Exposed: this shots shows a gaping hole in the building of reactor number four. The green crane, circled, is normally used to move spent fuel rods into a 45ft deep storage pond, just out of shot. But the pool has now boiled dry and the spent rods are heating up and releasing radiation
Boiled dry: This shot shows of the inside of reactor number four at the Fukushima nuclear plant before the disaster. The spent fuel storage pool is seen at the front of the shot. The rods are at the bottom of the pool, which has now boiled dry
(link)I'm not sure that pool boiled dry. I can' believe how irrational and out of perspective some of the media coverage has been. For instance if any want to compare Chernobyl’s radiation to Fukushima Daiichi there is really nothing even close to bad enough at Fukushima Daiichi to compare to, not even the spent fuel pools let alone the reactors themselves. Chernobyl’s *reactor* had less protection than any of the spent fuel pools in Fukushima Daiichi, even before it blew up. The fact that it blew up proves that point. The operating standards were worlds apart. All that is why Chernobyl at seven seconds was many multiples worse than Fukushima Daiichi at seven days.
Think about it; even a 9.x earthquake, tsunami, and many aftershocks couldn’t damage Fukushima Daiichi enough to where it was anywhere close to a fraction of Chernobyl. In stark contrast Chernobyl blew up all by itself, no earthquake or tsaunmi needed. Fukushima Daiichi stands as a great testament to western nuclear powerplant design and operating standards, very impressive difference in my opinion.
I wonder if there will be even one radiation fatality in the next few months from Fukushima Daiichi. I read about one worker being exposed enough to require hospitalization, and the dose was a tiny fraction of what it would have been at Chernobyl.
Here’s some perspective on the current radiation levels at Fukushima Daiichi;
First from -> http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11031905-e.html
“From now on, if the measured figure fluctuates and goes above and below 500 micro Sv/h" (.5 m/sv);
and
” - The radiation exposure of 1 TEPCO employee, who was working inside the reactor building, exceeded 100mSv and he was transported to the hospital.”
In morning hours after Chernobyl 134 workers received an exposure of 0.8-16 Gy which is 800-16000 m/sv ( 1Gy = 1Sv, 1Sv = 1000 m/Sv)
What this means is 134 workers in the first few hours at Chernobyl recieved 800m/Sv-16000m/sv. That stands in very stark contrast to the one Fukushima worker who recieved 100 m/sv.
For more perspective on radiation exposure; Symptom Benchmarks and Dose Examples
If any want to monitor the current and actual radiation levels across Japan check this link; http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/saigaijohou/syousai/1303726.htm