8.9 Earthquake has struck Japan

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Darren Addy said:
Concern for the reactors continues. 2 plants: 5 reactors with difficulties.
Article from the Union of Concerned Scientists on the Nuclear Crisis in Japan
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There are rumors that they are in the process of losing one of the reactors, supposedly it has started breaching the internal containment structure. At this point nothing would surprise me entirely but it brings up the question, If one of the units at the multi reactor plants does start to melt down, how do you continue work to cool the other units at the plant? Seems to me if one goes they are all going... FWIW

(Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power said on Saturday that fuel may have been damaged by falling water levels at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, after a powerful earthquake hit northeastern Japan the previous day.

The utility, known as TEPCO, said a small amount of radioactivity had leaked from the reactor. (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori)
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Darren Addy said:
Apparently a translation of a NHK news story...
Fuel rods exposed, water from fire trucks trying to raise level of water.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/nhk110311.html
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But that damage report means we have stepped into meltdown territory.

I am reading that
the metal on the fuel rods melt after temperatures exceed 1,000 deg F. The ceramic uranium pellets start to melt as temperatures reach about 2,000 deg F which would ultimately cause a meltdown, with the core becoming a molten mass that would melt through the steel reactor.
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Fox just said and I quote, " Nuclear meltdown could be likely". This has got to seem like the end of the world for these poor people.
 
Breaking on KYODO - Radioactive Cesium is now being detected near Fukushima Nuclear Plant. This would mean that it is already underway!

And the evacuation at plant #2 is underway.
 
One can only pray the containment vessels hold, a partial meltdown may not destroy the other reactors in the complex. With the loss of power from at least 5 reactors the sheltering crisis will be even worse. It is winter in Japan and overnight temperatures will be at or below freezing.

Jim would that reading be possible from them venting number 1 reactor to reduce pressure. Also I wonder what was the worse case scenerio that they had engineered into their plants?
 
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Robert Rohloff said:
Jim would that reading be possible from them venting number 1 reactor to reduce pressure. Also I wonder what was the worse case scenerio that they had engineered into their plants?
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My limited (reading up fast) understanding is that it can only happen after you have damage to the rods and a meltdown is starting. Now whether or not the venting process has sent it out into the air without an actual breach I don't know.

They supposedly need to release the pressure to avoid an explosion, problem is:
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said TEPCO officials encountered difficulties in opening a valve to release the container's pressure due to high radioactive level
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So.... If thats the case then do we have a breach?

Also their fear of venting was that it released steam which would bring down the coolant level further.
 
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The dome has to have at least a few holes in for pipes, right? Not counting the huge hole the molten core will try to punch in the base...

EDIT: how long will it be in confirming what is or is not going on in that core? Its not like you can stick your head in and take a look...
 
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The two power plants have a total of 11 reactors! The thought of a chain reaction meltdown with that much nuclear material would

make any prior nulclear incident as a minor problem.........

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MClarkson said:
EDIT: how long will it be in confirming what is or is not going on in that core? Its not like you can stick your head in and take a look...
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?? A raise in cesium levels and or detecting cesium downwind? There are rumors they want to issue a 30 km evacuation but they haven't even cleared out the 10 KM evacuation area yet. Debris has most of the evacuation routes completely blocked. There is still a chance they can stop the meltdown with a mess of coolant but time is getting short.

Robert Rohloff said:
The two power plants have a total of 11 reactors! The thought of a chain reaction meltdown with that much nuclear material would make any prior nuclear incident as a minor problem.........
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That one has 6, again I ask, if you lose one how do you remain on-site cooling the others that are critical to keep them from going into meltdown?
 
I believe Chernobyl only lost the one core, and that other cores even remained operational for years. I dunno if the dome will contain the possible meltdown, but it should be pretty hard for others to be directly damaged.

EDIT: As for maintaining coolant at nearby cores, perhaps those are less damaged. Perhaps they can be controlled from a region with less radiation. Failing that, someone gets to stay behind and be a hero, or they all melt.
 
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MClarkson said:
I believe Chernobyl only lost the one core, and that other cores even remained operational for years. I dunno if the dome will contain the possible meltdown, but it should be pretty hard for others to be directly damaged.
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Chernobyl was an entirely different design and is not applicable to this situation.

Robert Rohloff said:
The two power plants have a total of 11 reactors! The thought of a chain reaction meltdown with that much nuclear material would

make any prior nulclear incident as a minor problem.........
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This isn't how boiling water nuclear reactors work. There is no danger of a chain reaction meltdown.

I found this very amusing thread on reddit where two former nuclear-trained Navy officers duke it out about what they think happened.
 
Fox news is reporting that a state of emergency has been declared for 5 nuclear plants :/
 
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