Japan reactor 'out of control': EU energy chief

Japan reactor 'out of control': EU energy chief
Reuters · Mar. 16, 2011 | Last Updated: Mar. 16, 2011 11:35 AM ET

BRUSSELS - Europe’s energy chief warned on Wednesday of a further catastrophe at Japan’s nuclear site in the coming hours but his spokeswoman said he had no specific or privileged information on the situation.

“In the coming hours there could be further catastrophic events, which could pose a threat to the lives of people on the island,” Guenther Oettinger told the European Parliament.

“There is as yet no panic, but Tokyo with 35 million people, is the largest metropolis in the world,” he said...

SNIP

...He said the nuclear site was “effectively out of control."

“The cooling systems did not work, and as a result we are somewhere between a disaster and a major disaster,” he said.

http://www.financialpost.com/Japan+reactor+control+energy+chief/4449611/story.html

and dropping it on the reactors, and it would take weeks.

It's effective in keeping it out of the atmosphere, but all of the highly-radioactive stuff is still below, leaching into groundwater. Which in this case means the ocean.

It could help prevent fires, and possibly help stabilize other reactors, and allow the spent fuel pools to be addressed.

A truly monumental problem we have here.

Say, aren't you pro nuke?

Do you have any idea of the financial losses that have and will occur?

.......the containment vessels, and the tops of 3 of the Units containment buildings (especially unit 3, the MOX-fueled one) were blown sky high.

Unit 3 explosion was just massive, and that is the one with the plutonium mix. The videos show so much debris flung upwards.

Remember there are 600,000 of these spent rods between the 6 units.

:think:

and that radiation levels would be much, much higher if the containment vessel had ruptured before then.

but at this point it's anyone's guess.

Ech. I'm getting sick thinking about it.

Unit 3 is on the near left

plume on the right.

Did water keep spent fuel from being ejected in the hydrogen explosion? Who knows, but they're probably boiling the pool like mad right now - hence the steam.

my take on the photos is that it's likely that even if more water were added, it would quickly leak out before cooling the tops of the rods.

Holy Shit. This was the information I've been thinking about for days. Even I couldn't imagine this number.

:shrug:

is the third largest metro area in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City

you too, stockholmer!

That is as of the 17th. They haven't done it yet.

If they do get power lines in, they will be able to restore circulation at reactors 5 and 6. What happens on the others depends on the state of the devastation, but engineers and extra pumps arrived more than a day ago. It's power that is their biggest problem along with mounting radiation levels.

So all is not lost yet. Against incredible odds, the workers in there have been balancing some cooling with the necessary venting of radioactive steam to maintain conditions in which work can be done and complete catastrophe is avoided.

The next two days will be crucial, but the statement is not helpful.

Damn, it's been hard to come by. :(

That pretty much sums it up.

Thanks for the thread, FourScore.