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Reactor meltdown possible in Japan.


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I don't understand the great concern now about the safety of nuclear plants. The plants in Japan did what they were supposed to do in an earthquake. They weren't damaged and they shut down as planned. The problem was poor planning on the effects of a tsunami on the backup diesel generators. They and the fuel should have been safely out of reach of the tsunami. I don't know why this isn't pointed out more by the media.

Its pure reactionary thinking. Like everyone forgot that there was just a megathrust earthquake and tsunami over there. Last time I checked, the odds of that happening in Germany was near 0.

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I don't understand the great concern now about the safety of nuclear plants. The plants in Japan did what they were supposed to do in an earthquake. They weren't damaged and they shut down as planned. The problem was poor planning on the effects of a tsunami on the backup diesel generators. They and the fuel should have been safely out of reach of the tsunami. I don't know why this isn't pointed out more by the media.

Yep.

I have a friend of mine in Japan studying abroad SW of Tokyo. When I wrote on her wall about the recent developments last night and for her to keep us updated, she once again wrote on my wall that she hopes I'm not watching CNN/Fox/any U.S. News because there is "no real danger of "nuclear meltdowns" or "Chernobyl" or all the other fearmongering buzzwords they're using." She seems to be the calmest person out of any that I've spoken to - I wonder how they're painting the situation over there.

Good. The aftershock situation is worse than the nuclear situation for Tokyo.

EDIT: To be fair, there have been at least partial meltdowns, it seems. But still mostly contained, and definitely nothing like Chernobyl.

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Mallow-

There have also been control rods possibly burning.... I've heard a few different posts saying the US Navy was in on fighting that one.

I've seen reports, but nothing substantiated yet, right? I mean, there was a fire, but no confirmed reports of actual spent rods burning as far as I can tell...

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From FoxNews main page.

:facepalm:

U.S. drug stores are reporting a sudden increase in sales of over-the-counter anti-radiation pills, despite assurances from health officials that Americans are not at risk from Japanese nuclear reactors.

Potassium iodide pills, which prevent against radiation poisoning of the thyroid gland, are reportedly flying off the shelves at drug stores in at least three West Coast states -- Oregon, California and Hawaii -- according to several local press accounts.

The Wall Street Journal also reports that one Virginia-based supplier, Anbex Inc., sold out of its entire supply of 10,000 14-tablet packages on Saturday.

Alan Morris, president of the company, reportedly said that the supplier is receiving about three orders a minute for $10 packages of its Iosat pills.

"Those who don't get it are crying. They're terrified," Morris told the newspaper.

U.S. health officials have said that dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant in Japan pose little or no risk to people on the U.S. West Coast. But the reassurances have not stopped worried Americans from clearing out potassium iodide supplies at drug stores in Hawaii, Oregon, and California.

Stores in Eugene, Ore., for example, have reported a sudden spike in sales of the pill. Janell Davis, vitamin manager at Sundance Natural Foods, told the Register-Guard that the store was sold out of the tablets by Saturday afternoon. In Redding, Calif., some store owners say they can't stock their shelves fast enough with the tablets.

“As soon as we found out people were calling and coming in and emptying our shelves this morning, I called my boss and she told me to go ahead and order a bunch," Jan Gertner, who works at Whitney's Vitamin and Herb Shop, told krcrtv.com.

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People are insane....

Also, I'm watching NHK World...apparently in the spent rod pool at reactor #4 there are 762 spent fuel rods stored in steel racks. They said it's very unlikely the rods would get loose, but they did mention a possible chain reaction happening if the rods got loose and were able to touch each other? First I had heard of that, and it certainly would explain why they are very hesitant to drop water from helicopters.

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I have a friend of mine in Japan studying abroad SW of Tokyo. When I wrote on her wall about the recent developments last night and for her to keep us updated, she once again wrote on my wall that she hopes I'm not watching CNN/Fox/any U.S. News because there is "no real danger of "nuclear meltdowns" or "Chernobyl" or all the other fearmongering buzzwords they're using." She seems to be the calmest person out of any that I've spoken to - I wonder how they're painting the situation over there.

But where is she getting her info from? Given the worries that the government is not being entirely truthful about the situation, is the media over there buying the governments story? I know the US media loves to hype things but there are a lot of experts out there who have great concerns. I personally take their word over some girl studying in tokyo.

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I've seen reports, but nothing substantiated yet, right? I mean, there was a fire, but no confirmed reports of actual spent rods burning as far as I can tell...

something obviously occurred....400 msev/hr. is serious radiation. I'm not sure what though...

The article about radiation sickness is assuming a person only got an hour's worth of radiation. At those levels, someone reach LD50 in about 12 hours. It's good that radiation levels have dropped significantly, because these workers are going to exposed for the coming weeks or even months. So far the amount release beyond the plants gates seem rather minimal.

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But where is she getting her info from? Given the worries that the government is not being entirely truthful about the situation, is the media over there buying the governments story? I know the US media loves to hype things but there are a lot of experts out there who have great concerns. I personally take their word over some girl studying in tokyo.

Very few experts have immediate concerns for Tokyo. If things got a lot worse (major breaches in the containment facilities, a fire or something to spread lots of radiation) then the potential for impacts in Tokyo would increase, of course, but as things are now, there is virtually zero threat in Tokyo.

