This is a clearinghouse diary for the ongoing disaster unfolding at the Fukushima nuclear power plants. Use it for commentary, or to provide and receive information as it develops.
The previous two diaries can be found here and here. h/t and much love to joanneleon and boatsie
Additional resource diaries are:
What the Fukushima? Q&A Richard Cranium's helpful primer.
Why Japan is giving iodine to its residents More info, from kossack Samer.
kbman's What, exactly, IS a nuclear meltdown?
Debate and commentary on nuclear power, it's safety (or lack thereof) can be found in mahakali overdrive's diary, Fukushima's Safe? Say it to my face.
"Cooling inoperative in six reactors" by lotlizard is "a partial translation of the front page article from the weekend edition of the left-alternative German daily die Tageszeitung — or "Taz" for short." Quite helpful.
Updates and resource links below the fold.
Basic synopsis: The earthquake in Japan has caused damage to the reactors we'll call Fukushima 1 and Fukushima 2. Cooling systems have failed, been disrupted, in some cases, and at least one explosion has occurred. There is a possibility of other explosions, venting of radioactive material, or meltdown. Some 200,000 people are being evacuated.
That seems to be the crux of it, to me, but any corrections are welcome.
Links to media coverage:
CNN
BBC
The Washington Post
Al Jazeera English
The Guardian
Recent updates:
Washington Post:
Japanese authorities said Sunday that efforts to restart the cooling system at one of the reactors damaged by Friday's earthquake had failed, a major setback in the struggle to contain what has become the most serious nuclear power crisis in a quarter century.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said officials were acting on the assumption that a meltdown could be underway at that reactor, Fukushima Daiichi's unit 3, and that it was "highly possible" that a meltdown was underway at Fukushima Daiichi's unit 1 reactor, where an explosion destroyed a building a day earlier.
BBC:
There is a risk of a second explosion at the quake-damaged Fukushima power station, Japanese officials say, as police warn that the death toll in the area worst affected by Friday's tsunami could exceed 10,000.
[Update]
Japanese PM Naoto Kan: "This earthquake and tsunami and also the situation concerning the nuclear power stations are perhaps the hardest hardship that we have experienced after World War Two, within these fifty years. Whether we as Japanese people can overcome these hardships, that is dependent on each of us as Japanese citizens."
Reference Information
Many thanks to boatsie who provided this information from her diary on the same subject, 'we are assuming melt down has occurred" & upgraded to 9!
Live Streaming:
NHK Japan Live: NHK Japan Live
Al Jazeera Japan Live: Al Jazeera Japan Live
France24 Live: France24 Live
Twitter – Real Time Updates:
IAEA
WFP
#earthquake: Twitter #earthquake
#japan: Twitter #japan
#tsunami: Twitter #tsunami
#EQJP #japanearthquake, #JPQuake, #japaneq, #japantsunami, #ynwa, #japaneq
People Connections
Earthquake in Japan: Help Google and Ushahidi Rescue Trapped Citizens and Reunite Families
Updated by Marcus Tullius at Tue Mar 15, 2011, 03:25:32 AM
This is an old diary. Please do not rec it.