Reactors abandoned?
- Thread starter tet1953
- Start date
newatit2010
Well-Known Member
WTF damn it is time for march madness don't have time for that shit.
Saerimmner
Well-Known Member
11771235
Japan Nuclear Update - British Embassy
I have just returned from a conference call held at the British Embassy in Tokyo. The call was concerning the nuclear issue in Japan. The chief spokesman was Sir. John Beddington, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, and he was joined by a numbe...r of qualified nuclear experts based in the UK. Their assessment of the current situation in Japan is as follows: * In case of a 'reasonable worst case scenario' (defined as total meltdown of one reactor with subsequent radioactive explosion) an exclusion zone of 30 miles (50km) would be the maximum required to avoid affecting peoples' health. Even in a worse situation (loss of two or more reactors) it is unlikely that the damage would be significantly more than that caused by the loss of a single reactor. * The current 20km exclusion zone is appropriate for the levels of radiation/risk currently experienced, and if the pouring of sea water can be maintained to cool the reactors, the likelihood of a major incident should be avoided. A further large quake with tsunami could lead to the suspension of the current cooling operations, leading to the above scenario. * The bottom line is that these experts do not see there being a possibility of a health problem for residents in Tokyo. The radiation levels would need to be hundreds of times higher than current to cause the possibility for health issues, and that, in their opinion, is not going to happen (they were talking minimum levels affecting pregnant women and children - for normal adults the levels would need to be much higher still). * The experts do not consider the wind direction to be material. They say Tokyo is too far away to be materially affected. * If the pouring of water can be maintained the situation should be much improved after ten days, as the reactors' cores cool down. * Information being provided by Japanese authorities is being independently monitored by a number of organizations and is deemed to be accurate, as far as measures of radioactivity levels are concerned. * This is a very different situation from Chernobyl, where the reactor went into meltdown and the encasement, which exploded, was left to burn for weeks without any control. Even with Chernobyl, an exclusion zone of 30 miles would have been adequate to protect human health. The problem was that most people became sick from eating contaminated food, crops, milk and water in the region for years afterward, as no attempt was made to measure radioactivity levels in the food supply at that time or warn people of the dangers. The secrecy over the Chernobyl explosion is in contrast to the very public coverage of the Fukushima crisis. * The Head of the British School asked if the school should remain closed. The answer was there is no need to close the school due to fears of radiation. There may well be other reasons - structural damage or possible new quakes - but the radiation fear is not supported by scientific measures, even for children. * Regarding Iodine supplementation, the experts said this was only necessary for those who had inhaled quantities of radiation (those in the exclusion zone or workers on the site) or through consumption of contaminated food/water supplies. Long term consumption of iodine is, in any case, not healthy. The discussion was surprisingly frank and to the point. The conclusion of the experts is that the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami, as well as the subsequent aftershocks, was much more of an issue than the fear of radiation sickness from the nuclear plants. Let's hope the experts are right!See more
by: Paul Atkinson
Japan Nuclear Update - British Embassy
I have just returned from a conference call held at the British Embassy in Tokyo. The call was concerning the nuclear issue in Japan. The chief spokesman was Sir. John Beddington, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, and he was joined by a numbe...r of qualified nuclear experts based in the UK. Their assessment of the current situation in Japan is as follows: * In case of a 'reasonable worst case scenario' (defined as total meltdown of one reactor with subsequent radioactive explosion) an exclusion zone of 30 miles (50km) would be the maximum required to avoid affecting peoples' health. Even in a worse situation (loss of two or more reactors) it is unlikely that the damage would be significantly more than that caused by the loss of a single reactor. * The current 20km exclusion zone is appropriate for the levels of radiation/risk currently experienced, and if the pouring of sea water can be maintained to cool the reactors, the likelihood of a major incident should be avoided. A further large quake with tsunami could lead to the suspension of the current cooling operations, leading to the