another explosion :ahh:ahh:ahh
They evacuated plant workers and the pressure within the containment vessel in reactor number 2 has dropped meaning it is very possible that the coolant/water that was in the vessel is leaking.
:eek
Situation is very worrying…
Rut roh
:ohnoes
Experts chime in?
the milatary is pullin the ships off the shore line and pullin troops out of there , just so there offspring dont look like chunk from the goonies
Again no expert, but I haven’t heard any more information on this yet(haven’t watched the news since noon today)
I will say that IF they had a rapid drop of internal pressure inside #2 and they DIDN’T initiate a steam release, that’s NOT good. Rapid pressure drops in this type of scenario mean either purposeful or unexpected venting. If the temp spiked in #2 to cause a steam explosion this morning there’s no way they got the temps down in less than 24hrs.
I will be the first to eat my words about no external rupture if it comes to it, but this is NOT looking good right now. This type of scenario is normally not a proiblem at first, but the continually compounding issues that keep getting int the way are making this so much more difficult.
If they have truly pulled everyone out it’s not a good sign. Flooding the facilities with seawater and basalts to surround the CV’s is the only realistic solution at this point. The problem is I don’t know the layout of those BWR’s inside the buildings and how far into the ground the reactor carries. The farther up out of the ground they are, the more difficult it’s going to be to surround the entire CV…
Even my dad was having his doubts today and he’s been watching this more than I have since it happened and knows more about it that I do.
Whatever happens, were are going to feel this separate nuclear issue in our country without question, and in more ways that one can comprehend.:‘(:’(:‘(:’(:(:(:(
I gotta add this though that came to thought…surrounding the reactor CV’s will not stop nor prevent a meltdown, but only give the CV the absolute last fighting chance against a rupture due to melting. And me mentioning shutting down #4…the main moderator/coolant pumps are MASSIVE. these things move in the range of 28,000lb of water and hour. nutty. They require big power to run and when they shut down a reactor to service or refuel the pumps must run for days to cool them down to serviceable temps, and those pump run off the other reactors and the power grid…I don’t think I need to carry on about why that’s a problem there…
whats it mean ??? are we at risk or no
Reactor 4 is on fire.
Us here radiation wise…no. You have nothing to worry about.
S H I T
Just scrolled across the screen on msnbc. Seriously, what does everyone think is going to happen? No power, no cooling, etc.
The fan.
The shit.
Hurdling at the fan.
Theyre telling people 30km to fucking book it and now that with this new exposure its health damaging.
Man SR20’s are really going to be pulling a premium now
The radiation levels currently leaking are still FAR below any seriously dangerous level. Typical preventative measures none the less.
I want to point out that these explosions that have occurred we’re almost expected. Not deliberate, but were a risk they HAD to take in order to relieve pressure inside the PV’s(pressure vessels, the steel casing that actually contains the reactor core). And note, a TOTAL meltdown STILL does not mean complete atmoshperic exposure of nuclear fuel and dispersement into the atmosphere(the worst case scenario). It’s BAD, worse than 3MI, but still fully containable.
I know I’ve been spitting alot of tech jargon here and didn’t mean that. If you guys REALLY want to be on top of how this reactor works(a BWR of LWR 's, or boiling water reactor of a type light water reactor ) and have some free time go to the link below and read. It’s long, it’s VERY techy, but it’s an excellent source of information in regards to this type of reactor.
Adam, the drop in internal pressure was not due to venting. The CV went from 3 Atmospheric pressure down to one without the release of steam. Also they are saying while pumping seawater into the vessel the water levels have not risen.
They are saying they are not sure if there is a leak and if there is where it is going…
But drop in pressure and the water level not rising = A leak… if the water was just evaporating the pressure should be climbing but its not, its dropping.
They need to tell everyone the truth, I think its MUCH more worse then they are telling people.
They need to tell everyone whats going on, and the plant is pretty much a complete loss at this point, they need to do whatever they need to to contain and completely block off those CV’s.
1 going is bad enough, if all 3 of those fuckers go… We mine as well right off all of nothern japan
Edit: Adam while im not as knowledgeable as you are on it, I do know what you mean and I do know that a meltdown does not mean japans fucked, but theres only so much those CV’s will take.
