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CAPTAIN PLANET TO THE RESCUE 
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OR, UNDECIDABLE
OR... ST Index monday NO GOOD...
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ST Index Monday GOOD...
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WONDER GIRL " I WANT NOBODY BUT YOU"
EXPLOSION AT FUKUSHIMA NUKE PLANT, GOVERNMENT ORDERS 20KM EVACUATION ZONE
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THE LATEST: We've been covering the situation at the Fukushima power plant since 4:30 AM ET on Friday, March 11.
The first 24 hours of coverage are below the line.
The latest is that there appears to have been an explosion at the plant, and at least 4 are injured. Massive plumes of smoke can be seen.
According to Russia Today, there have been 50K evacuated in the vicinity. Beyond that, the roof of one reactor apparently collapsed.
People in a wide vicinity have been told to cover their mouths as much as possible.
This video, via Gabe Rivera, shows the moment the explosion happened at the 1:22 second mark. More updates are below the video.
Update 5:10 AM: CNN is reporting that the evacuation zone has been expanded to 20KM around the plant.
Just outside the 20KM radius, notes CNN, is the city of Minamisoma, population 72K.
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Note: This post has several updates. Scroll to the bottom for the latest. The original post was at approximately 4:30 AM on March 11.
Original post: Ominous flash from Kyodo Wire:
The operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant reported an abnormality Friday following a powerful earthquake which hit a wide area in northeastern Japan including Fukushima Prefecture, the industry ministry said.
The system to cool reactor cores in case of emergency stopped at the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors of the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., it said.
There are reports that the Japanese PM will declare a nuclear emergency.
Update: There's no evidence of any radioactive leakage, but officials have confirmed that the cooling process for the nuclear plant has not yet gone according to plan.
Update 2: Japan has declared a nuclear emergency.
Update 3: 2000 residents near the Fukushima Nuclear Plant have been urged to evacuate.
Update 4: According to reports, Japanese jets have been ordered to fly over the Fukushima Nuclear plant
Update 5: According to Reuters, a Dam has broken in the same region as the at-risk nuclear power plant.
Update 6: The owner of the plant, TEPCO, says the reactor pressure is rising, and there are risks of a radiation leak, according to Reuters.
Update 7: Now the trade minister says a leak is possible.
Update 8: Word is, Japanese authorities will release a small amount of radioactive vapor into the air to ease pressure.
Update 9: Japan just expanded the evacuation range from 3 KM to 9 KM, says Reuters.
Update: 4:29 PM ET: Anti-nuclear expert Kevin Kamp explains the nightmare scenario in Fukushma, via Forbes and the Institute for Public Accuracy:
“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 eight hours. 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. 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 percent 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.”
Meanwhile, Kyodo is reporting that local radiation levels are 8 times more than normal.
Update 4:43 PM: Now according to Kyodo, radiation is measured at 1000x normal.
Update 5:05: The entire world is now watching the Fukushima plant. Here's a llink to a satellite image of the plant, just to get some more perspective on where this is.
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Update 5:33: Both reactors at the plant have been damaged, and officials say they have " lost control" of the pressure, according to Reuters.
Update 7:39: The latest from Kyodo Wire: Government holds emergency meeting on the plant, and is taking unprecedented stap of demanding the plant open a key valve.
Update 7:51: At least 20,000 people are being evacuated from the region says Reuters, which ominously quotes an expert who thinks there may be just a few hours until meltdown.
Update 3/12 12:19 AM: This just came from Reuters on twitter... REUTERS FLASH: #Japan nuclear authorities say high possibility of meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi No. 1 reactor - Jiji
Update 3/12 12:26: Now a headline from Kyodo Wire: Fukushima nuke plant might be experiencing nuclear meltdown. From AP via Steve Herman: A meltdown would potentially put humans at risk within a 6 KM range. What is a nuclear meltdown? Wikipedia has a good primer. WSJ: Authorities pouring water into reactor to " stop the meltdown."
Update 3/12 2/21: First positive headlinein awhile from Kyodo: Pressure successfully released from Fukushima No. 1 reactor.
Saturday 3:50 ET: There's been a large explosion at the nuclear plant and the outer wall has been destroyed, according to Reuters.
Update 3:59: Massive clouds seen after Fukushima explasion. Rports of at leat 4 injured.
Latest Death Toll Estimate Tops 1600 In Japan
The Fukushima nuclear plant is the focus of the world's attention right now, but the impact from the underlying earthquake and tsunami continues to grow.
According to Kyodo Wire, the latest death estimates top 1600.
Meanwhile, the region continues to get buffetted by aftershocks, prompting ongoing warnings for people in coastal areas.