above scenario. * The bottom line is that these experts do not see there being a possibility of a health problem for residents in Tokyo. The radiation levels would need to be hundreds of times higher than current to cause the possibility for health issues, and that, in their opinion, is not going to happen (they were talking minimum levels affecting pregnant women and children - for normal adults the levels would need to be much higher still). * The experts do not consider the wind direction to be material. They say Tokyo is too far away to be materially affected. * If the pouring of water can be maintained the situation should be much improved after ten days, as the reactors' cores cool down. * Information being provided by Japanese authorities is being independently monitored by a number of organizations and is deemed to be accurate, as far as measures of radioactivity levels are concerned. * This is a very different situation from Chernobyl, where the reactor went into meltdown and the encasement, which exploded, was left to burn for weeks without any control. Even with Chernobyl, an exclusion zone of 30 miles would have been adequate to protect human health. The problem was that most people became sick from eating contaminated food, crops, milk and water in the region for years afterward, as no attempt was made to measure radioactivity levels in the food supply at that time or warn people of the dangers. The secrecy over the Chernobyl explosion is in contrast to the very public coverage of the Fukushima crisis. * The Head of the British School asked if the school should remain closed. The answer was there is no need to close the school due to fears of radiation. There may well be other reasons - structural damage or possible new quakes - but the radiation fear is not supported by scientific measures, even for children. * Regarding Iodine supplementation, the experts said this was only necessary for those who had inhaled quantities of radiation (those in the exclusion zone or workers on the site) or through consumption of contaminated food/water supplies. Long term consumption of iodine is, in any case, not healthy. The discussion was surprisingly frank and to the point. The conclusion of the experts is that the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami, as well as the subsequent aftershocks, was much more of an issue than the fear of radiation sickness from the nuclear plants. Let's hope the experts are right!See more
by: Paul Atkinson
plantvision
Active Member
Saerimmner, thanks for the great info, as always our media has to hype the situation, so they can sell it. If you listen you would think US citizens need to take cover. I don,t know if when you say "I have just returned", does I mean you personally. If it does please keep us in the loop. Even if it doesn't mean you, please keep downloading the info.
Don Gin and Ton
Well-Known Member
140 000 peeps told to make their homes airtight was in our papers this am (uk) suffocate to death or radiation poisoning.... 
a mongo frog
Well-Known Member
the stores here are sold out of iodine pills.
my gf just went out and baught a bunch of sea weed. she says she heard it helps for getting iodine. i think shes crazy, but who knows.
akgrown
Well-Known Member
From all the info I have gathered, Last night the 50 volunteeres were told to evacuate the reactor facilitty. They returned this morning when levels came back down. After reading several stories the main concern seems to be the #4 reactors spent fuel rods which are boiling the remaining water in the spent fuel pool(super duper toxic). they aslo seem to think that the reactor casing in the #3 may either have a crack or the fuel rod that were exposed for a short time may have partially melted and burned through the steel and concrete casing causing the fires.
Kodank Moment
Well-Known Member
Damn Japan....2 nuclear explosions in 90 years..and another possibly on the way...good luck people of Japan...seriously. Wish I could go help.
Also if I die from radiation...oh well. Iodine isn't gonna do shit...
Also if I die from radiation...oh well. Iodine isn't gonna do shit...
StonedPony
Well-Known Member
[video=youtube;JnLg5aO-5ts]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnLg5aO-5ts&feature=related[/video]
tet1953
Well-Known Member
Given the description of the situation right now I would guess we are at least days away from any resolution. More likely weeks or months. The "resolution" may in fact be there is no resolution and the damn things just bake. The workers are probably dead men walking. U.S. experts are disagreeing with the Japanese and saying that the radiation from spent fuel in #1 is fatal out to 50-100 yards, making working on the other reactors suicidal.
solvalou
Active Member
a reactor with serious design flaws, designed in America could blow up in japan and possibly radiate parts of the US ! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma
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