interesting video:
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by AhabsOtherLeg » Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:20 pm
by 23 » Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:11 am
WakeUpAndLive wrote:interesting video:
by JackRiddler » Sun Mar 20, 2011 3:24 am
by GuyWhoInventedFire » Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:43 am
by Peachtree Pam » Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:43 am
by 82_28 » Sun Mar 20, 2011 6:53 am
GuyWhoInventedFire wrote:Apologies if someone has already mentioned this in the previous 28 pages... but does anyone else think it's strange how the media has so completely dropped the nuclear fallout story? On Thursday we had desperate images of helicopters dropping buckets of water on the reactors as a last-ditch attempt to stave off meltdown. Then Friday, hardly anything, anywhere.
As a journalist myself, I know news cycles are short, but we went from 7 days of non-stop coverage - live blogs on every news site, huge headlines alone at the top of the page, the whole works - to nothing, overnight, on every site. Even sites like Drudge Report have toned it way down.
Which makes me wonder two things: 1, was this nuclear reactor story (or rather its global implications) overblown from the beginning to distract from America's new war; or 2, is the situation so perilous that media were asked not to induce panic? I have to think there was some kind of concerted effort here because I've never seen such huge, widespread coverage turned off so suddenly, like someone just flicked a switch. It would be like waking up on Sept 19, 2001, and suddenly all the news coverage is back on shark attacks.
by eyeno » Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:15 am
GuyWhoInventedFire wrote:Apologies if someone has already mentioned this in the previous 28 pages... but does anyone else think it's strange how the media has so completely dropped the nuclear fallout story? On Thursday we had desperate images of helicopters dropping buckets of water on the reactors as a last-ditch attempt to stave off meltdown. Then Friday, hardly anything, anywhere.
As a journalist myself, I know news cycles are short, but we went from 7 days of non-stop coverage - live blogs on every news site, huge headlines alone at the top of the page, the whole works - to nothing, overnight, on every site. Even sites like Drudge Report have toned it way down.
Which makes me wonder two things: 1, was this nuclear reactor story (or rather its global implications) overblown from the beginning to distract from America's new war; or 2, is the situation so perilous that media were asked not to induce panic? I have to think there was some kind of concerted effort here because I've never seen such huge, widespread coverage turned off so suddenly, like someone just flicked a switch. It would be like waking up on Sept 19, 2001, and suddenly all the news coverage is back on shark attacks.
The situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant appears increasingly dire, as efforts to cool overheating reactors have failed; Japanese military fire trucks are now spraying water at the plant's no. 3 reactor; earlier efforts on Thursday to use helicopters to dump water on the rods have failed; the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman is particularly concerned about reactor no. 4 which houses spent fuel rods; spent fuel rods, placed in cooling tanks, are rapidly overheating as they are boiling away the water they are submerged in; the secondary containment unit at reactor no. 4 has been breached and radiation is now freely leaking out of the plant; high radiation levels are hindering efforts to repair the reactors
Nuclear crisis worsening; growing radiation leaks at reactors nos. 3, 4
Published 18 March 2011
The situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant appears increasingly dire, as efforts to cool overheating reactors have failed.
In a desperate attempt, Japanese military fire trucks are now spraying water at the plant’s no. 3 reactor. Earlier efforts on Thursday to use helicopters to dump water on the rods have failed. Japanese military helicopters made four passes dropping a total of 8,000 gallons of seawater on reactor no. 3 to little effect.
According to Japanese officials, the reactor needs about 12,000 gallons of water a day to keep from overheating.
It appears that the water missed the reactor and the military said that they had not noticed any decreases in temperature.
Plans to drop water on the plant’s no. 4 reactor have been postponed.
Gregory Jaczko, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman, is particularly concerned about reactor no. 4 which houses spent fuel rods.
The reactor was not active at the time of the massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake that shook Japan, but the subsequent tsunami knocked out the power supply which kept cool water circulating around the spent fuel rods.
Even after a reactor is shut down, the fuel rods continue to produce large amounts of heat due to their high radioactivity. These spent rods are stored in large cooling tanks filled with cold water to keep them from overheating.
The tanks are usually forty-five feet deep and the fuel rods are typically stored in the lower fifteen feet of the pool. When the water pumps failed, the spent rods began to heat the water rapidly boiling it away.
