8.8 STRIKES JAPAN!!!

[bchandler]

Well, more bad news...
The guages and equipment that tells them how much water they have inside the reactor is damaged... so they really don't know...
Estimates are now saying that 4-9 feet of the reactor rods have been exposed to air.
It appears that they are still using the feed and bleed method for cooling these reactors...
They still at this moment do not have a powered cooling loop established...

This means that every time they vent the containment, the steam they are releasing gets dirtier and dirtier. It isn't just radioactive steam they are venting any more. They are venting radioactive byproducts of the partial meltdown.

The latest info from IAEA, ANS, and NIS has me very concerned that they are not getting ahead of this thing.

Apparently the French have sent something like 300 nuclear engineers to help them... and France knows their stuff... they are nearly 100% nuclear in their power supplies.

[bchandler]

This just in... the fuel elements of reactor no 2 have become FULLY EXPOSED, because the fire pumps cooling the reactor ran out of fuel, and/or were damaged by the explosion of reactor 3's outer housing.

I am sure there is more to this story... but... ran out of fuel? seriously? how incompetent can you get? Fully exposed?

They now say they have restored water to the bottom 30 centimeters of the fuel rods... umm... are you kidding? This is their idea of good news? The rest of the rods are exposed?

I am sorry if I am alarmed, but hey... i am alarmed... It just astounds me that they can't seem to get anything more capable than these fire pumps hooked up to these reactors.

[bchandler]

some good news...

2 of the 3 reactors at the Fukushima plant no. 2 have achieved cold shutdown status, and the 3rd is apparently on it's way to achieving that status.

So, 3 of the 6 problem reactors will likely shut down fully by the end of the day.

So it appears that the 3 reactors at Fukushima no. 1 plant are the only reactors of concern.

i found this site, to be helpful in understanding what is happening at these plants.
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/default.aspx

[Just_Betsy]

Please put this in perspective for me. How would a worst case scenario affect the radiation level in the US compared to how Hiroshima and Nagasaki affected the US 65 years ago? To my knowledge, the US wasn't harmed by fallout from those two bombings.

[Just_Betsy]

This just in... the fuel elements of reactor no 2 have become FULLY EXPOSED, because the fire pumps cooling the reactor ran out of fuel, and/or were damaged by the explosion of reactor 3's outer housing.

I am sure there is more to this story... but... ran out of fuel? seriously? how incompetent can you get? Fully exposed?

They now say they have restored water to the bottom 30 centimeters of the fuel rods... umm... are you kidding? This is their idea of good news? The rest of the rods are exposed?

I am sorry if I am alarmed, but hey... i am alarmed... It just astounds me that they can't seem to get anything more capable than these fire pumps hooked up to these reactors.

One can't help wondering how much of their emergency equipment was swept away and/or destroyed by the tsunami. No doubt they are doing the best they can with what they have, but what they have is mostly gone.

[bchandler]

read back a bit and you will see post where i explained why these reactors are so much more of a concern if they melt down. It has to do with their MOX fuel...

It may not be a huge problem for the US... depending upon the winds, and the altitude of the plumes. But plutonium contamination is a huge deal... it's half life is way too long and cleaning up vaporized plutonium will be a nightmare. But that is only if they actually lose containment.

They haven't lost it so far... but the cooling situation is NOT improving... and I am having trouble understanding why they can not pump out their equipment bays and get just ONE of their main cooling systems back on line.

On another note... I am having trouble confirming the total exposure of fuel in reactor 2 from another source... so maybe that was a misprint... and it is just a gauge malfunction and not an actual exposure.

[bchandler]

As for stuff being swept away... The real issue is that alot of the control systems for power switching were in a sub basement that was flooded with sea water. Apparently the equipment and cooling systems are intact, they just can't power them up. I am just having a hard time understanding why it would take so long to rig up power and controls to drive the system directly, and bypass the damaged control system.

The plant was designed to withstand a 6.5 meter tsunami... this one came in a 7-8 meters... just enough to overcome their sea wall... I am sure that as soon as the crisis is over.. every one of these plants will have their sea walls improved to handle a 9 or 10 meter event. But once again... putting so much faith in a non-redundant system like a sea wall, that you put critical control systems in places where a failure means flooding... seems like a bone-head move to me... If there is one thing that absolutely must not fail at a nuke plant, it is cooling systems... their equipment and controls should be hardened to withstand flooding, earthquakes, EMP, and even non-penetrating nuke strikes. But that is just my opinion.

[Just_Betsy]

My husband has been on a business trip in Asia since March 1st. Most of the time was in SE China, but he's been in Taiwan since the day of the big quake in Japan. He's supposed to leave Taiwan for home late Wednesday (US Mountain Time) and should arrive home on Thursday our time. He's been fine. Taiwan has been spared seismic and tsunami activities throughout this ordeal. But his return flight is supposed to go through Narita airport in Japan, which has re-opened. I am praying that he will be able to re-route his trip to avoid Japan altogether.

I know that helicopter pilots from the USS Ronald Reagan have tested positive for radiation after flying over Japan, and the US fleet has moved 100 miles off shore to avoid contamination. So I really don't want my husband going into Japan at all. All prayers are appreciated!

[bchandler]

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Lo ... 03113.html

Confirmation from WNN that reactor 2 lost coolant and they fear that radiation levels indicate that some of the fuel rods have broken. They are now cooling reactor 2 with sea water, the same as 1 and 3.

