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
As far as employment risk, I don't know, I've done okay as a consultant in good times and lean, and am now in the education business. I'm sure I'll make it another six months until my retirement date.
That's in addition to the fuel rod damage in #4
Thanks!
I'm not certain of how the "packages" are constructed that hold the tubes of fissile pellets, but groupings of 9, 27, and 81 tubes per package are vaguely important. I am also given to understand that the spent fuel pool has to be kept running in cool-down mode continually, as the packages will heat back up if left uncovered too long. Plus it looks as if 2/3rds of the packages are very 'hot', having been relocated from an active reactor. Once cooled, they can be handled outside of the pool, but if left outside of continual water cooling will slowly start to heat back up from their own radioactivity and groupings.
If so, then the loss of water in the pool could be disastrous and put extreme heat on the outside of the reactor, which was not built for it in that manner. That should be a serious concern for all of the plants we have here in light of the refusal of the government to honour its commitment for a Yucca Mountain type repository.
Spent fuel rods or core fuel rods?
There exists a pretty wide gulf between zero possibility of catastrophic failure and the above don't you think?
The system may simply be so small (individual home units) that massive contamination isn't physically possible. I don't know, it's smart guys like you who are going to have to figure it out. I'm just telling you, that's the only nuclear power units that will be acceptable in the future, after this event.
That does sound like good news. It doesn't sound like they'll be able to look for the four missing workers who were last seen in reactor #4 though, because of the high radiaion levels there. Praying for a miracle for those four, hopeless as it does seem.
From Reuters again (March 15, 2011, 7:20 PM) :
Radiation poses only slight risk to nervous Tokyo: U.S. experts
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/15/us-japan-quake-health-idUSTRE72E9DL20110315
EXCERPT
Dozens of workers battling to control radiation at Japan’s stricken reactors face a far greater risk of developing cancer than normal, but Tokyo residents are within the safe range for exposure, U.S. nuclear experts said.
Radiation levels in Tokyo, one of the world’s most populous cities, rose 10 times above average Tuesday evening, spreading fear among many of the 33 million residents in the metropolitan area.
The best advice experts could give them was to stay indoors, close the windows and avoid breathing bad air — steps very similar to those for handling a smog alert or avoiding influenza.
While these steps may sound inconsequential, experts said the danger in Tokyo, while worrisome, is slight - at least for now.
“Everything I’ve seen so far suggests there have been nominal amounts of material released. Therefore, the risks are generally low to the population,” Jerrold Bushberg, who directs programs in health physics at the University of California at Davis, said in a telephone interview.
“There may be more significant risks for emergency workers on site. They are dealing with the occupational exposure, but not for the population at large.”
Fresh explosions Tuesday at the Fukushima plant, 180 miles north of Tokyo, released low levels of radiation, escalating a crisis triggered by last week’s massive earthquake and tsunami. With cooling systems knocked out, the fear is more blasts within the reactors at the complex could eventually cause a major radiation leak.
The levels measured around Tokyo at one point were 40 times above normal but have receded to 10 times. That amounts to roughly the same dose as a chest or abdominal CT scan.
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE REST
Someone’s got a real racket going on ebay—or should I say someones’.
In this country, it means looking at plants on coastlines and making sure the generators are capable of operating in the event of an earthquake-tsumani chain of events. Other plants may be looked at for different things, like maybe tornado effects. For example, what if a tornado takes out offsite power and damages the diesels, that kind of thing.
As far as impact on future build, I don't know, it depends on how you look at things. Did you know there was a renewable energy disaster in Japan that resulted from this earthquake? The quake destroyed a hydroelectric dam, and the resulting flood washed away an entire village of 1800 people. Hydroelectric is one of the things environmentalists tout as a "replacement" for nuclear. That accident didn't make the papers. Think it will affect hydroelectric build in this country? I mean, 1800 verifiable casulaties among the civilian population as a result of an accident involving renewable energy. None so far for the nuclear accident. Which one is more dangerous, based on the hard numbers?
This Gennie human kind has let out of the bottle is much too powerful to ever be taken lightly. I see three paths: 1. we find a way to make the energy we get from splitting or fussing atoms less destructive. 2. We stop the use of nuclear power. 3. We continue our ways, screw up the planet and God kicks our ass as he prophesied in Revelation.
My 2 cents worth...
WSJ
By DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI And TOKO SEKIGUCHI
"They're probably gone," 65-year-old Yumiko Yamauchi said of her two older sisters. Her back is slightly hunched, her legs wobbly legs. She uses a golf club with a sawed-off head as an improvised cane.
Together with her son and her two grandchildren, Ms. Yamauchi has already gone to all six of the town's major evacuation centers in search of her sisters. Her last hope, she says, is to comb the area near where she thinks the house once stood. She sighed. "There is nothing left," she said. "There is no way they could have survived."
She said she hasn't cried. There is a Japanese phrase shoganai, "it can't be helped." "It seems strange to say shoganai with something like this, but that's just the way I feel. Shoganai," said Ms. Yamauchi, climbing the steep stairs back up to her house on the mountain, each step supported by her golf-club cane."
Sorry, they didn’t say and I don’t want to guess. But if the spent ones are stored at #4 and this is #2, presumably they’re core rods.
once again their statements are contradictory
they said the first fire was out and that was over 15 hours ago
Great first step, assess what happen and fix the problem areas. This is what you guys need to do. Accept responsibility and make it right. First do no harm.
In this country, it means looking at plants on coastlines and making sure the generators are capable of operating in the event of an earthquake-tsumani chain of events. Other plants may be looked at for different things, like maybe tornado effects. For example, what if a tornado takes out offsite power and damages the diesels, that kind of thing.
Excellent! I like what I'm reading ...
Did you know there was a renewable energy disaster in Japan that resulted from this earthquake?
Here’s where you start to go awry. IMO, your industry would be better served by working to improve your own technology, rather than slamming another in order to try and lessen the focus on the nuclear industries failures.
Which one is more dangerous, based on the hard numbers?
Which one has the most potential for greatest destruction with seriously longer lasting time frames? Not to mention, there you go comparing your failures to others to lessen the focus on your industry.
See my post #381 for details about how the fuel assembly units are stored in the spent fuel pools. Also see #324 for the direct links to the source of the information.
Local ppl in Japan listening to news conferences say fire is out but, CNN is still reporting fire in #3 which is the most dangerous of all because they are in the spent fuel pool as I understand it.
Bingo
Shoot - #3 should be #4 - sorry
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.