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From FoxNews main page.

:facepalm:

U.S. drug stores are reporting a sudden increase in sales of over-the-counter anti-radiation pills, despite assurances from health officials that Americans are not at risk from Japanese nuclear reactors.

Not enough :facepalm: in the world for these people.

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Here's a status update posted by Kyoto about 20 minutes ago. No new information, but a good summary of what's going on for people who haven't been following this closely.

Fukushima No. 1

-- Reactor No. 1 - Cooling failure, partial melting of core, vapor vented, hydrogen explosion, seawater pumped in.

-- Reactor No. 2 - Cooling failure, seawater pumped in, fuel rods fully exposed temporarily, vapor vented, damage to containment system, potential meltdown feared.

-- Reactor No. 3 - Cooling failure, partial melting of core feared, vapor vented, seawater pumped in, hydrogen explosion, high-level radiation measured nearby.

-- Reactor No. 4 - Under maintenance when quake struck, fire caused possibly by hydrogen explosion at pool holding spent fuel rods, pool water level feared receding.

-- Reactor No. 5 - Under maintenance when quake struck, temperature slightly rising at spent fuel pool.

-- Reactor No. 6 - Under maintenance when quake struck, temperature slightly rising at spent fuel pool.

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...but they did mention a possible chain reaction happening if the rods got loose and were able to touch each other?...

A chain reaction from 3.5% enriched U235? Some new physics apparently have been discovered.

Seriously, WTF is going on with this type of reporting? Just pathetic.

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Very few experts have immediate concerns for Tokyo. If things got a lot worse (major breaches in the containment facilities, a fire or something to spread lots of radiation) then the potential for impacts in Tokyo would increase, of course, but as things are now, there is virtually zero threat in Tokyo.

I wasn't referring to radiation concerns for tokyo, I'm talking about the reactors themselves which she said there was no real danger of them having a meltdown.

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But where is she getting her info from? Given the worries that the government is not being entirely truthful about the situation, is the media over there buying the governments story? I know the US media loves to hype things but there are a lot of experts out there who have great concerns. I personally take their word over some girl studying in tokyo.

i doubt the gov is hiding nearly as much as some think.

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something obviously occurred....400 msev/hr. is serious radiation. I'm not sure what though...

The article about radiation sickness is assuming a person only got an hour's worth of radiation. At those levels, someone reach LD50 in about 12 hours. It's good that radiation levels have dropped significantly, because these workers are going to exposed for the coming weeks or even months. So far the amount release beyond the plants gates seem rather minimal.

Wait, it got as high as 400 msev/hr? Highest I had seen so far was about 15 msev/hr.

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But where is she getting her info from? Given the worries that the government is not being entirely truthful about the situation, is the media over there buying the governments story? I know the US media loves to hype things but there are a lot of experts out there who have great concerns. I personally take their word over some girl studying in tokyo.

The defense mechanism of minimization - admit the fact but deny its seriousness (a combination of denial and rationalization) isn't surprising coming from a young student living in the chaos taking place in Japan at this point.

Better known as "whistling past the graveyard."

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Its pure reactionary thinking. Like everyone forgot that there was just a megathrust earthquake and tsunami over there. Last time I checked, the odds of that happening in Germany was near 0.

True but this type of reactor is old, outdated, and less safe than new models. Look up Yankee in vermont...they've had failures of the high pressure coolant system multiple times in the last few years. If there ever was a regular incident and those failed....

I think we need to be building a lot of new reactors and start closing out the old ones. The new ones are presumably much safer.

IAEA..."After explosions at both Units 1 and 3, the primary containment vessels of both Units are reported to be intact. However, the explosion that occurred at 04:25 UTC on 14 March at the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2 may have affected the integrity of its primary containment vessel. All three explosions were due to an accumulation of hydrogen gas.

A fire at Unit 4 occurred on 14 March 23:54 UTC and lasted two hours. The IAEA is seeking clarification on the nature and consequences of the fire."

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Well they already have had (at least partial) meltdowns... per all indications.

LOL...correct. Rods exposed for 2.5 hours certainly are severely damaged and the link someone posted earlier indicated this. No doubt they've significantly melted but it's still up in the air if they melted through containment in #2.

Fox reporting sailors being treated with iodine after exposure.

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Yeah if my memory is right Edano said at his early afternoon press conference yesterday that it was 400 millisev/hour at #3, 300 millisev/hour at #4, and 100 millisev/hour I think between #2 and #3. I assume they have gone down since then, but since that news conference the news and official statements coming out have almost completely dried up. They removed cameras, set up the no-fly zone, and seem to have stopped talking. Given the building panic that was going on in the country I can't say I blame them but it's frustrating nonetheless.

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LOL...correct. Rods exposed for 2.5 hours certainly are severely damaged and the link someone posted earlier indicated this. No doubt they've significantly melted but it's still up in the air if they melted through containment in #2.

Fox reporting sailors being treated with iodine after exposure.

I thought iodine has to be used before exposure to protect the thyroid.

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Why is there no talk in the mainstream media about the cooling pools for the spent nuclear waste? Didnt the hydrogen explosion take out the pumping system for these pools. Personally more concerned about these pools overheating and catching fire, than a reactor meltdown..

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