Vessels of nuclear reactor could break down

[brooklynite]

Source: NHK

The Tokyo Electric Power Company has warned the Japanese government of an emergency situation at a nuclear power plant in quake-stricken Fukushima Prefecture.

Tokyo Electric issued the warning about its Fukushima Number One Plant on Saturday. It said the pressure value for the reactor's containment vessels has risen, and that if the value is correct, the vessels could break down.

The company is considering whether to release air in the vessels outside. The air contains radioactive materials.

The company says the amount of air to be released would be small.

Read more: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/12_11.html

---

Did not see discussion of functional failure in the other postings.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. They are now concerned of a meltdown

that will make the quake that much worst.

[defendandprotect]

13. Thatx would kind of wipe out Japan -- !!!

[Warpy]

2. There is nothing you can do in some natural disasters

to try to make things safe enough to survive them. That's why so many of us objected so loudly during the 60s about the plants being built on the West Coast in earthquake and tsunami zones.

Greedy men don't listen to anyone and we're the ones who always get stuck when their plans blow up.

[riverwalker]

3. Tepco press release

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11031204-e.html

Press Release (Mar 12,2011)
Plant Status of Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station (as of 0 AM March 12th )

[northoftheborder]

4. This may be the worst part of the disaster.

:nuke:

[Ian David]

5. Limbaugh will blame Obama. n/t

[thaddeus_flowe]

6. And some zealot will blame the Japanese for immorality or some other bs.

A disaster nonetheless.

[L0oniX]

16. No ...he will say that they are already used to radiation ...thanks to the USA ...and who knows ...

maybe the reactor was built by GE.

[sce56]

7. So what do you call the China Syndrom in Japan? The America Syndrome.

The fallout would definitely hit us over here if they lose it!

[localroger]

8. Given the industry's history of whitewashing...

...if they are already admitting it is this serious, it's probably even worse. This is similar to the problem that started the Three Mile Island melting down, and although it wasn't known until years later that reactor was only minutes from going full Chernobyl when, just by fortunate chance, cooling was restored.

If cooling isn't restored the reactor will eventually melt, and if it melts it's not guaranteed to remain subcritical. If there is coolant on the floor of the containment building, which there very likely is, when the melting reactor core hits it a steam explosion will blow the containment building like the world's biggest pipe bomb.

The story that is circulating in the press that the US air force "delivered important coolant" makes no sense -- the coolant is water. The fact that they are peddling such a ridiculous lie instead of telling us what the USAF really is doing in the area is deeply disturbing.

[jwirr]

10. Yes, to be honest if it is worse they can hardly tell the people the

truth at this point. Panic alone would be terrible. I would assume that evacuation would be almost impossible soon enough.

I am just hoping that this the truth and it is no worse.

The aftershocks are what most of us would call terrible let alone the first one.

[Ghost Dog]

11. It does look like they might be close to the outside of the envelope:

BBC: 20:06: Three to four new power supply cars have arrived at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant in north-eastern Japan to provide emergency electricity for the earthquake-damaged cooling system of one reactor, the World Nuclear Association has said. The power cars are being prepared for connection, the WNA said, citing the Japanese ministry of economy, trade and industry. Other power modules are being flown in.

20:09: The World Nuclear Association said pressure inside the containment of Reactor 1 at Fukushima-Daichi had been steadily increasing over the time that its emergency core cooling systems had not been active. The Tokyo Electric Power Company reported at 0200 local time (1700 GMT) that pressure had increased beyond reference levels, but was within engineered limits, the WNA added.

- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698


--
World Nuclear Association: http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Massive_earthquake_hits_Japan_1103111.html

[mojowork_n]

17. I don't underestimate their capacity for duplicity, but

aren't there chemicals that can be added to water to improve cooling efficiency?

In auto racing, stuff from a plastic bottle gets added to the radiator, and/or the
crankcase, and engine temperatures don't get up so high.

[Confusious]

19. Water has a low cross section so it absorbs little radiation.

That's why it's used. Putting something else in would increase the amount of radiation absorbed.

[localroger]

22. After posting, I had a thought

It could be that the coolant is heavy water; that's used in some reactors to moderate the reaction in the core. But I don't see the reason for the coyness of talking about "special coolant" instead of just telling us what it is if that's so.