Hundreds of thousands of households have lost power, according to NHK. People are being asked to conserve energy.
All of the big domestic auto companies are halting production.
Via the USGS, the latest look at seismic activity off of Japan:
Image: USGS
What Is Nuclear Meltdown?
There has been an explosion at Fukushima Nuclear Plant. Meltdown has not occured, but it is a definite possibility.
Here's a primer from Wikipedia:
A nuclear meltdown is an informal term for a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term is not recognized by the International Atomic Energy Agency[1] nor by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.[2]
A meltdown occurs when a severe failure of a nuclear power plant system prevents proper cooling of the reactor core, to the extent that the nuclear fuel assemblies overheat and melt. A meltdown is considered very serious because of the potential that radioactive materials could be released into the environment. A core meltdown will also render the reactor unusable until and unless it is repaired. The scrapping and disposal of the reactor core will incur substantial costs for the operator.
Two meltdowns occurred at American civil nuclear power plants. The partial meltdown at the Fermi 1 experimental fast breeder reactor required the reactor to be repaired, though it never achieved full operation afterward. The Three Mile Island accident led to the permanent shutdown of that reactor. Both meltdowns, though dramatic incidents, did not lead to any deaths or serious injuries no deaths or serious injuries have ever been attributed to radiation from a Western civil nuclear power plant.
Within the former Soviet Union several nuclear meltdowns of differing severity have occurred. In the most serious example, the Chernobyl disaster, design flaws and operator negligence led to a power excursion that subsequently caused a meltdown. According to a report released by the Chernobyl Forum (consisting of numerous United Nations agencies, including the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization the World Bank and the Governments of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia) the disaster killed twenty-eight persons due to acute radiation syndrome,[3] could possibly result in up to four thousand fatal cancers at an unknown time in the future[4] and required the permanent evacuation of an exclusion zone around the reactor. The Chernobyl plant did not have a containment building as found on Western commercial reactor designs.
Read The Latest From Fukushima Nuclear Plant >
China Keeps Growing
China’s January-February industrial value-added output + 14.1%
China’s industrial value-added output grew 14.1% in the 1st 2 months of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Friday.
The growth rate during the 1st 2 months was up 0.6 percentage points compared to that in December last year, according to the figures released by the NBS.
During the period, industrial value-added output for heavy industries rose 14.4% from one year earlier, and that for light industries was up 13.3%.
All 39 industries saw Y-Y growth, with textiles up 7.7% chemical materials and products up 15.3% general equipment manufacturing up 22.4% and transportation equipment manufacturing up 14.4%, the figures showed.
Almost 400 of 468 industrial products saw their output rise Y-Y in the 1st 2 months, with Crude Oil production up 5.5% to reach 33.72M tonnes, electricity output up 11.7% to reach 677.3B kWh, and Crude Steel production up 12.6% to hit 114.18M tonnes.
Meanwhile, Cement output reached 204.29M tonnes, + 9.1%. Vehicle output stood at 3.13M units, up 10.3%, according to the numbers reported.—Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr. www.livetradingnews.com
ST Index @ 3600 points by end of 2011
NEW IPHONE 5 RUMOR: Same Design As iPhone 4, Larger Screen
A new leak suggests Apple will not be radically redesigning the next iPhone.
MacRumors has picked up on engineering mold designs from iDealsChina that show iPhone 5 looking just like iPhone 4, except with the screen stretching to edges of the phone with a thinner bezel.
While iDealsChina might seem like a sketchy news source, Arnold Kim at MacRumors notes they've been right in the past about Apple product redesign.
Chinese manufacturers sometimes get early designs of Apple products so they can start making cases. That's how we saw early looks at the iPad 2.
Previous rumors about iPhone 5 suggest Apple was going to overhaul the design and make it look more like an iPad 2. We have a few more months before iPhone 5 hits, so we'll probably many more leaks and rumors.
More on iPhone 5:
Evidence iPhone 5 Will Get Super Fast Dual Core A5 Chip Emerges
IPHONE 5 RUMOR: Apple Ditches Antenna Design, Makes It Look Like An iPad 2
US West Coast And Hawaii Under Tsunami Watch
Update 2: A full list of West Coast tsunami arrival times can be found here.
Update: Now the entire West Coast of the US is under warning.
Original post: The massive 8.9 earthquake off the coast of Japan has it the country with a tsunami.
There's even a tsunami warning for Hawaii, with the possibility that it will hit at 2:59 AM local time.
Here's a map from the USGS showing all the earthquake activity that's going on.
The bigger the square the bigger the quake. The red boxes occurred in the last hour.
