Japan...........

[Purple-Days]

The zirconium is the casing (not the rods, edit: or maybe they are, who knows what to believe) and when overheated emits hydrogen which is explosive. Bending the science (as most news nets are prone to do) to make it more dramatic does nobody any good. Folks (like me) only half listen, and their sources (newsbots) are questionable at best.

This is from a blog (in English) from Japan that I have followed for a couple of years, not somebody I just came upon. No political agenda, it's an artists blog.

"Please everybody do not refer to CNN, or most American news networks for accurate updates on the development of the situation here. I would suggest Japan`s news network of NHK.
Most news networks keep running the same 4 or 5 video extreme damage loops focusing on the body count and tragedy. Those are valid points as well, but to repeat them with music and logos is sickening, and now Japan has become the lead star in the American News network Natural Disaster Series.

There are also positive developments that keep hope and humanity alive and together.
I know everybody loves to hear "the end is near!"
And the news media is the food for more sub psyche wishes of catastrophe, so we can all witness something that makes history, but in the end for the media networks it will be just another 24 hour programming run to sell advertising for mortgage refinancing, and arthritis medication.
Japan and its people are competent and caring individuals. Restoring order is what they are the best at.
I feel most at ease knowing that the professionals and technicians involved are determined with a samurai spirit to manage the disaster at hand.

This life is as real as you want it to be, and it`s worth as much as you are.
Enjoy your time in this body, on this planet, that`s all you have!"

 

[VWFringe]

thanks there does seem to be reaction to Karl Grossman's opinion that the zirconium could be explosive without being powdered or sliced first. Zirconium powder is explosive, not solid. thanks,

Glad to hear some good voices coming out of Japan, the videos of them in the warehouses with only a bowl of soup or slice of bread to share among two kids and their mom was making me feel pretty hopeless.

 

[momofthegoons]

Glad to hear some good voices coming out of Japan, the videos of them in the warehouses with only a bowl of soup or slice of bread to share among two kids and their mom was making me feel pretty hopeless.

That's exactly how I feel. My husband and I sent in a donation to the Red Cross, but I've stopped watching the tv footage about Japan. Our donation is a paltry drop in the bucket compared to what they will need. It fills me with despair to see endless pictures of people suffering.

 

[Alan]

I would be very skeptical about what you are hearing on the news.

I was a mechanical / system engineer at an identical BWR-4 with Mark 1 containment for 15 years. I know most of the systems and have been everywhere in the plant. I have been on the refueling platform when they moved fuel from the core to the spent fuel pool. The fuel bundles actually glow blue. It was a humbling experience.

The good thing is that the fuel bundles (assembly of fuel rods) are spaced in the fuel pool such that they are not capable of reacting with each other even if there was no water. They will get really hot, but the zirconium rod (the casing for the fuel pellets) will not burst into flame. They will get about as hot as during normal operation. There will be no meltdown. Besides, the reaction can only be started with a neutron source. There is no neutron source in the fuel pool.

Now that they have power back to the plant, they can begin cooling the reactor cores.

The bad thing is the spent fuel bundles are extremely radioactive. If one was lying beside the road and you drove by it at 60 mph, you would be dead before you got to it. With no water for shielding, they will be unapproachable by anything living. If the grid in which the bundles are stored is damaged, they won't even be able to remove the bundles with a robot. Not a good situation.

The radioactive particles that are leaving the site are most likely from a highly radioactive resin tank that used to be located by the fuel pool. The explosion took care of that. None of the particles are lethal. The danger is limited to the plant.

The metal panels on the top of the building were supposed to explode outward from steam pressure to protect the control room. The thing that concerns me is that there was no accident scenario where the entire reactor building explodes from hydrogen gas build-up. This means that any of this design reactor could suffer a similar fate if hydrogen builds up and ignites. They should all be re-evaluated.

 

[Gunky]

NHK is the Japanese government. Like the VOA in the US. It's a worthy station and has interesting programs but the government there has somewhat different ideas of transparency than we do here. It's good to view news from a variety of sources.

 

[lwien]

Now that they have power back to the plant, they can begin cooling the reactor cores.

That's one helluva an assumption there. They don't know if the pumps will work even if they do restore electricity. And even if the pumps do work, is the plumbing compromised? And on top of that, they don't even know if the integrity of the pool is even capable of holding water.

 

[Alan]

All the cooling pumps and piping are located in the basement. They have back-up pumps for the back-up pumps. They also have back-up piping for the back-up piping. Everything is double redundant. There are even back-up circuits for the back-up circuits. They didn't plan on the top of the building exploding though.

There are no guarantees, but they have a very good chance now.

 

[lwien]

TEPCO and the Japanese Government just raised the threat level and described the situation as VERY grave.

Just saw a video of a news conference in Japan where one of the TEPCO representatives left the press conference sobbing and in tears, apologizing for underplaying the seriousness of the situation.

 

[VWFringe]

....I was a mechanical / system engineer at an identical BWR-4 with Mark 1 containment for 15 years. I know most of the systems....
(paraphrasing "the fuel bundles will get hot, not meltdown."

...any of this design reactor could suffer a similar fate if hydrogen builds up and ignites. They should all be re-evaluated.

I really appreciate your post, Thanks,

 

[lwien]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/07/japan.tsunami.orphans/index.html