Reactor meltdown possible in Japan.

[Mallow]

Well, if it doesn't matter to them and it doesn't effect their health.. good for them. I'm glad. It's still a cause for concern that there is radiation leaking.

Why?

They've been releasing radioactive steam intentionally (to reduce pressure). Of course there's "radiation leaking". This comes as no surprise.

The point is to release it in as controlled a way as possible to prevent too much radioactive material from being released at once. Considering that the amount of radiation detected so far has not been enough to cause major health issues, besides perhaps right at the plant itself, it seems they've been pretty successful with that aspect so far.

The concern is if things get worse... i.e. if the containment building gets breached and allows an uncontrolled release of radiation.

[OSUmetstud]

http://www.nytimes.c...ia/14plume.html

The Pentagon was expected to announce that the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, which is sailing in the Pacific, passed through a radioactive cloud from stricken nuclear reactors in Japan, causing crew members on deck to receive a month’s worth of radiation in about an hour, government officials said Sunday.

yes i know...i did the calculation myself...less than 30 mrem...hence light radiation...not heavy. A year's worth of radiation is 360 mrem....a chest x-ray is 244 mrem.

[janetjanet998]

Fuel rods are fully exposed again per Kyodo.

obviously they can't pump water in faster then it evaporates unless everything is perfect

[dendrite]

Guys...keep it to the news and facts. We don't need to continuous end of the world type posts. I'm going to clean up the last couple of pages.

[ArtRosen]

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20110315/k10014676411000.html

TEPCO, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 2, 14 11:00 pm, closed the lid of a gas escape valve in the reactor was not sent because the water in the reactor cooling water level fall, was expected to announced any nuclear fuel is exposed again.

[ArtRosen]

This is a very good video with someone who is an expert giving an analysis of the situation.

[famartin]

Looking at the videos of the 2 explosions at the Daichi plant, they keep saying the explosions did not damage the reactor shells, and I'm finding that hard to believe. Yes, the blast was forced upwards, blowing the top of the building(s) off. But wouldn't the back-end intensity of the explosion also damage to the reactor shell as well? How thick is the containment vessel? Can it actually take an explosive impact, without being cracked or breached?

6 inches of stainless steel.

[ArtRosen]

BBCBreaking BBC Breaking News, Fuel rods at the number two reactor at the Fukushima #nuclear plant in #Japan are 'fully exposed' again, from AFP

[OSUmetstud]

This is a very good video with someone who is an expert giving an analysis of the situation.

just for a full disclosure...Shaun Bernie is the former head of nuclear campaigns at Greenpeace. My bet is he's very anti-nuclear.

[NJHurricane]

The article definitely appears to have some bias...given the author's book.

Is this true?:

If the coolant continues to evaporate, the water level can fall below the level of the fuel rods, exposing them. This will cause a meltdown, meaning the fuel rods melt to the bottom of the steel pressure vessel.

Early speculation was that in a case like this the fuel might continue melting right through the steel and perhaps even through the concrete containment structure—the so-called China syndrome, where the fuel would melt all the way to China. But Three Mile Island proved this doesn't happen. The melted fuel rods simply aren't hot enough to melt steel or concrete.

Yeah....have not seen another "expert" try to claim that we can have certainty that this will end the same as Three Mile Island...for the simple reason that nobody can know for sure what is going on in these reactors. Also...do we know were the rods in TMI ever fully exposed?

[k***]

just for a full disclosure...Shaun Bernie is the former head of nuclear campaigns at Greenpeace. My bet is he's very anti-nuclear.

a true "expert"

[NJHurricane]

Kyodo reporting the rods in reactor #2 were fully exposed a second time.

[ArtRosen]

Japanese officials say the nuclear fuel rods appear to be melting inside all three of the most troubled reactors

More headlines from FoxNews.com:

http://email.foxnews.com/t?ctl=C68E:A078D28068937A32DB250BC25A5AA29F&

[gkrangers]

Kyodo:

BREAKING NEWS: Radiation twice the maximum seen so far detected at nuke plant Monday: TEPCO

Not even sure what that means, but it doesn't sound positive.

[RaleighWx]

1556: Radiation detected at the Fukushima plant on Monday is twice the maximum seen so far, Kyodo news is reporting citing plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco).

1552: Japan has officially asked the UN nuclear watchdog the IAEA for experts to help in the current nuclear crisis, AFP reports, citing IAEA chief Yukiya Amano.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk...e-east-12307698

[ArtRosen]

Kyodo:

BREAKING NEWS: Radiation twice the maximum seen so far detected at nuke plant Monday: TEPCO

Not even sure what that means, but it doesn't sound positive.

I believe before the max they saw was 1050 microsieverts. So, we'd be talking about 2100 microsieverts per hour, which is about what a CT scan is. So imagine getting a CT scan done every hour and that's about the radiation is per day.1 rad = 10,000 microsieverts. You would need about 300 rads for your health to be at severe risk.

So, presuming the radiation stays like this for one day, that would 50,400 microsieverts or 5.4 rads. Radiation levels would need to get a lot higher than this to be lethal.

[HKY_WX]

Kinda sounds like they're losing control of the situation.

