AP is saying the "primary containment structure" has been breached.

What a fantastically helpful description.

Are they talking about the containment structure, i.e. the building that had its roof blown off?
Are they talking about the containment vessel?
Are they talking about the primary containment mechanism, i.e. the ceramic fuel pellets?
Are they talking about the "primary" containment structure, i.e. the freezer where the AP president keeps his dead hookers?

Who knows! Looking up **** is for stupids.

I pretty sure they're thinking about "the thing that covers the reactor".

From the beeb:

Following what appears to have been the first breach of a containment system around one of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, radiation levels at the site are reportedly falling.

What transpired in the suppression chamber of reactor two - a large doughnut-shaped structure below the reactor housing - is not entirely clear. Reports suggest it cracked, allowing steam, containing radioactive substances, to escape.

That initial escape is consistent with the idea of a spike in radioactivity levels, which would fall after the initial pressure was released in the chamber - but it doesn't prove that a crack here was the source.

Further confusion surrounds events in number four reactor building where a fire was reported in or around a pool used to store fuel rods that had been removed from the reactor.

Reports from Japan indicate technicians are unable to pump water into the pool, and it may now be dry.

In the meantime, the key task for workers at the plant remains to get enough water into the reactors - and, now, into the spent fuel pools - with the poor resources at their disposal.

The suppression chambers are a part of the containment structure (i.e. the part that's already been damaged.) They're just big condensers. Yes, damaging them would release radiation, but not very much.

****, it has now surpassed Three Mile Island according to msnbc. I'm gonna go out and buy some anti radiation pills.

Eh?





http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/topic/japan%20earthquake/article/119006--fallout-fears-now-for-earthquake-tsunami-survivors

Are you downplaying the situation or attempting to appear as if you know a lot? It's one of the two. But, regardless of that question, those words seem like the exact opposite of what you stated. And it's coming from someone who's an actual nuclear official, and not someone on a message forum googling everything.

The fire is from the spent fuel pool, not the reactor.

Basically what I'm saying is that you should work on your basic literacy skills.

Did you ignore the part about the radiation that's been leaked? It's not a question about the reactors that you're speaking of now. There already has been radiation leaked. It might not reach a catastrophic scale that a lot of people seem to be thinking it'll be (i.e another chernobyl, which it won't), but the radiation that's already been leaked is enough to seriously damage human beings in that area. THAT is what we should be worried about, and that's what I am talking about.

The. Radiation. That. Has. Been. Leaked. Already. Is. Damaging. Enough.

You're talking as if it's nothing to worry about. And while I agree that the possibility of radiation being catastrophic isn't even a question right now (for the rest of the world), it's not something to downplay because there already has been enough released to the surrounding areas to cause significant problems.

Go google some more so you can appear smart to us please. Or do I need to re-evaluate my literacy skills so I can re-read and comprehend the article I just linked myself? It's pretty funny that you manage to reply literally less than 2 minutes after I post, only to post a derogatory statement towards me rather than address the actual content of my link, which goes against what you're saying. Do you really despise being proven incorrect that much or something? Is it THAT damaging to your ego? Really...



Tell that to the people living in the area. I'm pretty sure more things will be affected than people's pockets. Really dude? So you're telling me that the 400 millisieverts per hour that have been released is only going to affect the amount of money people are getting? And shares/stocks? Nobody living in the areas close are going to be affected AT ALL? You mean they are telling people to remain indoors at all times so that they can line their pockets with dough?

Well, Jon C said it. It must be true.

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

I'm still waiting for a retort to my question/link/direct opposition to what you said instead of some stupid idiom. Maybe my ego comment touched a nerve...


or Google must be slow today.

The high radiation levels were caused by a fire near a spent fuel pool. Those pools are getting hot and boiling off, which is actually a much bigger health risk than the reactors melting down. This is information you can even get from the mass media, which is (at the moment) hellbent on fooling people into thinking that this is CHERNOBYL 2: THE REVENGE.

Radiation being emitted from the reactors is at the level of microsieverts. They're shut down and cooling off.

I recommend reading WNN for much more moderate and informed opinions about the situation.

So basically you're saying that in a nutshell, what other news agencies, including the one that i linked above, are reporting 100% incorrect information? That people really aren't being evacuated or told to stay in homes due to radiation? The only new network reporting anything accurate is the one you yourself linked? Even when the link I also provided downplays a chernobyl like incident also? Really?

I think you need to read my posts much more carefully. But it's also clear that you're scared, irrational and unwilling to do so.

Continuing this discussion serves no purpose.