[bchandler]

Here is the most comprehensive explanation by an MIT PhD that i have seen to date on the goings on at Fukushima, and of reactors in general.

This post is by Dr Josef Oehmen, a research scientist at MIT, in Boston.

I am writing this text (Mar 12) to give you some peace of mind regarding some of the troubles in Japan, that is the safety of Japan’s nuclear reactors. Up front, the situation is serious, but under control. And this text is long! But you will know more about nuclear power plants after reading it than all journalists on this planet put together.

There was and will *not* be any significant release of radioactivity.

By “significant” I mean a level of radiation of more than what you would receive on – say – a long distance flight, or drinking a glass of beer that comes from certain areas with high levels of natural background radiation.

I have been reading every news release on the incident since the earthquake. There has not been one single (!) report that was accurate and free of errors (and part of that problem is also a weakness in the Japanese crisis communication). By “not free of errors” I do not refer to tendentious anti-nuclear journalism – that is quite normal these days. By “not free of errors” I mean blatant errors regarding physics and natural law, as well as gross misinterpretation of facts, due to an obvious lack of fundamental and basic understanding of the way nuclear reactors are build and operated. I have read a 3 page report on CNN where every single paragraph contained an error.

We will have to cover some fundamentals, before we get into what is going on.

Construction of the Fukushima nuclear power plants

The plants at Fukushima are so called Boiling Water Reactors, or BWR for short. Boiling Water Reactors are similar to a pressure cooker. The nuclear fuel heats water, the water boils and creates steam, the steam then drives turbines that create the electricity, and the steam is then cooled and condensed back to water, and the water send back to be heated by the nuclear fuel. The pressure cooker operates at about 250 °C.

The nuclear fuel is uranium oxide. Uranium oxide is a ceramic with a very high melting point of about 3000 °C. The fuel is manufactured in pellets (think little cylinders the size of Lego bricks). Those pieces are then put into a long tube made of Zircaloy with a melting point of 2200 °C, and sealed tight. The assembly is called a fuel rod. These fuel rods are then put together to form larger packages, and a number of these packages are then put into the reactor. All these packages together are referred to as “the core”.

The Zircaloy casing is the first containment. It separates the radioactive fuel from the rest of the world.

The core is then placed in the “pressure vessels”. That is the pressure cooker we talked about before. The pressure vessels is the second containment. This is one sturdy piece of a pot, designed to safely contain the core for temperatures several hundred °C. That covers the scenarios where cooling can be restored at some point.

The entire “hardware” of the nuclear reactor – the pressure vessel and all pipes, pumps, coolant (water) reserves, are then encased in the third containment. The third containment is a hermetically (air tight) sealed, very thick bubble of the strongest steel and concrete. The third containment is designed, built and tested for one single purpose: To contain, indefinitely, a complete core meltdown. For that purpose, a large and thick concrete basin is cast under the pressure vessel (the second containment), all inside the third containment. This is the so-called “core catcher”. If the core melts and the pressure vessel bursts (and eventually melts), it will catch the molten fuel and everything else. It is typically built in such a way that the nuclear fuel will be spread out, so it can cool down.

This third containment is then surrounded by the reactor building. The reactor building is an outer shell that is supposed to keep the weather out, but nothing in. (this is the part that was damaged in the explosion, but more to that later).

Fundamentals of nuclear reactions

The uranium fuel generates heat by nuclear fission. Big uranium atoms are split into smaller atoms. That generates heat plus neutrons (one of the particles that forms an atom). When the neutron hits another uranium atom, that splits, generating more neutrons and so on. That is called the nuclear chain reaction.

Now, just packing a lot of fuel rods next to each other would quickly lead to overheating and after about 45 minutes to a melting of the fuel rods. It is worth mentioning at this point that the nuclear fuel in a reactor can *never* cause a nuclear explosion the type of a nuclear bomb. Building a nuclear bomb is actually quite difficult (ask Iran). In Chernobyl, the explosion was caused by excessive pressure buildup, hydrogen explosion and rupture of all containments, propelling molten core material into the environment (a “dirty bomb”). Why that did not and will not happen in Japan, further below.

In order to control the nuclear chain reaction, the reactor operators use so-called “control rods”. The control rods absorb the neutrons and kill the chain reaction instantaneously. A nuclear reactor is built in such a way, that when operating normally, you take out all the control rods. The coolant water then takes away the heat (and converts it into steam and electricity) at the same rate as the core produces it. And you have a lot of leeway around the standard operating point of 250°C.

The challenge is that after inserting the rods and stopping the chain reaction, the core still keeps producing heat. The uranium “stopped” the chain reaction. But a number of intermediate radioactive elements are created by the uranium during its fission process, most notably Cesium and Iodine isotopes, i.e. radioactive versions of these elements that will eventually split up into smaller atoms and not be radioactive anymore. Those elements keep decaying and producing heat. Because they are not regenerated any longer from the uranium (the uranium stopped decaying after the control rods were put in), they get less and less, and so the core cools down over a matter of days, until those intermediate radioactive elements are used up.

This residual heat is causing the headaches right now.

So the first “type” of radioactive material is the uranium in the fuel rods, plus the intermediate radioactive elements that the uranium splits into, also inside the fuel rod (Cesium and Iodine).

