Posted on 03/15/2011 8:13:35 AM PDT by SE Mom
Latest news from Japan:
From the BBC-
1456: Tepco says it may start pouring water from a helicopter over Fukushima Daiichi's reactor four in the next few days, to cool the spent-fuel pool.
1439: A 30km (18 mile) no-fly zone is in place around Fukushima, says the IAEA.
1436: The IAEA says Monday's blast at Fukushima may have affected the integrity of the containment vessel - there are fears of more serious radioactive leaks if happen.
1435: Following earlier reports, it appears there has been more than one strong aftershock in Japan - AP reports two tremors measuring over 6.0 within three minutes of each other.
Twitter-
-US Geological Survey counts 451 aftershocks since the initial earthquake struck Japan Friday. 238 of them registered magnitude 5.0 or more.
-Despite situations in Japan & Libya, spksmn Jay Carney says Pres Obama's 5-day trip to Brazil, Chile & El Salvador starting Fri night is on.
-FLASH: More U.S. military personnel in Japan testing positive for low-levels of radiation, relief missions to continue - Navy 18 minutes ago via web
I am stunned by the size of those spent fuel storage pools and how much is actually stored in each pool.
Dimensions of each pool:
55 m (W) x 73 m (L) x 35 m (H)
Storage capacity for each pool:
6840 assemblies (90 racks w/ 76 units each) measuring
12 m (W) x 29 m (L) x 11 m (H) holding approximately
200% of the amount of total core reactor loading
1 reactor core at Fukushima Daiichi is 3,356 fuel assemblies. The Fukushima Daiichi plant is currently storing a total of 15,558 fuel assemblies.
Should there be any concern about the Aleutian Chain and Anchorage? History of earthquakes ...
“He postponed important trips before for health care vote, didn’t he?”
I think that was his Christmas vacation.
Answered my question ;-)
Last I heard, they only had 50 workers onsite and looks like they may be pulling those soon because of the increasing radiation.
I know if I was a survivor out in the ruble someplace, I'd rather wait a little longer for rescue than receive a dusting of radioactive fallout.
Not withdrawn, fully inserted. When the reactor is scrammed, tripped, or shut down the control rods are fully inserted. They absorb the neutrons and quench the nuclear reaction.
Learn the lingo!
Do you go to a baseball game and make the same demands? To say that man “ran around the whole square and touched every white pad” is not as precise to say “home run”.
Sorry. Sure will,
The rods were pushed into the core to stop the chain reaction.
FYI: “Withdrawn” is how you increase power...
ping
Fifty on-site then, now it is different: rotations. There are thousands involved on this effort. — That’s my take on the current situation.
Well put. If we scrutinized any industry the way we scrutinize nuclear power, we would have nothing built AND astronomical costs.
I do. They were so loud in the trees, you could barely hear yourself think. And huge! Bigger than my fist.
Obama.....focused, like a laser. A LASER, I tell you!
There’s a link to the tin foil stuff at post # 296, but I wouldn’t bother. There’s waaaaay too much mind blowing stuff happening in the real world, as we speak.
Wow, $970.00...
Ok, thanks for the update.
BTTT
Hard to believe but apparently the fire was not put out yesterday at #4
2249: Officials at the plant say the new fire broke out because the initial blaze had not been extinguished, AP reports.
2246: Japanese news agency Kyodo reports that the storage pool in reactor four - where the spent fuel rods are kept - may be boiling. Tepco says readings are showing high levels of radiation in the building, so it is inaccessible. Radiation levels had fallen late on Tuesday but remained abnormal.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.