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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Panic Smoke or Steam Rising from Fukushima Reactor Number 3 as Radiation Levels Rise

Posted by Goldy on Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 7:37 PM

The good news is that the fire at the Fukushima Reactor Number 4, the second fire there in as many days, is apparently out. The bad news is that white smoke, or maybe steam, is now rising from Reactor Number 3.

Why don't they know if it's smoke or steam? According to Japan's Kyodo News agency, Tokyo Electric and Power Company (TEPCO) officials say they can't check it out because the radiation levels at the site are too high. And in what may or may not be related news, Kyodo reports that TEPCO also says that it is "unable to confirm temperature at No.3 reactor's spent fuel pool..." a pool that reportedly contains 514 spent fuel rods.

This raises the question of whether the smoke/steam is being emitted from the reactor, or from the spent fuel pool. As Golob explains below, the latter would likely be the more serious situation.

Meanwhile, NHK is reporting that water levels are now falling in the spent fuel pool in the Number 5 reactor, although its fuel rods are still fully submerged.

UPDATE: Latest Kyodo News headlines...

BREAKING NEWS: Containment vessels of No.3 reactors may be damaged: Edano (11:41)

NEWS ADVISORY: Seawater injection into No.4 reactor via helicopter too risky: Edano (11:39)

BREAKING NEWS: Support from U.S. forces might be necessary to cool reactors: Edano (11:35)

BREAKING NEWS: Water injection into No.4 reactor has yet to begin: Edano (11:34)

BREAKING NEWS: Containment vessels of No.1, No.3 reactors may be damaged: Edano (11:30)

Comments (10) RSS

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Time to unplug for the day, my friend. You've done all you can.

Posted by yelahneb

on March 15, 2011 at 7:43 PM

CNN is reporting that the remaining workers have suspended operations and evacuated.

Posted by emma's bee on March 15, 2011 at 7:53 PM

Where are all of the nuclear apologist?

Posted by svensken on March 15, 2011 at 8:06 PM

@3 The amount of radiation is going to be no more than that scattered by throwing a turkey in your microwave for 20 minutes.

Even if meltdown occurs--which is impossible--there's a perfectly infallible container that it absolutely cannot melt through.

Posted by dirac on March 15, 2011 at 9:13 PM

@4:

NOTHING TO SEE HERE.

EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONTROL.

THERE IS NO WAY THERE WILL BE ANY RELEASE OF RADIOACTIVITY.

THERE ARE CONTAINMENT SYSTEMS THAT WILL CONTAIN EVERYTHING.

I HAVE SEVERAL MILLION DOLLARS THAT MY NIGERIAN UNCLE IS UNABLE TO MOVE INTO THE U.S. AND I CAN GIVE YOU A 10% FEE. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PROVIDE MY SECRETARY WITH YOUR BANK ACCOUNT AND WE WILL DEPOSIT THE FUNDS.

Posted by Captain Wiggette on March 15, 2011 at 9:52 PM

Surprisingly telling article by MSNBC on OpenChannel. The Fukushima reactors are GE Mark I and IIs. These were recognized as hazardous back in 1972 (before the Fukushima reactors were built...however, it was said that if the US banned them, it would have been the end of the nuclear power industry (which ended anyway in 1978, after 3 Mile).

A fact sheet from the anti-nuclear advocacy group Nuclear Information and Resource Service contends that the Mark I design has design problems, and that in 1972 an Atomic Energy Commission member, Dr. Stephen Hanuaer, recommended that this type of system be discontinued.

One of the documents referenced describes how the "core shroud" can crack and collapse causing a meltdown.

http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2…

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on March 15, 2011 at 10:04 PM

7 Comment Pulled (Spam) Comment Policy

One of the articles the nuclear apologists have been linking to has been debunked. Guy is in the business end of academia! Go figure!

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_r…

Posted by gttim on March 16, 2011 at 6:08 AM

Its not about being a nuclear apologist, it is about the western media continually missing the fucking point.

Greg Easterborook:

"The situation in Japan is horrific — but because of the earthquake and tsunami, not because of the malfunctioning atomic reactor station. The earthquake and its awful aftermath killed at least thousands of people, perhaps tens of thousands. That is an unspeakable tragedy. The damaged reactors at Fukushima haven’t killed anyone, and while posing a clear danger, especially to workers heroically fighting the malfunction, the odds are that any harm to public health will be minor, if public health is harmed at all.

Yet in the United States and European Union, what’s happening at the power plant is receiving more attention, and generating more anxiety, than thousands of innocents crushed or drowned.

Japan is the sole place nuclear weapons have been used: to see the Japanese suffer, again, from fear of the atom is heartrending. But the reaction to the power plant in Japan shows lack of perspective. Today’s Washington Post front page proclaims, in large type, a “FULL- BLOWN NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE.” The earthquake and tsunami were catastrophes; the power plant leaks may cause little harm, let alone represent a “catastrophe.”

And in all the words and pictures being devoted to the Fukushima reactors, the most important concern raised is being missed. "

you can read the rest at:

http://blogs.reuters.com/gregg-easterbro…

Posted by Rotten666 on March 16, 2011 at 7:53 AM

#8, that Salon article doesn't debunk the content of Oehman's article, it only clarifies his position at MIT, which is in risk management. Nuclear reactors being a topic that a RM person could, BTW, specialize in.

I'm not saying the article is ACCURATE, and the release of radiation (whether from the cores or from the spent fuel rods) that has occurred shows that the content must NOT be (entirely) accurate, I'm just saying that the Salon article doesn't actually address the original article's content.

Posted by Donna on March 16, 2011 at 12:19 PM