Martyn Williams' posterous

Pavement art outside Jobs' Palo Alto home

Water leak at Fukushima Daiichi No.5 reactor

This pretty dramatic picture from TEPCO shows a water leak in the temporary residual seat removal system (RHRS) cooling system of reactor number 5 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The leak was discovered in a pipe carrying seawater on the morning of July 3 during a patrol. The cooling system was turned off while the hose was replaced.

The temperature of the water in the reactor core rose about 5 degrees to 48 degrees while the water circulation was switched off, reported Nikkei. It would have taken 22 hours for the temperature to reach boiling point, said TEPCO.

Fukushima Daiichi when the tsunami hit

TEPCO has released some images shot from inside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant at the moment the tsunami hit.

The first set of images were taken on the 4th floor of the north side of radiation waste treatment facility. They were taken at 3:42pm (2 pictures), 3:34pm (3 pictures), 3:44pm (3 piictures), 3:46pm, 3:49pm and 3:57pm. (The earthquake occured at 2:46pm)

The images show how quickly the water flowed into the plant and how high it got. TEPCO previously said waters reached about 12 meters.

The second set of pictures were taken from the slope at the eastern side of radioactive solid waste storage facility.

Latest Fukushima Daiichi video

TEPCO has posted some of the longest and more revealing video yet from inside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

It's already being featured on TV, but the entire tape runs to 13 minutes so viewers are only seeing a little. Here, I'm posting the full tape broken down into six segments.

It was all shot on May 6, 2011.

Part 1

Contents:
Reactor buildings of Unit 1 and 2
Truck with nitrogen supply equipment
Car swept up by Tsunami
Removal of rubble by an unmanned heavy machinery
Crawler dump truck for spraying dust inhibitor
Spraying dust inhibitor by a crawler dump truck
Water spray to the spent fuel pool of Unit 4 by a concrete pumping vehicle

Part 2

Contents:
Temporary substation for Unit 1 and 2
Concrete placement to the vertical shaft of Unit 2 (1)
Concrete placement to the vertical shaft of Unit 2 (2)
Dust inhibitor sprayed around the circulating water pump of Unit 3
Cable trench pit for the water intake of Unit 2
Screen room of Unit 2
Steel sheet piles at the water intake of Unit 2
Silt fence installed around the water intake of Unit 2

Part 3

Contents:
Temporary motor driven pump for water injection to the reactors of Unit1 to 3
Heavy oil tank swept up by Tsunami
Suppression pool's water surge-tank near Unit 5 and 6
Ultrahigh voltage switching station of Unit 5 and 6
Temporary tank installed near Unit 5 and 6 (1)
Temporary tank installed near Unit 5 and 6 (2)

Part 4

Contents:
Building for diesel generator 6B of Unit 6
Rubble container
Transfer of container
Administration Office Building (exterior)
Administration Office Building (interior 1)
Administration Office Building (interior 2)

Part 5

Contents:
1st floor of the turbine building of Unit 1(1)
1st floor of the turbine building of Unit 1(2)
Local exhauster installed in the turbine building of Unit 1
Positive pressure room installed at the turbine building of Unit 1
Entrance of Main Anti-Earthquake Building(A prefabricated house used for access control)

Part 6

Contents:
Measurement of radioactivity in Main Anti-Earthquake Building
Spare protective equipments(1)
Spare protective equipments(2)
Entrance of Main Anti-Earthquake Building(from inside)
Emergency headquarters
Water supply area of Main Anti-Earthquake Building
Passing forward daily commodities in Main Anti-Earthquake Building
Encouraging messages posted on the walls of Main Anti-Earthquake Building

Megafloat at Fukushima Daiichi

The "megafloat" storage barge approaches the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in these photos, pictured shortly before 6am on May 15. It will be used to hold 10,000 tons of radioactive water, produced from the water dousing operations that have been going on more or less daily at the plant to keep the reactors cool.

If you're wondering about those green patches on the top, they provide a clue to its previous life as a floating fishing platform in Shizoka. A Google Maps satellite image of it in Shimizu port is below.

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Fukushima Daiichi reactor 1, 4 latest video

Tokyo Electric Power has released new video from inside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The first video shows the air filtration system that has been installed outside the containment vessel of reactor 1. It's been there since Thursday to pull air out, filter radioactive particles from it, and return it to the vessel.

The second video is a close-up look at the spent-fuel pool in reactor 4. Debris from damage to the building can be seen on top of the fuel rods. There's also what appears to be part of an access ladder.

Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 4 spent fuel pool

TEPCO has released a very short video clip of the spent fuel pool inside reactor 4. The camera seems to dip into the water for only a few seconds. It's all over quite fast, so I've posted a video grab too.

NHK broadcast the same video and pointed out debris sitting on top of the fuel rods.

Update: The video was shot on April 28. NHK has posted a story online [Japanese] and quotes TEPCO as saying the video shows there is no major damage visible to the fuel rods.

What the robots saw inside Fukushima Daiichi

Video from inside units 2 and 3 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. There's a companion story too.

Inside TEPCO's nuclear crisis command center

Tokyo Electric Power has provided a series of images and one video of the company's nuclear crisis command center. The room is located inside TEPCO's headquarters in central Tokyo and is linked to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and other command centers by video conference.

These pictures were taken on April 15 and provided to the media on April 18.

In some of the images, you can see Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Banri Kaeida; TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu; TEPCO Vice President Sakae Muto; and TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata.

Robots enter Fukushima Daiichi reactor building