U.S. urges Americans within 50 miles of Japanese nuclear plant… (NRC chair says “no water” in pool)

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/bahrain-unleashes-assault-against-protesters-camp-in-capital-/2011/03/16/ABwTmha_story.html

U.S. urges Americans within 50 miles of Japanese nuclear plant to evacuate; NRC chief outlines dangerous situation

By Brian Vastag, Rick Maese and Debbi Wilgoren, Wednesday, March 16, 4:25 PM

The United States on Wednesday urged Americans who live within 50 miles of Japan’s earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to evacuate, and the top U.S. nuclear regulatory official indicated that Japan faces an increasingly dangerous situation at one of the plant’s reactors.

Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that no water remains in a pool used to cool spent fuel at the plant and that radiation levels there are thought to be “extremely high.”

Japanese officials denied that the water is gone from the spent-fuel pool, the Associated Press reported.

Jaczko, testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, detailed what his agency has been told about the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. He said the pool of spent fuel rods at the unit 4 reactor are cause for serious concern. Typically, spent fuel rods are kept covered by water, to carry away the heat that the rods exude for years after their use.

…

[FBaggins]

1. NRC says "no water"... Japan says "yes there is".

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko said in Washington on Wednesday that all the water was gone from the spent fuel pools at Unit 4 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex, but Japanese officials denied it. Hajime Motojuku, spokesman for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., said the "condition is stable" at Unit 4.

If Jaczko is correct, it would mean there's nothing to stop the fuel rods from getting hotter and ultimately melting down. The outer shells of the rods could also ignite with enough force to propel the radioactive fuel inside over a wide area.

Jaczko did not say how the information was obtained, but the NRC and U.S. Department of Energy both have experts at the complex of six reactors along Japan's northeastern coast, which was ravaged by last week's magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/03/16/workers_prepare_to_return_to_japan_nuke_plant/

I'm not sure that they know... but I think we would expect higher radiation levels (and on a more consistent basis) if this were true.

[joshcryer]

2. Reuters says radiation is down, I don't see how if there is no water there.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. I assume this is how Jaczko is getting his information

(Note date.)

http://nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2011/11-048R.pdf

No. 11-048R

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs Telephone: [phone]
Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 E-mail: [email protected]
Site: www.nrc.gov Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov

March 14, 2011

REVISED: NRC SENDS ADDITIONAL EXPERTS TO ASSIST JAPAN

The NRC has sent nine additional experts to Tokyo to provide assistance as requested by the Japanese government. Acting as part of a U.S. Agency for International Development assistance team, the NRC has dispatched the experts to Tokyo to provide assistance as requested by the Japanese government.

The first members of the team left the United States Monday evening and were due to arrive in Tokyo Wednesday afternoon. The team includes additional reactor experts, international affairs professional staffers, and a senior manager from one of the NRC’s four operating regions.

The team members come from the NRC’s headquarters in Rockville, Md., and from offices in King of Prussia, Pa., Chattanooga, Tenn., and Atlanta. The team has been instructed to: conduct all activities needed to understand the status of efforts to safely shut down the Japanese reactors; better understand the potential impact on people and the environment of any radioactivity releases; if asked, provide technical advice and support through the U.S. ambassador for the Japanese government’s decision making process; and draw on NRC-headquarters expertise for any other additional technical requirements. The team will be in communication with the Japanese regulator, the U.S. Embassy, NRC headquarters, and other government stakeholders as appropriate.

The team is led by Charles A. Casto, deputy regional administrator of the NRC’s Center of Construction Inspection, based in NRC’s office in Atlanta. Casto has worked in the commercial nuclear power industry at three different nuclear power plants, including Browns Ferry, which has three boiling water reactors, operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority in Alabama. He has also worked as a licensed reactor operator and operator instructor. Casto will provide a single point of contact for the U.S. Ambassador in Japan on nuclear reactor issues.

…

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. Nuclear Regulator: 'Extremely High' Radiation Levels at Japanese Reactor

http://www.wnyc.org/articles/its-free-country/2011/mar/16/top-energy-officials-defend-nuclear-energy-hearing/

Nuclear Regulator: 'Extremely High' Radiation Levels at Japanese Reactor

Top Obama Energy Officials Defend Nuclear Energy

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

…

Chu said that that Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors are in Japan, "with boots on the ground, with detectors on the ground," to evaluate the ongoing effects of leaks from the breached nuclear reactors. "The events unfolding in Japan incidents actually appear to be more severe than 3 Mile Island, to what extent we don't really know now."

But Chu warned against making comparisons from the situation in Japan to facilities in the United States.

"We don’t believe there is imminent danger," Energy Stephen Secretary Chu said when asked by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) whether American facilities are vulnerable to similar breakdowns. "We will be looking very carefully and gathering whatever lessons that can be learned from that double disaster of the fourth largest earthquake in recorded history and the huge tsunami."

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko updated the Congressional panel on Wednesday afternoon about the latest threats and the response in Japan. He said the NRC is monitoring four reactors at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant. He described a dangerous situation in one reactor, which was not operating at the time of the earthquake and tsunami. There, he said, “we believe that secondary containment has been destroyed. There is no water in the spent fuel pool, and we believe that radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures.”

…