The building behind the large white vent stack is unit 2. The emissions seem to be coming most directly from that unit, although its hard to rule out unit 3, which is mostly out of view to your right of unit 2.
The TEPCO cam 4, focused on unit 4, isn't showing the emissions as overtly so my guess is that unit 2 is the source since that unit is difficult to see from this cam:
The Futaba cam view is very, very, very dark today. It looks as if TEPCO has turned most of its lights off.
If you check my post from yesterday you can see comparative shots and a link to a pdf, saved in dropbox, of recent screenshots.
TEPCO recently announced it is delaying its timeline for removing fuel from units 1 and 2:
Chikako Kawahara (2017, September 26). 3-year delay in removal of fuel rods from Fukushima plant. The Asahi Shimbun, http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201709260025.html
The government on Sept. 26 revised its long-term plan to decommission the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, citing high levels of radiation. It said the three-year delay concerns the removal of spent fuel rods kept in storage pools at the No. 1 and 2 reactor buildings and will not affect the overall plan to fully dismantle the facility within 30 to 40 years.Unit 2 has always been something of a mystery.
I don't understand what the delay is in unit 2. What happened with that unit? I searched my records briefly for background information on unit 2 that might be helpful in explaining why that unit cannot be offloaded despite having the least evidence of structural building damage.
Looking back, I find concerns that unit 2 was experiencing ongoing nuclear criticalities (please note these links are no longer valid as the news stories have been removed or moved):
Temperature at No.2 reactor remains high. (2012, February 6). NHK, http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20120206_29.html
Attempts to cool the temperature in the No. 2 reactor of the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have only partially succeeded despite the injection of more cooling water. The temperature in the reactor has gradually risen from about 45 degrees Celsius registered on January 27th. In the past 4 days, the temperature has climbed more than 20 degrees to above 70 degrees.
The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company began pumping more water into the reactor at around 1:30 AM on Monday. But at 7 AM, the temperature stood at 73.3 degrees and at 5 PM, 69.2 degrees. The utility firm says 2 other thermometers elsewhere in the reactor gave readings of about 44 degrees.
TEPCO says the rise in temperatures indicate that the flow of water in the reactor may have changed direction after plumbing work, and is no longer able to properly cool down the melted down nuclear fuel. However, the utility says radioactive xenon has not been detected in gases around the reactor, and that nuclear criticality is not taking place.Allegations that criticalities were occurring at unit 2 started in 2011:
GLG "Expert Contributor" (2011, April 11). TEPCO Data Show Ongoing Criticalities Inside Leaking Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2, GLGroup, Available http://www.glgroup.com/News/TEPCO-Data-Shows-Ongoing-Criticalities-Inside-Leaking-Fukushima-Daiichi-Unit-2-53751.htmlThe historical record of information suggests strongly that at least one of the units at Fukushima Daiichi had a complete "melt-through" of fuel. I always suspected that was unit 1 but perhaps unit 2 also experienced significant melt-through. I'll follow up on this unit with more information soon.
Data released on April 28, 2011 by TEPCO is now unequivocal in showing ongoing criticalities at Unit 2, with a peak on April 13. TEPCO graphs of radioactivity-versus-time in water under each of the six reactors show an ongoing nuclear chain reaction creating high levels of "fresh" I-131 in Unit 2, the same reactor pressure vessel (RPV) with a leak path to reactor floor, aux building, and outdoor trenches, that is uncontrollably leaking high levels of I-131, Cs-134, Cs-137 into the Pacific Ocean.
Could be. I did see people coming and going
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