Maybe you can chime in, I understand that those CV’s are there to take the beating they have been in the event of a meltdown, but are they going to be able to withstand the ammount of heat/pressure they have been getting over a long period of time? it’s going to be quite a while before any sort of convential cooling/pressure release method is going to be able to be fixed/put back in place IF at all
Are the CV’s designed to take it, yes. Will they. No one can say with 100% certainly for sure.
3MT/TMI was a prime example of human error and faulty equipment again. That reactor had cooling issue on top of readout issue, on top of workers not communicating and understanding what was actually going on. Without getting really technical in it, that reactor was running dangerously low on coolant due to a stuck valve in the main pressure system but nearly all the readout systems and typical physical scans and tests did not initially show this to the workers and emergency crew at the time. There was a venting-hydrogen explosion just like this in japan now, radioactive coolant spilled over into the basin(was contained) and the CV held. The amount of radioactivity released was done in the steam and hydrogen venting. Grantid though, that meltdown was pale in comparison to what is happening in Japan.
The pressure vessel is different than the containment vessel, and what’s likely happened is that the PV is ruptured in that one reactor and the CV and/or basic is leaking. The CV is substantially larger than the PV and takes more to build pressure, but that’s null and void in this sense. There has never been a meltdown of this nature in such a reactor as this, so it’s completely new territory in all senses. As bad as it sounds, IMO based on my limited knowledge of this, I would say that to prevent a serious rupture a continuously monitored and regulated release of pressure (steam/hydrogen) would be necessary from the CV until the molten fuel/core mix comes down to a stable thermal temp. Is that bad?, oh yea, but still FAR better than full CV failure and fuel exposure to the air.
It’s well beyond my scope as far as what really needs to be done, or what can the CV truly stand up to. I’m definitely no reactor design tech and really just know core basics and functions of these reactors and their core subsystems. Only time will tell, and it won’t be long unfortunately until we know. The next 12-24 hours are going to be REAL hair-standing over there.
Gotta add this stuff thought too(my mind is going a bazzillion miles and hour with all this right now)… the speculated unintentional leaking/venting in that reactor may in fat be a leak or crack. If it’s a low level leak, that’s definitely a bad thing as contaminated water can get into the water table if the reactor basin doesn’t catch it. A high level(height) leak releasing pressure(steam/hydrogen) as bad as it sounds may be beneficial at the moment in controlling pressure. Still not a good thing though.
One has to understand the water level going in…These reactors normally run in excess of ~1000psi water feed pressure so that the water doesn’t actually boil until about 570 degree F(more than double at normal ATM). If this pressure is NOT maintained, any water fed into the system will instantly flash and become super heated steam, and won’t even have a spec of a chance to bring water levels up. The lower the water level, and the longer it takes them to get water in, there hotter it gets and the more difficult it becomes to get on top of the heat overrun so to call it.
The fire on #4 is a bit of a concern to me. There really isn’t anything in these reactors that can burn profusely if not exposed to the ATM(no graphite like the RBMK), but the fire can damage all the remaining subsystems controlling the reactors state/cooling, and pending the size of the fire, weaken the CV.
Damn my grammar/spelling sucks ass tonight.
so basicly all these small issues are compounding to a huge clusterfuck of godzilla making proportions
Containment vessel is the last barrier before nuclear release.
Regulations require it to literally be able to withstand a direct impact from a commercial airliner. That being said, they are designed to prevent release but cannot provide any cooling.
From what I read, the drastic pressure reduction discovered was in the “wet” portion of the containment structure. There is a drywell and a wetwell portion. If there is leakage, the reactor’s coolant is quickly “flashed” to steam in the drywell. Pressure rapidly increases. The steam is vented from the drywell to the wetwell. The wetwell is apparently like a big doughnut shaped pool (suppression pool) that sits below water level and below the reactor itself.
Anyways, its function is to condense the steam and limit the pressure in the structure. Basically quenching any steam released during a transient (rapid rise or fall of a parameter, in this case pressure).
There is still a containment structure around the suppression pool, or wetwell itself.
All correct, +10 if I could give you such rep. The suppression pool replaces what you normally see as the ominous cooling tower on PWR’s that people always picture with nuclear reactors(some do have them though for added condensation of other steam)
This site shows the cutaway animation of a BWR, and shows outlines of the PV, CV, and discussed supression pool in the basin.