Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors

Morgsatlarge ^ | 3/13/2011 | Dr. Josef Oehmen (M.I.T.)

[Vendome]

I bow to your excellent post.

Love the fact that the material has a half life of mere seconds and is not really a threat.

Further, the entire containment system and Dr. Oehmen’s explanation is superb.

Now I can go on about my day and give a quick tutorial to others, hopefully giving them ease of mind.

[Qbert]

Thanks.

Just to clarify, I’m not the author of the blog- I just felt it was important to post this because there seems to be a lot of misinformation floating around the Internet about the reactors.

(I will be speaking this week with a friend of mine whose father is a nuclear scientist, and will try to see if he has any further information that may be helpful.)

[COBOL2Java]

This guy should be on TV every channel.

Oh no! Can't let *that* happen. If he did, then people would no longer be alarmed, and they [gasp] might stop watching 24-hour news! The loss of advertising revenue! Think of the loss of revenue!

[FrogMom]

Thank you!

The reporting has been atrocious.

[Mariner]

Very informative.

Can anyone verify there is, in fact, a 3rd containment at the reactor in question?

[SAJ]

For those of us who are not engaged in nuclear physics and found the good doctor's commentary very clear and informative, could you please elabourate on any inaccuracies.

Also, what is the half-life of the radioactive isotopes of iodine and cesium to which the doctor refers? These numbers did not appear in the article (or, perhaps I just missed them). These would seem to be somewhat of importance, as radioactive cesium is oftentimes mentioned as the principal nasty agent in a (putative) terrorist dirty-bomb attack.

Thank you for any corrections/information you can add, and FReegards!

[mad_as_he$$]

Thnaks for this.

[mad_as_he$$]

Thanks for this.

[mad_as_he$$]

Ok this makes more sense than the “diesel fuel was contaiminated with seawater” line from yesterday.

[ThunderSleeps]

Thanks for posting this, and thanks to the original author for explaining the situation.

Did anyone else have to look up the word "tendentious?" Or am I just the product of a State educational system? :-)

[Larry Lucido]

I vote for this thread, because it was posted in full. :-)

[Mariner]

OK, I just looked some things up and I have to call BS! on this "blog". No fault to Qbert, he's just passing it along.

First, the GE BWR-1 reactor in question has NO 3rd containment. If the "pressure cooker" is breached, the fuel is exposed to the environment.

Secondly, Cesium-137 has a 30yr half-life. If you were to get a big breath full of that steam, you would likely have health problems, if not serious health problems. That's not to say it was concentrated or didn't adequately disperse at sea.

[Moonman62]

I will try to summarize the main facts. The earthquake that hit Japan was 7 times more powerful than the worst earthquake the nuclear power plant was built for (the Richter scale works logarithmically; the difference between the 8.2 that the plants were built for and the 8.9 that happened is 7 times, not 0.7). So the first hooray for Japanese engineering, everything held up.

When the earthquake hit with 8.9, the nuclear reactors all went into automatic shutdown. Within seconds after the earthquake started, the moderator rods had been inserted into the core and nuclear chain reaction of the uranium stopped. Now, the cooling system has to carry away the residual heat. The residual heat load is about 3% of the heat load under normal operating conditions.

Good post overall, but the earthquake was 8.9 at the epicenter, not where the nuclear reactors are.

[HalfFull]

Good read.....

[RckyRaCoCo]

bookmarked

[BwanaNdege]

THIS IS WHY I LOVE Free Republic!

Lots of accurate, comprehensive information, usually with references.

Thanks for posting, Qbert!

[Toddsterpatriot]

Iodine 131 has a half life of about 8 days, so it's very radioactive and absorbed by the thyroid.

Cesium 137 is a lot less radioactive, it has a half life of about 30 years. As far as I know, it doesn't have a special affinity for a specific organ or tissue

[reed13k]

I am a perfect example of how partial knowledge can be dangerous. I nod to better information. My profs would’ve had my ass for some of my thoughts. Great info.

[reg45]

Cesium is in the same grouping on the periodic chart (1A) as sodium and potassium and therefore could be found anywhere those two elements (or their salts) are found. In other words, just about everywhere.

[grey_whiskers]

*PING*