Please Unrec this diary and rec Joanneleon Meltdown(s)? for the latest developments.
Other diaries throughout the day have included:
•Explosion Hits Japanese Reactor by Meteor Blades
•Fukushima's safe? Say it to my face. - Updated by mahakali overdrive
• Breaking:Fukushima Japan Reactor: What's Happening, Meltdown?by nathguy
• Emergency at Second Japanese Nuclear Reactor (same plant) Possible Meltdown Now Underway+ by lgcap
•OND From Wisconsin to Japan by Leon Vincent
•Fukushima Updateby DarkSyde
Also, refer to LiveBlog Group Page for previous postings on Japanese Earthquake
BREAKING AND UPDATED: Word that two Fukushima nuclear power plants are now suspected of being in state of meltdown as attempts to cool them down have failed. Follow comments below for explanations from resident 'experts.' Meltdown may be occurring right now!
Just in at 8:45 PST ... First meltdown Japan has ever experienced ...
Japan quake magnitude raised to 9.0
Japan's Meteorological Agency says the magnitude of Friday's earthquake that hit the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan was 9.0 instead of 8.8 as earlier announced.
Update: 9:32 n/t tubacat
Guardian ArticleIncluding a good explanation of exactly what exploded (hydrogen from fuel rods reacting with water):
Temperature in the reactor vessel apparently kept rising, heating the zirconium cladding that makes up the fuel rod casings. Once the zirconium reached 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (1,200 Celsius), it reacted with the water, becoming zirconium oxide and hydrogen.
—When the hydrogen-filled steam was vented from the reactor vessel, the hydrogen reacted with oxygen, either in the air or water outside the vessel, and exploded.
Also makes very clear what will happen if they are not able to stop the overheating of the reactor:
If the reactor core became exposed to the external environment, officials would likely began pouring cement and sand over the entire facility, as was done at the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident in the Ukraine, Peter Bradford, a former commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in a briefing for reporters.
At that point, Bradford added, "many first responders would die."
Snippets ....
Source: New Science Cooling has failed at a second reactor at Japan's quake-stricken nuclear plant circa 7:30PST
... Officials are wearing orange hazmat suits.
.... Japanese government to distribute iodine to population, 170,000 evaculated, nine people have been found to have traces of radioactivity on clothing ... military has moved in....
Watch live
"that is very serious .. on the road to a science fiction meltdown... we are talking about "cesium in the air" .... we can expect this area to be closed off for quite some time to come .... the spokesperson is choosing words very carefully. after the explosion the radiation WOULD go down it would dissipate... I wonder if space based satellites couldn't be repositioned to see what is actually in the air."
"These claims are extraordinary." Nye
NOTES
Humanity Road Japan Media Monitoring provides hyperlinks to all sources below and others
Google Earth Engine is starting to compile reports here is a fusion table showing the tsunami warnings link
The Explosion Earlier today
Fukushima, Japan - Nuclear Reactor Explosion - March 12, 2011
There are also numerous other diaries on rec list and recent rec'd.