It's been about two hours now since the quake hit us.  Just to let everybody know, we seem to be ok.  I haven't been able to find out how things are at my home yet.  One of my friends just came over and told me all of their dishes are broken so I may find some interesting things when I go home tonight.

The trains aren't running and we're still experiencing aftershocks.

I'll let you know more as we go.

I read something like 8.9 (?!) on google. my heart is close to your people

Hope all is okay with you Kix?  I saw this in the news tonight.  8.9 earthquake and psunamis.

I feel for you as well.

Glad that you are okay Kixum.

  Caught video of the devastating tsunamis hitting the coast near Sendai. I knew while watching that there must be some poor souls that may have not have had time to evacuate those wide low-lying areas. My heart goes out to them and the people of Japan.

I got home about 10 minutes ago and we're alright. No significant damage either. Lots of stuff on the floor and there was a lot of paint chipped off the walls in the stairwell. We are extra fortunate that Tokyo did not suffer very much. A few buildings caught fire but as far as I know, there a very few injuries here. North of us is a completely different story. We are continuing to experience after shocks still five hours later (just had one a few minutes ago). There have been at least 16 significant after shocks since the first event. (we're having another one right now, that's two in the last 10 minutes) I doubt we're going to get much sleep tonight. Thanks for all the good wishes and I appreciate all your thoughts.

Hope everything stop faster. We will be here waiting the best for you and Japan

Thanks for the updates Kix. You guys know how to have fun over there! 

Mark

Gad, my heart goes out to all of you folks in Japan.  I'm told that the earthquake is the worst one in recorded Japanese history and the 7th largest one in recorded history world wide.  Thank god that Japan knows how to build earthquake resistant buildings and nuclear plants.  Jan

Kix, which N-plant are you involved with?

My heart is with all of the people affected by the quake and tsunami!!

I'm not actually involved in any particular plant.  I work for Mitsubishi which manages aspects of all the plants (I work for a vendor, not a utility).

For everybodies edification, the press is exaggerating the issues with the nuclear plants.  These plants are designed to handle weird situations.  The concern is getting water for cooling.

The plants will use dirty water if they need to but they don't want to because, well, it's dirty and will require a lot of cleanup later.  Messy!

But not to worry, they will use dirty water if they have to in their tertiary cooling loops which will not get contaminated and there will be no radiactive problems.  They just might need to go in later and shovel mud out of their intake loops next week.

No biggy.  It's just that nobody wants to shovel mud (not me!, I like working in air conditioning with clean clothes).

Stay safe Kix, stay safe.

Thoughts and prayers are with you.

Cool. Thanks for the news. 

never seen a response so composed in the presence of fear before! Japanese people have an amazing inner strength. kudo to all of them

Thank you so much for posting. I add my good wishes to you and Japan to all already shared here. And I totally agree with rexus -- the way you handle things is beyond impressive.

Kixum, I’m here from a thread going on over at the Bryce forum and was directed here knowing that you are in the thick of things. Firstly, my thoughts and prayers are with you the people of Japan. We’ve been getting news here from several sources including CNN and FOX about the evolving devastation and they’re saying that iodine pills have been distributed and hospitals have received a few patients from nuclear plant areas that have tested positive for radioactivity from one plant and that a second plant is approaching dangerous meltdown  levels. We really don’t know the specifics and hoping that they’re less serious than reported. Are you guys getting any info on this development from government sources? How about survival supplies…food…water…first aid…how are these things holding up for you? God speed.

Here's a very quick update as to what's going on.

1.)  I'm here in Tokyo.  As far as Tokyo is concerned, the earthquake was mostly frightening but not devastating.  We were shaken pretty bad but injuries are quite light compared to how things have been going North of us.  Tokyo may encounter brown outs in the near future in order to shuttle power North where the power resources are shut down.  In general, Tokyo is fine.

2.)  I'm a nuclear engineer working here in Japan.  My training is focused on situations which are evolving now in the Fukushima plants.

The most important thing to realize is that the facts that I have available to me are from the news.  They are not significantly detailed and they do not convey a lot of the information that I would need to know to describe the situation clearly.  Much of what I am going to write below is constructed from assumptions based on the scattered facts I can glean from the news.

All of the nuclear plants in the area that have been impacted by the earthquake were shut down immediately.  This is a normal step for such situations.  Very soon after, the tsunami caused by the quake hit the Japanese coast and damaged some of the backup systems at one of the plants.  I know that two plants have had difficulty.  However one plant in particular has been seriously impacted.

After a nuclear power plant shuts down, there is still heat being generated in the core which takes time to decay off.  That heat needs to be removed.  The backup power systems at the plant were not working as they should.

The sequence of events from the point after the tsunami hit are unknown to me.  Based on my knowledge, I will assume that the plant did not have adequate power to continue cooling the core at a rate which was needed.

Based on what I am reading, it appears that the core eventually became too hot and started what is called a metal water reaction.  This is a situation where the zircalloy cladding on the fuel begins to react with the water.  The result is a chemical reaction which releases Hydrogen.

Again, please understand that I am making assumptions about the sequence of events based on the news.

For this particular type of reactor;

The reactor core is inside the reactor vessel.

The reactor vessel is inside a very large 6 inch thick steel pressure vessel.

The pressure vessel is inside the containment building.

The Hydrogen was vented from the reactor vessel and into the primary containment vessel.  Pressure in the containment vessel reached a level which required venting.  At that point, the containment was vented and Hydrogen was released into the containment building.

There is also a possibliity that Hydrogen from the turbine may have also found its way into the containment building.  I have no idea based on the limited facts.

At some point, the Hydrogen ignited and exploded.  This blew apart the containment building.  The primary pressure vessel which contains reactor is still intact and is still doing its job.  The reactor core is still inside the reactor vessel.