There is a second type of radioactive material created, outside the fuel rods. The big main difference up front: Those radioactive materials have a very short half-life, that means that they decay very fast and split into non-radioactive materials. By fast I mean seconds. So if these radioactive materials are released into the environment, yes, radioactivity was released, but no, it is not dangerous, at all. Why? By the time you spelled “R-A-D-I-O-N-U-C-L-I-D-E”, they will be harmless, because they will have split up into non radioactive elements. Those radioactive elements are N-16, the radioactive isotope (or version) of nitrogen (air). The others are noble gases such as Argon. But where do they come from? When the uranium splits, it generates a neutron (see above). Most of these neutrons will hit other uranium atoms and keep the nuclear chain reaction going. But some will leave the fuel rod and hit the water molecules, or the air that is in the water. Then, a non-radioactive element can “capture” the neutron. It becomes radioactive. As described above, it will quickly (seconds) get rid again of the neutron to return to its former beautiful self.

This second “type” of radiation is very important when we talk about the radioactivity being released into the environment later on.

What happened at Fukushima

I will try to summarize the main facts. The earthquake that hit Japan was 5 times more powerful than the worst earthquake the nuclear power plant was built for (the Richter scale works logarithmically; the difference between the 8.2 that the plants were built for and the 8.9 that happened is 5 times, not 0.7). So the first hooray for Japanese engineering, everything held up.

When the earthquake hit with 8.9, the nuclear reactors all went into automatic shutdown. Within seconds after the earthquake started, the control rods had been inserted into the core and nuclear chain reaction of the uranium stopped. Now, the cooling system has to carry away the residual heat. The residual heat load is about 3% of the heat load under normal operating conditions.

The earthquake destroyed the external power supply of the nuclear reactor. That is one of the most serious accidents for a nuclear power plant, and accordingly, a “plant black out” receives a lot of attention when designing backup systems. The power is needed to keep the coolant pumps working. Since the power plant had been shut down, it cannot produce any electricity by itself any more.

Things were going well for an hour. One set of multiple sets of emergency Diesel power generators kicked in and provided the electricity that was needed. Then the Tsunami came, much bigger than people had expected when building the power plant (see above, factor 7). The tsunami took out all multiple sets of backup Diesel generators.

When designing a nuclear power plant, engineers follow a philosophy called “Defense of Depth”. That means that you first build everything to withstand the worst catastrophe you can imagine, and then design the plant in such a way that it can still handle one system failure (that you thought could never happen) after the other. A tsunami taking out all backup power in one swift strike is such a scenario. The last line of defense is putting everything into the third containment (see above), that will keep everything, whatever the mess, control rods in our out, core molten or not, inside the reactor.

When the diesel generators were gone, the reactor operators switched to emergency battery power. The batteries were designed as one of the backups to the backups, to provide power for cooling the core for 8 hours. And they did.

Within the 8 hours, another power source had to be found and connected to the power plant. The power grid was down due to the earthquake. The diesel generators were destroyed by the tsunami. So mobile diesel generators were trucked in.

This is where things started to go seriously wrong. The external power generators could not be connected to the power plant (the plugs did not fit). So after the batteries ran out, the residual heat could not be carried away any more.

At this point the plant operators begin to follow emergency procedures that are in place for a “loss of cooling event”. It is again a step along the “Depth of Defense” lines. The power to the cooling systems should never have failed completely, but it did, so they “retreat” to the next line of defense. All of this, however shocking it seems to us, is part of the day-to-day training you go through as an operator, right through to managing a core meltdown.

It was at this stage that people started to talk about core meltdown. Because at the end of the day, if cooling cannot be restored, the core will eventually melt (after hours or days), and the last line of defense, the core catcher and third containment, would come into play.

But the goal at this stage was to manage the core while it was heating up, and ensure that the first containment (the Zircaloy tubes that contains the nuclear fuel), as well as the second containment (our pressure cooker) remain intact and operational for as long as possible, to give the engineers time to fix the cooling systems.

Because cooling the core is such a big deal, the reactor has a number of cooling systems, each in multiple versions (the reactor water cleanup system, the decay heat removal, the reactor core isolating cooling, the standby liquid cooling system, and the emergency core cooling system). Which one failed when or did not fail is not clear at this point in time.

So imagine our pressure cooker on the stove, heat on low, but on. The operators use whatever cooling system capacity they have to get rid of as much heat as possible, but the pressure starts building up. The priority now is to maintain integrity of the first containment (keep temperature of the fuel rods below 2200°C), as well as the second containment, the pressure cooker. In order to maintain integrity of the pressure cooker (the second containment), the pressure has to be released from time to time. Because the ability to do that in an emergency is so important, the reactor has 11 pressure release valves. The operators now started venting steam from time to time to control the pressure. The temperature at this stage was about 550°C.

This is when the reports about “radiation leakage” starting coming in. I believe I explained above why venting the steam is theoretically the same as releasing radiation into the environment, but why it was and is not dangerous. The radioactive nitrogen as well as the noble gases do not pose a threat to human health.