[abqmufc]

9. Just like at Hanford Nuclear facility in WA decades ago...

Those releases at Hanford have drastically impacted the Hanford Reach and the Columbia River Basin.

Solar, wind, wave are the answers not nuclear not clean coal. Imagine full scale carbon capture systems being impacted a quake - 50 years of carbon (and other toxins) released at once.

[defendandprotect]

12. "China Syndrome" -- and rather than getting rid of our rectors, Obama is subsidizing more of them!!

With our tax dollars!!

[hankthecrank]

14. k & r n/t

[JJW]

15. Three Mile Island

It took weeks to get that under control after a cooling program.

[Confusious]

20. And the radiation was almost nothing

You get more in one cross country flight.

[localroger]

23. There's a lot of evidence it was pretty bad

There weren't a lot of radiation detectors in the area and there were some anomalous results. Anecdotal data from the local residents suggests that there were some pretty toxic hot spots. And in any case, we know today that TMI was within minutes of a full meltdown which would have almost certainly blown the containment; they didn't know it at the time and only found out how bad it had gotten when the radiation went down enough for them to put a TV camera in the reactor, and it revealed a deep hole melted in the top of the core. That was never widely publicized and is generally only known to people who have sought out the information.

[Confusious]

24. known to people who have sought out the information.

Sounds like every other conspiracy theory.

In the end, the reactor was brought under control, although full details of the accident were not discovered until much later, following extensive investigations by both a presidential commission and the NRC. The Kemeny Commission Report concluded that "there will either be no case of cancer or the number of cases will be so small that it will never be possible to detect them. The same conclusion applies to the other possible health effects."<2> Several epidemiological studies in the years since the accident have supported the conclusion that radiation releases from the accident had no perceptible effect on cancer incidence in residents near the plant, though these findings have been contested by one team of researchers.<3>

Researchers at Columbia University were commissioned by the nuclear industry-financed TMI Public Health Fund to do a cancer study in the community after the accident. They concluded, based upon what was officially considered to be a small amount of radiation released in the accident, that increased cancer rates in the area were likely due to stress.

the radiation released was less then what a person would get in a cross country flight.

Anecdotal data is not science. Did every one of those residents have a Geiger counter?

why would there be be a hole in the top of the core? In a meltdown, all the fuel runs to the bottom. There's nothing to make a "hole" in the top of the core.

http://www.inl.gov/threemileisland/docs/1982-august-a-look-inside-tmi-unit-2-reactor-core.pdf

[Doremus]

25. "commissioned by the nuclear industry-financed TMI Public Health Fund"

Gotta love those studies bought and paid for by the industries they're researching. :eyes:

I don't believe them. You're more than welcome to if you like.

[Confusious]

28. Other studies have confirmed thier findings

And a court case was throw out.

So do I believe it? yes. Based on multiple studies.

[localroger]

26. Dear, your agenda is showing

The title of your post refers to my reference to the fact that most people don't generally know how close TMI was to truly melting down Chernobyl-style before it was contained. The body of your post refers to other things. Your selective editing indicates your agenda.

Personally, I don't totally dislike nuclear power. I like pebble bed reactors a lot, but I still have questions about the waste. I dislike LWR and BWR reactors a lot because of, well, turn on your TV. Mindless boosterism is stupid. TMI nearly melted down, that is a known solid fact and there are plenty of pictures out there of the hole in the top of the reactor core. That wasn't supposed to be possible. Things that aren't supposed to be possible happen. When you put for-profit corporations in charge of making the decisions about those things, what you get is TMI.

[Confusious]

27. It wasn't near. TMI did melt down

Do I have a bias, yes. Only to the truth. Show me proof, not "known to a select few." That's what religions use to keep their power.

[FLPanhandle]

18. If the pressure is enough to break the vessel, then the amount released cannont be "small"

That would require releasing a shitload of air to reduce the breaking pressure of a large containment vessel.

Both statements can't be true.

[Confusious]

21. Depends on the size of the vessel and the materials

that it's made out of. A nuclear core is only 3 meters diameter and 4-5 tall.