Fuel rods exposed at Number 2 Fukushima reactor! Core meltdown might have occurred.

[Better Believe It]

TEPCO:Fuel rods exposed at Fukushima reactor
March 14, 2011

Tokyo Electric Power Company is battling to cool a reactor to prevent another explosion at its nuclear power plant in quake-hit Fukushima Prefecture.

The utility firm said on Monday afternoon that fuel rods are exposed at the Number Two reactor of its Fukushima Number One plant after the level of coolant water dropped. At around 6:20pm, the power company began pumping in seawater.

Tokyo Electric says it had to halt the process due to fuel loss for the pumping system, possibly leaving the fuel rods in the reactor exposed. The firm says a core meltdown might have occurred.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says that pumping seawater into the reactor is working now.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/14_46.html

[nadinbrzezinski]

Ok that setttles it, they were in series

and we are having a cascade failure

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Ok that setttles it, they were in series

and we are having a cascade failure

[tabatha]

2. Here is a comment on Reuters

Having worked for years at GE Nuclear in San Jose, CA as a Quality Assurance Engineer, I keep asking the same question: “How can you have a Japanese Nuclear Reactor containment explosion that blows the roof off the secondary steel-reinforced cement containment vessel, without having the primary steel containment vessel compromised?” It seems implausible

If you go to the below webpage, you’ll see a basic BWR design schematic that is a wonderful graphic to use while answering technical questions.

My question is this. If one of the ‘steam pipes’ feeding through the core of the steel containment vessel cracked or was breached from the hydrogen blast, could the plants be venting radiation into the air? The secondary cement containment is damaged, and the current rates taken at the gate on March 11, & March 14 show a significant rise in radiation.
www.nucleartourist.com

As with the first responders who rushed to the scene after the tragedy of 9/11, I would hate to see no one clearly explain the possibility of a breached containment vessel, and endanger the lives of military personnel and civilians rushing to help.

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2 Buldings housing nuclear reactors have exploded basically in a hydrogen blast that was felt at least 25 miles away. Video shows huge chucks of debris flying several hundred of feet in the air. Now Im not a scientist and Im not there. But these explosions while maybe not strong enough to damage the containment vessels, seem to be strong enough to damage every thing nearyby that would support the cooling processes, and certainly anybody in the vicinity would be vulnerable to debris, concussion etc... Now a third reactor is cauuing concern. If only one of these building had blown up, without and earthquake or tsunami, the whole world would be freeaking out about. If the third one blows, and it sits in between the first to, certainly there is risk for maore damge to the current cooling processed at each. Logic is telling me that this situation is going to get real real ugly not only for japan but for the planet. IM not just talking about the environment.


Reactor #3 uses MOX (very deadly stuff). It was built in 1960 to contain uranium fuel. When they put the MOX in two years ago, did they REPLACE THE CONTAINMENT VESSEL in #3 to account for MOX being (range) 2,000 to 2 million times more volatile than the uranium fuel? If the answer is "NO"---then what?

[wtmusic]

3. AFAIK, no "containment vessel" has been compromised

The building around the containment vessel blew up.