At some stage during this venting, the explosion occurred. The explosion took place outside of the third containment (our “last line of defense”), and the reactor building. Remember that the reactor building has no function in keeping the radioactivity contained. It is not entirely clear yet what has happened, but this is the likely scenario: The operators decided to vent the steam from the pressure vessel not directly into the environment, but into the space between the third containment and the reactor building (to give the radioactivity in the steam more time to subside). The problem is that at the high temperatures that the core had reached at this stage, water molecules can “disassociate” into oxygen and hydrogen – an explosive mixture. And it did explode, outside the third containment, damaging the reactor building around. It was that sort of explosion, but inside the pressure vessel (because it was badly designed and not managed properly by the operators) that lead to the explosion of Chernobyl. This was never a risk at Fukushima. The problem of hydrogen-oxygen formation is one of the biggies when you design a power plant (if you are not Soviet, that is), so the reactor is build and operated in a way it cannot happen inside the containment. It happened outside, which was not intended but a possible scenario and OK, because it did not pose a risk for the containment.

So the pressure was under control, as steam was vented. Now, if you keep boiling your pot, the problem is that the water level will keep falling and falling. The core is covered by several meters of water in order to allow for some time to pass (hours, days) before it gets exposed. Once the rods start to be exposed at the top, the exposed parts will reach the critical temperature of 2200 °C after about 45 minutes. This is when the first containment, the Zircaloy tube, would fail.

And this started to happen. The cooling could not be restored before there was some (very limited, but still) damage to the casing of some of the fuel. The nuclear material itself was still intact, but the surrounding Zircaloy shell had started melting. What happened now is that some of the byproducts of the uranium decay – radioactive Cesium and Iodine – started to mix with the steam. The big problem, uranium, was still under control, because the uranium oxide rods were good until 3000 °C. It is confirmed that a very small amount of Cesium and Iodine was measured in the steam that was released into the atmosphere.

It seems this was the “go signal” for a major plan B. The small amounts of Cesium that were measured told the operators that the first containment on one of the rods somewhere was about to give. The Plan A had been to restore one of the regular cooling systems to the core. Why that failed is unclear. One plausible explanation is that the tsunami also took away / polluted all the clean water needed for the regular cooling systems.

The water used in the cooling system is very clean, demineralized (like distilled) water. The reason to use pure water is the above mentioned activation by the neutrons from the Uranium: Pure water does not get activated much, so stays practically radioactive-free. Dirt or salt in the water will absorb the neutrons quicker, becoming more radioactive. This has no effect whatsoever on the core – it does not care what it is cooled by. But it makes life more difficult for the operators and mechanics when they have to deal with activated (i.e. slightly radioactive) water.

But Plan A had failed – cooling systems down or additional clean water unavailable – so Plan B came into effect. This is what it looks like happened:

In order to prevent a core meltdown, the operators started to use sea water to cool the core. I am not quite sure if they flooded our pressure cooker with it (the second containment), or if they flooded the third containment, immersing the pressure cooker. But that is not relevant for us.

The point is that the nuclear fuel has now been cooled down. Because the chain reaction has been stopped a long time ago, there is only very little residual heat being produced now. The large amount of cooling water that has been used is sufficient to take up that heat. Because it is a lot of water, the core does not produce sufficient heat any more to produce any significant pressure. Also, boric acid has been added to the seawater. Boric acid is “liquid control rod”. Whatever decay is still going on, the Boron will capture the neutrons and further speed up the cooling down of the core.

The plant came close to a core meltdown. Here is the worst-case scenario that was avoided: If the seawater could not have been used for treatment, the operators would have continued to vent the water steam to avoid pressure buildup. The third containment would then have been completely sealed to allow the core meltdown to happen without releasing radioactive material. After the meltdown, there would have been a waiting period for the intermediate radioactive materials to decay inside the reactor, and all radioactive particles to settle on a surface inside the containment. The cooling system would have been restored eventually, and the molten core cooled to a manageable temperature. The containment would have been cleaned up on the inside. Then a messy job of removing the molten core from the containment would have begun, packing the (now solid again) fuel bit by bit into transportation containers to be shipped to processing plants. Depending on the damage, the block of the plant would then either be repaired or dismantled.

Now, where does that leave us? My assessment:

• The plant is safe now and will stay safe.
  
• Japan is looking at an INES Level 4 Accident: Nuclear accident with local consequences. That is bad for the company that owns the plant, but not for anyone else.
  
• Some radiation was released when the pressure vessel was vented. All radioactive isotopes from the activated steam have gone (decayed). A very small amount of Cesium was released, as well as Iodine. If you were sitting on top of the plants’ chimney when they were venting, you should probably give up smoking to return to your former life expectancy. The Cesium and Iodine isotopes were carried out to the sea and will never be seen again.
  
• There was some limited damage to the first containment. That means that some amounts of radioactive Cesium and Iodine will also be released into the cooling water, but no Uranium or other nasty stuff (the Uranium oxide does not “dissolve” in the water). There are facilities for treating the cooling water inside the third containment. The radioactive Cesium and Iodine will be removed there and eventually stored as radioactive waste in terminal storage.
  
• The seawater used as cooling water will be activated to some degree. Because the control rods are fully inserted, the Uranium chain reaction is not happening. That means the “main” nuclear reaction is not happening, thus not contributing to the activation. The intermediate radioactive materials (Cesium and Iodine) are also almost gone at this stage, because the Uranium decay was stopped a long time ago. This further reduces the activation. The bottom line is that there will be some low level of activation of the seawater, which will also be removed by the treatment facilities.
  
• The seawater will then be replaced over time with the “normal” cooling water
  
• The reactor core will then be dismantled and transported to a processing facility, just like during a regular fuel change.
  
