this is very dangerous for Everybody
A sad day for our children

is to internationally ban nuclear power/weapons.

Monbiot called another environmentalist-turned-corporate-apologist a "sell-out" on his Twitter feed yesterday. I couldn't help thinking of pots and kettles.

to this for the last year know how bad it really is. One of the situations that I have been paying particular attention to is the elevated spent fuel pool at reactor 4. If that structure collapses, which it very well may if there is a large enough quake in the region, there will immediate global ramifications.

The article states that :

"Particles from melted fuel have probably sent radiation levels up to a dangerously high 70 an hour inside the container, said Junichi Matsumoto, spokesman for the plant operator, Tepco. The figure far exceeds the highest level previously detected, of 10 sieverts an hour, which was detected around an exhaust duct shared by the number one and two units last year."

At that level machinery starts to fail. A human would be dead in minutes.

Someone please tell me that is a misprint. That is some serious radiation.

I'll bet the cancer rate in Japan has already jumped up too. Two to five years from the disaster date, I think the increasing numbers of cancer cases around the globe, will reveal the true scope of the problem. The government in Japan and the people who own that plant have tried to soften the news they have handed out. Another case of "You Can't Handle The Truth"...

Since we know the fuel melted through the RPV and fell to the bottom of the containment, I'm a little puzzled why this is surprising.

With some 70-80% of the mass of Chernobyl's core blown burning into the sky, the vicinity of the reactor core and the material that was left was still cranking out some 300 Sieverts/hour.

That's what they measured on the last endoscopy. 72,900 millisieverts. 1 sievert = 1,000 millisieverts.

Without the covering of water, some of the broken down fuel must be exposed to air.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120328x1.html

They would like to repair the leaks so they could raise the water level, but they are in a Catch 22 situation now, at which radiation-hardened robots will have difficulty operating, and humans darned sure can't.

It's daunting, to say the least. I saw an estimate that the special endoscope they used will work for less than a day in those conditions.

Translation:
"denial was once again breeched..."
"no one could have foreseen"

I swear, Mother Nature is so pissed at us. ( rightfully so)

Apparently the water they put in is leaking out much quicker than they thought. If the water level were higher it would be containing a lot of the radiation.

Over time the radiation levels will naturally fall, but that takes a long time. They're not going to want to sit with this situation for 10 years.

We don't, of course, know what's going on inside the other reactors. In theory I suppose they could be in worse shape.

n/t

[IMG][/IMG]

PB

Though their M$M choose to cut those remarks from their coverage

Last edited Wed Mar 28, 2012, 08:01 PM - Edit history (1)

paranoia and hysterical ranting of us "unscientific" anti-nukes who knew there was a meltdown and warned it would get worse. Much worse. Not one of them has posted on this lately. Geez, what a surprise.

but i won't look a gift horse

Considering how often we were favored with their deathless expertise, and ridiculed us as a bunch of nervous nellies who didn't understand the subtleties and nuances of nuclear power, and how humans were just way too smart to let something untoward happen.

I have no problems with persons with an ax to grind (don't we all) and even industry or organization reps are welcome at DU, provided they identify themselves as such.

But, we need to revisit the policy about allowing propaganda and disinformation on this board from trolls who post as unacknowledged spokespersons. This is not to censor them or their point of view, but to understand the context of what they have to say.

"much less water to cool it than officials estimated"

and you are probably in the neighborhood.

They have to develop new technologies to contain the radiation, let alone clean up the site.



They should partially evacuate the northern 2/3 of Honshu. The old like me, those who intend to never procreate, and those wearing protective gear should be able to stay. Everyone else should get the hell out of Dodge.