Japanese nuclear plant may only have a few hours....

[ca4paul]

On a side note, a ballot initiative in California for 2012 will shut down all nuc plants in our state. I'll be voting yes on that.

 

[AGRP]

So, are there any reports of people testing their food with a geiger counter and getting readings in the USA? Is there any way of differentiating what food did or didn't come from Japan?

Shut your mouth. Theyre busy throwing people in prison over raw milk and harmless plants that grow from the ground.

 

[flightlesskiwi]

On a side note, a ballot initiative in California for 2012 will shut down all nuc plants in our state. I'll be voting yes on that.

oh, come on now! you is just afeared of what you don't understand!

/s

 

[asurfaholic]

On a side note, a ballot initiative in California for 2012 will shut down all nuc plants in our state. I'll be voting yes on that.

Just curious, what good will shutting down the plants do? Isn't there still radioactive material present, and it still requires maintenance/disposal? Where does it go? Someone else's backyard?

 

[TheAmazingJimmy]

Shut your mouth. Theyre busy throwing people in prison over raw milk and harmless plants that grow from the ground.

Are you talking about America or Japan?

 

[ca4paul]

oh, come on now! you is just afeared of what you don't understand!

/s

I say good riddance to them. It's already got into the ground water near laguna beach

 

[ca4paul]

Just curious, what good will shutting down the plants do? Isn't there still radioactive material present, and it still requires maintenance/disposal? Where does it go? Someone else's backyard?

Because luckilly it hasn't spilled in large amounts yet and if there is a major quake/disaster, we're all fucked. Getting rid of it is an issue but it's far less of an issue if most of it is removed and sent to a very remote location somewhere else.

 

[Pericles]

Because luckilly it hasn't spilled in large amounts yet and if there is a major quake/disaster, we're all fucked. Getting rid of it is an issue but it's far less of an issue if most of it is removed and sent to a very remote location somewhere else.

And it has the added advantage of moving up the timeline of the collapse of California's government by adding more economic stress to the state.

 

[specialK]

Just a small sample of some Japanese garbage that has been washing up on our shores lately, and plenty more headed this way. Not surprisingly, I've heard nothing about the garbage being tested for radioactivity.

 

[steph3n]

Just a small sample of some Japanese garbage that has been washing up on our shores lately, and plenty more headed this way. Not surprisingly, I've heard nothing about the garbage being tested for radioactivity.

Where is this?

 

[specialK]

Where is this?

West Coast of Vancouver Island.

Google Maps:

http://tinyurl.com/7lpq3gm

 

[XNavyNuke]

Surface contamination wouldn't survive the ocean crossing. Since the reactors where immediately shutdown, radiation levels were never high enough to result in neutron activation of materials external to the plant. Flotsam is subject to wind as well as water currents, so I'd be surprised if any of the material that you are seeing now predates the Fukushima incident.

What can 28,000 rubber duckies lost at sea teach us about our oceans?

XNN

 

[specialK]

Surface contamination wouldn't survive the ocean crossing. Since the reactors where immediately shutdown, radiation levels were never high enough to result in neutron activation of materials external to the plant. Flotsam is subject to wind as well as water currents, so I'd be surprised if any of the material that you are seeing now predates the Fukushima incident.

What can 28,000 rubber duckies lost at sea teach us about our oceans?

XNN

Ya, it's hard to know what to believe anymore. Other scientists have gone on the record saying they could be contaminated and I doubt they will ever tell us whether they are or not, if and when they should decide to test them.

 

[Kylie]

Oh JOY!!!

A nuclear reactor at a northern Illinois plant shut down Monday after losing power, and steam was being vented to reduce pressure, according to officials from Exelon Nuclear and federal regulators. Unit 2 at Byron Generating Station, about 95 miles northwest of Chicago, shut down at 10:18 a.m., after losing power, Exelon officials said. Diesel generators began supplying power to the plant, and operators began releasing steam to cool the reactor from the part of the plant where turbines are producing electricity, not from within the nuclear reactor itself, officials said. The steam contains low levels of tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, but federal and plant officials insisted the levels were safe for workers and the public.

