Peggy
in memoriam 2016
Every day. The only hysteria I see is from the Japanese people, and rightly so.Not been watching the news peggy?
Japan just hit by magnitude 8.9 earthquake
- Thread starter x4rl
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Watch some uk news, its something along the lines of.
"earthquake, tsunami, NUCLEAR MELTDOWN, NUCLEAR PLANT EXPLODES, RADIATION"
The bbc are doing a good job of keeping it level, in that yes it is a serious situation, but they accept the design of the reactors will stop the likelyhood of any "serious" release of radioactive material. ITN and the likes however are practically claiming the world will end if a reactor explodes.
Peggy
in memoriam 2016
lol, yep that's over the top.
A quake-stricken nuclear plant in Japan has been hit by a third explosion in four days, amid fears of a meltdown.
One minister has said it is "highly likely" that the rods might melt. Radiation levels near the plant have risen.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12740843
One minister has said it is "highly likely" that the rods might melt. Radiation levels near the plant have risen.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12740843
ManagerJosh
Well-known member
You forgot Volcano.
Was just watching this. The most concerning part is the reference to evacuating staff, which may very well imply theres nothing left they can do and just need to let it "run its course"
*edit*
Tokyo Electric says that 50 employees are still staying at the Fukushima plant, which is still an alarming low ammount of staff running a plant with 4 reactors (3 active).
SneakyDave
Well-known member
All I've seen in the US news is how this tragedy will affect US day to day activities, the what it'll do to the price of OIL OIL OIL.
Pretty soon, there will be attempts to place the blame of the earthquake on US conservatives or liberals by each party. You know it's coming.
US cable news network viewer numbers were down significantly in 2010. They need tragedies like this to keep those ad rates up, it's sad to say.
Regarding the reactors, from what I've heard, the core could completely melt and the containers could still be in place to hold it until its safe for removal. I think they cleaned up Three Mile Island in 1993, and the accident happened in 1979
ManagerJosh
Well-known member
Earthquake was upgraded to a magnitude 9.0
Adam Howard
Well-known member
It has not been announced yet to the public, but I have it on good word (inside source).... Japan's nuclear reactor is going nuclear (meltdown in progress). There is nothing they can do. Radiation level are out of control and their nuclear plant has started to catch fire.
Peggy
in memoriam 2016
It's on the news now. The Japanese PM is calling for evacuation of everyone within 12 miles surrounding this plant.
Adam Howard
Well-known member
Elizabeth
Well-known member
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_reactors_1203111.html
Excellent timeline of all of what has happened so far.
Excellent timeline of all of what has happened so far.
Tigratrus
Well-known member
As a graduate of the US Navy Nuclear power program, I tend not to freak out nearly as much as most folks regarding news stories about nuclear "accidents" etc. The reporting tends to be REALLY vague, and rarely has enough actual research behind it to worthwhile.
I am quite concerned about the steady escalation of reports coming out of the BWR systems in Japan though. It has a fairly consistent feeling of "spin control" to it, and I have some serious concerns about the contamination that may be spread by the seawater cooling solution they have had to go with. Introduction of ANY chloride into a high heat/pressure system causes some very serious issues (take a look at chloride stress corrosion, zirconium is WAY better than stainless steel, but they are talking about fuel plates that were uncovered, as in open to air and temperatures that are WAY above design tolerances), and they would never have gone to that option if the situation wasn't fairly desperate. The dumbed down "news" keeps talking about the "Radiation" levels. That's cr@p. The concern is contamination levels, and if they are injecting seawater directly into the core, that likely to be WAY higher than anything that was planned for in the plant's SOP's.
My hopes and prayers (and I'm not a praying type person) are firmly focused on the people living in the general area. I REALLY hope folks there move faster and farther than is "recommended" by the authorities.
The golden rule in dealing with Nuclear reactions is: Time, Distance and Shielding. If you don't have the ability to control the time or the ability to hide behind shielding, get the frick away!
<eta>
I wouldn't be looking at just the # km away from the reactor (though that's quite important too) , I'd be looking REALLY hard at the currents involved and where the contamination may wash ashore, and who is fishing those waters. Sushi with a side of unstable isotope? No thanks.
All that said, there's a ton of pressure on the agencies, companies and individuals involved. It's really easy to sit back and say "They should do this... They should do that". The reality is, they are doing the best they can, and the rest of us can just hope that the damage and loss of life both now and 10/20 years from now is a low as possible.
</eta>
I am quite concerned about the steady escalation of reports coming out of the BWR systems in Japan though. It has a fairly consistent feeling of "spin control" to it, and I have some serious concerns about the contamination that may be spread by the seawater cooling solution they have had to go with. Introduction of ANY chloride into a high heat/pressure system causes some very serious issues (take a look at chloride stress corrosion, zirconium is WAY better than stainless steel, but they are talking about fuel plates that were uncovered, as in open to air and temperatures that are WAY above design tolerances), and they would never have gone to that option if the situation wasn't fairly desperate. The dumbed down "news" keeps talking about the "Radiation" levels. That's cr@p. The concern is contamination levels, and if they are injecting seawater directly into the core, that likely to be WAY higher than anything that was planned for in the plant's SOP's.
My hopes and prayers (and I'm not a praying type person) are firmly focused on the people living in the general area. I REALLY hope folks there move faster and farther than is "recommended" by the authorities.
The golden rule in dealing with Nuclear reactions is: Time, Distance and Shielding. If you don't have the ability to control the time or the ability to hide behind shielding, get the frick away!
<eta>
I wouldn't be looking at just the # km away from the reactor (though that's quite important too) , I'd be looking REALLY hard at the currents involved and where the contamination may wash ashore, and who is fishing those waters. Sushi with a side of unstable isotope? No thanks.
All that said, there's a ton of pressure on the agencies, companies and individuals involved. It's really easy to sit back and say "They should do this... They should do that". The reality is, they are doing the best they can, and the rest of us can just hope that the damage and loss of life both now and 10/20 years from now is a low as possible.
</eta>
Elizabeth
Well-known member
While that's true, Brogan...the fact that a FIFTY year old plant withstood a 9.0 earthquake is actually reassuring. It was the tsunami that took it out, not the earthquake. And the tsunami took out the generators.
My husband said they need to re-think the hydrogen recombiners they were removing from the new designs and had taken out of the older designs as a "useless" feature.
It may have been the tsunami and not the earthquake but my point was that posts stating there was nothing to worry about were equally as premature as those stating there was going to be another Chernobyl incident.
leftie
Active member
The generators came online ok once the power to the cooling pumps was cut and they carried on running until they ran out of fuel. The tsunami washed away the fuel supply. The simplest of things can cause the biggest problems and often gets overlooked.