Fukushima...is this the China Syndrome? [Beyond Nuclear & Thom Hartmann]
What is really happening in Japan?
Paul Gunter, from Beyond Nuclear joins Thom Hartmann to discuss the crisis in Fukushima. Meanwhile, Japan is not out of the danger zone...in fact the nuclear crisis is getting worse and worse! We've recently learned from Japan (a representative of the government) that the amount of radiation released was more than 20 times that from the Hiroshima bomb, and now it looks they may be experiencing the early stages of a total China Syndrome meltdown. The earth is cracking & radioactive steam is venting out. Has the core melted through & down into the water table?
And is the United States in danger too?
Video:
http://www.thomhartmann.com/bigpicture/hartmann-fukushimais-china-syndrome
Here is the same video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baya8-agPs4&feature=player_embedded
Posted by: Gardening Gal
Well... given that the worst
Well... given that the worst case calculated scenario for GE Mark I reactors was a 1% fuel failure... and now we see three simultaneous and complete meltdowns of around 250 tons of fuel puts us so far beyond what science has tested or honestly estimated, we are truly in uncharted territory. This event was not ever "supposed" to happen... at least according to the engineers with their slide rules smoking cigarrates in 1960s who designed these things.
Just like Hanford, SL1, TMI and Chernoble, it was over two decades after the fact that details came out, and they were FAR worse than reported at the time. Chernobyl was only 80 tons of fuel. And just like previous events, this one is also downplayed.
All that said, there is not much to do. The radioactive cat is out of the bag and you can't put him back in.
when I hear growing holes in
when I hear growing holes in the containment, eq's, radiation spikes, cracks in the earth, if I were a betting man China syndrome in some form is a prohibitive favorite.
Fukushima...an ongoing crisis
I have a great deal of respect for Thom Hartmann...and a growing respect for Beyond Nuclear...that is why I posted this video. They are not fear-mongers...and there are a lot of people/sites out there who pander to fear. The situation under discussion IS frightening, but there is nothing that WE are able to do about it...except to be as informed as possible. We do that by sharing information.
Some questions for BRAWM Team:
Which would be more catastrophic (in/for Japan & the USA)...an above ground nuclear explosion or an underground nuclear explosion involving ground water?
If the Corium (melted nuclear mass) melts down to the ground water, will it produce steam (as is reported now) or will it create an explosion? OR will it steam first and then explode?
If an underground nuclear explosion occurs, will more earthquakes occur and jeopardize other nuclear plants in Japan? Or would an underground nuclear explosion level Japan? In that event, could the USA expect a devastating tsunami...which could endanger our nuclear facilities along the West Coast?
If an underground nuclear explosion occurs, would that be the end of the Corium issue? Or would it survive the blast and continue to melt down?
If an underground nuclear explosion DOES NOT occur, how long will the Corium continue to steam & vent into the atmosphere? How long will it continue to melt down?
What is the half-life of Corium? (I would suppose the half-life would depend upon the elements it contains.) Any idea what it contains?
BRAWM Team, what can we expect to happen here?
So many questions churning around in my mind...are you able to answer some of them?
Japanse Ground Water
If the Corium has melted down to the water table, what is happening to the ground water? Is is all becoming highly radioactive? Isn't this where Japan draws its water from for the population's use?
I don't think Japan in
I don't think Japan in general draws its ground water from the area around the Fukushima NPP, which is at sea level as you would know.
But anyway, it seems ground water represents 12% of the water used in Japan:
"Annual amount of use of groundwater is approximately 10.8 billion m3 in total, (roughly 12% of the whole amount of water used)"
http://www.mlit.go.jp/tochimizushigen/mizsei/water_resources/contents/cu...
Sorry...stuck key on keyboard
I meant to type "Japanese Ground Water."
Has anyone else experienced difficulties with the video?
Does anyone know what are the implications of this if it is a China Syndrome? How radioactive is the steam etc.? Does anyone know which way the wind currents are blowing? Brawm team...please comment if you have any idea...thanks for your ongoing facilitation!
The most disturbing
The most disturbing information since the plume contamination. Someone posted on this forum awhile back that the nature of the corium itself would prevent a China Syndrome scenario.
I look forward to further input and discussion.
bump please... Can't find
bump please...
Can't find any info on this.. Cracks /steam emissions = signs of "China Syndrome" occurring?
Does anyone have a link to status?
Link to radioactive-steam-from-Earth info
Here is a link to a little bit of info, at least, on the radioactive "steam gushing out from cracks on the ground", allegedly made by at least one TEPCO worker at Fukushima I:
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/08/fukushima-i-nuke-plant-worker-no-stea...
And here is the original Japanese source for that report:
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/nagaikenji20070927/e/26ea73eff5b8b8d698d21dc57d1b10ba
An English translation of the above page can be had here:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&sl=ja&tl=en&...
If it _is_ 'corium' reacting to groundwater, the cracks in the Earth are obviously venting the resulting radioactive steam. Maybe the silver lining here could be that this escaping steam is lessening the chances of underground steam pressure building into a gargantuan radioactive steam explosion that would suddenly take many of the radio-isotopes high into the atmosphere. Such an explosion would likely disperse the now on/in-the-ground radioactive materials over more of the Earth's atmosphere (and land) much more thoroughly than is currently happening.
I'm not an expert, but IMHO this steam-from-ground-at-Fukushima subject is one area to keep examining _very_ closely from now on.