• Fuel rods and the entire plant will be checked for potential damage. This will take about 4-5 years.
  
• The safety systems on all Japanese plants will be upgraded to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami (or worse)
  
• (Updated) I believe the most significant problem will be a prolonged power shortage. 11 of Japan’s 55 nuclear reactors in different plants were shut down and will have to be inspected, directly reducing the nation’s nuclear power generating capacity by 20%, with nuclear power accounting for about 30% of the national total power generation capacity. I have not looked into possible consequences for other nuclear plants not directly affected. This will probably be covered by running gas power plants that are usually only used for peak loads to cover some of the base load as well. I am not familiar with Japan’s energy supply chain for oil, gas and coal, and what damage the harbors, refinery, storage and transportation networks have suffered, as well as damage to the national distribution grid. All of that will increase your electricity bill, as well as lead to power shortages during peak demand and reconstruction efforts, in Japan.
  
• This all is only part of a much bigger picture. Emergency response has to deal with shelter, drinking water, food and medical care, transportation and communication infrastructure, as well as electricity supply. In a world of lean supply chains, we are looking at some major challenges in all of these areas.
  
  If you want to stay informed, please forget the usual media outlets and consult the following websites:
  
  
  • http://bravenewclimate.com/
    
  • http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/default.aspx
    
  • http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Ba ... 03111.html
    
  • http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Ve ... 03111.html
    
  • http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/12/j ... arthquake/
    
  • http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2011/03/11/me ... -in-japan/

[Phyllis]

I feel a lot more assured this will all turn out ok, (the nuclear situation) after reading this. As long as that containment vessel holds... Are we *sure* that the control rods went into place correctly in all the reactors?

I admit that the nuclear thing has captivated my attention... We certainly need to focus our attention and prayers on the unimaginable loss and suffering of the Japanese people. Looking at pictures from over there, I wonder how on earth you overcome something so devastating.

God be with them.

[amessenger4god]

Hey bchandler, it looks like this will be contained, which is good news.

...But here is a hypothetical question:

With the understanding that this plant is not actually capable of a nuclear explosion, we do know it is capable of "melting down". So... considering the plant's immediate proximity to the Pacific Ocean, if the plant's contaminated plutonium/uranium were to get into open water, could we be talking catastrophic? As in large swaths of the western Pacific becoming inhospitable to life?

[bchandler]

Well... from what I have been able to figure out... it looks as if the concrete floor of the reactor is designed to cause the melted material spread out. So if it does breach containment, it will be a bad thing locally... but the fuel should actually spread itself around on the floor beneath the containment vessel... as the fuel spreads out, it will thin out and cool... So to put this another way... the floor is designed to spread the melted material out in such a way as to eliminate the possibility of a critical mass of material burning it's way through the floor.

So... if the worst were to happen, the accident would generally be local, and we should not see plutonium/uranium spread all over the place the way we did with Chernobyl. We would see other isotopes such as the intermediate decay isotopes of cesium and iodine released. There would be a lot of radiation initially, and cleanup would take a long time. But it shouldn't affect anyone else in the world besides Japan, so long as the prevailing winds hold.

[daffodyllady]

Thank you so much for that post, bc.
I usually don't read long ones, but I read every word of this one. It was well worth it.
Thanks again.

I'll rest easier now.

[Abiding in His Word]

Yes, thank you, bchandler, for helping us to understand some of the complexities in this situation!

[laney]

What would we do without BC?

[bchandler]

My suspicion is that this event will spell the end for BWRs (Boiling Water Reactors) or LWRs (Light Water Reactors). I hope and pray that this will result in a serious move toward a type of breeder reactors known as IFRs (Integral Fast Reactors).

The U.S. Nuclear research facility, EBR-II, in Argonne proved that this type of reactor will successfully self-shutdown upon total coolant loss, with out ANY intervention by the plant operators. IFRs are designed to use natural expansion functions of nuclear fuels to provide self-regulating and self-terminating capabilities.

Unfortunately Clinton de-funded further development of the IFRs during his presidency.

IFRs can run on uranium, as well as various forms of nuclear waste, including plutonium. The total amount of high level nuclear waste produced per person per lifetime energy requirements (85 years) will fit in a soda can, and it will be inert in a matter of hundreds of years, rather than thousands or tens of thousands of years.

In fact the fuel required to supply all of a person's energy needs for 85 years would be about one Kilo of Uranium metal... (about the size of a golf ball). The wastes would be slightly larger in volume, and it would be mixed with glass for storage, which is where you get about the size of 1 soda can per person.

coal, oil, and gas plants produce something like 11000 tonnes of waste per person lifetime energy requirements. And it is released into our environment and pollutes our air and water.

[daffyladysson]

The usgs has now upgraded the earthquake to a 9.0.

[Resurrection Torchlight]

Third reactor explodes- radiation threat rises

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/03/ra ... g-ter.html

“It’s worse than a meltdown,” said David A. Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists who worked as an instructor on the kinds of General Electric reactors used in Japan. “The reactor is inside thick walls, and the spent fuel of Reactors 1 and 3 is out in the open.”

This does not bode well.

On another note we have friends who have family members in Japan, a family of six girls who recently lost their father (an American), their mother is sending all six girls to family here in the states, while she remains in Japan. I would appreciate prayers for them.

RT

[Tevye]

474 earthquakes within the last 7 days.
earthquake.usgs - (map link)

...on this small map portion of Japan.

