Japan reactor core may be leaking radioactive material

[Chuckun]

Japan reactor core may be leaking radioactive material

 

[Watch Video]

 

Authorities in Japan raised the prospect Friday of a likely breach in the all-important containment vessel of the No. 3 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a potentially ominous development in the race to prevent a large-scale release of radiation.

 

Contaminated water likely seeped through the containment vessel protecting the reactor's core, said Hidehiko Nishiyama of the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

 

Three employees working near the No. 3 reactor Thursday stepped into water that had 10,000 times the amount of radiation typical for a nuclear plant, Nishiyama said. An analysis of the contamination suggests "some sort of leakage" from the reactor core, signaling a possible break of the containment vessel that houses the core, he said.

 

The workers have been hospitalized and work inside the reactor building has been halted, according to the agency.

 

Work inside two other reactor buildings also had to stop and workers had to be pulled back Friday after the discovery of high levels of radiation in water at those locations, a Tokyo Electric Power Company official said Saturday. Water is still being pumped into the containment vessels, the utility official said.

Nuclear power experts cautioned against reading too much into the newest development, saying the workers exposed to radioactive water might not suffer injuries any more serious than a sunburn.

 

Moreover, evidence of radioactivity in the water around the plant is not necessarily surprising given the amount of water sprayed onto and pumped into the reactors, said Ian Hutchinson, professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts institute of Technology.

 

"I am not particularly alarmed," he said.

 

The reactor thought to be leaking contaminated water is the same one cited in the dramatic evacuation last week of a small crew of workers who had stayed behind after the plant's owner pulled most employees from the area. The workers were pulled back March 16 after white smoke began billowing from the reactor and radiation levels spiked.

 

At the time, the Japanese nuclear safety agency said it suspected damage to No. 3's containment vessel, but a government spokesman the next day said there had been no indication of a "major breach of containment."

 

That reactor is of particular concern, experts have said, because it is the only one at the plant to use a combination of uranium and plutonium fuel, called MOX, that is considered to be more dangerous than the pure uranium fuel used in other reactors.

 

Plant workers were also carefully watching the plant's No. 1 reactor, concerned that an increase in pressure noted inside that reactor could be a troublesome sign. Earlier, buildups of hydrogen gas had driven up pressure that led to explosions at three of the nuclear plant's reactors, including the No. 1 unit.

Nishiyama conceded that "controlling the temperature and pressure has been difficult" for that reactor, which on Friday had been declared stable.

 

The hospitalized employees were working to reconnect power to the No. 3 reactor building when they encountered water that was about 5 inches (15 centimeters) deep. Water rushed over the boots of two workers, who may have received what is called a "beta burn." The third worker had taller boots but was hospitalized as a precaution, according to Nishiyama.

 

The men were exposed to the water for 40 to 50 minutes, said Tokyo Electric, which owns the plant. The workers may have ignored alarms on devices intended to measure radiation levels, believing the readings to be wrong, said the International Atomic Energy Agency, citing Japanese authorities.

 

The two workers whose skin was exposed to the contaminated water had the highest levels of radiation recorded so far, the power company said.

One, in his 30s, was exposed to 180.7 millisieverts and the other, in his 20s, tested at 179.37 millisieverts.

 

Nishiyama said the third man -- who was exposed to 173 millisieverts but at first did not go to the hospital because his boots were high enough to prevent water from touching his skin -- has also gone to the same research hospital out of "an abundance of caution."

 

Beta rays given off by radioactive substances don't penetrate deeply into materials, including flesh, said Nolan Hertel, a professor nuclear engineering at Georgia Tech. Consequently, the danger is relatively limited, he said.

 

"Basically, a beta burn would be akin to a bad sunburn," he said.

 

Some 17 people have been exposed to 100 or more millisieverts of radiation since the plant's crisis began two weeks ago following a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck.

 

A person in an industrialized country is naturally exposed to 3 millisieverts of radiation a year.

 

But Japan's Health Ministry recently raised the maximum level of exposure for a person working to address the crisis at the nuclear plant to a rate of 250 millisieverts per year from the previous 100-millisievert standard.

 

In the Fukushima Prefecture where the plant is located, officials had screened 87,813 people for radiation exposure as of Thursday, NISA said in a news release. Of those 98 people had tested above limits for exposure, but once their clothes were removed and other measures taken, the exposure levels dropped and there was no effect on health.

 

The agency also said screeners have examined thyroid glands of 66 children ranging in age from 1 to 15 and found that the "level of exposure of no problem."

The thyroid gland, particularly in children, can readily absorb radiation, health experts say.

 

It's not entirely clear where the contaminants in the water came from, according to Nishiyama. But he said that based on the composition of the radioactive material in the water, the likely source appears to be the reactor core and not the open-air spent fuel pool onto which workers have sprayed tons of water in recent days in an effort to keep it cool.

