Kyodo News: Work halted on No.2, 500 Millisievert per hour radiation

[flamingdem]

No. 2 reactor power repair work halted, 500 millisievert per hr radiation found

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/

** That would apparently induce radiation sickness in 1 hour or so

Just a headline right now.

Looks like No. 2 might be a contender in the poll.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

1. holy shit, that's MILLIsieverts. that will kill you fast.

[flamingdem]

3. No. 2 was the one that still had a roof

so they couldn't spray water. Also they cannot get the electric to work I believe.

Gundersen, or someone else pointed out that the thermal was even in there and this was significant, he thought it might have no water left.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

4. #2 was the one they've feared for days breached its containment in the hydrogen explosion

[flamingdem]

6. I guess that is what they mean by "damaged core"

They can't throw water on it, and the pumps don't work

This one will require an unusual solution if there is one..

[FBaggins]

23. No "damaged core" is synonymous with "meltdown"

At least two (almost certainly three) of the units have suffered some degree of core damage.

This means (at least) that any releases from that reactor could include more elements than would otherwise be released. In fact, part of how they estimate the amount of core damage is to look at what proportions of which elements are found in anything released from the core.

[Pharaoh]

2. Oh this sounds pretty fuckin bad

:beer: :wow:

[flamingdem]

5. Daily News: Pump Failure in No. 2 - yesterday

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/03/21/2011-03-21_smoke_from_japanese_nuclear_plants_reactor_forces_evacuation_of_fukushima_daiich.html

Cooling pumps at one of Japan's crippled nuclear reactors are damaged beyond repair and will need to be replaced, officials learned Monday.

The revelation dashed hopes for a quick end to the ongoing nuclear catastrophe at the leaking Fukushima Daiichi plant.

An emergency order has been placed for new pumps for Unit 2 at the plant, but it's unclear how quickly they would arrive, officials said.


"We have experienced a very huge disaster that has caused very large damage at a nuclear power generation plant on a scale that we had not expected," Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.

[dkf]

13. Arrive? They didn't have them ready?

What happened to backups?

[WheelWalker]

19. Yikes !

[TheMadMonk]

16. Canibalise from 5 or 6.

Knock some holes in the walls.

I think a part of the problem is that while the response has been very comprehensive, it has not been particularly agressive. Even when they knew that attempting to prevent releases was a decidedly bad idea, they went ahead and tried, because bucking public sentiment was in their eyes an even worse idea.

By leaving steam venting operations as late as they did, and trying to contain the vented steam until it lost most of its radioactivity, we ended up with the hydrogen explosions. And by limiting the amount released, the amount of cooling which could be effected was significantly limited. The cores took damage, and now venting operations (and possibly by now uncontrolled releases) are carrying the results, (mosty microscopic) particles of fuel rod assembly into the environment.


Early agressive venting straight into the atmosphere would certainly have significantly increased IRRADIATION levels around the plant, but only dangerously so in the immediate vicinity and wherever the wind could take the plume within 10 mins or so. Significantly however, the reactor cores could have been kept much cooler, and it would have been far easier to keep the fuel rods immersed if the limited amount of pumping capacity available was not fighting the enormous head of steam that had formed at the top of the reactor vessels.

More importantly for the long term, CONTAMINATION levels around the plant would have been much, much lower. And it is contamination which represents the true long term risk of any nuclear incident.

[wtmusic]

18. Agree. Time to take the gloves off. nt

[jpak]

7. The thermal imagery indicated a major heat source - meltdown?

None of this shit was anticipated - or modeled

yup

[flamingdem]

8. Gundersen said "suppression pool is likely dry" in No.2

KING: Well, let’s close this picture down and move it over. I want to bring up reactor two. Now we don’t see as red hot here in reactor two as we did in reactor one.

But the entire, you see heat in the entire building. This is where TEPCO has said there’s a possibility of a breach in the core self. What does this picture tell you?

GUNDERSEN: Well, in the words that go with that the Ministry of Defense says that the containment vessel is at 262 degrees and that’s 50 degrees above the boiling point of water. That’s the containment vessel that’s believed to have a crack in it.

So water cannot exist inside it because it’s at atmospheric pressure as a result of the crack. It tells me the suppression pool is likely dry, and that’s the one I would be most worried about, because it seems to me that what you’re seeing there is super heated air with no water in sight.

KING: So, super heated air, a possible breach. What are the risks of trying to going and contain this to get in close what you need to do?

GUNDERSEN: You know, the vessel at 262 degrees, if you spray water, the water won’t even get to the vessel. It will begin to vaporize even before it gets there according to the Ministry of Defense. That one is the — will be the toughest nut to crack out of the three of them. …

[FBaggins]

24. Water can't exist at atmospheric pressure?

That must be news to our oceans.

But yes, #2 has been the one to worry about since the torus cracked.

[thereismore]

27. Given the temperature of 150 Celsius, no. nt

[WheelWalker]

9. #2 coming up the backstretch

[flamingdem]

10. We needed to review what Gundersen said, he had it right yesterday

as a matter of fact I think I'll check his website for any news.

[kristopher]

21. Please. That isn't appropriate. This isn't a video game.

I know no offense is meant, but the circumstances are dire for many people.

Thank you.

[flamingdem]

11. Arnie Gundersen's website for more info

http://fairewinds.com/

[Yo_Mama]

12. Two hours

But hey, no one's going to be standing there for an hour whistling Dixie.

It's doubtful the reading is that stable anyway.

That's very, very high. I guess the veggies are going to get another dose.

Maybe they tried to put water into it and it just exploded out of the suspected breach.

[flamingdem]

14. I think they said the valves didn't work well on No.2 at some point

that one is the stickler. Can't imagine anyone is going near it unless luck comes along and drops the radiation levels.

But really, what are they thinking, why would the levels drop... they'll just change the lethal dose figures.

[Yo_Mama]

15. Yes, they said the steam valve was stuck

Then they got it open somehow, and not that long after, the news of the "noise" was heard.

This is the one they were thinking of venting a couple of days ago and then they didn't - but it has been steaming pretty regularly.

[flamingdem]

17. Oh yes, the stuck valve

I wonder why they didn't vent. I wonder what they know now that we need to know. Time to book a ticket to South America!

[flamingdem]

20. Reactor 1 is over 400-degrees Celsius. Rising fast 11:51pm EST

Just out from IAEA: Reactor 1 is over 400-degrees Celsius. Rising fast http://bit.ly/e7lout

Use google translate with this link:

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20110323-OYT1T00...

[MellonCollie]

22. Reuters saying that 500 Millisievert report was wrong

Japan's nuclear safety agency corrects the radiation level to 500 microsieverts per hour, not millisieverts.

by Stephanie Ditta at 3:36 PM

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-japan-plant-radiation-idUSTRE72M3IN20110323

[Statistical]

25. WTF? This is like the 4th or 5th time.

I mean I could understand the first time, most people aren't use to terms like micro and milli Sv, the prefixes, or the meaning. But by now one would imagine reporters/editors/supervisors would be smart enough to confirm.

[phantom power]

26. what's a factor of 1000 between friends?