I am assuming that the utility determined that the plant was in a condition at which point commercial operation would not be viable in the future.  The utility then decided to pump borated sea water into the reactor to control the decay heat.

This basically means that the water and the boron will control the heat but the plant will never operate again due to the salt and the boron.  Based on the news, I believe the plant is under control and that there will be no more issues.

In the evolution of the Hydrogen release, some radioactive iodine and radioactive cesium has been leaked from the reactor.  The amounts are not known.  The situation is serious but I do not believe that there will be a significant environmental impact and I also believe that in general, people will be safe.

There were some people very seriously injured in the explosion.  There will certainly be some people who will have been exposed to radiation.  But overall, the incident is contained and is now being managed in a way that further damage should be mitigated.

So in summary, some people have been seriously injured.  A few people will have been exposed to radiation but I don't know how serious.  Some radiation has been leaked but I don't believe it will be a major problem.  Finally, the reactor is under control and no cataclysmic catastrophe will be caused.  Multiple safety systems designed to keep the core from getting out of the reactor complex are holding and will not be further compromised.

The second power plant that was suffering problems is also under control.  The utility was able to get cooling to the plant using fresh water.  From what I have gathered, there should be no further issues at that plant.

In terms of food and supplies, I am in the dark.  Tokyo is a significant distance from the truly impacted areas.  I'm sure that as soon as the trains are operating again that supplies will have the needed transit.  The air traffic at Tokyo is operating.  Therefore I conclude that any and all supplies are also being flown in as they're needed.

The Japanese have a lot of stuff setup for this kind of event because they've been predicting this sort of thing for a lot of years.  In addition, we have an earthquake here in Tokyo that I can actually feel about every 15 days.  Therefore earthquakes are expected and the Japanese are constantly vigilant about it.  In that sense, there's probably no other place which is better prepared for this type of disaster.

I am sure that Japan; like no place else on Earth is prepared to handle the aftermath of such a catastrophy. I'll bet the U.S. stands by to render assistance, if needed. Again, best of luck to you, and the Japanese people with these situations.

Kixum..my heart and prayers with you guys. Have family in Japan..and friends too. 

BBC has an ongoing live video stream on their website.. and as to what you ..there's also a page with an explanation and a diagram.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12723092

I wish we could all just dream away the nitemare you all are going on out there..maybe blow on a dandelion and let the seeds blow away that time as if it never happened.

hugs

eventually the americans and IAEA will get involved.  it's too big for the japanese to handle without help.  there is also concern about the lack of transparency in past environmental incidents involving mercury and damaged nuke plants.  anyway, hoping for the best and glad to know yer safe, kixum.  would advise going to europe or the states for now, if possible.

Thank you so much for the ingormation - my heart is with the whole country...

Attached Link: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/857974-japan-tsunami-victim-survives-after-being-swept-16km-out-to-sea

Erosiaart, I send my best hopes and wishes to your family and friends in Japan as well.

Quote - Erosiaart, I send my best hopes and wishes to your family and friends in Japan as well.

the same thought by me what about Gojira? never read about her/his condition

Rosie, I really, really hope all yrs relatives and friends in Japan are well and kicking....

As far as I know the japanese spirit, they will make it up albeit the tremendous, tremendous losses.

Hope also that that damned nuclear plant be sealed off for good ASAP

Hold tight

Just to get people a little caught up. The situation in Japan concerning the disaster victims continues to be serious. We are slowly getting things like food, water, and blankets out to the people that need them. Electricity is the most important thing as it brings light, heat, power to pump water, and power to pump gasoline and refrigeration for food. The weak are still perishing in the cold nights in the Northern regions. There are many countries providing help and more supplies are coming in. It just takes precious time which is always hard to be patient with. In terms of the nuclear situation, clearly things got very heavy duty. I will caution that the news has provided a lot of information which is false, confused, and highly exaggerated. The situation at Fukushima is very serious but is under control. The radiation releases are small. There will be a few people who worked at the plant that may get sick from it but the public is safe. There will be no cataclysm from this event. Several governments asked their nationals to leave and evacuate Tokyo. I have stayed because I'm a trained nuclear professional who can recognize a "cover my butt" declaration from one that is made using logic, facts, and knowledge. I know I'm safe in Japan and I continue to stay and support them as a colleague, friend, and ally should do. Things are getting better. The after shocks are REALLY GETTING TIRESOME!!!! Thankfully we only had two yesterday but they are more scary now than they used to be. I'm ready for them to end.

Thanks for the update Kix.

Stay safe and God speed.

cheers,
dg
;=]

Thank you for the update, Kixum!

And thank you for bringing us a saner representation of the events than what can be gathered from the news.

Good luck with your efforts! And I hope the after shocks are quieting down.

Kixum, It's been a while I've been here and it’s very good to hear from you. We know the situation is still serious and knowing full well that you good folks have had over 200 aftershock tremors many being well into 6.+ mag. As of yesterday they were saying that they have finally hooked electricity to some of the pumps and several of plants managed to get online and there’s some understanding that things are going well there. Still, they’re having troubles with a couple others. For a few days they’ve been saying that radiation has made it’s way into the food chain albeit in a few things like spinach and milk but at miniscule levels but nevertheless an ordinance has been out telling the people of Japan about it.

The most humbling thing is as you say helping those beyond the borders of relief. Those living still in shock and bad weather with enormous family loss being hungry and thirsty, possibly injured and not knowing what’s happening…that’s what bothers me now at this stage.  I’m sure everyone is trying to do their best to get to those people.

Now those workers struggling at the plants and all those people involved in the nuclear problem…I pray for them...they are phenomenal. Thank you Kixum stay well.