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Japan has declared a “nuclear emergency” at an atomic plant north of Tokyo after cooling systems failed following the country’s 8.9 magnitude earthquake.
Naoto Kan, prime minister, stressed that no radiation had leaked from the Fukushima Daiichi facility’s six reactors. But residents living within 3km of the plant were being evacuated by the military, and those within 10km told to stay in their homes.
Well, this is one story I'll try to follow. We never did, and never will, get any useful earthquake information from Japan nuclear plants. They always claim they erased the tapes, or some such excuse. They use those boiling water reactors which have their insides shattered in an earthquake, and their seismic housekeeping seems feeble.
I am certain that they had 40 cm/s or less at the nuclear plant. If I were King of the Nukes, I would make sure that a nuclear plant could ride through this operating. There is no excuse to be as fragile as a cheap condo tower! Our own nuclear plants would just barf at this PGV, not the major components, but all the little things adding up. They never look at the little things, either here or in Japan.
We'll eventually find out something from this nuclear plant, but not enough to help anybody.
2 comments:
Just reading on nhk that it was both the power system, and, I guess, the emergency power system, that failed, which is preventing the cooling system (presumably, pumping cool water into the core?) from operating. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/11_59.html
A Japanese official, translated and shown on BBC, said that backup power equipment was being brought to the plant, to implement a complete shutdown.
A BBC talking head (some English prof) intimated that the core was heating up, and would eventually melt down if nothing further was done. But this was extracted under vague questioning.
I thought a core would heat up rather quickly, if it was going to happen at all?
Actually, I have no clue, and these people aren't going to tell you anything. Hillary herself said the US is flying in 'special coolant'. These boiling water reactors only cool by water, so I guess demineralized is in short supply.
That means they have had a LOCA, perhaps a smaller one, and all their demin water has gone out the window. If they pump tap water into that thing, it will be useless, but that's what they are probably doing right now.
Damn emergency generators never start up at nuclear plants. They are probably trying to get in those huge truck-mounted generators.
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