downward trend impossible, as reactor leak is continuous
until they fix the leak, which they don't know where it is, the west coast will continue receiving Cs-137. This could go on until they bury it in concrete. Why don't they do that as we speak?
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I don't understand the idea
I don't understand the idea that things like milk should be avoided "for a few weeks.". This is far from over and the news appears grim. http://enenews.com/localized-criticality-happening-now-blue-flashing-lig...
I also posted the videos above from Gunderson which contain very concerning analysis.
Why are there statements being made that things will be normalized in weeks? That seems very unlikely.
Burying the plant would do
Burying the plant would do little good since the heat from the fuel would still find a way to crack the cement and leak out radiation. The fuel would have to be cool enough to perform this task, to not make the cement brittle, and that will take months of time to perform. The undamaged fuel also needs time to cool to be able to be removed from the site and stored somewhere else.
Not only that, but since the plant lies on an active fault, unless the structure to entomb the reactor is actually designed, instead of just pouring concrete into the reactors, that they would possibly crack with another earthquake.
Their best bet is still to pump out the radioactive water and locate the leak, plug it and get internal cooling back. This way the radioactive steam releases would stop (for the most part) and the could achieve cold shutdown sooner.
With all the radiation that is in the water, it makes it very difficult to do so, and so it becomes a balancing act and the outcome is that radiation will continue to be emitted as long as they are in this mode of operation.
One expert said the time line would look like this:
* weeks to several months to get the cores cooled
* months to remove undamaged fuel
* months to seal the plant off
* years to decades to maintain the exclusion zone and the plant's aparatus
* decades to +30 years to fully dismantle the plant
* +30 to +100 years for the site to return to pre-event radiation levels
If the core casing is
If the core casing is leaking, you say to plug it. Why can't they use the same "plug it" material, whatever that is, to encase the entire reactor remains?
They couldn't plug a leak if
They couldn't plug a leak if the fuel has melted through the pressure vessel, but no one really knows how the leak is happening. It's only assumed that the pressure vessel is breached on #2 because the monitoring equipment shows low pressure, and there was the sound of an explosion inside the containment vessel.
There are two other failure modes that could be considered that would cause a leak. The first was noticed at Three Mile Island, where some of the melted fuel drifted into the circulation manifolds and compromised welds there which aren't as strong as those on the vessel itself.
The other possibility is that the pressure supression system is damaged and the leak is coming from the torus. This would be harder to repair, and would probably indicate that the containment vessel is breached as well. It is unclear if a leak in the supression system could successfully be repaired in situ or how the engineers would go about performing that kind of repair.
In any event there is so much water leaking that unless they pump it out, it would also contribute to difficulties in sealing the system with concrete. Assuming that sand would be used to make a slurry, it would take a fair amount of time for the cement to set up. As well, if you have seen a cutaway of the channels under the turbine building, it would be very difficult to get sand into every part of that area, and without pumping the water out, would stay liquid and succeptabe to future leaks.
The story at this link
The story at this link states Tepco has given up on cooling and will attempt to entomb the reactors.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371793/Japan-nuclear-crisis-Fuk...
I also saw a video today from a US nuclear engineer that said the magnitude of releases is well beyond what the industry ever planned for.
If anyone is interested, I could post it.
Post it!
The more info the better
post the german link and info
And here is the website of
And here is the website of the firm that generated the video. There is a more recent video update there as well.
http://www.fairewinds.com/updates
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN3B-KjZ7vk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I think that the downward
I think that the downward trend has to do with were the plume is. Right now it seems to be blowing north of us so we should see at least a temporary downward trend I imagine.
how about Iodine? you only mentioned cesium
how about Iodine? you only mentioned cesium
The cesium that makes it to
The cesium that makes it to CA is here to stay for a very long time (it has a 30 year half life). iodine will be gone in a matter of weeks.
Iodine will not fully decay for about 3 months from its release
Technically that is weeks, but more like 11 or 12 weeks before it is totally decayed, depleted and non-toxic.
If we KEEP getting plumes here the danger of exposure to thyroid damaging radioiodine will continue for that long (three months roughly)y understanding is that with half life of radioIodine, one half of whatever there is sparking off radiation is reduced by one half every eight days and thus after about ten times the half life (ten reductions by half) it is fully decayed (no more radiation) for all practical purposes.
Thus with radio-Cesium, for example, with a half life of some thirty years it will be in our food, water, air, trees,sky, dust, and in our internal organs, and our children's internal organs and our grandchildren's internal organs and our great grandchildren's internal organs, and our great great grandchildren's organs (as it stays in the environment) for the next 300 years irradiating human beings, animals, bacteria, viruses (and mutating them into things we have no resistance to, as predicted by Sakharov)insects, for 20-30 generations (and may alter the dna of the entire human species).
Strontium 90 which collects in the bones and teeth and gets then into the marow and blood causing leukemia and mutations and cancer likewise has a half life of some 30 years so will be killing our progeny for maybe 15-20 generations and maybe more if the genetic mutations passed on in our dna proves deadly to those in the future.
Harmless as a cross country flight my ass. That concept is irrational and deceptive.
Accepted practice?
Isn't the accepted practice 10 half lives, so 80 days for I-131 before scientists consider it "gone"?
what you said
8 days - 1/2 decayed
16 " 1/4 remains
24 " 1/8 "
32 " 1/16 "
40 " 1/32 "
48 " 1/64 "
56 " 1/128 "
64 " 1/256 "
72 " 1/512 "
80 " 1/1024 "
88 " 1/2048 "
Since it is possible according to some experts that cellular damage from an absorbed decaying radionuclide in extremely tiny amounts can damage dna and cells, I guess it depends on how much (what quantity) of the radioiodine your thyroid absorbs whether it will harm you after ten or so weeks.
That is why I really do not want my kids to ingest ANY of it or if they do to have a prophylactic lide potassium iodide or mercurochrome (one study said dipping your finger above the first knuckle is sufficient to fill the thyroid and block uptake of radioiodine) or provodone iodine (which is 10% solution).
The continued exposure is the problem and as time goes by, until the plume is stopped, we will be getting more and more iodine. Once stopped the radioiodine threat is gone in three months pretty much but AS FOR THE radiocesium and radiostrontium, we are all just screwed and only healthy living and diet may help fend off the likley cancers to come in the weakest organs or bodily systems or bones according to our genetic makeup and lifestyle and other stressors like toxic chemical exposure which can synergistically increase the damage from the radiation.
I want to add one point too. They say cesium "cleanses" out of the body in a few months (after doing whatever damage it will) But Strontium collects in the teeth and bones and STAYS there, getting into the bone marrow and then blood. But radiocesium and strontium will remain in the environment, in water, in soil, in trees which we burn releasing the radiocesium into the air in smoke, in dirt and dust, in the food chain and even when we "pass" it it is STILL radioactive for 300 years in the environment wherever it goes.
THAT is why I oppose ALL nukes forever. They have ALREADY done more harm than we can imagine and hundreds or thousands of generations will pay this horrid price for the greed and laziness and stupidity and mendacity of boiling water with nuclear fuel.
gardening/horticulture
i guess "puttering around in the garden" will no longer be a healthful pursuit.