The spent fuel rods at reactor no. 4 are particularly troublesome as they were only removed from the reactor in December 2010, and therefore generate more heat than the spent fuel at other reactors.
As the water boils, the steam generated carries radioactive particles that are eventually released into the air. If the rods remain exposed and out of water for too long they will eventually melt and emit massive amounts of radiation.
These problems have been exacerbated by the fact that the secondary containment unit at reactor no. 4 has been breached and radiation is now freely leaking out of the plant.
Officials are uncertain if there is any water left in the storage pool.
Yoshitaka Nagayama, a spokesman for Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said, “Because we have been unable to go to the scene, we cannot confirm whether there is water left or not in the spent fuel pool at Reactor No. 4.”
High radiation levels have further complicated efforts to cool the plants.
Testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Jaczko said, “We believe that radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures.”
The peak levels of radiation there “would be lethal within a fairly short period of time,” he said.
According to Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, radiation levels of approximately 250 millisievert an hour were detected 100 feet above the plant.
Radiation levels have dramatically risen and fallen over the past several days. On Tuesday the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) measured radiation levels as high as 400 millisieverts an hour before they plunged to 0.6 millisievert an hour.
The World Nuclear Association says that 50 millisievert of radiation a year is the lowest dose at which there is evidence of cancer in humans. The average person receives about one to two millisieverts of radiation from natural sources like the sun a year.
Jaczko warned that resolving the crisis could “take time, possibly weeks.”
Officials are also closely monitoring spent fuel pools at reactors no. 3, 5, and 6 where water levels may have dropped as well.
by eyeno » Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:33 am
by eyeno » Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:43 am
Quote:
Cable connected to reactor no. 2, coolant pumps to be restarted
Published 18 March 2011
Tepco, the operator of the stricken reactors, says -- and the IAEA confirms -- that its engineers have been able to reconnect a power line to reactor no. 2; the 1-km cable connects to the main power grid; restoring power should enable engineers to restart the pumps which send coolant over the reactor and into the pools where radioactive waste is stored; Tepco said the process of reconnecting power could take up to fifteen hours; senior IAEA official Andrew Graham said the situation at Fukushima had not deteriorated, but could yet do so. He described the situation at "reasonably stable"; the head of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano, is heading to Tokyo to be briefed by Japanese officials
In what appears to be the first bit of good news from Japan, engineers at Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant have successfully connected a power line to reactor no. 2, the UN’s nuclear watchdog reports.
Restoring power should enable engineers to restart the pumps which send coolant over the reactor.
The BBC reports that workers at Fukushima have been battling to prevent fuel in the reactors from overheating since Friday’s magnitude 9.0 quake and subsequent tsunami. The atomic crisis was triggered when the power supply to Fukushima was damaged by the natural disaster and back-up generators failed.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), which runs the plant, has been attempting to connect it to the main grid via a 1-km (0.6-mile) electricity cable. Once power is restored, engineers should be able to re-activate the pumps which send coolant through the reactors and the pools where spent fuel rods are stored.
The Vienna, Austria-International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the cable had reached the site by 17:30 local time (08:30 GMT) on Thursday, and that engineers planned to reconnect power to the reactor once workers have finished spraying seawater over reactor no. 3.
Tepco warned the process of reconnecting power could take up to fifteen hours.
Helicopters and water cannon have been dumping seawater over the Fukushima reactors, to try to prevent fuel rods melting. Video footage had suggested most of the water had been falling outside the target buildings, but a Tepco spokesman said it appeared the operation had had some success.
“When we poured water, we monitored steam rising from the facility. By pouring water, we believe the water turned down the heat. We believe that there was a certain effect,” a Tepco spokesman said.
Another spokesman said on Thursday that aerial observations of reactor 4 indicated it did contain some water. “We have not confirmed how much water was left inside but we have not had information that spent fuel rods are exposed,” he said.
Earlier, senior IAEA official Andrew Graham said the situation at Fukushima had not deteriorated, but could yet do so. He described the situation at “reasonably stable.”