 

He said it if the water is from the reactor core, the problem may not be a crack in containment vessel, but rather seepage from vents or valves. The containment vessel is still holding pressure, he said, a sign that it may not be cracked.

 

The incident raised questions about radiation control measures at the plant as 536 people -- including government authorities and firefighters -- continued working there Friday, according to an official with Tokyo Electric.

 

The high measure prompted a top official with Nishiyama's agency to urge Tokyo Electric to "improve its radiation management measures."

Workers are undertaking various measures to prevent the further release of radioactive substances into the air and beyond.

Nishiyama said officials hope to start pumping in fresh water -- rather than the corrosive seawater they have been using -- to cool the spent-fuel pool at the No. 1 reactor and other locations.

 

Such pools have nuclear fuel rods that can emit radiation if the water that normally surrounds them leaks out or boils off, which is more likely to happen without any functional cooling system in place.

 

Switching to fresh water, instead of seawater, is also a priority for the No. 2 reactor's core (as well as for its spent fuel pool), Nishiyama said. The aim is to prevent further corrosion and damage inside, which may be worsened by the buildup of salt.

A U.S. military barge loaded with fresh water to help cool the reactors left Yokosuka Navy Base at 11 a.m., said Jose Schmitt, commander of Fleet Activities at Yokosuka. A Japanese ship will escort the barge to the Fukushima plant; U.S. personnel are not involved in the escort or distribution of the water, according to Maj. Joseph Macri, a spokesman for U.S. Forces Japan.

 

The U.S. military assistance follows a request by Japanese government and utility authorities for large amounts of fresh water.

Beyond the seawater/saltwater issue, water in and around the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors had "high radiation levels," Nishiyama said Friday -- though not as high as that of the No. 3 unit.

 

Thursday's incident has further made the latter reactor a prime focus, and Nishiyama said Friday that "radiation levels are high" in some locales near that unit.

He said that authorities were considering "other routes" to accomplish their goals of restarting the cooling systems around No. 3, keeping its spent nuclear fuel pool in check and other aims. Later in the day, Nishiyama said authorities hadn't yet determined how to get around the obstacle.

Firefighters from Tokyo and Kawasaki were expected to resume spraying toward the No. 3 reactor and its fuel pool on Friday afternoon, according to Nishiyama.

Efforts also continue at the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 reactors -- each of which have their own concerns, though less pronounced because the units were on scheduled outages when the quake struck. None of these three units had nuclear fuel inside their reactors, though efforts are ongoing to control temperatures inside the spent fuel pools.

 

On Friday morning, a concrete pump truck was used once again to inject seawater into the No. 4 unit's fuel pool.

 

Source: CNN

[Larabeast]

It went through partial meltdown over a week ago. There was an explosion in the building that was so bad you can see damage to the outside of the building, there's no way it did that much damage and didn't breach the reactor. They're retarded, just like today "The radiation level in the water puddle was 10,000 times higher than what's unsafe for human's, BUT don't worry you're not in any danger. WHAT A f***ING JOKE, They got radiation burns it was so polluted BUT it's not dangerous? In two years when millions of people are dead from Thyroid cancer the world will realize how f***ed up the Japanese government really was for telling those people it's safe when infact it IS NOT. When the shit blows up we're all f***ed, trinoble x6.........

 

P.S Already, dangerous amounts of radiation are in the water, they said it's dangerous for babies but not humans, again this is a f***ing joke, you drink the contaminated ass water for a month, that adds up. The shit doesn't just disappear people.....

There's already also radiation in farm grown food but they said it's not dangerous either IMAGINE THAT. Would you really believe anything those f***ing people said? If there are lawsuits because someone was over radiated by a CT scan and had thyroid cancer how can they say that it's NOT dangerous?

Edited March 25, 2011 by Larabeast

[Penisland]

my city reported a higher amount of radiation in the waters,air,and rain water begining of this week. I'm sure it has gotten higher since, but what can you do eh? This is probably the only downside living on the west coast

[Chuckun]

Yeah this story is old news now - the water in Tokyo is now something like 5000 times more radioactive than the legal limit... It's getting serious now, and they clearly cant stop it!

[SjaaKTreKHaaK]

 

I am always interested what they have to say about japan reactors.. see my other topic's

[Rusko]

This scares the shit out of me Since i live in vancouver

[Chuckun]

Mate, don't be any more scared than anyone else.. Or should I say, everyone should be as scared as you..

 

Plutonium is far more severe than what happened at Chernobyl.. If plutonium were to leak into the ground (it has), it would reach the soil the other side of the world (where I live roughly), without a moments hesitation, right through the globe.

 

Not to mention through the air and water (it's in both now..)