I don't think its so much reporting incorrect information, rather reporting not enough of the right information. Local news last night interviewed the manager of a park on his opinion of the subject.

CNN is reporting that a French bureaucrat thinks the situation is "almost a Chernobyl."

No, actually what Jon said was this:

yeah, everything that i have been hearing is that:
- the radiation leaks COULD get very bad, but are not yet.
- anyone who mentions Chernobyl is trying to sensationalize the situation.
- they ARE evacuating people, but they would still be doing that even if the leaks were much less.
- and finally Godzilla should be emerging from the ocean within the next 3-5 business days.

Not sure if this was mentioned or really even related but it looks like Japan pissed someone off

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/03/13/2011-03-13_hundreds_flee_in_japan_after_shinmoedake_volcano_begins_spewing_ash_boulders.html

Heh... Whaddya know..

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/15/japan.nuclear/index.html

Sorry but one guy saying that its reaching Chernobyl status isnt very convincing. Even in that article he seems to be very "well we dont know for sure."

Also this is a good source for clear updates:
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

That's what I was making fun of earlier. He's just some French middle manager trying to get a piece of the action. No real expert is even guessing about how bad the contamination is. The IAEA doesn't know. The people working in the plant say they don't know.

Confirmation bias scares me way more than a nuclear disaster.

Edit: Which reminds me, apparently all 4 reactors at Fukushima Daini are in cold shutdown. Since the coolant temperature is below boiling there is no longer a risk of steam or hydrogen explosions that could rupture the containment vessel.

This is an amazing success story for nuclear safety. The outcome is very good considering how much went wrong with the power plant.

(As mentioned, most of the contamination so far has been due to the fires near a spent fuel pond. This has nothing to do with the reactor itself, other than the proximity.)

IAEA is better? Man, Lacoste is an IAEA chairman. In a sense, the sources are the same. But like we established already, nobody can be certain, no matter who they are. The real annoyance is how this sort of thing happens every time there's even a hint of a nuclear accident. People on one end flip out and say it's time to get rid of all nuclear right now, the proponents tell them to shut up, because it's perfectly safe, and the big media outlets don't seem to be interested in much else aside from fear-mongering. Anyone who wants to sit down calmly and express their concerns or alleviate others' fears with their insider knowledge gets drowned out. The politicians want to sell new nuclear, but they hardly ever broach the subject of decommissioning and cleaning up OLD nuclear. Too many people want a silver bullet solution and there just isn't one.

I like how all the media is doing is playing footage of one of the explosions over and OVER again like it's still happening... Right now!

9.0 earthquake... Tsunami knocks out almost all power... And things are still somewhat contained, that's pretty impressive.

There's a rumor (I say rumor because it came from a mainstream newspaper that didn't substantiate the claim at all) that the containment vessel has been cracked on one of the reactors.

If it's true it's awful, awful news.

stop ruining nuclear power for the rest of us temperamental.

Do all of the containment structures also have holes in them, or is it more a case of what-the-heck-do-you-do with a containment structure full of radiation?

I just heard on the local news that people are preparing for a radiation cloud and that local markets are sold out of potassium iodide.

I think what they meant to report is that people ate acting like their usual panicky irrational selves and are going to accidentally ingest toxic levels of potassium iodine because they're being dumb. And that there, as far as I know, has STILL yet to be an actual full blown meltdown. And the toxic cloud that people are preparing for, does not exist yet.

Michio Kaku gave an interview full of "this is Chernobyl all over again lololol!" hype.

Aaaand there goes any shred of respect I might have had for anything he's ever said.

I bet Potassium Iodide tastes really nasty.

-I have to apologize for the lack of intelligence in that statement, but I was just going with the flow of information.

According to the radio show I listen to in the morning, red wine helps protect against radiation. Drink up!

So does salt! Salt hats for all!

Dear god! It's here!!! Down your potassium iodide with your wine and cover yourself with salt!!! The radioactive cloud has arrived!!!

Concrete and water protect against radiation. Cement shoes for everyone!

Also, people are dumb****s as usual. Potassium iodide does jack **** to prevent radiation poisoning from nuclear fallout.

Edit: nvm I guess they detected radioactive iodine and cesium. Knock yourselves out with KI and Prussian blue.

I thought everyone thought it was supposed to reduce risk of thyroid cancer.

That's the hysteria that I heard...

...in literally the exact same way that getting ethanol poisoning cures methanol poisoning.

I was curious about it, so I looked it up and apparently cesium-137 is just a beta emitter. I guess it's p bad, but it's no alpha source.