Posted on 03/12/2011 8:16:13 AM PST by Chunga85
The Institute for Public Accuracy issued the following statement by nuclear expert, Kevin Kamp, about the risk of nuclear disaster in post-Earthquake Japan: “The electrical grid is down. The emergency diesel generators have been damaged. The multi-reactor Fukushima atomic power plant is now relying on battery power, which will only last around eight hours. The danger is, the very thermally hot reactor cores at the plant must be continuously cooled for 24 to 48 hours. Without any electricity, the pumps won’t be able to pump water through the hot reactor cores to cool them. Once electricity is lost, the irradiated nuclear fuel could begin to melt down. If the containment systems fail, a catastrophic radioactivity release to the environment could occur.”
“In addition to the reactor cores, the storage pool for highly radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel is also at risk. The pool cooling water must be continuously circulated. Without circulation, the still thermally hot irradiated nuclear fuel in the storage pools will begin to boil off the cooling water. Within a day or two, the pool’s water could completely boil away. Without cooling water, the irradiated nuclear fuel could spontaneously combust in an exothermic reaction. Since the storage pools are not located within containment, a catastrophic radioactivity release to the environment could occur. Up to 100 percent of the volatile radioactive Cesium-137 content of the pools could go up in flames and smoke, to blow downwind over large distances. Given the large quantity of irradiated nuclear fuel in the pool, the radioactivity release could be worse than the Chernobyl nuclear reactor catastrophe of 25 years ago.”
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.forbes.com ...
Yawn... we’ve been subjected to so much of this chicken little BS over the past few decades that it is hard to take seriously anymore. Even Chernobyl didn’t live up to the billing.
wow...just wow.
Here's all you need to know about this guy's "creds":
And our Japanese friends are much better engineers and businessmen than Ivan. They will handle this OK.
"The Institute for Public Accuracy is a Washington, D.C.-based organization that encourages mainstream news media to interview alternative sources."
Forbes is quoting anti-nuke hysterics from a leftwing whorehouse. Dumb shits at Forbes.
What in the world has happened to Forbes.
The family turned the magazine publishing over to a new entity and the quality of the articles and the news is down to tabloid quality.
He’s full of crap.
Chernobyl was a graphite-moderated reactor. The situation was made MUCH worse there when the graphite caught fire. Their plant design lacked a hard containment vessel as western plants have. And their problems were operator-induced.
These plants are right on the seacoast. If they make a decision to flood with seawater, they have plenty of it nearby. Unlike Chernobyl, where they had to airlift sand to smother the fire that resulted.
All disaster teams should be diverted immediately to Forbes...got it.
Of note:
Kevin attended Earlham College, a Society of Friends (Quaker) school in Richmond, Indiana, as well as Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he studied biology and chemistry, respectively.
Gee, that's somebody who's opinion I REALLY want to trust!
BS, all of it.
Not worth responding in more detail. See credible sources for information if you want to know the facts.
Sounds like bulls*** to me, theyre pumping seawater and boric acid into the containment area which should cool it down. All they have to do it keep it below 1000C.
I agree, ignore this environmental BS. Just give a donation to this ravaged country. They’re one of the few allies we have left in the world. They are as technologically proficient as anyone in the world. Given enough time they will rebuild.
At time of explosion, 3 people were 1 km north waiting for helicopter and were exposed to the radiation.
“Without any electricity, the pumps won’t be able to pump water through the hot reactor cores to cool them.”
Of course it is! Waste no crisis!
“Risk of Nuclear Catastrophe Escalates in Japan – ‘Worse than Chernobyl’”
Oy. Where to start?
Well, let’s start off saying that the Chernobyl actuality wasn’t/isn’t a risk*, that the Nuclear situation in Japan *is* means that it, by definition, cannot be worse than Chernobyl. (It may, however, have the potential to be worse than Chernobyl.)
* There actually was a higher risk-factor with Chernobyl before the disaster because they were not employing [proper] safety protocols.
This will feed the anti-nuke kooks for another few decades. Meanwhile, we’ll grow that much more dependent on others for our energy needs.
Folks, we have to keep it in perspective.
If all of the nuclear reactors in Japan went critical, melted down and lit up simultaneously, it would do less damage to our country than the current administration.
Just sayin’
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