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I see the #3 reactor building just went up. They're saying it's the same problem but Saturday's explosion appeared to be a "clean" hydrogen explosion whereas this one is absolutely full of dirt and dust. Gut instinct says this is much worse.
There was some speculation that while they were happy to pump sea water into #1 (because like Lloyd says it was two weeks away from retirement), they were being more hesitant about doing it to #3 to now write it off.
There was some speculation that while they were happy to pump sea water into #1 (because like Lloyd says it was two weeks away from retirement), they were being more hesitant about doing it to #3 to now write it off.
The GE reactor design at Fukushima #1 that exploded on saturday has it's spent fuel rod cooling ponds above the reactor. You can see them below in the diagram under the crane. Seems like a pretty crazy place to put them from the point of view of this type of accident...
I suspect that they didn't anticipate the accident but concur that it seems like they're trying to 'save' this one. Perhaps they thought that they could do something different in venting the steam to prevent the formation of hydrogen, but it didn't work as there were people in the facility who were injured.
Perhaps it's financial, perhaps they're thinking on how they'll get producing electricity again, quickly.
None of those three are going to be producing electricity again soon, that's for sure.
When #3 went up some pretty hefty stuff was thrown high in the air. The BBC's videos are better but you can see it in the clip below. Look for it falling back to earth in the second view.
That's not just roof panels. There is a pretty concentrated eruption of material going straight up. If it was just a hydrogen explosion in the upper part of the building (outside the radiation shield) it surely would have been more omni-directional.
When #3 went up some pretty hefty stuff was thrown high in the air. The BBC's videos are better but you can see it in the clip below. Look for it falling back to earth in the second view.
That's not just roof panels. There is a pretty concentrated eruption of material going straight up. If it was just a hydrogen explosion in the upper part of the building (outside the radiation shield) it surely would have been more omni-directional.
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Now they're saying the explosion in the #3 reactor caused the cooling system in the #2 reactor to fail. They say bad things come in threes...
benji4
Roadster 2.5 #0476
The whole situation here has a lot of people quite scared and I'm sure that the government is trying to downplay it as much as possible to keep people from additional stress and perhaps to save some face as well. Today rolling blackouts were not needed as people voluntarily cut way back on power use -- the city looked darker than I have ever seen it. Everything sports and media even you can imagine have been cancelled, health clubs shut down, people have cancelled travel plans, etc. Many train lines were completely shut down because if a blackout occurs signals at crossing would go out of course. So even the possiblity of the blackouts kept several lines shutdown again for the day. One guy I work with biked 4 1/2 hours from his house to work this morning since his train line was out!
I think stories like this are confusing the situation BBC News - Japan earthquake: Meltdown alert at Fukushima reactor
This photo shows the damage
#1's concrete floor looks intact but #3 looks like a mess.
Then you get
So if the reactors are ok then how are fuel rods getting exposed? I think it is the spent ones in the pools outside the reactor containment and this is either getting lost in translation or media ignorance.
This photo shows the damage
#1's concrete floor looks intact but #3 looks like a mess.
Then you get
So if the reactors are ok then how are fuel rods getting exposed? I think it is the spent ones in the pools outside the reactor containment and this is either getting lost in translation or media ignorance.
DISCLAIMER: Australian Radiation Services is aware of information about radioactive contamination being spread from the Japanese nuclear reactor incident released under the ARS logo and name. We wish to be clear that this information has not originated from ARS and as such distance ourselves from any such misinformation.
Australian Radiation Services Pty. Ltd.
"Fuel rods exposed" means "they aren't covered with cooling water". They're exposed inside the containment structure.
Any radiation release is from vented steam, which is released to prevent an explosion due to overpressure. It contains mainly very short-lived isotopes.
"One map that went viral showed color-coded plumes of radiation moving eastward across the Pacific and the prediction that radiation levels measuring 3,000 rads would reach the Aleutian Island chain in three days. Levels of 1,500 rads will hit the northern coast of British Columbia within a week and western North American "from Alaska to the Baja tip in 10 days, with radiation levels of 750 rads,'' the posting warned.
These numbers, which would kill or sicken quickly, have absolutely no basis in fact at all. And, according to a radiation expert at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, they are more typical of the levels that might occur after a nuclear attack"
These numbers, which would kill or sicken quickly, have absolutely no basis in fact at all. And, according to a radiation expert at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, they are more typical of the levels that might occur after a nuclear attack"
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Well, we have reports of one fuel rod being wholly exposed, which is difficult to envisage or indeed monitor if that were the explanation.
There is a blog circulating that claims that just steam with some short lived products was being vented, but that is at odds with the build up of hydrogen that was supposed to be behind the first explosion and reports of cesium 137 being detected locally. It's obviously hot enough to crack water, but we can't really say whether there aren't fission products in the outgassing too.
This photo shows the damage
#1's concrete floor looks intact but #3 looks like a mess.
Source Image in higher resolution
(Credit: DigitalGlobe)
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Some of the cladding on the fuel rods has almost certainly melted, which means there would be some amount of nastier isotopes in the vented steam. But it's better to release some radioactivity deliberately than risk a much bigger incident.
The plant was designed to contain a worst-case full meltdown incident - something that Chernobyl was not even remotely designed to do. Let's hope they don't have to test that, though.
The plant was designed to contain a worst-case full meltdown incident - something that Chernobyl was not even remotely designed to do. Let's hope they don't have to test that, though.
The BBC were a bit naughty by painting him as an independent academic and not someone who (as wikipedia says) is a vocal critic of the nuclear industry, so as with everything it seems, take it with a pinch of salt.
Having said that, the video looks that way to me too.
Having said that, the video looks that way to me too.
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