Clearly the defective idea here was reliance on the grid primarily and then on the diesel generators. This is not the modern day approach however the Utility company shut down the grid for the tsunami; they didn't have much time to think it over since the tsunami travels at about the speed of sound. I also agree that the placement on the coast was an extraordinarily poor idea especially with the long standing risks of geophysical plate disruption that is a part of Japan's history. But, that is meaningless in solving the present problem. The advantage now is they have lots of access to cold salt water which has a higher boiling point than fresh water; not a big plus but a plus nonetheless.
Further, the actual radiation risk which is not significant. The isotopes of iodine 129 and 131 have an eight day half life. Cesium 137 has a half life of 30 years but decays as an isomer of Barium 137
Other isotopes of Cesium are 135 which has a 2.3 million year half-life but is a beta emitter so it is stable and in the environment everywhere.
Thus, the pool of spent rods radiation is for the most part, not a dangerous alpha emitter and simple precautions prevent any problems affecting the thyroid.
A lot of the information floating around is flaky. Most is not up to date and some is pure speculation by people without first hand knowledge. The raft of US nuclear nags is a case in point. They located some disgruntled GE engineer that didn't get his way and give him a microphone. This guy hasn't worked on a nuclear project in 40 years!
Then we have the USA alarmists, these are people representing some political idea about nuclear power so you can't trust them. Then the US bureaucracy or gov agency is well known to be FOS when it comes to their leviathan power. In fact just like the housing code inspectors, they prevent innovation and safety by always pushing technology that is primitive. House construction has hardly changed in 200 years in spite of new materials. Same with nuclear. Russia and France are far ahead of the curve in this area. Trying to build a plant in the US is nearly impossible.
Also, water is not really the issue. They have water but merely pumping water doesn't cool it since the water will boil off creating steam vapor and hydrogen. You don't just flood reactors or storage pools with waters. It has to flow the water and engage cooling. Water alone, even cold ocean water will not stay cold for long. So the solution is to get the cooling towers operational. I do not know the source of the delays in this regard but they should be able to accomplish this in a reasonable time frame. It depends in part on how much other electrical damage was done by the tsunami.
I am sure road conditions are terrible. They may have to helicopter the replacement generators. I would guess the generators are already on the scene and the wiring of the plant is undergoing repairs before they can activate the cooling towers. Again I don't know the extent of the electrical problems but they will likely have the towers up and running some time today. That will then bring the danger levels down very rapidly.
To me the focus on the storage pool is borderline insanity. Anything out of the pool is quite easy to deal with including enhancement of Barium 137 decay. That is not the present issue.
The issue also doesn't appear to be the reactor cores themselves. They seem to be holding up under pressure. So if the cooling tower power can be restored, there is a high likelihood that the reactors will stabilize. Then boron rods can be replaced and a close look at the reactor can be accomplished.
They very well have a meltdown but that is not a breach. But these reactors will be disposed of not repaired. They were already scheduled for disposal prior to the tsunami. The Mark 1s are good reactors. The new stuff is obviously better but the problem that occurred here was a cascade of a few bad decisions made in the flash of moments.
This was a 30 foot wall of water traveling at 500 mph, that wiped out everything in its path. The Japanese have had 200 of these tsunamis hit them in the past. This one was one of the biggest.
This misinformation by the US press and blogsphere is unconscionable. I have never seen the US do less. While the US military in Japan are assisting in everyway possible, we are talking about the potential of 25000 dead. So just dealing with the bodies and identification and disease is a major problem. The only good thing is that its cold which will help to freeze the dead. But as able as the Japanese are, they have their hands full; they don't need some bstd siting back in his easy chair with his big fat full belly and Ipad making up a bunch of false rumors about what should be done, should have been done [the ultimate idiot] or what progress is being made or blowing the risks out of proportion.
Ever since global warming got into the lexicon of liberals the press has become the castigator which has replaced peer review. Incorrect assumptions are made and reported like fact. Unschooled opinions are given schooled status. And every time you turn around some dope is talking into a microphone about a subject of which they have no knowledge or worse, no facts.