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_desc&edis_id=NC-20120131-33977-USA

 

[Kylie]

This thing is not getting any better


http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_update_read&edis_id=NC-20120328-34685-JPN&uid=12456

One of Japan's crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and hardly any water to cool it, according to an internal examination Tuesday that renews doubts about the plant's stability. A tool equipped with a tiny video camera, a thermometer, a dosimeter and a water gauge was used to assess damage inside the No. 2 reactor's containment chamber for the second time since the tsunami swept into the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant a year ago. The data collected showed the damage from the disaster was so severe, the plant operator will have to develop special equipment and technology to tolerate the harsh environment and decommission the plant, a process expected to last decades. The other two reactors that had meltdowns could be in even worse shape. The No. 2 reactor is the only one officials have been able to closely examine so far. Tuesday's examination with an industrial endoscope detected radiation levels up to 10 times the fatal dose inside the chamber. Plant officials previously said more than half of the melted fuel has breached the core and dropped to the floor of the primary containment vessel, some of it splashing against the wall or the floor.

Particles from melted fuel have probably sent radiation levels up to a dangerously high 70 sieverts per hour inside the container, said Junichi Matsumoto, spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. The figure far exceeds the highest level previously detected, 10 sieverts per hour, which was detected around an exhaust duct shared by No. 1 and 2 units last year. "It's extremely high," he said, adding that an endoscope would last only 14 hours in those conditions. "We have to develop equipment that can tolerate high radiation" when locating and removing melted fuel during the decommissioning. The probe also found that the containment vessel -- a beaker-shaped container enclosing the core -- had cooling water up to only 60 centimeters (2 feet) from the bottom, far below the 10 meters (yards) estimated when the government declared the plant stable in December. The plant is continuing to pump water into the reactor. Video footage taken by the probe showed the water inside was clear but contained dark yellow sediments, believed to be fragments of rust, paint that had been peeled off or dust.

A probe done in January failed to find the water surface and provided only images showing steam, unidentified parts and rusty metal surfaces scarred by exposure to radiation, heat and humidity. Finding the water level was important to help locate damaged areas where radioactive water is escaping. Matsumoto said that the actual water level inside the chamber was way off the estimate, which had used data that turned out to be unreliable. But the results don't affect the plant's "cold shutdown status" because the water temperature was about 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), indicating the melted fuel is cooled. Three Dai-ichi reactors had meltdowns, but the No. 2 reactor is the only one that has been examined because radiation levels inside the reactor building are relatively low and its container is designed with a convenient slot to send in the endoscope. The exact conditions of the other two reactors, where hydrogen explosions damaged their buildings, are still unknown. Simulations have indicated that more fuel inside No. 1 has breached the core than the other two, but radiation at No. 3 remains the highest.

The high radiation levels inside the No. 2 reactor's chamber mean it's inaccessible to the workers, but parts of the reactor building are accessible for a few minutes at a time -- with the workers wearing full protection. Last year's massive earthquake and a tsunami set off the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, sending three reactor cores to melt and causing massive radiation leaks. The government said in December that the reactors are safely cooled and the plant has stabilized, while experts have questioned its vulnerability. During a recent visit by a group of journalists including The Associated Press, the head of the plant said it remains vulnerable to strong aftershocks and tsunami, and that containing contaminated water and radiation is a challenge. Radioactive water had leaked into the ocean several times already. Workers found a fresh leak of 120 tons from a water treatment unit this week from one of its hoses, with estimated 80 liters (20 gallons) escaping into the ocean, Matsumoto said. Officials are still investigating its impact. Fukushima's accident has instilled public distrust and concerns about nuclear safety, making it difficult for the government to start up reactors even after regular safety checks. All but one of Japan's 54 reactors are now offline, with the last one scheduled to stop in early May.

 

[coastie]

This thing is not getting any better


http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_update_read&edis_id=NC-20120328-34685-JPN&uid=12456

Great. Just fricking great. Guess we'll all have cancer and an extra set of ears on our asses here soon.

 

[Kylie]

Great. Just fricking great. Guess we'll all have cancer and an extra set of ears on our asses here soon.

I'm guessing a serious uptick in cancers in the near future.

But I'd rather have another mouth on my ass instead of ears. That way I can literally talk out of my ass instead of just figuratively.

 

[coastie]

I'm guessing a serious uptick in cancers in the near future.

But I'd rather have another mouth on my ass instead of ears. That way I can literally talk out of my ass instead of just figuratively.

LMAO...ooh, and you could also....nvm.

 

[JacobSzumniak]

I wanna go see Tokyo before its gone!

 

[John F Kennedy III]

Gee, I wonder who has the antidote...