 

The whole world will be hit by this one, without a doubt.. It's just a matter of time for some, and unfortunately people closer to Japan will see the effects sooner. It has already been found throughout the hydrosystem (sea, rain, etc).. So there's no stopping the spread of current contamination now. They may be able to encase the plant in concrete like they did in chernobyl, but the effects so far cannot be undone, and threaten the entire globe, not just those in direct range of it at this moment in time.. We're all f*cked, basically..

 

Seriously, who the hell builds a nuclear power station in an earthquake zone? I understand that Japan is an earthquake zone in itsself and they have no more means of sustainable power, but it annoys me that the world cannot just get allong, and that they cant place these plants in the SAFEST places, such as UK, parts of America, and western europe, and just supply power to Japan. Might sound crazy but if powerfreaks (ie: leaders of countries) would just f*cking get along, we wouldn't have to risk these disasters.

 

On top of all this, thousands of people were killed in the tsunami / earthquake - where the hell is everyone's sorrow for that? Nobody seems to care for them since we're all in danger now.. I'm guilty of that too - I care, but I don't read those stories as readily as I read updates on the nuclear situation. All of this could have been avoided if countries weren't so hostile, petty and greedy.

[Penisland]

This scares the shit out of me Since i live in vancouver

 

 

I live in Vancouver too

[PHANTASM]

I was reading an article about the ongoing crisis in Japan when I found this comment (see below). This is the best technical explanation I have seen so far for what actually happened. And why my kids in the US are now absorbing radioactive iodine.

 

copied from http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110411/ts_nm/us_japan_91#mwpphu-container

 

 

Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:01 am PDT Report Abuse

Because cooling the core is such a big deal, the reactor has a number of

cooling systems, each in multiple versions (the reactor water cleanup

system, the decay heat removal, the reactor core isolating cooling, the

standby liquid cooling system, and the emergency core cooling system). Which

one failed when or did not fail is not clear at this point in time.

 

So imagine a pressure cooker on the stove, heat on low, but on. The

operators use whatever cooling system capacity they have to get rid of as

much heat as possible, but the pressure starts building up. The priority now

is to maintain integrity of the first containment (keep temperature of the

fuel rods below 2200°C), as well as the second containment, the pressure

cooker. In order to maintain integrity of the pressure cooker (the second

containment), the pressure has to be released from time to time. Because the

ability to do that in an emergency is so important, the reactor has 11

pressure release valves. The operators now started venting steam from time

to time to control the pressure. The temperature at this stage was about

550°C.

 

This is when the reports about "radiation leakage" starting coming in. I

believe I explained above why venting the steam is theoretically the same as

releasing radiation into the environment, but why it was and is not

dangerous. The radioactive nitrogen as well as the noble gases do not pose a

threat to human health.

 

At some stage during this venting, the explosion occurred.. The explosion

took place outside of the third containment (our "last line of defense"),

and the reactor building. Remember that the reactor building has no function

in keeping the radioactivity contained. It is not entirely clear yet what

has happened, but this is the likely scenario: The operators decided to vent

the steam from the pressure vessel not directly into the environment, but

into the space between the third containment and the reactor building (to

give the radioactivity in the steam more time to subside). The problem is

that at the high temperatures that the core had reached at this stage, water

molecules can "disassociate" into oxygen and hydrogen - an explosive

mixture. And it did explode, outside the third containment, damaging the

reactor building around. It was that sort of explosion, but inside the

pressure vessel (because it was badly designed and not managed properly by

the operators) that lead to the explosion of Chernobyl. This was never a

risk at Fukushima. The problem of hydrogen-oxygen formation is one of the

biggies when you design a power plant (if you are not Soviet, that is), so

the reactor is built and operated in a way it cannot happen inside the

containment. It happened outside, which was not intended but a possible

scenario and OK, because it did not pose a risk for the containment.

 

So the pressure was under control, as steam was vented. Now, if you keep

boiling your pot, the problem is that the water level will keep falling and

falling. The core is covered by several meters of water in order to allow

for some time to pass (hours, days) before it gets exposed. Once the rods

start to be exposed at the top, the exposed parts will reach the critical

temperature of 2200 °C after about 45 minutes. This is when the first

containment, the Zircaloy tube, would fail.

 

And this started to happen. The cooling could not be restored before there

was some (very limited, but still) damage to the casing of some of the fuel.

The nuclear material itself was still intact, but the surrounding Zircaloy

shell had started melting. What happened now is that some of the byproducts

of the uranium decay - radioactive Cesium and Iodine - started to mix with

the steam. The big problem, uranium, was still under control, because the

uranium oxide rods were good until 3000 °C. It is confirmed that a very

small amount of Cesium and Iodine was measured in the steam that was

released into the atmosphere.

 

 

/end copy

[abnerdog]

I read today that the PM of Japan has finally visited the area. Bout damn time!!!