Even the Japanese government now says the radiation leaks have become dangerous to humans living nearby. The disaster is now considered a six — worse than Three Mile Island, less than Chernobyl — on the seven-level International Nuclear, Radiological Event Scale.
Worth noting: Even a seven doesn’t imply the “WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!” scenario (scroll down for map and info on exposure levels).
But just in case (and H/T L.D.), here and here are sites for monitoring the jet stream.
All things considered, those reactors have stood up very well-it could be a lot worse. Reactors are usually reduntant and overbuilt to the extreme for a good reason..but not indestructible.
I’m not at all certain this rates a 6 on the 1-7 International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale. It’s too early to tell. In 2-3 days we’ll know one way or another. The limited solid info available today suggests they have 7 of 10 reactors in cold shutdown, some potential damage to fuel rods in 3 reactors and one spent fuel pool. Once they get the remaining reactors cooled to below 212 F, the immediate crisis will be largely over and they can start assessing any contamination.
Until that time anyone who speculates about the INES score is just speculating, and you should lower your opinion of their judgment and character accordingly.
It’s amazing that with a very good chance of over 10,000 dead, amazing stories of heroism and heartbreak, all the MSM can do is hyperventilate about nuclear plants. There was not a nuclear accident, the plants were subjected to an earthquake far more powerful than they were designed to survive. That 7 of 10 reactors closest to the epicenter performed so well is amazing.
My heart goes out to the people of Japan who have lost loved ones. I have do doubt that they will recover and rebuild, but this is a terrible calamity, and the nuclear aspect pales in comparison to what has been lost and what must be done.
-S — good points as usual.
If I understand correctly, though, the plants were designed to withstand an earthquake of this magnitude — and they did. The design failure came with the inability to withstand the tsunami. But that’s also just second-hand knowledge on my part.
A relative of mine used to be an engineer specializing in disaster scenarios at nuclear plants. He always said that the dangers of a real disaster were overblown — that in fact he had to cook the data to concoct models and simulations of worst-case scenarios. On the other hand, before he was a nuclear engineer, he was a military strategist who once told me that, “Nuclear war wouldn’t be that bad; it wouldn’t kill more than 1/3 of the world’s population.” Given that he seemed to consider that an entirely acceptable outcome, I was never sure what to make of his claims regarding nuclear power plants.
And -S, you’re right about the amazing stories …
http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/03/15/miracles-in-japan-four-month-old-baby-70-year-old-woman-found-alive/
The conflicting information I have claims these particular plants were designed for 7.9 or 8.2 magnitude events. Since the scale is logarithmic, that’s quite a bit below the 8.9 or 9.0 event that occurred last Friday.
In any case the plants did survive, and it appears (but details are few) that the tsunami wiped out the emergency generators.
We’ll learn the details soon enough. Right now I’d rather avoid speculation and fear mongering. Be on the lookout for silly stuff like this email: http://www.snopes.com/photos/technology/fallout.asp.
Hello Claire, even though what happened in Japan is terrible it does not change the fact that we need energy and loads of it to maintain our modern soceity. I was researching nuclear power recently and came upon a few sites where they are developing much smaller reactors. Apparently some just 14 x 65 ft. I hope the enviromaniacs are not able to finally destroy this source of power because of what might be a once in a lifetime event. Please keep up the good work while continuing to be one of the few voices of reason. thank you for your time.
I am not an expert on nuclear reactors, and I cannot guarantee the information linked below is correct. However, I am a chemical engineer with 20+ years working in the chemical & petroleum industries, and I think it is a clear concise description of how the Japanese reactors work, and of the current incident. And the fact that it’s on the website of the MIT Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering carries some weight.
“Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors.” Information about the incident at the Fukushima Nuclear Plants in Japan, on the MIT website.
http://mitnse.com/2011/03/13/why-i-am-not-worried-about-japans-nuclear-reactors/
Schematic / Pictorial diagram of a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR):
http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/nuc_reactors/bwr.html
0Point. Great minds. http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-reactors-pose-no-risk-2011-3
Great diagram, too. Thanks.
Although the tone is a bit strident, this link has a lot of good info, including photos, diagrams, the seven-point scale and what it means, and recent updates:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366308/Japan-earthquake-tsunami-Meltdown-3rd-reactor-blast-hits-nuclear-plant.html#ixzz1GgagtBhA
Good luck and blessings to the 50 workers who remain:
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/asia/16workers.html
The entire situation in Japan is just overwhelmingly sad, they just can’t catch a break…..The grace these people have is absolutely amazing….
naturegirl — So true. It just hurts to read, to see, to think about it. And yes, what grace.
There but for fortune …