Quake/Tsunami

[tw]

From the NY Times of 19 Mar 2011 is a perfect example of why 85% of all problems are directly traceable to top management. Especially when management has no idea how the work gets done. Or in this case, how a nuclear reactor works.

Executives May Have Lost Valuable Time at Damaged Nuclear Plant
Nuclear experts said that executives thought they had enough time because the reactors had shut down automatically after the earthquake, and that they did not realize the risk posed by the spent fuel rods, which are highly radioactive and still emitting heat. ...
They failed to cool the reactors on the day of the earthquake, March 11, and even after a hydrogen explosion the following day, they waited more than four hours to start dousing the reactors with seawater. They did not even try to put water into the spent fuel pools for several days. ...
a former senior operator at a Pennsylvania power plant with General Electric reactors ... the crucial question is whether Japanese officials followed G.E.'s emergency operating procedures. Those procedures are "crystal clear" on how to determine when reactors should be flooded, ...
The procedures prescribe specific actions based on variables like reactor temperature and pressure, data Tepco has not yet released.
A former Tepco executive told The Wall Street Journal on Saturday that the company had hesitated to ruin the plant with seawater. A Tepco spokesman told The Journal that the company, "taking the safety of the whole plant into consideration, was trying to judge the appropriate timing to use seawater."

And what point does MBA thinking become obvious? Required actions were obvious had decisions come from where the work gets done.

"They could have reacted earlier, but this is a relative thing,” he said, pointing out that they were focused on the reactors rather than the spent fuel pools. "Economically, it is tough to decide to use seawater."

Logically it was a simple decision. Again why top people must come from where the work gets done - not from the finance department, educated in economics, from business schools, or the public affairs office.

Though partial fuel melting has already occurred in each reactor, ...

and still some insist no melting happened. First melting was all but obvious on Saturday.

All four plants lose power on Friday. All except battery power that was available for less than one day. No problem. New wires can be connected in one-half day. But bean counters in top TEPCO management needed six days to make a decision. Sounds just like the George Jr administration.

Nuclear failures directly traceable to humans who did not do their job.

The fuel rods that were in active use and the spent fuel stored at the facility will take years to completely cool and will require watering for years to stay under control.

Knowledge learned even from Three Mile Island. Had those TMI damaged pumps failed anytime that first year, then nothing was available to avert a Fukushima event. A lesson about how close Pennsylvania came to a serious nuclear event. And how much worse Three Mile Island 2 could have been had Carter and an NRC director not taken that plant away from incompetent management at Metropolitan Edison. An example of how responsible top management does its job.

85% of the time. TEPCO management is another example of stupidity that was also directly traceable to top management after Katrina. (So dumb as to go to a campaign fund raiser in Southern CA and then to John McCain's birthday party as people were dying in New Orleans.) What happens when top management comes from business schools (as George Jr was educated). Or remains in denail like a Catholic Church Cardinal. In all cases, top people should be making public aplogizes for not doing their jobs. And resigning.

Fukushima is another trophy repeatedly proven in history. 85% of all problems are directly traceable to people educated in lying about their incompetance.

TEPCO management will blame any and everything but themselves. The GE operation procedures were clear. But it might increase costs. So they did what any bean counter type would do. Hesitate. Even take six days to decide to connect new wires.

[Undertoad]

and still some insist no melting happened.

No meltDOWN happened, which is what I insisted upon after you claimed there were multiple of them.

The mystery of where the "five deaths" idea came from remains. This blogger saw it being reported in the Telegraph and asked the same thing I did: why aren't these deaths reported in the official reports?

[tw]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

No meltDOWN happened, which is what I insisted upon after you claimed there were multiple of them.

So where did hydrogen come from? When Zircaloy rod cladding melts, an explosive hydrogen is created. Zirconium dioxide means hydrogen can exist in explosive concentrations. Both inside the containment vessel. And in those storage ponds. Same explosion happened in Three Mile Island when those rods melted.

American officials believe one storage pond was all but dry. Therefore rods in those ponds also melted. Hydrogen released - as in what then caused explosions in three reactor buildings. Of course, the official release from TEPCO denies all this. And then in the news conference, the reporter asked, "Where did the hydrogen come from?" TEPCO management said, "We'll get back to you on that." Because TEPCO denied fuel rods melted - the official line that also could not explain the hydrogen.

Completely meltdown as in what American officials were telling the Japanese on Tuesday. And then said they will soon have to send people into the reactor to save it - and then die. On Tuesday, those statements finally got the Japanese attention. And is why some TEPCO employees were replaced by JSDF people.

