Evacuation zone was just doubled to 20km.
Video of reactor 1 at Fukushima plant
21–30 of 109 posts
Re: Video of reactor 1 at Fukushima plant
#22http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=d_LFixACgsQEvVMNHMag3MA... There is almost guaranteed significant radiation release. quote from slashdot: The outer walls of the Reactor 1 building have partially blown off, leaving only what looks like a steel frame. NHK is saying that a sensor within 5km of the plant is detecting radiation levels approaching 1015 microsieverts - that is apparently a year's worth of radiation exp…
"This is starting to look a lot like Chernobyl" Walt Patterson, an associate fellow with Chatham House, has told the BBC after seeing pictures of the explosion at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant. "The nuclear agency says that they have detected caesium and iodine outside the unit, which certainly indicates fuel melting at the very least," he says. "Once you have melting fuel coming into contact with water, that would almost certainly be the cause of the explosion." (BBC)
(EDIT) More from Walt Patterson of Chatham House. He says the presence of the radioactive caesium in the surrounding area does not pose a huge threat to public health in the immediate aftermath of the explosion. "What would be serious is if there was an explosion or fire that lifted this stuff high in the air, meaning it could get carried over a wide area."
Re: Video of reactor 1 at Fukushima plant
#23[deleted]
Re: Video of reactor 1 at Fukushima plant
#24Watching BBC, it seems mainly the walls and roof have been blown out.
The main steel structure is still standing, and the expert in the studio was saying something like there still is a chance of the 3-Mile Island like scenario. That is that the nuclear material is still contained within the core structure.
Re: Video of reactor 1 at Fukushima plant
#25what I understand now is that the blast at the nuclear plant may have been caused by a hydrogen explosion (pressure) or If nuclear fuel rods overheat and then come into contact with water, this produces a large amount of highly-flammable hydrogen gas which can then ignite. Right?
Can anyone with more knowledge and experience of this confirm?
Re: Video of reactor 1 at Fukushima plant
#26Can someone provide background information on the type of reactor at Fukusima, it's age, and it's failsafe mechanism. I was under the impression that no modern reactor would sustain criticality in the event of a failure.
Re: Video of reactor 1 at Fukushima plant
#27[deleted]
A nuclear explosion? No chance, it will "simply" leak, worst case it catches fire and goes Chernobyl but spreads its radiation over a more populated area, which is probably worse that a nuclear weapon going off.
Re: Video of reactor 1 at Fukushima plant
#28what I understand now is that the blast at the nuclear plant may have been caused by a hydrogen explosion (pressure) or If nuclear fuel rods overheat and then come into contact with water, this produces a large amount of highly-flammable hydrogen gas which can then ignite. Right? Can anyone with more knowledge and experience of this confirm?
The explosion was likely a containment failure of the previously reported (radioactive) steam that had been building up in the containment building.
More info: http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_ear...
Re: Video of reactor 1 at Fukushima plant
#29[deleted]
So, don't laugh, but...
Head over to Fark, look up whatever the latest thread is. Yes, there are trolls and idiots. There are also knowledgeable people providing useful information. I'm basically refreshing that every few minutes and using it as my baseline for what's going on.
Re: Video of reactor 1 at Fukushima plant
#30[deleted]
Come on, there is absolutely no way for a nuclear plant to make a nuclear explosion. Nuclear fuel at high temperature touching the cooling water separates the water in O and H2, which is an highly explosive cocktail, didn't they show you that in high school?
The main danger now is of a fire lifting radioactive material away. This isn't in any case an immediate life-threatening risk, except for the people in the power plant immediate vicinity.