[burien1]

With all the reports I've seen on TV, and even the incredible still photos, I haven't seen any looting. And I see sadness, uncertainty, fear, and anguish. But I haven't seen a single person screaming at the government to take care of them. Even with the nuclear problems. They have catastrophe upon catastrophe heaped on them. And with people panic buying all the food, they will soon be without fresh water and food. I want so much to help them, and feel so helpless. I thank God Jesus is our help !



Psalm 46

1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

[jgilberAZ]

And with people panic buying all the food, they will soon be without fresh water and food. I want so much to help them, and feel so helpless.

Not to you specifically, burien1, but for any who feel they want to help:

Food for the Hungry - Japan Relief

- Jeff

[bchandler]

Third reactor explodes- radiation threat rises

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/03/ra ... g-ter.html

“It’s worse than a meltdown,” said David A. Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists who worked as an instructor on the kinds of General Electric reactors used in Japan. “The reactor is inside thick walls, and the spent fuel of Reactors 1 and 3 is out in the open.”

This does not bode well.

On another note we have friends who have family members in Japan, a family of six girls who recently lost their father (an American), their mother is sending all six girls to family here in the states, while she remains in Japan. I would appreciate prayers for them.

RT

That third explosion was Tuesday in Japan, Monday for us... so that is old news. What is new is the concerns over the warming of the fuel storage pools.

The pools are being fed water, and the earlier fire in reactor 4, while taking place at the fuel storage pool, was not caused by the fuel, nor was the fuel burning. All the information i have indicates that the fire was put out very quickly, and all of these reports of fires still burning at the plant are in error.

There is some concern over temperatures that are rising in the reactor fuel storage pools. They don't know what is causing it. I am wondering, in the back of my head, if the generally elevated radiation levels are playing any part in the warming of the pools. I would hope that it is simply a matter of reduced flow which should be fairly easy to rectify.

The good news here is that these fuel storage pools are not vaporizing water into steam or anything, as these fuels were removed from a cold shutdown reactor. While they still contain some decay heat, the cooling process is exponential and these pools should pose very little risk.

On an aside... In my personal opinion... having the fuel cooling pools on the upper floor of the containment housing building seems to me to be a rather bonehead idea. Water circulation and maintenance has to be done by pumps that must lift water all the way up to these storage pools... and knowing that these storage pools were in these buildings that they essentially blew up on purpose bothers me a bit. OK... more than a bit. The only good thing about them being up there is that they were not contaminated by the tsunami flood waters.

On another note... the quotation above from Mr. Lochbaum is, in my opinion, an extremely irresponsible and fear mongering statement. In fact, I find his statement so irresponsible as to be equivalent to yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Here is a little science fact for you Mr. Lochbaum... ALL spent fuel, from ALL LWR reactors, EVERYWHERE, are essentially out in the open! These fuel rods are NOT REACTIVE! and they are not stored in such a way as to become reactive! I don't know of any facility that has ever built a containment for their cooling pool! The fact is that these pools have always been outside of containment, only difference now being that they are open to the air... but this is not a BAD thing, and these pools should not be a dangerous source of radiation.

[Resurrection Torchlight]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/15/ja ... ed/?hpt=T1

[2:24 p.m. ET Tuesday,3:24 a.m. Wednesday in Tokyo] The explosion Tuesday at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has elevated the situation there to a "serious accident" on a level just below Chernobyl, a French nuclear official said, referring to an international scale that rates the severity of such incidents. The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale goes from Level 1 to Level 7. "It's clear we are at Level 6, that's to say we're at a level in between what happened at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl," Andre-Claude Lacoste, president of France's nuclear safety authority, told reporters Tuesday.



Also found this interesting
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/ ... cnn?hpt=T1

RT

[bchandler]

RT, all 3 links go to the exact same video.

I will agree that TEPCO's record is less than stellar. But... radioactive water leakage is hardly a big concern... I know the greenies freak out every time someone spills a spoonful of activated water... but seriously... the radioactive water returns to normal in a matter of minutes and for most of the radioactive elements it does so in seconds.

The anti-nuclear movement has so terrorized the planetary population, and so indoctrinated them to fear something that would only be harmful to you if you decided to go to the plant and swim in it, as to be criminal. They are actually exercising a form of terrorism over your mind by causing you to fear something that is essentially harmless.

The nuclear industry itself was it's own worst enemy because it did such a poor job of educating the public regarding the benign nature of radioactive water/steam release.

The only time anyone really needs to be worried about a radiation release from a plant, is if it is a release of hard radioactive substances caused by fuel rupture.

N-16 which is the most prevalent product in water/steam release has a half life of just over 7 seconds, and it's decay product is oxygen... normal natural non-radioactive oxygen.

Other decay elements from corrosion byproducts and minerals in the water are aggressively removed by filtration through ion-exchange filters. This keeps the activated water extremely pure. Some anti-corrosion chemicals are also added to the water to reduce the mineral content of the water being elevated by corrosive affects.

In the event of steam venting another set of filters is used to essentially scrub any heavy elements from the steam.

In the event of a fuel rod rupture (which happens in about 1 out of every 200,000 rods) some contamination of the water will occur, but again... filters are designed to remove the worst of the contaminants that would be found in the water.

