Nuclear fuel rods fully exposed at Japan reactor - Jiji

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTKB00733720110314?ca=rdt ^

[Lil Flower]

TOKYO, March 14 (Reuters) - Nuclear fuel rods at a quake-stricken Japanese nuclear reactor are now fully exposed, Jiji news agency said, quoting the plant's operator, Tokyo Eletcric Power Co .

[raygun]

Oh, maaaaaaan!!!!!!!

I wasn't aware that there's unaccounted for coolant loss. I am totally chagrinned and bummed out I am apparently so unequivocally WRONG! When dealing with nuclear reactors, valid conclusions are irrelevent if they aren't actually sound.

THREE unexplainable coolant level drops is alarming. It certainly looks like its Apollo 13 time:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2688687/posts

[meyer]

Well, if pumping water in isn’t raising the level, then it’s most likely leaking. Or boiling off faster than the rate of fill (if that can even happen), which would mean that it will be dispersed as (somewhat?) radioactive steam.

If the containment is leaking, odds are that the leak is underneath where it can’t be detected easily. Maybe they can pour water in faster than it leaks out and cool the reaction if that is the case. They’ll still have to devise a way to seal it up, perhaps by injecting concrete below the containment structure or into the bottom of it, while maintaining a flow of water adequate to keep things cool.

[meyer]

I emphasize the word “IF”...

[sefarkas]

... residual heat. There is some natural radioactive decay ...

Residual heat comes from the radioactive decay of fission products (Iodine, Cesium, Strontium, Xenon). The rate at which residual heat forms gets exponentially smaller each passing hour meaning it takes less and less water to keep it cool. A residual heat rate of 0.05% of full power in a commercial reactor is still a significant amount of heat.

[SteamShovel]

i really don´t know what to say on these mugshots

Completely disgusting.

It is disturbing to see such vile hatred and Schadenfreude.

[SteamShovel]

Repeat after me: "The China Syndrome was just a movie. The China Syndrome was just a movie."

I can't believe the chicken little syndrome that is spreading like wildfire here at FR.

Thank you for the informative post. I have been trying to speak reason and calm on this subject too but have not seemed to be able to penetrate the fog of panic. The information you give is readily available for people to read about on their own, but they seem content to panic and scream that TEPCO and Japan are somehow conspiring to keep information from them.

TEPCO and Japan are doing their best to handle THREE DAMAGED REACTORS probably with limited crews that are dog tired.

Please understand that they are doing the best they can under very difficult circumstances. The world isn't going to end over this.

[Age of Reason]

So if the Japanese reactors are so safe that even if the cores melt, they will be contained and the heat disspated by the molten core spreading out over a large but contained area, then . . . .

. . . why are the Japanese so desperate to cool the reactors down?

I mean, why risk the lives of the workers and instead just walk away and let the thing melt if there’s no harm in that?

[chimera]

Because typically in a defense-in-depth approach you want to do what you can to mitigate the effects prior to reaching another boundary of defense. If you can do reasonable things to limit the number of challenges to various layers of protection, your overall system reliability remains that much more robust.

Of course, if all else fails, you have to rely on the containment. That's why you have it. But if you can do things to avoid challenging it, and those things are reasonable to try, then you likely will make the effort.

[ModelBreaker]

This is actually the first scary piece of news I have read on the situation:

“The appeal for help comes as the the Japanese government confirmed that part of the container housing the troubled nuclear reactor appears to be damaged.
Damage to the hermetically-sealed reactor container dramatically increases the risk of serious radiation leaks.”

Source: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Video-Japan-Quake-And-Tsunami-Plea-For-US-Help-After-Second-Explosion-At-Nuclear-Plant/Article/201103215951706?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15951706_Video_Japan_Quake_And_Tsunami%3A_Plea_For_US_Help_After_Second_Explosion_At_Nuclear_Plant

What makes me a little skeptical of it is that the article was posted at about 3 am this morning my time (US). If it were true, it should be the main headline everywhere. All of the exposed rods stuff is small peanut compared to a possible breach of the containment vessel.

[Wolfstar]

Should one worry about exposure on the west coast of America? Sorry if I sound paranoid but I am pregnant and know very little about nukes.

I live in the Los Angeles area, so fully understand and share your concern. We're getting such poor information from the media anywhere, foreign and domestic. Last night I checked the latitude of the quake-stricken area and followed it to California. As best I can determine, the stricken area is on the same latitude as the area north of the San Francisco Bay and Oakland, but not as far north as the California-Oregon border. Best I understand the situation, the jet stream would carry any fallout from those reactors along that latitude, but my understanding most definitely could be flawed.

[oneolcop]

Thanks for your comment. I notice that you didn’t bother to reassure the lady in any manner. I did address her concerns as well as I could with the five minutes I spent on the computer this morning.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

It is hard to imagine a sillier comparison.

Unless, of course you're silly enough to take my post literally. But thanks, Captain Obvious, for pointing out that it's not the same as a full scale nuclear war.

[arthurs_0]

“Entry beyond this point prohibited without permission”

[lonevoice]

The pictures I mentioned to you of Chernobyl's melted core are at post #112 (click here)

Amazing.

[mvpel]

I mean, why risk the lives of the workers and instead just walk away and let the thing melt if there’s no harm in that?

There's a big distance between "no harm" and "no 'China Syndrome.'"

They have a duty and a moral obligation to limit the harm and the future expense and damage as much as possible.

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

Thank-you.

[Mr. Silverback]

But thanks, Captain Obvious, for pointing out that it's not the same as a full scale nuclear war.

Yeah, so a young mother is worried that radiation may reach where she lives and damage her child, and you bring up a book where radiation goes wherever the heck it wants and kills everyone, but I'm the jerk who has no sense of proportion. Seriously, how about some science, you know, that test-tubey stuff that deals with reality (like the reality that even a full meltdown wouldn't put any radiation in her neighborhood), not fantasies drawn from a novel published in the Fifties? Or, if you can't do better then that, you could use a prime opportunity to shut your piehole.

I have good news, though: Dr. House is able to help you with your problem!

[lonevoice]

Science AND House? Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

[Mr. Silverback]

Glad I pleased sombody! :-)

[Fido969]

You could have helped out “Bill Nye the Science Guy” on CNN yesterday.

“Bill Nye the Science Guy” is a lefty fruitloop.