Posted on 03/11/2011 3:34:41 AM PST by TSgt
we can be assured that Zero will be focusing like a laser to make safe his and wookie's Kobe beef supply in Japan...lots of "Wednesday Night at the White Hut" bashes ahead...
Apparently a passenger train on a coastal route is unaccounted for......poor people
LOL!!
I was watching NHK, Japan's "public broadcasting network" and they mentioned Obama's statement. The picture they showed had me almost on the floor with laughter. Obama, looking to his right, had this sour, mean look on his face like someone just egged his favorite suit. The caption was "American President."
It was truly the kind of photo that might be used as late night punchline.
Does he sound secure? I worry about that reactor....I tend believe the opposite of what the press says. IF they had already come out and said ‘all is secure’ so fast already, I tend to believe that all is ‘not so secure’...
I hope our ‘American in Tokoyo’ FReeper is ok...
Please check in AIT.
The chain reaction can be shut off immediately by inserting control rods, but immediately after shutdown the core continues to produce heat due to radioactive decay.
Immediately after shutdown the core will prduce about 7% of the normal operating power. For a 3000 MW (thermal) plant, that means ~200 MW is still being produced (equal to the heat from 2 million 100 Watt light bulbs).
The power drops off very quickly, but if you have no place to dump 200 MW of heat things get dicey pretty quick.
Americannitokyo has been posting on this thread http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2687048/posts
“Can they just “turn it off?””
No. If you immediately stop the nuclear reaction (fairly easy to do) there is heat generated from the short-half-life isotopes that want to warm the core up more.
You need to remove that heat just to keep the core at the same temp.
If you have lost power you rely on offsite power and diesel gensets to run the megawatt or two of very big, reliable pumps to cool the core (if it’s water cooled). Plants are designed for this, emergency cooling is a big design/construction cost and effort.
From what I’ve been reading, they have power for pumps and valves but not enough water.
I should add to that that the next biggest design is containing the core if all else fails. If it slags, it’s unlikely to leak out unless containment is breached somehow. Expensive and very very newsworthy but still “safe” enough.
Does anyone happen to know what brand of DCS the plant is running?
Isn’t that the truth? Every time I hear the name mentioned, especially in times like these, I absolutely cringe...then curse the stupidity of so many American people.
My prayers are also going up for the Japanese families who lost students in the Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake just a few weeks ago. What a double whammy. May the Lord of heaven & earth give them comfort.
“If you have lost power you rely on offsite power and diesel gensets to run the megawatt or two of very big, reliable pumps to cool the core (if it’s water cooled). Plants are designed for this, emergency cooling is a big design/construction cost and effort.”
Fox News is reporting that at least at one of the nuclear power plants the generators are failing.
Hopefully I'll hear more from him soon. I appreciate your concern. :-))
Kyodo news reports a fire has broken out in the turbine building of Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture.
It's not immediately clear if there is a risk of a radioactive leak as a result of the fire at the plant.
Kyodo also reports that an emergency core-cooling unit had been activated at Fukushima nuclear plant, without giving further details.
Evacuation ordered
FNC now reporting the cooling mechanism has failed
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