Posted on 05/15/2011 6:59:14 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Evacuation begins from widened no-go zone near Fukushima plant
PTI | 05:05 PM,May 15,2011
Fukushima, May 15 (Kyodo) Residents in Kawamata and Iitate began leaving their homes today after their living areas were included in an evacuation radius the government widened last month around the radiation-leaking Fukushima nuclear power plant. Kawamata Mayor Michio Furukawa met with some 50 residents in the first group of evacuees, including babies and toddlers, telling them, "I know you are worried but we will overcome difficulties together."
(Excerpt) Read more at ibnlive.in.com ...
P!
A friend of mine is heading there later this month to assist with control efforts. This event was big, bigger than anyone is letting on.
The damage from this event is going to far surpass the Chernobyl event before it’s all said and done.
Japan has my sympathies and my hopes that this will all work out okay.
I can see it, too. I suspect that, if all known information on this disaster comes out now, it will be a hue shock to people. So much has been withheld and will be so.
“The damage from this event is going to far surpass the Chernobyl event before it’s all said and done.”
That is simply not true. Stop the alarmism.
Chernobyl involved the release of large amounts of reactor core material directly into the atmosphere in a form that was widely distributed. At Fukushima nothing similar has happened.
Japan will be just fine, even in the fairly short run.
That father needs his head examined. He should have had his family out asap after it occurred. If he thinks the government will be there to “overcome difficulties together”, he’s got another thing coming when his babies come down with health problems from this.
Put me on your ping list, please.
Sorry but I’ll believe my friend who is a nuclear engineer and is on his way over to Japan in the next few days to help with the problem over someone who is anon on the internet who says it’s not true.
Just because there isn’t a large atmospheric discharge doesn’t mean it isn’t worse. The ground contamination combined with the leeching due to the ocean is making matters very bad there.
I’ll put it to you this way, if it weren’t really bad, he wouldn’t be going over there.
The ocean can take it. USN dumped two active reactor cores into the ocean in the 1960s (Scorpion and Thresher). The Soviets dumped in many more. The ocean hasn't complained.
Wish your friend is safe and we should all thank them for going over there. This has been 3 Chernobyl's now for two months. They are releasing Chernobyl levels of radiation into three main pathways. Into the ground water, into the ocean and into the atmosphere via water vapor. That is why the MSM is not covering the story much anymore. Would cause complete panic.
The Japanese government and Tepco have been lieing to you from day 1. They just now officially admitted a complete meltdown occurred in #1 within hours of the Tsunami wave hitting. They admit partial loss and partial breach of containment occurred in #1 two months ago. Thats the facts now jack. And we will learn even worse ones later, no doubt.
“Sorry but I’ll believe my friend who is a nuclear engineer and is on his way over to Japan in the next few days to help with the problem over someone who is anon on the internet who says it’s not true.”
Just keep reading the reports regarding the dead and dying due to radiation associated with this incident. What’s the total count again?
At Chernobyl, 237 people suffered from acute radiation sickness shortly after the disaster, with 31 of them dying within three months.
“The ground contamination combined with the leeching due to the ocean is making matters very bad there.”
That is still far different from a widespread surface contamination.
As to matters being “very bad”, be more specific. Which nucleotides concern you in particular? Do you have any actual numbers or is this strictly an “appeal to authority” (your friend)?
“I’ll put it to you this way, if it weren’t really bad, he wouldn’t be going over there.”
I’m sorry, “really bad” is not a quantitative evaluation, nor does it give any meaningful comparison with Chernobyl.
I still find it bemusing that so much attention is focused on Fukushima, when 25,000+ people died in the real disaster.
There have also been far worse power generation related disasters than either Fukushima or Chernobyl. It’s sad that people have been so conditioned to fear anything nuclear. Nuclear power is going to be a necessity going forward with many aspects of technology including space travel.
“The Japanese government and Tepco have been lieing to you from day 1. They just now officially admitted a complete meltdown occurred in #1 within hours of the Tsunami wave hitting. They admit partial loss and partial breach of containment occurred in #1 two months ago. Thats the facts now jack. And we will learn even worse ones later, no doubt.”
You are incorrect about a “complete meltdown”. It is true there was more damage to the fuel rods than originally thought, and that there is a relatively small breach in the containment vessel.
We have known about a breach in containment since early on, since that’s the only way radioactive materials could be released into the environment. The question, and concern, is whether there will be long-term, widespread effects from said radiation.
The only nucleotide worth mention in that regard is Cs-137. Its presence in seawater will not be a concern due to simple dilution. We will have to wait and see how things turn out with the groundwater.
From the WSJ:
Within 16 hours, the reactor core melted, dropped to the bottom of the pressure vessel and created a hole there. By then, an operation to pump water into the reactor was under way. This prevented the worst-case scenario, in which the overheating fuel would melt its way through the vessels and discharge large volumes of radiation outside.That "massive release of fuel" hasn't happened, that I'm aware. Can you cite different data?The nuclear industry lacks a technical definition for a full meltdown, but the term is generally understood to mean that radioactive fuel has breached containment measures, resulting in a massive release of fuel.
The pressure vessel is only the first line of defense.
The pressure vessel a cylindrical steel container that holds nuclear fuel, "is likely to be damaged and leaking water at units Nos. 2 and 3," said Junichi Matsumoto, Tepco spokesman on nuclear issues, in a news briefing Sunday.
Cores Damaged at Three Reactors
You are way behind the curve.
Repeating things over and over doesn’t make them any more correct.
“Cores Damaged” does not mean “Full Meltdown”. Reading comprehension is your friend.
The Fukushima situation would have rivaled Chernobyl IF the nuclear fuel had melted through all containment, reaching soil and causing a steam explosion. That didn’t happen, and will not happen. Thankfully.
PM Assistant Hosono said that there was no water being poured into the Reactor 1 for 14 hours and 9 minutes, Reactor 2 for 6 hours and 29 minutes, and Reactor 3 for 6 hours and 43 minutes. He said "We should be prepared for the possibility of the complete meltdown of the reactor core."
That's fine. I note the word "possibility" not "certainty".
Regardless, we are mainly arguing semantics. Reread the WSJ definition below:
The nuclear industry lacks a technical definition for a full meltdown, but the term is generally understood to mean that radioactive fuel has breached containment measures, resulting in a massive release of fuel.Even if the entire core did melt (or at least slump) the critical issue is whether or not the outer containment, the concrete pad under the reactor vessel, was breached. That does NOT appear to be the case.
So, once again, there was no "massive release of fuel" into the environment. Further, radiation levels continue to drop, and there is no chance of new criticality at Fukushima.
Fukushima, thus far, is in no way as serious as Chernobyl. Neither in lasting environmental effect, nor in loss of human life.
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