So by and large, the release of activated water or steam from a reactor is a non-event. It has to be reported, but it is not usually a hazard, and does not require any cleanup or other radiation protocols, and becomes non-radioactive in a matter of minutes.

Another thing to note about radioactive release is that... the more energetic the radioactive isotope is, the faster it decays. Now don't get me wrong... i am not saying radiation is a good thing... just that the really nasty mineral decay products will decay really fast... the long term wastes, which are by and large solid metallic minerals, are the lower energy products, and these are the really dangerous things that hang out for a long time. But again... these products are generally filtered out of the water and so their concentrations in any water/steam release would be undetectable.

Of course this is all under normal operating conditions. In the event of an incident like we have going on now... you can bet that all of that water is highly contaminated, and will require cleanup and filtration... but the managed steam releases should still be being filtered to remove any minerals so that, for the most part, only gasses are released. Iodine and cesium are the 2 most common contaminants to make it past the filter... and iodine is the greatest concern for health... which can be eliminated as a concern simply by taking an iodine supplement. I like Prolamine... It not only provides enough iodine to protect the thyroid... but your entire body... my wife and i take it every day. It is a 3mg tablet... way more than the 150mcg required to prevent thyroid goiter... and very good at preventing sex organ cancers... like ovarian, uterine, breast, prostate, etc...

[bchandler]

Of course, if we were talking about an IFR instead of a LWR/BWR, there would be no such problem... because in the event of a coolant loss it shuts itself down. It can not go into meltdown. It also would be reacting all of those decay products for energy, resulting an a long term waste profile of something the size of a soda can per persons lifespan energy requirements (about 85 years).

We really need to seriously move on replacing our LWR/BWR reactors with IFRs when they are end of life. If Obama was serious about developing clean safe nuclear power to remove us from oil for power... we would fund this conversion to safer reactors.

[AndCanItBe]

Fire erupts again at Japanese nuclear plant

TOKYO (AP) -- The operator of Japan's stricken Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant says a fire has broken out again at its No. 4 reactor unit.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Hajimi Motujuku says the blaze erupted early Wednesday in the outer housing of the reactor's containment vessel. Fire fighters are trying to put out the flames. Japan's nuclear safety agency also confirmed the fire, whose cause was not immediately known.

[Resurrection Torchlight]

RT, all 3 links go to the exact same video.

oops I will attempt to go back and fix that sorry. I am wondering bchandler how you know so much about nuclear energy- are you in the industry?

RT

[BMET]

BC, I think your clear information and analysis is having a difficult time penetrating the volumes of "scary" information pouring through our televisions and internet connections. Keep it up though!

[bchandler]

BC, I think your clear information and analysis is having a difficult time penetrating the volumes of "scary" information pouring through our televisions and internet connections. Keep it up though!

I spent some time today watching what was pouring out of the TV and all over the internet... and frankly, I am disgusted. I am in no way trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation, and it indeed looks each day as if we are marching toward a full on meltdown. But good Lord the craziness, and fear mongering, and vitriol all over the place is just out of control. It is beginning to look as if people are just flat out making stuff up out there to purposely frighten the whole planet.

It actually amazes me how much of the mis-information seems to be coming from so-called nuclear experts... but when you check them out... they are working for people who want to shut the nuclear industry down.

Yep, the situation is bad, yep, it's dangerous, yep, it could be a worst case scenario. But I also think we need to seriously applaud the engineering triumphs that should be shouted from the rooftops here. This plant actually survived a 9.0 earthquake. It actually shut itself down properly. All of it's systems were fully functional... until the tsunami hit... I really think that is a monumental testament to just how well the plant itself was engineered.

The take-aways regarding this disaster are the design vulnerabilities that have been uncovered. The positioning of the plant power control switching station need to be able to withstand, or be impervious to flooding, to prevent the failures. The cooling water supplies need to be protected better from flooding/contamination. The diesel generators need to be positioned or made impervious to flooding also. The used fuel pools should also be separate at ground level, but well above possible flooding contamination.

In Japan's case... this means that their sea walls all need to be redesigned to handle a 30-40 foot tsunami, and all of their backup power, power switching, cooling pools, and cooling systems also need to be above this mark.

If this had been the case at Fukushima plant no. 1, this disaster would never have happened... in fact... the only things needed to have prevented this disaster would have been the security of the power switching equipment and backup generators, and protection of the cooling water... and then, everything should have worked out just fine...

The problems are not in the reactor, or it's systems... all of the problems were caused by human design choices regarding equipment placement and protection. I think that says a lot about how far we have come in the safety engineering of these plants. I also think it shows just how little extra cost and effort on the plant build-out side could have avoided this whole mess... and that placing all of your faith in a sea-wall (a device with ZERO redundancy) is a generally bad idea.

[bchandler]

http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/16/f ... h-summary/

Above is a link to a whole lot of SANE information about the happenings at Fukushima. Take the time to read it, and the associated links and you will be better informed than the so-called expert being trotted out by the lame stream media.

[Jericho]

It actually amazes me how much of the mis-information seems to be coming from so-called nuclear experts... but when you check them out... they are working for people who want to shut the nuclear industry down.

Same thing happened after the BP oil spill. In this case the problem wasn't with the nuclear power plant, but the natural disaster that caused it.

[WalkingWithJesus]

Latest raw footage of the Tsunami:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpuLlIrUYsI

My heart goes out to these people! God please, protect the people of Japan as much as possible!

