I pointed out the flaws in your previous statement, vis a vis your "proof" that the Gov't of Japan is lying. Of course things can get worst (apparently you are hoping for this) but the fact remains that yahoo's like yourself and Cyborg are making stuff up and confusing different issues and basically running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Maybe the spent fuel rods will get the point where they explode - I don't believe anyone has said that can't happen, I know I haven't...the fact of the matter is that (1) Nothing really bad has happened *yet* (contrary to your postings) and (2) they are doing everything they can to prevent bad stuff from happening. Now what is the point of your posts?
Well the fire that caused the spike in radiation yesterday is back. Considering they were trying to cool it with seawater and the fire started anyway, I think we can safely say this isn't a good development. Perhaps some of nuclear experts can explain why this is nothing to worry about? For days we've been told it would not be as bad as Chernobyl. They should tell us what the worst case scenario is, i.e. if all the backup plans fail. http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/78383.html Fire breaks out again at Fukushima's No. 4 reactor: TEPCO TOKYO, March 16, Kyodo A fire broke out again early Wednesday at the troubled No. 4 reactor of the quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. Around 5:45 a.m., a worker at the plant saw flames on the fourth floor of the reactor's building, believed to be the same spot where an apparent hydrogen explosion caused a fire Tuesday morning in the wake of last Friday's magnitude 9.0 earthquake. The plant operator said it has reported the incident to firefighters and local governments. On Tuesday, the utility said water in a pool storing spent nuclear fuel rods at the reactor may be boiling and its level has dropped, exposing the rods, prompting the government to order Tokyo Electric to inject water into the pool ''as soon as possible to avert a major nuclear disaster.'' Unless the spent fuel rods are cooled down, they could be damaged and emit radioactive substances.
The new fire is reported to be at the outer housing of the containment vessel ... reactor 4 does not have any fuel in the reactor so its not clear to me why a fire there is a problem although I'm sure they want to put it out so it doesn't spread anywhere important. The previous fire at 4 was at the fuel storage pond which is very serious since if that goes it will spew radioactive particles directly into the atmosphere. Let's be clear here - this could get as bad as Chernobyl but first things have to get much worse. Right now it seems like they are playing whack a mole, fix one problem and then a new one pops up. Worst case? If one of the reactors cores explode or the fuel storage pond goes then I think that would be a Chernobyl equivalent event. Let's hope it doesn't get to that point. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster
I don't really see how this is possible. From what I understood if worst comes to worst they basically can do in 10 seconds what took weeks (or whatever) to create in Chernobyl, namely isolate the bad parts (whatever they are, I guess the core?). Seems to me that they are not doing this only because it is sort of a "last resort" kind of thing and there are better ways to fix it which will ensure the plant won't have to be scrapped for the foreseeable future. Also seems to me that most media outlets and posters are in a fit cos it looks scary, and obviously nuclear power problems are kind of scary, and there are like explosions and shit man! But they aren't really reporting the real risks. Nobody serious has claimed that this could become as bad as Chernobyl. It could become a slightly bigger problem than it is now, but nothing too drastic. Anyway, I'm no expert, but it seems to me that people are overstating the worst case scenario.
Thank you GTS for making this distinction. In terms of the 'amount' of fuel stored, do we know if we are talking about a smaller or larger quantity of fuel that could spill into the atmosphere, relative to Chernobyl? Is there some kind of measurement for the "quantity" of fuel at each reactor? And if one reactor started melting down, would that mean that all of the reactors would probably be write offs at that point? Could you have a full scale meltdown at one reactor, without it necessarily spreading to the other reactors?
The plant is scrapped regardless - this plant will never operate again, that's a given. If one of the reactor cores gets hot enough it will melt through the bottom of the containment vessel until it hits a water source (groundwater) at which point it will explode with a radioactive plume of steam and debris. That is what is colorfully referred to as the China Syndrome (when applied to the US). If the spent fuel overheats and explodes that would be a very serious event. I'm not an expert so I don't know how either event would compare in scale to Chernobyl but I think it would be similar in the severity level.
This is rather off-topic but you aren't very informed. TV was not an American invention although in the latter development stages Americans did improve the technology. The Internet has many key features made by British engineers and web browsing by an European organization. The PC could be said to be an American invention but it featured components designed elsewhere (e.g. Japan).
Afaik the last resort containment (there are three, none of which have failed so far to the best of my knowledge) containment has a melting point which is higher than the temperature of the core could possibly be (at this point or any other afaik) so I don't see how this could happen.