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Japan Nuclear Crisis Part II


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Shocking news from Kyodo rolleyes.gif

  • NEWS ADVISORY: Radiation level unchanged despite choppers dousing reactor: TEPCO (13:44)

One thing I did just pick up from listening to a recorded segment on NHK World was that the pressure spike in reactor #3 noticed earlier has subsided and the pressure has returned to normal. Hadn't seen that mentioned anywhere else.

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Reuters Reuters Top News FLASH: Pressure at Japan reactor No.3 rising again, operator says

I honestly have no idea if the report that the levels had returned to normal are correct or if they referred to a previous rise in pressure. I heard it on NHK from TEPCO source at the Fukushima prefecture disaster management center.

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NHK TV :

Reactors hold roughly 2,000 tons of water. Need to cover 1/3 of pool in order to cover spent rods. Each helicopter holds 7.5 tons of water in bucket. They would need to do around 90 direct hits from the copters in order to cover rods.

From the looks of the water drops on video and the size of the pools it would be a miracle if 10% of the water made it into them.

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You've got maybe 5-10% secretly hoping for nuclear armageddon and there's a good deal of conflicting information out there. Tensions are bound to run high. ;)

I don't think that's it at all.

I Pray this is at some point going to be brought under control and end. My gut says most likely not. Its tragic. the hostility here dont help. Lets Pray any kind of pumping operation can do something to at least stabilize it from escalating

The hostility here is frustration. Everyone here cares, nobody wants to see the Japanese people suffer. It's frustrating to hear the HEAD of the NRC say rods are exposed and the pool is dry and then have the Japanese spokesperson say that wasn't the case. Someone is not telling the truth or is misinformed and I'll agree with Mallow that at THAT level it's dangerous.

We will find out in the next 1-2 days which side was right. I hope it's the more conservative Japanese.

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Getting power to the pumps and having the system still function despite the explosions is their only chance of getting this under control. They also have the problem of the pumps possibly being submerged in seawater during the tsunami. If they were the chances of them running is small. The residue from seawater is an excellent conductor of electricity which would most likely short out the pumps when power is applied.

Water drops and water cannons might buy them a bit of time but it is not a solution to what thus far has been a slow march toward disaster.

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Getting power to the pumps and having the system still function despite the explosions is their only chance of getting this under control. They also have the problem of the pumps possibly being submerged in seawater during the tsunami. If they were the chances of them running is small. The residue from seawater is an excellent conductor of electricity which would most likely short out the pumps when power is applied.

Water drops and water cannons might buy them a bit of time but it is not a solution to what thus far has been a slow march toward disaster.

I agree, plug them in and hope for the best. I'm sure the cooling system is damaged, but hell it has to spray water somewhere, and water going in can't hurt.

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Getting power to the pumps and having the system still function despite the explosions is their only chance of getting this under control. They also have the problem of the pumps possibly being submerged in seawater during the tsunami. If they were the chances of them running is small. The residue from seawater is an excellent conductor of electricity which would most likely short out the pumps when power is applied.

Water drops and water cannons might buy them a bit of time but it is not a solution to what thus far has been a slow march toward disaster.

I'm not convinced it's as bad as the NRC said. I think it could have been another one of Obama's people spouting off without the details. We shall see. Dumping aimless buckets isn't going to get it done. Either we're about to see a catastrophe or it's not as bad as the foreign nations thought.

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I'm not convinced it's as bad as the NRC said. I think it could have been another one of Obama's people spouting off without the details. We shall see. Dumping aimless buckets isn't going to get it done. Either we're about to see a catastrophe or it's not as bad as the foreign nations thought.

What about the UK removing people from Japan and their comments? What about France's comments? How about the comments of other nations besides the US?

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What about the UK removing people from Japan and their comments? What about France's comments? How about the comments of other nations besides the US?

good precautionary moves because its probably likely the entire island will see doses of radiation. But isnt that already obvious? Japan has nowhere to evacuate their people unlike the other countries.. so naturally they will paint a bit happier picture in order to keep their people from panicking..

this isnt an apocalypse but in no doubt a countrywide disaster that needs to be kept from becoming a regional one.

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What about the UK removing people from Japan and their comments? What about France's comments? How about the comments of other nations besides the US?

With a west wind even a 6...in that position isn't an epic deal for most. If it was the spent rods causing the problem as the head of the NRC said dumping water on it should have released epic amounts of steam. The Japanese say there was water in the pool....I think today (tonights) events show they may have been far more right. At least I hope so.

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Info from IAEA

Injuries

2 TEPCO employees have minor injuries

2 subcontractor employees are injured, one person suffered broken legs and one person whose condition is unknown was transported to the hospital

2 people are missing

2 people were 'suddenly taken ill'

2 TEPCO employees were transported to hospital during the time of donning respiratory protection in the control centre

4 people (2 TEPCO employees, 2 subcontractor employees) sustained minor injuries due to the explosion at unit 1 on 11 March and were transported to the hospital

11 people (4 TEPCO employees, 3 subcontractor employees and 4 Japanese civil defense workers) were injured due to the explosion at unit 3 on 14 March

Radiological Contamination

17 people (9 TEPCO employees, 8 subcontractor employees) suffered from deposition of radioactive material to their faces, but were not taken to the hospital because of low levels of exposure

One worker suffered from significant exposure during 'vent work,' and was transported to an offsite center

2 policemen who were exposed to radiation were decontaminated

Firemen who were exposed to radiation are under investigation

http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

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Scientists Project Path of Radiation Plume

A United Nations forecast of the possible movement of the radioactive plume coming from crippled Japanese reactors shows it churning across the Pacific, and touching the Aleutian Islands on Thursday before hitting Southern California late Friday.

Health and nuclear experts emphasize that radiation in the plume will be diluted as it travels and, at worst, would have extremely minor health consequences in the United States, even if hints of it are ultimately detectable. In a similar way, radiation from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 spread around the globe and reached the West Coast of the United States in 10 days, its levels measurable but minuscule.

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/science/17plume.html?_r=1

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From what I understand....the fuel rods - both active AND spent - MUST be IMMERSED in water for effective cooling.....

Spraying could not keep the rods CONSTANTLY cool, unless the stream was/is constant......

Things getting rather dicey over there......:yikes:

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Scientists Project Path of Radiation Plume

A United Nations forecast of the possible movement of the radioactive plume coming from crippled Japanese reactors shows it churning across the Pacific, and touching the Aleutian Islands on Thursday before hitting Southern California late Friday.

Health and nuclear experts emphasize that radiation in the plume will be diluted as it travels and, at worst, would have extremely minor health consequences in the United States, even if hints of it are ultimately detectable. In a similar way, radiation from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 spread around the globe and reached the West Coast of the United States in 10 days, its levels measurable but minuscule.

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.c...plume.html?_r=1

I love the legend that calls the color coding 'arbitrary'.

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http://www.npr.org/2011/03/16/134600825/plutonium-in-fuel-rods-cause-for-concern?ps=cprs

In addition, plutonium is a particularly long-lived and toxic material. The half-life of plutonium-239 is 24,000 years, so if it escaped in smoke from a burning reactor and contaminated soil downwind, it would remain hazardous for tens of thousands of years.

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