Rachel Maddow giving explanation of spent fuel rods now

[suffragette]

[flamingdem]

1. FLASH: Reuters says there is white smoke coming out of No. 4 - just one minute ago

(to go along with Rachel's show)


Reuters Reuters Top News
FLASH: White smoke seen coming from No.4 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi plant: report

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. webcam here

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2

[flamingdem]

5. wow, they must be feeling more confident going transparent now nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. They set it up yesterday

but they have had issues keeping it going

[suffragette]

18. I can't open more than one feed on this computer

What is it?

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. The webcam looking at the station

[suffragette]

23. Good to have more monitoring on it!

[suffragette]

21. My feed just jumped momentarily to Japanese

tv with English (maybe NHK?) and they spoke about that.

Now back to Rachel

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. And she is a penny henny

:-)

[flamingdem]

3. luv her for saying, it's better to know than not know! nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Nah that is a penny henny

running around with her head cut of like a chicken



This is what I have learned here about wanting to know stuff.

[suffragette]

7. I love that

and she is being specific with the diagrams.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. They are good, and the design is different than the G-1

here

[flamingdem]

10. Chicken Little looks like a smart lil critter

[MadMaddie]

9. It's not good

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. No, they have breached containment from what I can tell

Oh wait, let me reach for the required graphic, since according to some this is henny penny

[flamingdem]

13. Prof. Hipple is laying it down

Wish I could follow him... anyone get that??

[suffragette]

27. Agree, it's not good

[MadMaddie]

12. Here is what galls me about the U.S Nuclear repsonse

The U.S people basically are saying that the U.S facilities are safer then Japans. I don't believe it, especially when the country has a history of cutting corners to make budgets. We now have U.S nuclear lobyist in WA right now handing out checks to anyone who will listen....

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Having written one nuclear response addendum

<------ San Onofre... no they are not...

and they are lying.

[suffragette]

15. Feel the same

I don't believe them and agree much is about $$$$.

Posted this today
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x653404

[daleo]

24. Katrina showed U.S. facilities are vulnerable, just like any other country

Same goes for Challenger and Columbia.

Nobody is special.

[suffragette]

16. Aargh - my feed switched to one in Japanese near the end

of that.

Fill me in!

[elias49]

20. I think Rachel did an outstanding job of explaining

the fundamentals of nuclear technology....Nukes 101 if you will.
I wasn't aware that spent rods, for example, are generally (always?) stored on site -
I never had any idea how fuel rods were built, or what they looked like -
I didn't know that spent fuel rods were "hot" for 6 years or more. -

That was an enlightening 15 minutes, IMO.

And I didn't find her to be acting panicked.

Good show Rachel!

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. At San Onofre, since they have more room

they are not stored on "top"

That somehow seems even more unsafe to me...

She is good... the details from this MK-1 reactor make it different than even Yankee Station in Vermont, which is also a MK-1 from yes, GE

[Gin]

25. the professor mentioned 5 & 6 in the cooling phase....god...

I had not heard 5 & 6 mentioned as "possible" issues anywhere else.

[flamingdem]

29. Yes, the fuel pools plus a fire could spread

idiots for leaving the pools on site to save $

[suffragette]

31. I have seen that temperatures have been rising on 5 & 6

and that were considering moving panels to prevent buildup of hydrogen and possibility of explosion, but not as much info on them.

Saw that at either Guardian or BBC blog.

Will post link once Rachel is over, since my computer is balking at too many links open.

[suffragette]

40. Here's a link on DU about the temp rising in 5 & 6

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x649753#649908


And from Guardian blog yesterday about panels:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/15/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-japan
9pm: Japanese nuclear plant operator Tepco is considering removing panels from the No 5 and No 6 reactors at the damaged Fukushima nuclear site to prevent hydrogen build-up, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has announced.

The IAEA said in a statement: "Units 5 and 6 were shut down at the time of the earthquake ... both reactors are currently loaded with fuel," and that "plant operators were considering the removal of panels from units 5 and 6 reactor buildings to prevent a possible build-up of hydrogen in the future".

[suffragette]

26. Love the clear way she explains

[DemReadingDU]

32. She is very good to explain things so that people can better understand

[suffragette]

35. Yes, she certainly is.

[flamingdem]

28. Rachel: 33 percent rods damaged in No.2 and 70% in was it No.1?

I'm thinking that it's just going to go into total meltdown at this rate.

[suffragette]

33. I saw those figures posted on DU earlier

Here you go:http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x655091

[Sky Masterson]

30. I heart her

!

[suffragette]

37. Heart and respect for her

[SidDithers]

34. Does she have a background in physics and nuclear engineering?...

Does she deserve the same ridicule as Bill Nye?

:sarcasm:

I'm glad when smart people who are also good communicators can give explanations on complex topics. :thumbsup:

Sid

[suffragette]

36. She has people with those credentials on her show

and double-checks what she's just said with them.

I didn't see the Nye appearance and won't comment on that.

[Gin]

38. someone in a chat suggested using our drones to get a closer

look...I think that's a good idea...might help

[suffragette]

39. How interesting. Poll Blind and I were talking about

that same thing on a thread just a bit earlier today.

They need more help with monitoring.

I did not catch all the info at the end, but she said something about scientists at Livermore in California also monitoring from there using satellites, etc.