Japan report: “Nuclear fuel has melted in three reactors” — Risk of “massive radioactive release”

[meow mix]

http://enenews.com/japan-report-fuel-has-melted-in-three-reactors-risk-of-massive-radioactive-release

Melted fuel rod fragments have sunk to the bottoms of three reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant and could theoretically burn through the pressure vessels if emergency water-pumping operations are seriously disrupted, the Atomic Energy Society of Japan said Friday.

If too many of the melted fuel fragments puddle at the bottom, they can generate enough concentrated heat to bore a hole in the pressure vessel, which would result in a massive radioactive release to the environment. …

[meow mix]

1. also: April 16 forecast shows radioactive cloud stretching from Texas to Canada

http://enenews.com/april-16-forecast-shows-radioactive-cloud-stretching-texas-canada

[PearliePoo2]

2. Is enenews reputable or on the sensational side?

Just asking....
Lots of "ifs" and "theoreticallys" here. :shrug:

[meow mix]

3. yeah, various sources on there

im not sure if i am qualified to say one way or the other lol

[Cetacea]

4. They have links from EPA, AP, and so on

If some of their links are sensational, their site still appears to be one of the best in terms of updated info that is not readily available from the MSM.

[dixiegrrrrl]

26. I have been following their links, find to be a bit sensationalist.

Fer instance, the radiation pic in the OP is for XE 133.
Has a half life of 5.75 days, I have no idea how much is "in" the cloud, or what constitutes the low level amount used on the graph.
It is used in medical testing/imaging, " a radionuclide that is inhaled to assess pulmonary function, and to image the lungs. It is also often used to image blood flow, particularly in the brain."
How much is good, indifferent, bad, I dunno.
How high that nice purple/blue cloud is, I have no idea.
What makes the blue/purple stuff dissipate, I have no idea.

So, overall, the picture is not really useful to me.

[Logical]

5. Why do these seem to be on obscure sites and not CNN or the AP? n-t

[Cetacea]

6. AP is the source. News media are not publishing the report at this time

Or so it appears.

[Logical]

9. OK, thanks. Sorry, should have searched more. n-t

[jpak]

7. UPI reported it - the info is from the Atomic Energy Society of Japan

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/04/15/Melted-nuclear-fuel-becomes-granular/UPI-16351302865363/

TOKYO, April 15 (UPI) -- Nuclear fuel in the damaged reactors of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has partially melted and settled in granular form, an analysis said Friday.

The grains have collected at the bottom of the pressure vessels of the No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors in the six-reactor plant damaged by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but do not pose any threat of a chain reaction, Kyodo News reported, quoting the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, an academic panel on nuclear energy safety.

An analysis by the panel said the pressure vessels have been kept at relatively low temperatures, thereby preventing any large buildup of the melted fuel grains, which could become hot and cause damage that could trigger radioactive emissions.

The panel's deputy chairman was quoted as saying it could take up to three months for the reactor fuel to be stabilized.

<more>

The MSM is only interested in Happy Talk you see

[Logical]

8. OK, thanks. Sorry, should have searched more. n-t

[meow mix]

10. so if fragments "settle" (what a calming word lol) into a pile..

seems like that would make it hard to cool. unless if formed a nice even layer

[jpak]

11. Seems like the might regain criticality too - lots of soothing Happy Talk about this thingy

yup

[meow mix]

12. video sampling of water in the spent fuel pool of Unit 4 (hot, boiling water)

http://martynwilliams.posterous.com/spent-fuel-pools-at-fukushima-daiichi

The video and images 1 through 3 show the sampling of water in the spent fuel pool of Unit 4 on April 12. The pictures make more sense when you've seen the video, so I recommend you watch it first. TEPCO used a crane to lower a vessel into the pool to collect water.

Images 4 and 5 were taken on April 14 from the concrete-pumping vehicle that's being used to direct water into the spent fuel pool at unit 3 and show the pool.

Images 6 and 7 come from the T-Hawk remote controlled helicopter and show reactor building 1 on April 14.

[Poll_Blind]

13. Very interesting video! Thank you!

PB

[crickets]

17. Excellent link, thank you. -nt

[Rex]

14. What are they considering a massive radioactive release?

At least we are past the point of the NUklr experts shouting everyone else down about worrying too much.

[meow mix]

15. x amount of fuel burning thru the floor? not sure...

maybe the experts can speculate lol

[Rex]

36. HA!

Funny, the days after the tragedy they were out in full force...now not so much.

[aquart]

16. When they say "risk" that means "done deal" right?

There is no way to avoid that now?

