Fukushima Dai-Ichi: How A Nuclear Power Plant Works [Added: MIT NSE Nuclear Information Hub]

akihabaranews ^ | March 14th,2011 at 8:52 AM | Editors

[fight_truth_decay]

Japan being a major player in the constantly improved development in health and safety for it’s millions of inhabitants, clearly has more than one trick up it’s sleeve to make sure IF disaster hits the spot, that the people are as safe as possible. Unfortunately a tsunami + an 8.9 earthquake is just a bit to huge for even the most water tight evacuation plan out there. The Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear reactor buildings located closely to the epicenter of the quake are under constant monitorring and everything possible is done to make sure IF radioactive substances hit the air, the contaminated zone would be less than the 20km barrier currently used as a safety buffer. This is Fukushima Dai-Ichi, a state of the art reactor plant which won’t blow up like the current media headlines are stating.

What happened: A) Due to the earthquake a wall got breached/cripped B) The power went out due to the tsunami’s water reaching the building, rendering even the backup generators useless. Due to these events a hydrogen tank blew up. C) 4 reactor cores are presently cooled with sea water (which is very corrosive and will most probably render the reactors useless after the emergency situation is moderate again.

Facts: Reactor cores can go up to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit for the core still to be functioning, only when it heats up to about 4000 degrees Fahrenheit one can say they pose an imminent risk to melting since this is about the maximum temperature where the Uranium pellet start to melt. Only when the 4000 degrees barrier is breached, the potential exposure the radioactive substances is possible since the melting Uranium would corrode/eat it’s way through the reactor.

So how does a nuclear power plant work (explained very roughly in a few basic steps):

[fight_truth_decay]

Also link above changed to:

Information about the incident at the Fukushima Nuclear Plants in Japan hosted by http://web.mit.edu/nse/ :: Maintained by the students of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT

Posted on March 15, 2011 by mitnse

The pressure in the pool was seen to decrease from three atmospheres to one atmosphere after the noise, suggesting possible damage. Radiation levels on the edge of the plant compound briefly spiked at 8217 microsieverts per hour but later fell to about a third that.

A close watch is being kept on the radiation levels to ascertain the status of containment. As a precaution Tokyo Electric Power Company has evacuated all non-essential personnel from the unit. The company’s engineers continue to pump seawater into the reactor pressure vessel, in an effort to cool it..more @ [NSE]Nuclear Science & Engineering at MIT

..or you can choose to get the facts from the MSM.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[fight_truth_decay]

*SNIP*

* Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 reactor
o At 11:01AM on March 14, an explosion occurred at Fukushima
Daiichi Unit 3 reactor damaging the roof of the secondary
containment building. Caused by the interaction of hydrogen
and oxygen vapor, in a fashion to Unit 1 reactor, the
explosion *did not damage the primary containment vessel* or
the reactor core.
o As of 12:38AM (JST) on March 15, the injection of seawater
has been suspended.
* Fukushima Daini Unit 1 reactor
o As of 1:24AM on March 14, TEPCO commenced the cooling
process after the pumping system was restored.
o At 10:15AM on March 14, TEPCO confirmed that the average
water temperature held constant below 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
* Fukushima Daini Unit 2 reactor
o At 7:13AM on March 14, TEPCO commenced the cooling process.
o As of 3:52PM on March 14, the cooling function was restored
and the core temperature was stabilized below 212 degrees
Fahrenheit.
* Fukushima Daini Unit 3 reactor
o As of 12:15PM on March 13, reactor has been cooled down and
stabilized.
* Fukushima Daini Unit 4 reactor__
o At 3:42PM on March 14, cooling of the reactor commenced,
with TEPCO engineers working to achieve cold shutdown

http://mitnse.com/

[Rennes Templar]

Glenn Beck had a good program today, showing the MSM is parading nuclear fear to further their agenda, with much propoganda coming from Soros-funded organizations.

He also said the MSM is ignoring the “fallout” on our economy due to the fact that Japan will stop buying our debt bonds, as they will have to invest in their own recovery.

[carbonarc]

Some images of BWR reactors typical to the units in distress in Japan.

[fight_truth_decay]

Did that information interrupt Obama’s golf swing or his next campaign financing scheduled appearance?

I had to turn off some pundits this afternoon, as it was just too embarrassing to listen to the coverage.

I apologize, am just being a mean spirited bully!

[fight_truth_decay]

Thanks very much for adding the visual.

[Domangart]

As I understand it the zirconium coating reacts at about 1200 degrees and strips off an atom of Hydrogen. The rod is then oxidized. The build up of Hydrogen which has been planed for results in an explosion which is directed to the blow out panels located above the top of the vessel. The pellets themselves are made out of ceramic and will melt above 12,000 degrees.

[Crucial]

bookmark

[jwalsh07]

btt

[fight_truth_decay]

http://seekingalpha.com/article/176665-is-japan-going-to-stop-buying-our-debt

Japan, the biggest international buyer of U.S. treasuries.

That was then; but could become more of a reality now.

[D-fendr]

thanks for posting..

[Right Wing Assault]

Due to these events a hydrogen tank blew up.

Huh? I don't think so.