Maybe, just maybe, some good news

Sorry -- I know this is in the wrong forum section, hopefully this isn't like Television Without Pity and I won't be "banned" for going off-topic. However, as most folks seem to be using THIS forum, and given the relative hysteria that's become more pronounced here of late, I thought I'd share some (potentially) GOOD news coming out of Fukushima:

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http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/03_13.html
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TEPCO to stop radioactive water leak from plant

The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will start injecting water-absorbing polymers into a cracked pit to stop radioactive water from leaking into the ocean.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, says it will start the emergency operation on Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, TEPCO found radioactive water was seeping into the ocean from a crack in a concrete pit that contains power cables near the Number 2 reactor's water intake. The level of radiation on the surface of the pit's water was measured at over 1,000 milisieverts per hour.

An attempt to pour concrete into the pit, connected to the turbine building, failed to fix the leak on Saturday.

TEPCO hopes to collect overflowing water into a tank and other facilities in the complex.

The radioactive intensity of water in the reactor's turbine building was about 100,000 times that of water inside a normally operating reactor.

Water in a tunnel outside the turbine building also had high levels of radiation.

TEPCO says it has not detected water leaking from the pits of other reactors and is checking other locations.

The company added that it began reducing the amount of water being injected into the Number 1 and 2 buildings to cool their reactors on Saturday night, saying temperatures and pressures there had stabilized.

Sunday, April 03, 2011 14:50 +0900 (JST)
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...Now, look: The title IS coming a trifle optimistic, but here's how I read this...

"The company added that it began reducing the amount of water being injected into the Number 1 and 2 buildings to cool their reactors on Saturday night, saying temperatures and pressures there had stabilized." That's a DAMNED good sign, folks; that means we may yet see a stable cooldown / shutdown, barring any additional snafus, disasters or physical and material impossibilities. (It also means, theoretically, that there should be LESS massively contaminated water heading into the Pacific Ocean, for the moment anyway.) As I understand it, the theory goes: The more stable temperatures and pressures become, the less effort needs to be expended to KEEP these things stable. And so begins -- also, theoretically -- a long, smooth decline of needed coolant input, while the fuel continues to cool down to a relatively inert state, or, at least, remains nominal. Assuming the reactor vessels THEMSELVES aren't cracked or compromised -- that seems to be the big worry / potentiality at Reactor 2, btw -- this MAY mean that we can ALMOST begin to see the light at the end of this hellish tunnel -- a long, LONG way off, but it just MIGHT be visible soon.

There are some very specific things that MUST fall into place, however, and we're not out of the woods, yet, not by a very long stretch. But -- for the FIRST TIME since this crisis began in earnest, three weeks ago Saturday -- things are beginning to move in REALLY good directions.

The earlier news about hyper-absorbent pellets -- they're referred to in many industries as "kitty litter", but that's not entirely accurate -- to soak up the HUGELY CONTAMINATED water pooling in that cracked pit outside of Reactor 2 should not be overlooked, either. Though I DID get a little nervous when I read that these pellets would be injected into the PIPING -- hopefully they won't back up or anything. As Egon said in "Ghostbusters", "That would be BAD". Seriously -- that could be a stroke of genius, using these spongelike dodads to basically "soak up" all that radioactive liquid and permit the pit to be made secure again -- if it's not a total, complete charlie-foxtrot, that is.

Also: I guess the above announcement about the "stabilizing" of Reactor 1 T's & P's, means that they WEREN'T experiencing isolated moments of criticality, after all, over the last few days... There were persistent reports that "blue flashes" of light were being seen in there, punctuated by elevated temperatures and radiation emissions, that were pretty indicative of short-duration criticality occurring (again: "that would be BAD"). I suppose -- I hope -- this puts an end to that particularly nasty bit of speculation... We don't need that, folks, not now, not EVER.

Lost in all this, naturally, is the news that the first two victims of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear event were discovered today -- two engineers who were performing a safety inspection, post-earthquake, when the tsunami struck, killing them in the basement of one of the reactors. Even in times such as these, when we are ALL stressing about relatively small doses showing up intermittently in the United States, we should not allow ourselves to forget that, likely, no matter WHAT ends up coming this way, the people of Japan have, and will continue to, suffer far, far worse. These two men died doing their duty -- men not really dissimilar from the folks we've been relying on and corresponding with at the Berkeley Lab -- and in a different set of circumstances, it might very easily have been two of these very Berkeley scientists or students to die at the bottom of a reactor, if that earthquake had taken place, say, three thousand miles east of where it did. It's a sobering thought. Frustrated as we all are, and anxious, and even scared, let's remember that there are PEOPLE getting dosed far, far worse than we are, many of whom -- some, anyway -- are fated to fall ill, and probably die, just for doing their jobs, and trying to do them in the absolute worst of circumstances. This is the day that nuclear power professionals rise to the level of soldiers, police officers, firemen, and first-responders in MY estimation. And, I think, in yours.

Rick Cromack.
Allen, Texas
RichardFCromackJr@gmail.com