[OSUmetstud]

Kyodo:

BREAKING NEWS: Radiation twice the maximum seen so far detected at nuke plant Monday: TEPCO

Not even sure what that means, but it doesn't sound positive.

wouldn't that be 2000 time normal? I believe the maximum reported before was 1000 times normal. Nuclear plant workers are exposed to about 110 mrem a year on average...now it's on the level of 220 rem a year. This is about 600 mrem a day. An Sv is 100 rem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_poisoning

PhaseSymptomExposure (Sv)1–2Sv2–6Sv6–8Sv8–30Sv>30SvImmediateNausea and vomiting5–50%50–100%75–100%90–100%100%Time of onset2–6h1–2h10–60m<10mimmediateDuration<24h24–48h>48h>48h48h–deathDiarrheaNoneSlight (10%)Heavy (10%)Heavy (90%)Heavy (100%)Time of onset—3–8h1–2h<1h<30mHeadacheSlightMild (50%)Moderate (80%)Severe (80–90%)Severe (100%)Time of onset—4–24h3–4h1–2h<1hFeverSlight–NoneModerate (50%)High (100%)Severe (100%)Severe (100%)Time of onset—1–3h<1h<1h<30mCNS functionNo impairmentCognitive impairment 6–20 hCognitive impairment >20 hRapid incapacitationSeizures,Tremor, AtaxiaLatent Period28–31 days7–28 days<7 daysnonenoneOvert illnessMildLeukopenia;

Fatigue;

WeaknessLeukopenia;

Purpura;

Hemorrhage;

Infections;

EpilationSevere leukopenia;

High fever;

Diarrhea;

Vomiting;

Dizziness and disorientationHypotension;

Electrolyte disturbanceNausea;

Vomiting; Severe diarrhea;

High fever;

Electrolyte disturbance;

ShockDeathMortality without medical care0–5%5–100%95–100%100%100%Mortality with medical care0–5%5–50%50–100%100%100%

[TheWeatherPimp]

Not trying to hype or sound doom and gloom, but it definitely would appear that the situation is worsening and that the Japanese do not have a good handle on the situation. FWIW, CNN has really stepped up to the plate and there reporting last night and today has gotten much better then what it was on Saturday.

[j24vt]

Nuclear safety and journalistic meltdown - I wish we could build containments for both

- Dr. Josef Oehmen

http://twitter.com/josefoehmen

http://morgsatlarge.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/why-i-am-not-worried-about-japans-nuclear-reactors/

[wxeyeNH]

I have a question that may have been answered in this thread, I have gone back several pages but can't find an answer. Japan is in the westerlies like we are so the radiation should be blown east and out to sea. If there where to be a meltdown that gets through the core how often does the wind switch to on shore in that area or even become NE to bring any potential radiation down the coast toward Toyko? Here in the North East US as the spring progresses we get more sea breeze situations with the warming land mass and cooler water. Does that happen in Japan? The big diaster I would think would be to have on shore winds. If there was a complete meltdown that punctured the core then I would guess that radiation would linger for months bringing a potental for long term major radiation problems whenever the winds switch to easterly.

[ArtRosen]

TimeOutTokyo TimeOutTokyo NHK : At 21:37 3130 μSv which was the highest was detected. After that, the figure became lower and it got down to 431.7 μSv at 22:15.

[Dunkman]

TimeOutTokyo TimeOutTokyo NHK : At 21:37 3130 μSv which was the highest was detected. After that, the figure became lower and it got down to 431.7 μSv at 22:15.

Well, that's better news that it could be given the situation. Certainly glad to see it coming down.

[Mallow]

3130 microsieverts is only 3.13 millisieverts. Either there's a conversion error, or the amount of radiation is pretty dang low. Or they're measuring it somewhere far away from the power plant?

[OSUmetstud]

3130 microsieverts is only 3.13 millisieverts. Either there's a conversion error, or the amount of radiation is pretty dang low. Or they're measuring it somewhere far away from the power plant?

That would be somewhere around 1000 times normal plant radiation, I think.

[Mallow]

That would be somewhere around 1000 times normal plant radiation, I think.

Perhaps... but from what I've read, you generally need to get into the 1 sievert range to start seeing real sickness in humans. For it to have peaked at 0.00313 sieverts seems pretty... well, not scary (yet).

[famartin]

I hope people realize that the US government detonated nearly 1000 atom bombs in Nevada. Most of our parents/grandparents would have had fall out from those tests.

I don't drink the water here, if that's any indication

[OSUmetstud]

Perhaps... but from what I've read, you generally need to get into the 1 sievert range to start seeing real sickness in humans. For it to have peaked at 0.00313 sieverts seems pretty... well, not scary (yet).

yes, I agree. It's somewhere in the range of an X-ray.

[Festus]

Setting aside the media's favorite terms such as fear, worry and anxiety for a moment, what EXACTLY would happen when this style of reactor would suffer a complete meltdown? Would the radioactive pile actually melt through the floor of the reactor building and into bedrock? What then? I would think at some point it would become so diffuse that its heat generating capacity would be significantly diminished. Or, as a liquid, would it spread out more and pose more of an airborne threat? Either way, although it would appear to be a significant event, it doesn't seem to me to be capable of some apocalyptic scenario as some are portraying.

[JoMo]

The U.S. nuclear regulatory commission says the Japanese government has formally asked the U.S. for help with cooling nuclear reactors

--

I would have thought they would have asked for help before now.