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"Meltdown may be underway" in Japan
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Anonymous
that WSJ journal article is amazing. Is that true? If so, why is nobody else reporting on this? Seems hard to believe given the concern in Japan. Also, is the control rod the same as the fuel rod? |
Anonymous
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I saw that article, but am skeptical as the WSJ seems to downplay the issue; I realize other outlets are over playing it. If there is so little danger why is the Japanese govt evacuating so many people, in ever larger groups? And the US Navy moved ships out of the area…..I keep hearing “hail mary pass” and “act of desperation” regarding the sea water, so all can’t be fine and dandy.
Granted, it is hard to reconcile all the information have no background of my own on which to rely. Also, what happens to the radioactive seawater? |
Anonymous
| Fuel rods are tubes of radioactive pellets. Control rods are the rods that can be inserted to reduce the output or shut off the reactor. It takes a while to fully shut down and continues to generate heat after the rods have been inserted. |
Anonymous
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As of five minutes ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110315/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake_nuclear_crisis "The agency suspects the explosion early Tuesday may have damaged the reactor's suppression chamber, a water-filled tube at the bottom of the container that surrounds the nuclear core, said another agency spokesman, Shinji Kinjo. He said that chamber is part of the container wall, so damage to it could allow radiation to escape. "A leak of nuclear material is feared," said another agency spokesman, Shinji Kinjo. He said the agency had no details of possible damage to the chamber. |
Anonymous
| The most understandable thing about it on the news is that people are being told to stay inside or risk radiation sickness. Is that what happens when you get an X-ray at the dentist? Isn't that they BS they've been saying all this time, that it's no worse than getting dental x-rays? |
Anonymous
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It's nice that some people are trying to be reassuring, but this is a huge, devastating tragedy to the Japanese people.
One of the most infuriating things in my industry is when a bunch of has-been or arm-chair experts get on TV or on internet fora talking about what might have happened, after an air accident, based on limited details. Not only is the situation in Japan very fluid, it's also tough to sort the factual from the wishful thinking in terms of what is being reported by officials. They've now evacuated the workers. Things are pretty bad and seem to be getting worse. It seems that the "spent" fuel rods are also in danger. They have time to address the situation, but whether or not they can do so successfully seems to be unclear. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/asia/15fuel.html?partner=rss&emc=rss I get it that we don't want to overstate the danger, but this is a pretty big deal. Especially for the Japanese. If you pray, pray for them, and those downwind. |
Anonymous
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I'm not trying to minimize what's happening but it has to be put in context. The words "meltdown", "radiation", etc. are very scary but to put it in perspective, we're irradiated every day by the sun. If you have ever flown in an airplane before, you've been exposed to higher levels of radiation than on the ground. Ever gone to a big hospital? Chances are they have a nuclear medicine group--purposely exposing patients to radiation in order to gain good images of the body (VQ scan) or administer it to treat cancer.
Yes, they encouraged people within 20 km to evacuate and others to stay indoors. A good, prudent measure. This is because as radiation leaks, either in a controlled, vented way (this has already happened on purpose in order to release pressure within the containment system) or in an intended fashion, radiation will spread. Most of these particles are heavy and don't travel huge distances, and they have a short half life. Literally they can be washed off. If you get them on your clothes, etc.--you can wash it off. The main thing here (as opposed to Chernobyl, which is differently a different kind of situation) is that people know about it and can take measures. It's not happening in secret. The US military states left and right (and they're correct) that they don't anticipate problems and even if there were, risk would be low--but they're backing off because they can and it's an easy thing to do. |
Anonymous
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What I find ironic (or maybe that's not the right word for how harrowing and sad this is) is that the country that experienced the world's worst radiation exposure with the atomic bombs is now facing what may end up being one of the world's most serious nuclear radiation leaks.
I certainly don't think this is something, as 11:03 wrote, that can "literally be washed off." It's scary situation that makes me all the more in favor of wind and solar power. |
Anonymous
Your post is really ignorant. Nothing in this is true. Why would you pretend to be an expert when you don't know what you are talking about? This has the potential to be as bad as or worse than Chernobyl. And the half life of some of these "particles" is 30 years or longer - it will take two centuries for them to reduce to 1 percent. Please, stop. |
Anonymous
I'm one of the pps who generally thinks people should avoid being alarmist but I'm very concerned at this point. There is some thought that the explosion at Unit 2 might have damaged the primary containment because it didn't blow off the secondary containment like the other two units. Also, there is much less protection around the spent fuel rods than the core. It's really hard to know what to think at this point but I wonder how 50 people are going to be able to manage four nuclear units. I don't know enough to know that they can't do it but given so many systems have failed, I'm guessing they can't all sit in control rooms and manage it from there. My heart goes out to the people who work there and live nearby. |
Anonymous
| Apparently they are pulling all the employees out and abandoning ship. Now what? |
Anonymous
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Immediate measures:
1.when outside radiation reaches 1msievert per hour (more than the natural annual dose in just one hour), only go out for emergencies and as soon as you return wash off and wash your clothes, to avoid contaminating your house. Tokyo businesses told many employees to not come in today. 2. Take iodine pills to displace the radioactive iodine that can cause thyroid cancer. Children's thyroids are especially susceptible. Not much you can do about cesium, which in high quantities is absorbed with calcium in the bones and causes leukemias. Long-term: radioactivity will wash into the soil and contaminate animals and their byproducts (meat, dairy) as well as plants. Foods particularly contaminated around Chernobyl were milk, mushrooms, berries, for some reason. We lived in Germany during the Chernobyl accident and my mother banned all milk from the house, to my chagrin. Now my cousins are holed up in Tokyo not daring to go out. Sad times. |
Anonymous
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Several news sources now stating that even the remaining 50 employees have been evacuated.
My heart aches for Japan. I didn't realize how close Tokyo is to the reactor sites. This is so sad. I cannot get my brain around it, yet I can't get it out of my head and heart. Everyone should pray for them, if you do pray. |
Anonymous
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http://allthingsnuclear.org/tagged/Japan_nuclear?utm_source=SP&utm_medium=more&utm_campaign=sp-nuke-more-3%2F13%2F2011-pm
The above link has a good description of the concerns about the spent fuel pool at Unit 4. Unit 4 is down for repairs so the fuel was all moved to the spent fuel pool, which means it is more radioactive than the pools at Units 5 and 6. There are fewer emergency systems to keep water on the spent fuel and the spent fuel is not stored within the primary containment, which made the fire at Unit 4 very worrying, given that it was too radioactive for workers to get close to it. Those workers are in my prayers. |