[meow mix]

18. Safety Commission revealed that it had waited weeks to publish information on elevated radiation

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission revealed this week that it had waited weeks to publish information on elevated radiation levels from the plant last month partly to avoid panic. “Some foreigners fled the country even when there appeared to be little risk,” said Seiji Shiroya, an official with the independent government panel. “If we immediately decided to label the situation as Level 7, we could have triggered a panicked reaction.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0415/1224294728753.html

[snagglepuss]

19. Another example of frogs in boiling water scenerio.

Given the dire state what should the authorities have done? This is not to condone what the authorities have done but a sincere question.

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. Maybe they could have given out honest info so people could decide for themselves??

Just as here on DU,
there are people who can see a likely possibility, and choose to act "just in case"
there are people who don't see a likely possibility, and who continue to search for information,
there are people who try to ignore the possibilities of a problem,
and there are people who insist there is no possibility of any danger whatsoever,
and who insist on shouting down anyone who ever speculates there could be danger.

It is one thing for a government to withhold info. out of fear of causing panic
and quite another for a government intentionally lie, to intentionally cover up reality,
to enable others to make a profit or to hide wrong doing.
We have had way too much of the latter.
The consequences are a lot of people do not trust "authorities" anymore, and are being much more pro-active.

[snagglepuss]

21. Let's say from the get go Japan announced a Level 7 nuclear catastrophe what

what could an entire population do with that information? What specific actions could any citizen have taken? The problem as I see it is that govts and the nuke industry worldwide have no idea what to do with this sort of disaster. They can assess the severity of the crisis and announce it but without any plan or solution what does the public do other than futilely surfing the net for solutions and protections that don't exist.

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. Yep.

Might be a good time to fill out all those credit card applications that have been piling up in the mailbox.

[snagglepuss]

32. I don't understand that comment. I'm not condoning keeping info away from the public

but if authorities have absolutely no plan to deal with a monumental nuclear disaster but have to do something, I can understand a decsion to forestall panic. Again I'm condoning it but I can understand why authorities would fall back on that. Now that the threat level has increased what new public safety protocols have been implemented?

[dixiegrrrrl]

33. Lemme try again.

My comment that you did not understand was basically, there is nothing we really can do at this juncture, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, etc. Might as well make the most of it.

However..I do not think the issue is to "forestall panic". TPTB clearly do not give a damn about the populace.
They DO give a damn about being caught fucking up big time and losing out on money.
BP was totally blatant that it was all about money and avoiding culpability, TEPCO was caught several times fudging
safety and inspection reports.

The rich folks are not going to be hurt in any way if there is a panic.
They ARE going to be hurt if their stock dips, and do and will lie like hell to keep that stock up.

[franzia99]

25. For starters, the evacuation zone wasn't large enough per their own numbers.

People living close to the plant could have gotten the heck away. Also, as the news source said, a lot of foreigners left the country. I bet you more would have gotten out of Dodge if Japan had been honest up front.

Japanese citizens could also make choices about what food and water they think is safe. Also, when it comes down to it, there are Japanese citizens who would be willing to leave the country to wait this thing out.

The point is, they have a right to decide for themselves what they want to do in the face of this danger. Your comment is pretty unreasonable to me.

[snagglepuss]

31. As I stated I was asking a question not making a comment. Not a rhetorical

question, a real question becasue it seems to me that the only substantive thing the govt could do is avoid panic because they clearly have no plan to deal with this. I am not condoning this. Since announcing this higher threat lever level is there a new protocol in place?

[franzia99]

24. People have a right to know the risks. They should've been honest.

The authorities should have been up front regarding the risks and about what they knew and didn't yet know. I don't need someone deciding whether something is too "scary" for me to hear. I also don't trust them to give proper regard to the interests of us little, or "small people" as former BP CEO Tony Hayward has called us.

Furthermore, because there's this history of authorities lying to us about risk, nobody trusts them when they say everything is fine. So to some extent their lying is counterproductive to their cause.

[Raschel]

28. They used the stick-the-toe-water method. Oops, earthquake but all's fine.

Little radiation, but all's fine. Coupla burned workers, but all's fine. Cracks but all's fine. Hafta pump water into ocean, but all's fine. Cessium in ocean but all's fine.

Look's like FUBAR. Everyone jump in.

[Bluebear]

22. Waiting for DU's nuclear "experts" to pooh-pooh this.

[Bonobo]

27. The thing is that there isn't a drop of news in it. We knew all that already.

So the function of it is what?

[uppityperson]

30. To remind people to be scared?

:shrug:

[Raschel]

29. And remember. It will never harm us over here. Uh uh.

[spanone]

34. i guess the media has chosen to ignore these little annoyances

[meow mix]

35. Packbot working inside the reactor building of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 3

and many others.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/