Posted on 03/12/2011 2:34:08 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Update: It's possible that a meltdown may already have occurred at one nuclear power plant. As AP wrote 4 minutes ago:
An official with Japan's nuclear safety commission says that a meltdown at nuclear power plant affected by the country's massive earthquake is possible.
Ryohei Shiomi said Saturday that officials were checking whether a meltdown had taken place at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, which had lost cooling ability in the aftermath of Friday's powerful earthquake.
Reuters reports:
Japanese nuclear authorities said that there was a high possibility that nuclear fuel rods at a reactor at Tokyo Electric Power's Daiichi plant may be melting or have melted, Jiji news agency reported.
Experts have said that if the fuel rods have been damaged, it means that it could develop into a breach of the nuclear reactor vessel and the question then becomes one of how strong the containment structure around the vessel is and whether it has been undermined by the earthquake.
Volcanoes have reportedly erupted in Japan, Indonesia, and Kamchatka Russia today, presumably due to the massive Japanese earthquake. There have been no reports of damage from the eruptions.
In addition, there are problems at three Japanese nuclear power plants.
The Fukushima plant is leaking radiation, and a nuclear expert says that things are getting worse, and "Fukushima has 24 hours to avoid a core meltdown scenario". (See Tyler Durden's report).
MSNBC reports:
"The situation is still several stages away from Three Mile Island when the reactor container ceased to function as it should," said Tomoko Murakami, leader of the nuclear energy group at Japan's Institute of Energy Economics.
Two other Japanese nuclear reactors are now in trouble as well. Two other Japanese nuclear reactors are now in trouble as well [UPDATE: It is now up to 5 nuclear reactors].
As MSNBC notes:
Coolant systems failed at three quake-stricken Japanese nuclear reactors Saturday, sending radiation seeping outside one and temperatures rising out of control at two others.
Radiation surged to around 1,000 times the normal level in the control room of the No. 1 reactor of the Fukushima Daichi plant, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. Radiation — it was not clear how much — had also seeped outside, prompting widening of an evacuation area to a six-mile radius from a two-mile radius around the plant. Earlier, 3,000 people had been urged to leave their homes.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday that the temperatures of its No.1 and No.2 reactors at its Fukushima Daini nuclear power station were rising, and it had lost control over pressure in the reactors.
***
About an hour after the plant shut down, however, the emergency diesel generators stopped, leaving the units with no power for important cooling functions.
***
Hours after the evacuation order, the government announced that the plant will release slightly radioactive vapor from the unit to lower the pressure in an effort to protect it from a possible meltdown.
Good luck to the Japanese scientists bravely trying to avert catastrophe. As MSNBC notes:
Japan has a "tremendous amount of technical capability and resources" to respond to the issue ....
It is important that conservatives start talking about pebble bed reactors. Liberals are going to try and use this as an excuse to ban nuclear reactors, but pebble bed reactor can not melt down, due to physics. Once a pebble bed reactor reaches a certain temperature the reaction decreases.
Yes, it is. But, I also think it is important to promote the new pebble bed technology, because it makes meltdowns obsolete. I like the Japanese and I hope they get through this okay.
I must say I have to question their siting. I can’t believe they were built so close to the coast.
You know, it is interesting because I was looking at the site via the news, and the site seems to be on a bluff. I think the damage was could have been caused by the earthquake rather than the tsunami. Either way, the pebble bed system would have eliminated the problem. I think Japan probably uses pebble bed reactors, but I think this is probably an older reactor.
You know, it is interesting because I was looking at the site via the news, and the site seems to be on a bluff. I think the damage was could have been caused by the earthquake rather than the tsunami. Either way, the pebble bed system would have eliminated the problem. I think Japan probably uses pebble bed reactors, but I think this is probably an older reactor.
Power plants need a lot of water. Many, if not most, reactors are built on coasts.
Good point, but still it is on a bluff regardless.
Fox news said this is an older reactor. From what an expert said the earthquake caused the power outage and the tsunami took the generator down. It is now running on BATTERIES!
Can’t be much of a bluff if the tsunami took the backup diesel generators out.
Nuclear cloud....ain’t no thing for the Japanese.
Terrifying for US.
thats a very interesting observation...
to post 3
I am just going by the photo is seen, but my point is that the pebble reactors are much safer than the rods. Pebbles can not meltdown, and that is the salient point.
I did hear that this reactor is an older one. Would it not have the pebble bed reactors?
I hope not, because then the theory is mute. The way it was explained to me is that pebble bet reactors are safe because once the core reaches a certain temp. the reaction process slows down. I heard this from a professor teaching astronomy, but he said he had nuclear credentials. I don’t claim nuclear credentials, so I took his word for it. He could have been full of it, but what would he have to gain? His proposal seemed to make sense. I was actually hoping to get some feedback from some nuclear physicists, from this site.
To...prevent the WORST consequences of CLIMATE Change, we’ll need to increase our supply of NUCLEAR power {Barry Obama Feb 16, 2010}
well you know they do need water for cooling
You mean Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alteration?
Please use the correct term henceforth, for all the obvious reasons. Thank you.
(Yes, I know it was a quote. If you’re still scratching your head, take a closer look at the new accepted term.)
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