Posted on 03/12/2011 5:54:08 PM PST by Nobel_1
Japan should not expect a repeat of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster after an explosion blew the roof off one of its nuclear power plants that had been shaken in a huge earthquake, experts said on Saturday.
Japan's Daiichi 1 reactor north of the capital Tokyo began leaking radiation after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami, and swiftly prompted fears of a nuclear meltdown.
But experts said pictures of mist above the plant suggested only small amounts of radiation had been expelled as part of measures to ensure its stability, far from the radioactive clouds that Chernobyl spewed out when it exploded in 1986.
"The explosion at No. 1 generating set of the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, which took place today, will not be a repetition of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster," said Valeriy Hlyhalo, deputy director of the Chernobyl nuclear safety centre.
He was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying Japanese reactors were better protected than Chernobyl, where just over 30 firefighters were killed in the explosion. The world's worst civilian nuclear disaster, Chernobyl has also been blamed for thousands of deaths due to radiation-linked illness.
"Apart from that, these reactors are designed to work at a high seismicity zone, although what has happened is beyond the impact the plants were designed to withstand," Hlyhalo said.
"Therefore, the consequences should not be as serious as after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster."
(Excerpt) Read more at trust.org ...
CNN is deeply saddened...
bttt
Aren’t there multiple reactors in danger? If several blow that’s not a Category 7 disaster (highest possible for nuclear events).
I think the Japanese gov’t is trying to save face and prevent widespread panic.
If pumping in sea water — the salt has a corrosive effect and they are writing off ever using it again — this is far worse than we’re being told.
hehehe!
I could be wrong, but if this article proves to be true and the clean-up isn’t horrendously expensive, this “accident” could be the single best argument FOR nuclear power.
CNN is like the dog chasing a car ... once the dog catches up to the car he don't know what to do with it!!!
Of course Fox News just announced a little while ago that now the Japs are saying there is an emergency with the other reactor on that site. Bu they are not elaborating at the moment.
The word earlier was this plant was scheduled to go offline this year.
msnbc.com may have to downsize today’s giant font for this story.
I think posters on the internet are letting their vivid imaginations run wild. The reality is that the Japanese have many "tools' available to them to respond to this situation. They know what to do and will react in a far better manner than many internet posters are.
It’s not what Lincoln wanted to eradicate.
lol
there will be 0 looting in Japan
I believe the most that is required will handle this. It involves mass destruction and possible effects. This is a terrible event yet the world will do the best they can, That’s all.
These reactors are 40 years old and were actually scheduled to be taken offline permanently later this month.
That's exactly what I was thinking!
1) When the graphite moderators on that reactor overheated, it started to burn and became HIGHLY explosive.
2) There was no containment structure to stop the spread of the radioactive fallout from the reactor explosion.
That's why when Chernobyl exploded it easily spread as much fallout as that from a medium-yield nuclear bomb explosion.
A Nuc neighbor took me through a 40’s reactor when I was 14. It was not operational. The Cooling was still in place. This was Oak Ridge, TN. He advised us to not jump into the pool.
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