Japan earthquake
Live updates of developments after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, selected by Reuters.com editors and readers. To see updates from Reuters only, click "Options" and turn off comments.
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public broadcasters do an amazing amount of harm due to their lack of understanding. Radiation is not contamination! Meltdown does not mean release! 1000 times .00001mrem is still insignificant. Coal plants these days release more heavy metals and gaseous radioactivity than do nuke plants.
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First, the Russian situation in the past was very different than that of TMI. The Russians had a graphite reactor (Russian design, not French as someone earlier said) and TMI was a light water reactor. Graphite reactors (similar to the original Fermi reactor) try to control fast neutrons with graphite moderator rods. Light water reactors control the reactor via slow neutrons. The control systems are very different and the Russian design was primitive. Also, the Russian reactor DID NOT have a containment building (as all Russian reactors at the time) while TMI did.
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The issue is that if the temp goes over 100C then you get steam, this takes up roughly 22x the same volume. This causes the pressure increase, this steam is contaminated and has to be vented to reduce the pressure. So the local area has to be evacuated so the steam can dissipate safely. Comparing this to Chernobyl is like comparing apples and bananas. Under normal conditions the excess heat is used to drive turbines. when the reactor is shut down (unlike Chernobyl) it needs to be cooled. At worst some minimal radiation released to the environment, probably about the same as a decent large hospital...(or a few coal fired plants)even if the fuel rods melt it lessens the reactions, just the plant is useless. The worst issue would be not being able to release pressure in a controlled way. Thousands likely dead from the quake and tsunami...mention the word nuclear though and panties twist everywhere. So much for physics ed.
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I know the Japanese people have just gone through a major nightmare but i believe TEPC need to provide full facts on the situtation, too many sketchy reports, values, generators, its melting then its not... IF the plants are on the brink of a catastrophe then the japanese people need to know they have suffered enough and at least deserve the change to cuddle up with loved ones.
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"In 1986, Harold Denton, then the NRC's top safety official, told an industry trade group that the 'Mark I containment, especially being smaller with lower design pressure, in spite of thesuppression pool, if you look at the WASH 1400 safety study, you'll find something like a 90%probability of that containment failing.' Some modifications have been made to U.S. Mark I reactors since 1986, although the fundamentaldesign deficiencies remain." Not good. This means that all the discussion below about the strength of modern US reactor containments is irrelevant.
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The phrase "Nuclear containment" in these areas is an oxymoron, with emphasis on moron. The hubris of matching a reactor against the supernatural force of a tsunami or earthquake is an imponderable. This quake happened over 200 miles away from the reactor, and people on the west coast of the U.S. are checking airfares. My bag is packed, and I'm ready.
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@Stoney - I live next to Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station in the UK, my job is security on the base a few of the engineers who were having a coffee break when i was having mine at 4am this morning were discussing the situation and they believe the situation over there is extremely dire. I'am sure these chaps would know they play with these things daily.
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@Daily "After Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said U.S. Air Force "assets" in Japan had delivered coolant to a nuclear plant, military officials say coolant was not provided. One U.S. official said Japan had asked the United States for the coolant but ultimately handled the matter on its own. " by Reuters_Helen Cook at 3/11/2011 10:13:08 PM3/11/2011 23:13 (here in this news feed)
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ロイターニュースランキング
