Video: Helicopters drop water over nuclear plants to cool damaged Fukushima reactors

Helicopters from Japan's Self-Defense Forces have begun dumping water on the Number Three reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in an effort to cool down a spent fuel storage pool.

Two CH-47 helicopters began scooping up seawater and releasing it over the reactor on Thursday morning after another helicopter checked radiation levels in the air.  The first water-dropping operation was completed at around 10:15 AM.

The mission is part of efforts to cool the storage pools at the Number Three and Four reactors. The cooling systems at both reactors are not functioning, raising fears that spent fuel rods could melt and release radioactive material outside the building.

Water is believed to be evaporating from the Number Three reactor's storage pool. Authorities have confirmed that temperatures in the Number Four reactor's storage pool are rising.

Efforts are also being made to douse the Number Three reactor from the ground. Eleven large-capacity fire trucks from the SDF are heading to the site.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has sent riot-squad trucks equipped with water cannons. The trucks were originally deployed to douse the Number Four reactor, but they will be used to spray water on the Number Three reactor instead. The work is expected to begin around noon.

Workers will wear protective gear borrowed from the SDF. They will keep a safe distance from the reactor while authorities monitor radiation levels.

Cooling operations at the Number Four reactor will be carried out from the ground after authorities judged that it would be more effective to spray water from gaps in the wall of the reactor building.

Comments

[Jangir]

Why don't they drop plastic containers filled with water?
The containers would burst upon impact and all the water will go inside.
The way they are currently doing it - only 10% of the water is going inside.

My prayers are for the people of Japan

[john]

I (and others) would appreicate it if those who play the market for materials necessary to deal with this situation to abstain from profit based intentions.

[john]

@ Jangir,

This 'may' be the kind of fire that water should not be dropped directly on exposed nuclear fuel (fire). The temperature 'may' so high that water exacerbates the problem. The best effort is to condense any steam or smoke at the site to minimize spread of radiation. Other methods need to be employed asap to deal with this (if possible). The video shown of the effort was not just for show. It is the real deal.

[hgarner]

If it weren`t so tragic,it would be comical......helicopters dropping a few liters of water on a nuclear fire.........

GENERAL ELECTRIC ......WHERE ARE YOU ?? Didn´t you supply the reactors?? What happened to AFTER SALES SERVICE??

LIFE`S GOOD......... is it not...................

[john]

Fukushima's spent nuclear fuel storage facilities under threat (WRAPUP)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20110317/163064158.html

Look at where the water table is.

[ehswan]

What ? No robots in a nation that is renowned for robots and yet they have none to enter the highly radioactive buildings where no humans may enter? Ahem, robots could enter these buildings, record the damage and deliver fixes to the problems, such as water hoses to the spent fuel cooling ponds!

[S. Gompers]

hgarner,

The Ge Engineer quit thirty five years ago due to safety concerns.He said the "Mark 1" design had "not yet been designed to withstand the loads" that could be experienced in a large-scale accident. Many worried that if the cooling systems ever failed at a “Mark 1” nuclear reactor, the primary containment vessel surrounding the reactor would probably burst as the fuel rods inside overheated.

In 1972, Stephen H. Hanauer, then a safety official with the Atomic Energy Commission, recommended that the Mark 1 system be discontinued because it presented unacceptable safety risks. Among the concerns cited was the smaller containment design, which was more susceptible to explosion and rupture from a buildup in hydrogen, the same situation that appears to have unfolded at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Later that same year, Joseph Hendrie, who would later become chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a successor agency to the atomic commission, said the idea of a ban on such systems was attractive. But the technology had been so widely accepted by the industry and regulatory officials, he said, that “reversal of this hallowed policy, particularly at this time, could well be the end of nuclear power.” In the United States, 23 reactors at 16 locations use the Mark 1 design.

Despite what Ann Coulter says, this is not good.

[S. Gompers]

What Ann says about radiation I mean.

[john]

Map of Japan plume....

http://www.zamg.ac.at/aktuell/index.php?seite=1&artikel=ZAMG_2011-03-17GMT09:15


Two links, photos of reactor damage...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalglobe-imagery/5535116638/sizes/o/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalglobe-imagery/5535116638/sizes/o/in/photostream/

[S. Gompers]

Nice links John.

[john]

Thanks. If you look closely at the bottom map (ZAMG link), the plume moves into the Aleutian Islands (alaska) and between Alaska and off of the Canadian and US west coast as of yesterday.

[john]

GE sends nuclear engineers to Japan: report

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/18/us-ge-japan-idUSTRE72H1K820110318

[snip]

GE was not available for comment.

[S. Gompers]

I am following it closer than you will ever know John.

[john]

Gomp. The ZAMG link has been updated... Just click on Neues (at top of front page) and then look for the word 'radioaktivitat' (update with todays date). Keep checking this daily.

I cannot believe that they did not have tractor trailer mounted generators and portable substations like I had used to temporarily restore power to parts of NYC during the blackout (2005) and at substations I had upgraded a few years back.

I might throw out this half assed suggestion but maybe they should drop dry ice on the hot stuff to cool it. I know that this will also produce some steam but..........

[john]

In at least one reactor I saw that dry ice could be put in the cooling pool with a concrete pump truck

http://concretepumpsafety.com/

FWIW

[S. Gompers]

Thanks John, they could have also had emergency tee's on the cooling lines to hook up diesel pumps and of course own the pumps. But the woulda, coulda, shoulda, stuff is really meaningless now. The reality is that the Mark 1 design was the cheapest design to meet the minimum requirements of the regulatory agencies hence its popularity back in the day. All this stuff would drive up the cost of building the plants which the owners did not want hence the picking of this design. I have a feeling there was something more going on with the electric at the plant.

[john]

Current Japan WX Map..... click animation for motion. Center of low pressure just offshore of facility. A high pressure system is expected to cause variable winds for the next day or so.

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/g3/

[john]

Japan says power restored at two Fukushima reactors

http://en.rian.ru/world/20110319/163093219.html

[snip]

Workers have restored power to cooling systems at two of the six reactors at Japan's quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the NHK television reported.

A cooling pump at reactor 5 and an emergency diesel generator at reactor 6 have "resumed operations," Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told a news conference on Saturday.

[john]

Current wx and forecast:

http://en.allmetsat.com/metar-taf/japan-honshu.php?icao=RJSF

[john]

Plume update:

http://www.zamg.ac.at/aktuell/index.php?seite=1&artikel=ZAMG_2011-03-19GMT18:50

[john]

Plume update: March 20, 2011

http://www.zamg.ac.at/aktuell/index.php?seite=1&artikel=ZAMG_2011-03-20GMT10:21

[john]

Plume update: March, 21 2011

http://www.zamg.ac.at/aktuell/index.php?seite=1&artikel=ZAMG_2011-03-21GMT10:22

[john]

Pump Truck with Long Boom Headed to Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

http://cryptogon.com/?p=21412

[snip]

The vehicle with a 62-meter boom is scheduled to be shipped Tuesday morning. It is expected to arrive at the port of Osaka, Japan on Wednesday or Thursday....

...Sany decided to provide the pump truck to TEPCO free of charge. The vehicle, usually used for concrete pouring, is valued at 1 million U.S. dollars.

Sany Heavy Industry is a world leading heavy equipment manufacturer.

[kingo Japan]

Yamashitas Äußerungen zu Fukushima und Strahlung
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPrHbZ6SHOY