[daffyladysson]

saw that one three days ago.

[M.C.Nige]

Hi. I thought I'd share a summary of some prayer points that I've posted on another forum as they may be of help. The Lord gave them to me in my Bible reading last Sunday, which was from Isaiah chapters 44 and 45:

• There is only one God. Beside Me there is no other God.
  44 v 6; 45 v 5, 14, 21, 22
  
  
• Images are useless.
  44 v 10, 17, 19; 45 v 20
  
  
• The solution: Only God can save.
  44 v 22; 45 v 17
  
  
• Respond acordingly.
  45 v 22, 23

[Swayde]

It actually amazes me how much of the mis-information seems to be coming from so-called nuclear experts... but when you check them out... they are working for people who want to shut the nuclear industry down.

Same thing happened after the BP oil spill. In this case the problem wasn't with the nuclear power plant, but the natural disaster that caused it.

IF they lie so much about such huge things, that are easily researched... makes you wonder how many small lies and half truths are getting by unnoticed constantly, on a daily basis.

[daffodyllady]

...

IF they lie so much about such huge things, that are easily researched... makes you wonder how many small lies and half truths are getting by unnoticed constantly, on a daily basis.

Exactly. Furthermore, we need to remember that Soros and his gang want society to be scared to death, because they can "rescue" us that way, making us run straight into their trap. The leftist media exists for one purpose: to further the liberal agenda by brainwashing the masses. Therefore as we hear them speak, we should always keep one question in mind: "Why does Soros want us to believe this?"

I trust them about as far as I could throw them.

When I was a young teenager, a reporter came out and did a story on my family, who kept many foster kids. About half of what got printed in the paper was incorrect.

[WalkingWithJesus]

YouTube Video:
Ultimate Loyalty: Japanese Dog Refuses to Leave Injured Friend Behind

[bchandler]

I found a great article about the fuel pools at Fukushima.

http://resources.nei.org/documents/japa ... _Facts.pdf

[Hisown]

:cry:

YouTube Video:
Ultimate Loyalty: Japanese Dog Refuses to Leave Injured Friend Behind

thank-you for sharing that, not only was it a reflection of genuine trustworthiness, but a small glimpse of the heart of of God! I wept - unashamedly.

The Lord reminded me of Psalm 15 as I watched this, wow what a blessing!

[learningeachday]

I found a great article about the fuel pools at Fukushima.

http://resources.nei.org/documents/japa ... _Facts.pdf

Thanks, bchandler! That is a great article! I'm studying it now.

[burien1]

:cry:

YouTube Video:
Ultimate Loyalty: Japanese Dog Refuses to Leave Injured Friend Behind

I saw this on TV, and they were rescued. I cried when I saw this, I love animals. but I also remembered that left to their own devices, dogs will run in packs. That's why they are so protective of their homes and masters. The Lord also reminded me about how many people will grieve over these animals, and not shed a tear over the suffering of the people. Such a horrendous nightmare over there, and once in a while we get to see a glimpse of the miraculous power of our God. Some of the comments on the internet, about the earth getting rid of waste, are so heartless and sickening.

[bchandler]

The latest estimates are that some areas were hit with tsunami waves as much as 13 meters high... or about 43 feet.

And in areas where cove shaped inlets shaped and concentrated the waves, the water piled up on itself even higher.

In many of these places all of their food and fresh water were wiped out... and the only way into them is by helicopter... Roads are destroyed or blocked by debris.

We need to stop bombing Libya and start dropping emergency food and water supplies in Japan.

[bchandler]

Something truly remarkable is happening in Asia. China is sending massive amounts of relief supplies to Japan, and they are accepting them.

With centuries of animosity between Japan and China for invasions and abuses on all sides, the latest of which was Japan's occupation and war crimes upon China during WW2, It is IMO an unprecedented act of good will from China.

Even to this day, it is not uncommon for Chinese parents to disown their children for marrying Japanese. So i find these acts by China quite encouraging, from a purely humanitarian and relationship improvement perspective.

[daffyladysson]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/specia ... 6024977934

The operator of the Fukushima No 1 plant submitted a report to the country's nuclear watchdog 10 days before the quake hit on March 11, admitting it had failed to inspect 33 pieces of equipment in its six reactors there.

A power board distributing electricity to a reactor's temperature control valves was not examined for 11 years, and inspectors faked records, pretending to make thorough inspections when in fact they were only cursory, TEPCO said.

It also said that inspections, which are voluntary, did not cover other devices related to cooling systems including water pump motors and diesel generators.

voluntary inspections on nuclear plants?

[Loop]

We need to stop bombing Libya and start dropping emergency food and water supplies in Japan.

Totally agree!..

[bchandler]

Well the death toll in Japan has crossed 10000+, and 16000+ are still missing... Of course for all of the families that were completely destroyed... who is left to report them as missing?

I suspect the final toll may be well over the 28,000 currently projected.

[amessenger4god]

Sadly it's already largely "old news" to the MSM. Northern Japan is virtually destroyed and the media is still fixated on Natalie Portman, Charlie Sheen, and Walmart.

[burien1]

A little bit of news from Christians that are serving over there;

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/pray_for_japan/

[clang]

Thanks Burien for bringing that to our attention. It is stories such as that one that can really uplift your spirits in these
troublesome times. Samaritans Purse always steps up to the plate when disasters happen around the world in a real,
tangible way.