Anyone else notice this about the Japanese reactors in the news

[longbow]

They are fueled with a mix of uranium and plutonium.

Anyone else notice the release of this information? I've been distracted for about a week, and will have to look into this again.

In addition to being radioactive, plutonium is a very toxic material.

Is Plutonium Release the Real Danger at the Damaged Japan Fukushima Nuclear Reactor? - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com

 

[ArmedProgrammer]

I had heard that only reactor number 3 was fueled with MOX. And yes that has them concerned, due to the toxicity of the plutonium. It does sound like things are moving better towards control at this point. Still a ton of damage and a lot of fear... But it appears that there's light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[Arm America]

Too many conflicting reports from sources that are purely speculating.

Only the Japanese know the real truth, and it seems they are being
pretty mug most of the time somewhat misleading all other times.

It may be minutes or could be years before the real truth comes out, depends on if they really gain control and reduce temps. & radiation or it blows.

 

[deadeye]

I doubt we will ever really know what they have going on.

 

[longbow]

This has set back the nuclear weapon program in Japan back years......lets see if that gets me a phone call?

 

[Stschil]

This has set back the nuclear weapon program in Japan back years......lets see if that gets me a phone call?

Well***they can get back on track quickly enough. If they follow the N Korea/Chinese model of being an 'Enemy' to the US, the president will just sell them the technology as long as they promise not to use it

 

[ATOMonkey]

I've said it before.

The radioactivity, and plutonium are the least of their worries. That will affect a small number of people.

The lack of food, water, shelter, and power for nearly a third of the population in an area that sees very cold temps is a much bigger deal.

They'll lose many many more people to exposure, thirst, and starvation.

 

[Yeah]

Truth told.

 

[longbow]

Had a talk with some international reinsurance guys on this subject. By Friday, the Jap Government will be releasing some new data on radiation levels. Seems it is showing up in places it should not, at levels not possible based on current released information.

The disaster could hit insurance companies in the US in the $10 to $30 billion range.

Total cost of the entire disaster is going to be $400-500 billion. The upper limit depends on how bad the nuke problem ends up.

They are already working on the nuke plant cleanup ideas. They are going to build some super robots to build and place blocks to cover the reactors. Radiation levels are too high to use normal cranes, concrete pumpers and forms to build the concrete structures. The idea being tossed around is building 6 great pyramids over the reactors. The blocks will cover and shield them, then the workers can get close enough to finish the top cover.

 

[longbow]

I told you they would release some more details today.

The news cycle is slow....so I'll share some more news you might not know about.

old news, just getting reported
Japan reactor core may be leaking radioactive material, official says - CNN.com#

new news.....
I wish they would let you see the robot camera views they are watching live in the crisis center in Japan. They are driving around in the damaged areas looking for "leaks and radiation levels" which are very high.

More details on damage to the reactor cores will be released over the next few days. At least one reactors is a mess with a possible containment failure at a weld joint on a coolant pipe. The catch bowls on the bottom of the reactors are being tested as we read this in several of the units. They should hold.

I have heard that several of the workers are showing serious radiation sickness, but don't know if it is a fatal dose.

In country Jap radiation levels are going to be easier to detect with cheaper monitoring equipment in the next few days.

The most telling information is they do not have control of the problems yet. They will deal with the radioactive sea water at a later date, because the half life of that contamination is shorter than the problems in the reactors.

I would like to kick the person that thought it was a good idea to put the containment pools on the top of the reactor for the spent fuel ( picture top of a building) instead of a separate building at ground level.

On a plus side, the containment structures are doing a pretty good job, because the radiation levels 25 miles out, are not that "bad".

 

[mavisky]

My cousin in law has been put on standby for evacuation flights for our bases in Japan. She's an international flight attendant for a private company that handles mainly military flights around the world. Apparently the plans are to land, load, and take back off as soon as they're fueled as opposed to flying back out the next day.

 

[longbow]

My source has no new information to share.....take that as his contacts have been told to keep quiet.

The last thing I was told, at least one reactor has melted. How bad, we will have to wait for the officials to tell. There was talk that after the cleanup, they might be able to use two reactors.........but that talk has stopped for now.

Everything I posted earlier has for the most part been told by the press a few days later. I think the item that shut out the backdoor sharing of information was the flooded and radiactive access hallways under the plant. Those levels were the hint at the "major" issue.

No one has shared the robot cam images so I guess that are worse than they want to release to the press. Not even the best reactor has been shown as far as I can tell.

It looks like this will remain a regional event, with some radioactive water getting into the ocean. I believe they will move to seal and contain the site, or at least parts of the site. The radioactive melted slag will soon dilute and cool by getting too big to continue heating up. I will not be shocked if all six melt down, because soon, no one will be able to get close to do any meaningful repairs.

The containment structures will mostly hold so I'm not worried this will be venting radioactive steam and smoke for decades..............

It will be a huge mess, but for the most part, it has failed in ways that the design will minimize the radiation leaks. As said many times before, be glad you don't own property within 25 miles of the site.

The thing this disaster will be remembered is the cool robots that will be created to clean up and build the containment structures.

The long term story for the 600 to 800 workers who have been working shifts is yet to be written.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

The US EPA main page has some VERY informative links dealing with the impact on the USA as well as the Radiation Monitoring Network in the country (called RadNet....the only one in Indiana is in Indy's Washington Park)

-J-