We saw this same circus with PB. I find it repulsive. BP we were told had killed the gulf and in the process all of the oceans of the world. How bloody insane and the same insanity is upon us again.
doug
Further, the actual radiation risk which is not significant. The isotopes of iodine 129 and 131 have an eight day half life. Cesium 137 has a half life of 30 years but decays as an isomer of Barium 137
Other isotopes of Cesium are 135 which has a 2.3 million year half-life but is a beta emitter so it is stable and in the environment everywhere.
Thus, the pool of spent rods radiation is for the most part, not a dangerous alpha emitter and simple precautions prevent any problems affecting the thyroid.
A lot of the information floating around is flaky. Most is not up to date and some is pure speculation by people without first hand knowledge. The raft of US nuclear nags is a case in point. They located some disgruntled GE engineer that didn't get his way and give him a microphone. This guy hasn't worked on a nuclear project in 40 years!
Then we have the USA alarmists, these are people representing some political idea about nuclear power so you can't trust them. Then the US bureaucracy or gov agency is well known to be FOS when it comes to their leviathan power. In fact just like the housing code inspectors, they prevent innovation and safety by always pushing technology that is primitive. House construction has hardly changed in 200 years in spite of new materials. Same with nuclear. Russia and France are far ahead of the curve in this area. Trying to build a plant in the US is nearly impossible.
Also, water is not really the issue. They have water but merely pumping water doesn't cool it since the water will boil off creating steam vapor and hydrogen. You don't just flood reactors or storage pools with waters. It has to flow the water and engage cooling. Water alone, even cold ocean water will not stay cold for long. So the solution is to get the cooling towers operational. I do not know the source of the delays in this regard but they should be able to accomplish this in a reasonable time frame. It depends in part on how much other electrical damage was done by the tsunami.
I am sure road conditions are terrible. They may have to helicopter the replacement generators. I would guess the generators are already on the scene and the wiring of the plant is undergoing repairs before they can activate the cooling towers. Again I don't know the extent of the electrical problems but they will likely have the towers up and running some time today. That will then bring the danger levels down very rapidly.
To me the focus on the storage pool is borderline insanity. Anything out of the pool is quite easy to deal with including enhancement of Barium 137 decay. That is not the present issue.
The issue also doesn't appear to be the reactor cores themselves. They seem to be holding up under pressure. So if the cooling tower power can be restored, there is a high likelihood that the reactors will stabilize. Then boron rods can be replaced and a close look at the reactor can be accomplished.
They very well have a meltdown but that is not a breach. But these reactors will be disposed of not repaired. They were already scheduled for disposal prior to the tsunami. The Mark 1s are good reactors. The new stuff is obviously better but the problem that occurred here was a cascade of a few bad decisions made in the flash of moments.
This was a 30 foot wall of water traveling at 500 mph, that wiped out everything in its path. The Japanese have had 200 of these tsunamis hit them in the past. This one was one of the biggest.
This misinformation by the US press and blogsphere is unconscionable. I have never seen the US do less. While the US military in Japan are assisting in everyway possible, we are talking about the potential of 25000 dead. So just dealing with the bodies and identification and disease is a major problem. The only good thing is that its cold which will help to freeze the dead. But as able as the Japanese are, they have their hands full; they don't need some bstd siting back in his easy chair with his big fat full belly and Ipad making up a bunch of false rumors about what should be done, should have been done [the ultimate idiot] or what progress is being made or blowing the risks out of proportion.
Ever since global warming got into the lexicon of liberals the press has become the castigator which has replaced peer review. Incorrect assumptions are made and reported like fact. Unschooled opinions are given schooled status. And every time you turn around some dope is talking into a microphone about a subject of which they have no knowledge or worse, no facts.
We saw this same circus with PB. I find it repulsive. BP we were told had killed the gulf and in the process all of the oceans of the world. How bloody insane and the same insanity is upon us again.
doug