TEPCO is finally admitting that damage to at least one reactor is so great that it must be scrapped. The actual number is probably three. But the official information that UT is reading were denying any plants were permenantly damaged. TEPCO also refused to release temperature and pressure numbers that show what they should have done when to avert rod melting.

Fuel rods have melted. Nobody can inspect them to confirm it. But the chemistry, temperatures, and rods not covered in water says fuel rods have melted.

Future melting has been averted. After blunt words from American (and other) experts and other actions (ie all Americans were advised to leave), TEPCO finally did what was necessary to have water flowing in all plants (except maybe reactor 3). Among the statements that finally got TEPCO's attention were recommendations to prepare to bury at least one reactor in sand and concrete. TEPCO management was shocked. TEPCO management was denying their problem that severe. Which is the official information that UT is reading.

For five days, TEPCO denied any problem was serious. That rods could have melted. So the official releases denied rod melting. And did not explain where hydrogen came from.

[monster]

[aside] tw is his own parody, really. not really cricket. [/aside]

[richlevy]

I was listening to a podcast of Public Radio International from Canada where a specialist was explaining why newer plants have passive systems where electomagnets keep control rods from dropping into the reactor and why even newer plants have electromagnets keeping valves closed that could flood areas with coolant. All of these systems are activated by the absence of electricity.

It seems like such a simple idea, I wonder why noone thought of it 20-30 years ago when some of these older plants were built.

[Happy Monkey]

Radiation chart

[ZenGum]

Nuclear incidents explained for Japanese school kids:

[Griff]

Tokyo's water supply hosed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12825342

[TheMercenary]

The news does not seem to be improving much from day to day.

[tw]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

The news does not seem to be improving much from day to day.

We are just learning symptoms of how bad it was many days ago. We know dangerous amounts of radiation were being emitted long ago when TEPCO was singing, "Don't worry; Be happy". TEPCO only started to address problems about Wednesday - about five days after the earthquake. Long after rods had or were exposed and melting.

Most of that radiation that came from inside the containment vessel is Cesium and Iodine. Iodine has a half life (if I remember) of about a week. Meaning that radioactive material should be mostly gone in a month.

The problem. Radioactive materials appear to cause seriously diminished mental abilities in infants and fetuses. Those low dosages may be that hazardous to that minority.

Due to radiation leaks, work to restore power in days is taking at least a week. Too much radiation is outside the plants. Hundreds were said to have exceeded their maximum dosage levels long ago when TEPCO was denying these leaks. Eventually 1400 workers were removed leaving only the fearless fifty. In order to prevent worse radiation problems, many workers along with JSDF soldiers and others were brought back to be exposed to radiation levels that limit work to maybe two hours per day.

It is not worse than last week. But last week, they were preaching "no problem" propaganda. Obviously were lying or were in total denial. This week, they are admitting how bad things had become last week. Which means things would have been so much worse had not third parties (ie US government) not read to them a "be prepared to start sending people in to their death" predictions. It could be that much worse. Which says how much has finally been accomplished now that TEPCO management admitted the seriousness of their problem.

Radiation risk is as bad as Americans were saying and TEPCO was denying. Another US carrier (George Washington) has left Tokyo harbor to avoid being contaminated. Fukushima reactors were leaking that much radiation last week when TEPCO was claiming all rods were safe, cool, and covered in water. If true, then those hydrogen explosions never happened. Resulting radiation is only now become apparent. At only unhealthy and not deadly levels. It almost was so much worse. It is now so much better than what would have happened if TEPCO had remained in denial.

[Pete Zicato]

On NPR this morning - three workers have been sent to the hospital with radiation poisoning. They were working in knee deep water, hooking up the electricity. The water was radioactive.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by Pete Zicato

On NPR this morning - three workers have been sent to the hospital with radiation poisoning. They were working in knee deep water, hooking up the electricity. The water was radioactive.

You'd think they'd be wearing some kind of lead clothing or something - anything to protect them from radiation.

[glatt]

I heard a bit of that on the radio. I think they said those workers got exposed to 150 mSv, which on this handy radiation chart is the equivalent of 3 years maximum permitted dosage for workers at a nuke plant and is more than enough to be clearly linked to an increased cancer risk.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by glatt

I heard a bit of that on the radio. I think they said those workers got exposed to 150 mSv, which on this handy radiation chart is the equivalent of 3 years maximum permitted dosage for workers at a nuke plant and is more than enough to be clearly linked to an increased cancer risk.

Yeah. Their skin was burned and their bone marrow damaged, if I heard correctly.

[infinite monkey]

I don't mean to be rude, but, um...aren't they supposed to be smarter than the average bear? Sorry if that's waisis.