Nuclear Meltdown Watch

[Plutonia]

[seemslikeadream]

^^^

That's what I wanted to see... now tell me what it means

[Plutonia]

^^^

That's what I wanted to see... now tell me what it means

Dunno do I

[justdrew]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_%28unit%29
The gray (symbol: Gy) is the SI unit of absorbed radiation dose of ionizing radiation (for example, X-rays), and is defined as the absorption of one joule of ionizing radiation by one kilogram of matter (usually human tissue). It is named after the British physicist Louis Harold Gray. It supersedes the old cgs unit, the rad (10 mGy), which is now "strongly discouraged" by the author style guide of the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology, though still commonly used within the US.

[seemslikeadream]

Japan Faces Potential Nuclear Disaster as Radiation Levels Rise
By HIROKO TABUCHI, KEITH BRADSHER and MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: March 14, 2011

TOKYO — Japan faced the likelihood of a catastrophic nuclear accident Tuesday morning, as an explosion at the most crippled of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station damaged its crucial steel containment structure, emergency workers were withdrawn from the plant, and much larger emissions of radioactive materials appeared immiment, according to official statements and industry executives informed about the developments.

Japanese Prime Minsiter Naoto Kan made a televised address to the nation at 11 a.m. Tokyo time to discuss the latest developments in the crisis.

The sharp deterioration came after government officials said the containment structure of the No. 2 reactor, the most seriously damaged of three reactors at the Daichi plant, had suffered damage during an explosion shortly after 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

They initially suggested that the damage was limited and that emergency operations aimed at cooling the nuclear fuel at three stricken reactors with seawater would continue. But industry executives said that in fact the situation had spiraled out of control and that all plant workers needed to leave the plant to avoid excessive exposure to radioactive leaks.

If all workers do in fact leave the plant, the nuclear fuel in all three reactors is likely to melt down, which would lead to wholesale releases of radioactive material — by far the largest accident of its kind since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.

Reports of an imminent worsening of the problem came after a frantic day and night of rescue efforts focused largely on the No. 2 reactor. There, a malfunctioning valve prevented workers from manually venting the containment vessel to release pressure and allow fresh seawater to be injected into it. That meant that the extraordinary remedy emergency workers have been using to keep the nuclear fuel from overheating no longer worked.

As a result, the nuclear fuel in that reactor was exposed for many hours, increasing the risk of a breach of the container vessel and a more dangerous emissions of radioactive particles.

By Tuesday morning, the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power, said it had fixed the valve and resumed seawater injections, but that they had detected possible leaks in the containment vessel that prevented water from fully covering the fuel rods.

Then the explosion hit the same reactor. The operator initially reported that the blast may have damaged the bottom part of the container vessel, but later said radiation levels had not risen high enough to suggest a major escalation of the problem. While they did not immediately provide a detailed account of what happened at the reactor, government and company officials initially ruled out a serious breach that could lead to massive radioactive leaks or a full meltdown of the nuclear fuel.

Even if a full meltdown is averted, Japanese officials have been facing unpalatable options. One was to continue flooding the reactors and venting the resulting steam, while hoping that the prevailing winds, which have headed across the Pacific, did not turn south toward Tokyo or west, across northern Japan to the Korean Peninsula. The other was to hope that the worst of the overheating was over, and that with the passage of a few more days the nuclear cores would cool enough to essentially entomb the radioactivity inside the plants, which clearly will never be used again. Both approaches carried huge risks.

While Japanese officials made no comparisons to past accidents, the release of an unknown quantity of radioactive gases and particles — all signs that the reactor cores were damaged from at least partial melting of fuel — added considerable tension to the effort to cool the reactors.

“It’s way past Three Mile Island already,” said Frank von Hippel, a physicist and professor at Princeton. “The biggest risk now is that the core really melts down and you have a steam explosion.”

[Laodicean]

Kyodo: Hydrogen explosion occurs at Fukushima No. 4 reactor.

[DrVolin]

After a bit of searching and thinking, it seems that the spent fuel fire will be a very serious problem indeed, but mainly for atmospheric contamination. It will make Chernobyl look like a campfire. The critical mass argument doesn't seem to hold up very well under scrutiny. There are (or were) actually natural uranium reactors, at Oklo for example. Just puting a bunch of Uranium together doesn't make a bomb. You have to work quite a bit to compress the material into a mass that will initiate an out of control chain reaction.

But the spent rod fire is bad enough in itself.

[Jeff]

France: low-level radioactive wind may reach Tokyo in 10 hours 14 minutes ago

http://twitter.com/REUTERSFLASH

[Pazdispenser]

This is a map of those turned into newts by the geniuses at GE and Toshiba. Those in the green and blue regions might get be''er.

[bks]

horrifying.

The rapidly deteriorating crisis raised the likelihood of more mass evacuations from the area around the plant, which sits 260 kilometres northeast of Tokyo and its metropolitan population of 30 million. Already, some 200,000 people living within 30 kilometres of the plant have been ordered to leave, although 600 people were known to be trapped in the area closest to the plant, having not heard the initial evacuation order after the earthquake and aftershocks apparently left them without communications. They were told Monday to stay inside, though some of their homes were damaged by the quake.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/wor ... le1941418/

[justdrew]

new explosion at #4

[justdrew]

folks, this is not a drill


should I quit, cash out my retirement and tart running tomorrow? It looks like serious radiation is likely to be headed right at me withing a few days.

[Jeff]

How can it be that there are still current headlines like Japan Faces Potential Nuclear Disaster? The article itself admits that the evacuation of emergency workers makes a triple meltdown all but inevitable.

[seemslikeadream]

folks, this is not a drill


should I quit, cash out my retirement and tart running tomorrow? It looks like serious radiation is likely to be headed right at me withing a few days.

one thing to keep in mind.... how many other folks are asking the same question right now? Will they all get a seat on the plane? Or would you go by boat?

[eyeno]

Right now the live geiger counter in Tokyo is averaging about 12.66 cpm. It has to get up to about 130 to hit a level that is considered an alert level right?

I have been beating the bushes looking for a satellite we can access that can spot nuclear radiation. No luck. Anybody else?