The head of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano, is heading to Tokyo to be briefed by Japanese officials.
by GuyWhoInventedFire » Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:06 am
by eyeno » Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:06 am
Re the Homeland link, is that definitely Homeland Security's site? I'd think they would be a .gov
by chump » Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:10 am
12. How does Chernobyl’s effect measure up to the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
The accident at Chernobyl was approximately 400 times more potent than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. However, the atomic bomb testing conducted by several countries around the world during the 1960s and 1970s contributed 100 to 1,000 times more radioactive material to the environment than Chernobyl
by 23 » Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:10 am
by 23 » Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:42 am
RICHLAND, Wash. - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland detected trace amounts of the radioisotope Xenon-133 from the nuclear incident at Fukushima.
This occurred Wednesday, March 16, and was the first detection in the continental United States. Subsequent measurements here at PNNL were a bit higher but again significantly below levels that would impact public health. On Friday, March 18, sensors here also showed the presence of iodine isotopes, but at even lower levels than the xenon isotopes.
PNNL has this ultra-sensitive monitoring capability that allows them to detect very low levels of nuclear releases.
The dose rate from this amount of radioactivity poses no threat to public health and is a tiny fraction of what a person receives from natural background sources, such as the sun, each day.
Here's a list of Q and A researchers have sent us:
Q: What specifically are you finding?
A: On Wednesday, March 16, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Wash., initially detected a small amount of the radioactive isotope xenon-133, whose origin was determined from atmospheric models to be consistent with a release from the Fukushima reactors in northern Japan. The levels of xenon-133 that PNNL detected were extremely low and pose no health hazard. More recently the levels measured were a bit higher but again significantly below levels that would impact public health. On Friday, March 18 sensors at PNNL also showed the presence of iodine isotopes, but at even lower levels than the xenon isotopes.
Q: Where and when did you detect it?
A: It was first detected in Richland, Washington at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. PNNL is collecting data continuously; however our initial data was collected and measured on March 16.
Q: How do you know what you're detecting is coming from the incident in Japan?
A: The detection is consistent with isotopes detected locally in Japan, and the measurements are consistent with calculations of where we expect the location of a plume. We have ruled out any possible local sources such as the nuclear power plant at Energy Northwest.
Q: What levels are they – do they pose any health problems?
A: The initial levels measured were approximately 0.1 disintegrations per second per cubic meter of air. The dose rate from this amount of radioactivity poses no threat to public health and is a tiny fraction of what a person receives from natural background sources, such as the sun, each day. Later measurements were slightly higher but again significantly below levels that would impact public health.
Q: What is the long term fate of the radio xenon?
A: The radio-xenon we measured will continue to migrate across the world, and in doing so will become even more dilute. It will also decay away into stable elements.
Q: How do these devices work?
A: These systems work two ways: one by filtering a large amount of air through filters and using nuclear detectors to count gamma rays from the debris, and the other by collecting trace radioactive gases in specially designed beds of adsorbents and then using a specialized nuclear detector for the analysis. They carefully separate the xenon from the bulk atmosphere by exploiting the differences between the physical properties of xenon and the main constituents of air (e.g., oxygen, nitrogen, and argon.) After collection, ultra-trace nuclear detection is performed exploiting distinctive properties of xenon decay to make very sensitive measurements of this isotope.
Q: What do the detectors measure and why does this come from the reactors?
A: With our systems, we measure the gamma rays emitted from the radiological debris that is emitted from the reactors. This type of debris is generated during the process of fission in a nuclear reactor and is carried by dust particles or exists as a gas. Specifically, we measure the gamma rays emitted from short-lived radioactive xenon isotopes. Our initial detections were of xenon-133, but current detections show presence of iodine isotopes, but at even lower levels than the xenon isotopes.
Q: Why does PNNL have this capability?
A: For several decades, PNNL has been conducting research and development on methods to detect very low levels of nuclear releases. This work includes the development of the world's most sensitive sensors to detect airborne radiological debris for treaty verification and monitoring purposes. We drew upon these capabilities to detect the trace debris in the plume from Japan.
Q: In addition to Richland, Washington, where are these monitors located?
A: PNNL-developed technology has been incorporated into the international monitoring system used for treaty verification. As a result there are number of similar sensors in various locations around the world. Specifically PNNL operates very sensitive monitoring systems in Richland, but there are also approximately 65 operating sensitive international systems at approximately 70 locations around the world. Domestic locations include Sacramento, California, Oahu, Hawaii, Ashland, Kansas, Wake Island, a few locations in Alaska, and Midway Island.
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