Major Earthquake & Tsunami in Japan

  • Thread starter a6m5
  • 1,128 comments
  • 115,455 views
:(What's the deal with the nuclear power plant yesterday they claimed it was under control

today its leaking, radiation is at 1000 times normal level around the plant and meltdown is possible :(
 
I think people are forgetting that while the plant is still not under control, they have not used the backup cooling system yet, which is a relatively good sign.
 
If you don't know how BWRs work, there is no need to freak out about the nuclear power plants.
 
From what iv heard the core's are melting at 2000C onto the steel floor (steel melts at 1500C)

Im not freaking out just asking as iv only just woken up and im guessing few of you guys have been up and watching the news for a while and are more up to date with what's been happening
 
GTlondoner
From what iv heard the core's are melting at 2000C onto the steel floor (steel melts at 1500C)

Im not freaking out just asking as iv only just woken up and im guessing few of you guys have been up and watching the news for a while and are more up to date with what's been happening
Click to expand...

Hey, man, come on. Take some time to construct a well-written post. Punctuate.

Most of the news stories and headlines I've read don't even know what they're talking about. Their sources are all anti-nuclear protest groups. The people they've asked that do know what they're talking about are just giving reassurances and telling people not to worry instead of explaining what exactly is going on. I guess they're the ones busy fixing things instead of predicting doomsday scenarios. All they need to do is get their condensers running and the pressure will alleviate. If they have to purge, it will all be contained. If you flew to Sendai right now, you'd probably get more radiation on the plane ride than you would helping out at the power plant.
 
Ya 300K for an operation like that sounds more then fair. For an earlier disaster I read UNICEF was paying the administration fees themselves so I donated some money. Are they any good? If anyone honestly knows I would like to know who I should be giving my money too.
 
#
0855: Some pictures have come through now on Japanese TV of that explosion. It looks very strong. You can see debris being blasted from the building, then a cloud of smoke mushrooming up from the plant.



0850: Japan's Kyodo news agency reporting that four people have been injured in an explosion at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant

0847: NHK TV carrying advice to people to protect themselves against radiation. Experts say people should cover their mouths and noses with wet towels. Exposed skin should also be covered and people should wash after coming indoors. People should also avoid vegetables and other fresh food, as well as tap water, until authorities give the all-clear
 
So the plant exploded now? Link please.

The only thing I can find says that an explosion was heard and not seen. Are you sure you're not looking at a natural gas plant that exploded?

I found a report that says reactor 1 is now fixed. They were going to repeat the same process on reactor 2.
 
Omnis
So the plant exploded now? Link please.

The only thing I can find says that an explosion was heard and not seen. Are you sure you're not looking at a natural gas plant that exploded?

I found a report that says reactor 1 is now fixed. They were going to repeat the same process on reactor 2.
Click to expand...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698


ON the video bit to the right they have been talking about and showing the video.
 
lbsf1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698


ON the video bit to the right they have been talking about and showing the video.
Click to expand...

Wow, look at that! Wow, now I'm super curious to find out what happened. Are there reports confirming what it was that blew up? Hopefully it's some other vessel and not the containment structure. I would've thought they'd at least have the weekend to fix the problem before they got into really dire straits.
 
They say, there is radioactivity in the environment now, so the meltdown seems to happen.

Up to one thousand times more radioactivity than normal was measured.
 
Omnis
So the plant exploded now? Link please.

The only thing I can find says that an explosion was heard and not seen. Are you sure you're not looking at a natural gas plant that exploded?

I found a report that says reactor 1 is now fixed. They were going to repeat the same process on reactor 2.
Click to expand...

Tune into any major news network!
 
Imagine I'm not a nuclear physicist.
What is a meltdown? And what repercussions?'


I feel terrible for all the families caught up in this.
 
Here's the NHK feed of the explosion in HD:

[youtubehd]Fa58Yjcnkq8[/youtubehd]

The description says it was Reactor 1 that blew. Well, so much for that fix! I hope it was actually the 2nd one and that they really do have #1 fixed, but I think I'll take this guy's word for it.

edit: NHK is reporting that, indeed, it was reactor 1 that blew.

DaveTheStalker
Tune into any major news network!
Click to expand...

I know, I was trying to look but all they're doing is recapping the old news that we already know and speculating on what could happen. This explosion was literally breaking just as I was typing my other posts.
 
If that gets up into the jet stream...

Uhmmm, not good for all of us I'd have to think?

Omnis could you please post a link for the video or the ID number as plain text? The mobile app has limitations.
 
Spagetti69
Imagine I'm not a nuclear physicist.
What is a meltdown? And what repercussions?'


I feel terrible for all the families caught up in this.
Click to expand...

The radioactive fuel rods, which produce energy for the power plant are no longer cooled and start to melt. Here more than 2000 degrees heat and very high pressure is released.

This can lead to heavy explosions, protectors and fuse elements are blown away and all the radioactivity flows to the outside.
 
The magnitude of the earthquake is tremendous. I just read this article from CNN stating the quake moved the Japanese coast 8 feet and actually shifted the Earth's Axis. Also, I found this article giving a little more information on the power plant explosion.
 
A specialist on bbc news has confirmed that the second cooling system put into action but failed, radiation has leaked out however he says as long as the internal vessel of the power plant hasn't been breached then there should be no leakage, however since there is leakage then he doesn't know where that would have come from.
 
lbsf1
A specialist on bbc news has confirmed that the second cooling system put into action but failed, radiation has leaked out however he says as long as the internal vessel of the power plant hasn't been breached then there should be no leakage, however since there is leakage then he doesn't know where that would have come from.
Click to expand...

I think news outlets are trying to be very delicate with this nuclear issue. They don't want entire populations at large to panic. Aka sugar coating

:(
 
Spagetti69
Imagine I'm not a nuclear physicist.
What is a meltdown? And what repercussions?
Click to expand...

Well, to fully understand what's going on you'd need to be a nuclear engineer and you'd need to be familiar with these particular Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) that are in trouble right now.

Basically, in a nuclear power plant you have fuel rods which undergo nuclear fission. That means that they are comprised of one element and split into smaller elements, and they release a ton of energy in the process. The reaction proceeds until the fuel rod becomes completely spent, meaning there is no more of the original element left to split. These particular reactions require a neutron to initiate, and they give off a few neutrons when they complete. These product neutrons then initiate more and more reactions until you get this uncontrollable chain reaction.

Nuclear power plants impose a restriction to control the chain of reaction. They use control rods next to the fuel rods which soak up a lot of the released neutrons and keep the chain reaction from getting out of hand.

These BWRs use water that gets vaporized by the hot reactor and is then cycled past a turbine to generate electricity, and returned to the reactor after being cooled and re-condensed. The water also acts as the electron moderator instead of control rods. (Maybe they have control rods too, I don't know.) So, basically, when they can't re-condense the water, there are fewer neutrons picked up by the vapor than what the liquid is able to absorb. So those neutrons react with the fuel rods making them get hotter and hotter and making the pressure in the system rise higher and higher until the reactor vessel can no longer hold it.

I guess the fix is, obviously, to get the condensers back up and running, but I think they were also trying to vent the steam and refill with fresh water. The problem with purging the reactor is that all the steam in there is radioactive. That's in addition to the MASSIVE pressure built up in those things. Otherwise, they could just purge it like they do when they quench superconducting magnets.

I've sent a message asking about this to my friend that's a nuclear engineer at Texas A&M. Let's see what he has to say.
 
Last edited:

Latest Posts

Back