Let’ see.
THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE, SEE?
NO ONE IS IN ANY DANGER EXCEPT THEY CAN’T TURN ON THE LIGHTS IS ALL.
“He is a PhD Scientist, whose father has extensive experience in Germany’s nuclear industry.”
Good, let’s hear from the father.
“...and hype-free analysis of the Fukushima situation.”
By an economist.
This is all kinda funny. I hate to tell them but Chernobyl was not even in the same league as these reactors. It was so bad (typical Soviet construction crap) it was made out of Chinese drywall.
Agreed. There’s been a lot of crap posted, on FR and everywhere. When it’s obvious that no one has true knowledge of a developing situation the prudent thing to do is sit tight and not pass along crap info, but that doesn’t compute for some.
This is the first one thats made sense.
Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors
Morgsatlarge ^ | 3/13/2011 | Dr. Josef Oehmen (M.I.T.)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2688108/posts
Yes, a great article (I read it on another thread this morning.
Thanks for posting. BTTT!
I have a question - regarding the conumbrum about I-131 - potassium iodide that people stock up on in the event of a nuclear accident near them - per this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_iodine
and yet - it’supposedly report “estimated that more than half the iodine-131 from Chernobyl [which increases the risk of thyroid cancer] was deposited outside the former Soviet Union
“
Good find.
Commendations for posting this fact-based, non-hysteria inducing article, Scutter. We need more posts like this on the forum right now, and less hyperventilating.
FR should be a counter-balance to the corrupt and irresponsible MSM, not a counterpart.
He may have distributed his father's analysis. As it stands, its reliability is unclear.
Excellent overview - Chernobyl was a disaster, Fukushima (so far) has been a problem, Three Mile Island was a blip, in that order.
But getting info on this incident from the standard media has been about as useless as getting it from a Jane Fonda movie - read the posted article for a rational treatment of the situation.
Excellent read, and excellent level of detail.
Bflr.
Now, where does that leave us?
* The plant is safe now and will stay safe.
* Japan is looking at an INES Level 4 Accident: Nuclear accident with local consequences. That is bad for the company that owns the plant, but not for anyone else.
* Some radiation was released when the pressure vessel was vented. All radioactive isotopes from the activated steam have gone (decayed). A very small amount of Cesium was released, as well as Iodine. If you were sitting on top of the plants’ chimney when they were venting, you should probably give up smoking to return to your former life expectancy. The Cesium and Iodine isotopes were carried out to the sea and will never be seen again.
* There was some limited damage to the first containment. That means that some amounts of radioactive Cesium and Iodine will also be released into the cooling water, but no Uranium or other nasty stuff (the Uranium oxide does not “dissolve” in the water). There are facilities for treating the cooling water inside the third containment. The radioactive Cesium and Iodine will be removed there and eventually stored as radioactive waste in terminal storage.
* The seawater used as cooling water will be activated to some degree. Because the control rods are fully inserted, the Uranium chain reaction is not happening. That means the “main” nuclear reaction is not happening, thus not contributing to the activation. The intermediate radioactive materials (Cesium and Iodine) are also almost gone at this stage, because the Uranium decay was stopped a long time ago. This further reduces the activation. The bottom line is that there will be some low level of activation of the seawater, which will also be removed by the treatment facilities.
* The seawater will then be replaced over time with the “normal” cooling water
* The reactor core will then be dismantled and transported to a processing facility, just like during a regular fuel change.
* Fuel rods and the entire plant will be checked for potential damage. This will take about 4-5 years.
* The safety systems on all Japanese plants will be upgraded to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami (or worse)
* I believe the most significant problem will be a prolonged power shortage. About half of Japan’s nuclear reactors will probably have to be inspected, reducing the nation’s power generating capacity by 15%. This will probably be covered by running gas power plants that are usually only used for peak loads to cover some of the base load as well. That will increase your electricity bill, as well as lead to potential power shortages during peak demand, in Japan.
Now, y'all watch out for the 1000 ft. tsunami washing clear to Canada from the Gulf of Mexico when the ocean floor collapses from the oil companies pumping all the oil and gas outta there, y'hear! (/s, as if!)
ping...
Thanks. I read the WHOLE thing! Very helpful and I’ve added the site to my favorites bar for further ref.