite power is available. · No reactor coolant is leaked to the reactor containment vessel. · Maintain average water temperature below 100°C in the Pressure Suppression Chamber. 4 · Reactor cold shutdown, stable water level, offsite power is available. · No reactor coolant is leaked to the reactor containment vessel. · Maintain average water temperature below 100°C in the Pressure Suppression Chamber. UPDATE AS OF 6:30 P.M. EDT, TUESDAY, MARCH
29: IAEA said that 63 food samples taken March 24-29 in eight prefectures (Chiba, Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Niigata, Tochigi and Yamagata) were below regulatory limits set by the Japanese government for iodine-131, cesium-134 and cesium-137. New analyses of seawater about 1,000 feet from the discharge point of reactors 1 through 4 show "a significant decrease" in radiation levels from March 26, IAEA said. Readings for iodine-131 went from 2,000,000
picocuries (1 picocurie is one-trillionth of a curie) per liter on March
26 to 297,300 picocuries per liter on March 27. Readings for cesium-137
went from 324,324 picocuries per liter on March 26 to 51,351 picocuries
per liter on March 27. IAEA said that radiation readings in seawater "will
be quite variable in the near future depending on water discharge levels." March 29, 2011 - Day 19 of Disaster Japan Confirms Plutonium in Soil Samples at Fukushima Daiichi. After taking soil samples at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japanese authorities today confirmed finding traces of plutonium that most likely resulted from the nuclear accident there. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told the IAEA that the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) had found concentrations of plutonium in two of five soil samples. Traces of plutonium are not uncommon in soil because they were deposited worldwide during the atmospheric nuclear testing era. However, the isotopic composition of the plutonium found at Fukushima Daiichi suggests the material came from the reactor site, according to TEPCO officials. Still, the quantity of plutonium found does not exceed background levels tracked by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology over the past 30 years. March 28, 2011 - Day 18 of Disaster Radiation levels are rising and water is continuing to leak with high levels of radioactivity. Efforts are underway to contain and remove radioactive water. However, as the disaster unfolds, workers seem somewhat optimistic in light of their situation. The Wall Street Journal reported the following emails from the workers at fukushima: This is [name removed] at the Fukushima Daini plant. I met you a few times at some meetings in the past. I’m happy to receive an e-mail from you. I had written in hopes that many people would understand the situation in the field. I felt reassured to receive such a supportive message from [name removed]. Though we’re still in the middle of our fight, we feel a little relieved to know we have the support from a person like [name removed]. I just wanted people to understand that there are many people fighting under harsh circumstances in the nuclear plants. That is all I want. Crying is useless. If we’re in hell now all we can do is to crawl up towards heaven. Please watch out for the hidden strength of nuclear power. I’ll make sure we will make a recovery. I’d like to ask you to continue to support us. Thank you very much. From, Fukushima worker
EMAIL #2 I read your e-mail to me. (What you wrote) is what I had imagined. But at a loss for words, I could only be overwhelmed with tears. But as a person living in Tokyo enjoying electricity, there is no time to waste by simply crying. People in Tokyo are scrambling due to the planned blackout and stockpiling supplies, alternately acting at ease then worried over the spread of radioactive materials. I can only think this situation is strange. I feel frustrating anger across the nation pointing to Tepco. I suspect Tepco executives feel it well enough. But everyone here pays respect and has lowered their head to pray for those who are facing the brunt of it and fighting on the front lines surrounded by enemies. Although I am not in a position to say such a thing, I beg you to hang in there. What I can do for you is limited. But when the time comes, we will take our turn to protect you all. Without fail. From, Tokyo worker
EMAIL #3 Thank you for your hard work. I’m sure you are too busy at the disaster unit’s headquarters to look at emails. But I’d like to pass on the current situation at the plants. We at the plants have been working on restoration work without sleep or rest since the earthquake. About two weeks have passed since the quake, and things have gotten better on the first floor. We wish the cooling efforts will continue to work. As you know, most of the workers on the first and second floors are local residents and victims of the quake. There are many workers whose houses were washed away. I myself have had to stay in the disaster measurement headquarters the entire time ever since the earthquake occurred, and have been fighting alongside my colleagues without any sleep or rest. Personally, my entire hometown, Namie-machi, which is located along the coast, was washed away by the tsunami. My parents were washed away by the tsunami and I still don’t know where they are. Normally I would rush to their house as soon as I could. But I can’t even enter the area because it is under an evacuation order. The Self-Defense Forces are not conducting a search there. I’m engaged in extremely tough work under this kind of mental condition…I can’t take this any more! The quake is a natural disaster. But Tepco should be blamed for contamination caused by the radioactive materials released from the nuclear plants. It seems to me local residents’ feelings are heightened so much that the unspoken sentiment is that the quake occurred because of Tepco. Everyone is away from their hometown and does not know when they can return. We don’t know who to turn to and direct our concern and anger. This is the current reality. As the new school year starts, local children will have to transfer to schools in their places of refuge. Everyone has lost everything—their home, their job, their school, their friends, their families. Who could stand this reality? I would beg you to share this reality with people inside and outside the company. I’m not saying workers at the nuclear plants are bad! I’m not saying anyone is bad! But most workers in the plants are local residents. All of us, including myself, are victims of the disaster. But we are all working hard to complete our tasks as Tepco employees, before thinking of ourselves as disaster victims. Workers on the second floor in particular were having a tough time. They had to support colleagues on the first floor, who were engaged in restoration work, while ensuring the safety of their own plants. The scene is completely like a war zone. All the employees are working to their limit, both mentally and physically. Please understand that. The company may get rid of nuclear power to save the company, but we will fight until the end. I beg you to give us continuous support from the headquarters. From, Fukushima worker March 27, 2011 - Day 17 of Disaster |
