In fact, the reactor a Japanese nuclear plant in Fukushima Daiichi-whose fault after the earthquake on Friday has raised the alert nuclear-should have been out of service on 1 March. The contradictory information provided by the Japanese government and business make it difficult to judge the extent of the situation.
Here are some keys to better understand what happened: With ten reactors (six in central Fukushima Fukushima Daiichi and Daini four), Fukushima is the heart of the Japanese nuclear industry. The construction of the first block began in July 1967 under the direction of the U.S. company General Electric.
In November 1970 became operational on boiling water reactor operated by Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), with a capacity of 460 megawatts and distributes power in 1971. In the reactor vessel, the uranium fuel rods are surrounded by water continuously cools the facility and acts as a brake during fission (breaking the nucleus of an atom, with release of energy) to slow down the neutrons released and allow new fissions.
Water from the top is carried to a boil. The steam produced is transported through pipes to the turbines that drive electricity generators. In 2000, radioactive steam escaped from a pipe. One of the reactors had to be turned off by a fault in one of the nuclear fuel rods. In 2002 cracks were discovered in the water pipes.
And the company TEPCO admitted handling damage reports for years. The earthquake and tsunami led to the suspension of energy supplies. Then activated diesel generators that supply power to the boiling reactors. But these failed after an hour, possibly because of the tsunami that caused heavy flooding and batteries can only hold a provisional cooling.
Consequence: fuel rods could not cool enough, because the pumps lacked electricity to circulate the water. According to the Japanese government also failed cooling system in the reactor 3, so there is a risk of a meltdown in two of the reactors. The removal of the plants are producing different reactions, hence the risk that, without cooling, there is a meltdown.
When decreasing the cooling water, overheated and reactor fuel rods are damaged, which can cause melting. Temperatures soar to 2,000 degrees. The core is so hot that it melts the mass can reach the steel walls of the reactor, which releases a large amount of radioactivity. In the final stage the molten core beyond the walls of the reactor and radioactive material leaks out, as was the major accident so far in history, Chernobyl in 1986.
According to some experts, when the cooling system fails, the process can not be stopped. The communication policy of the Japanese government is very reminiscent of Chernobyl, where the extent of the catastrophe was announced only days after the incident. In Japan, it tries to control the situation by pumping sea water reactor.
Nor is it clear that it will with that water contaminated with radioactivity. The last resort would be to mix the melt with sand and keep it as far as possible to the environment. So far, 200,000 people evacuated within a radius of 20 kilometers. Greenpeace said that the case can not be compared with that of Chernobyl, where the reactor burned for several days and released a large amount of radioactivity.
How serious the Japanese case is that there could be several mergers of cores. Furthermore, Fukushima is only 250 kilometers from Tokyo and the surrounding area the population density is 20 times higher than that of Chernobyl. To the people you are dealing with iodine tablets that are expected to counteract the effect of radioactive iodine 131 may have on the thyroid. 
Here are some keys to better understand what happened: With ten reactors (six in central Fukushima Fukushima Daiichi and Daini four), Fukushima is the heart of the Japanese nuclear industry. The construction of the first block began in July 1967 under the direction of the U.S. company General Electric.
In November 1970 became operational on boiling water reactor operated by Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), with a capacity of 460 megawatts and distributes power in 1971. In the reactor vessel, the uranium fuel rods are surrounded by water continuously cools the facility and acts as a brake during fission (breaking the nucleus of an atom, with release of energy) to slow down the neutrons released and allow new fissions.
Water from the top is carried to a boil. The steam produced is transported through pipes to the turbines that drive electricity generators. In 2000, radioactive steam escaped from a pipe. One of the reactors had to be turned off by a fault in one of the nuclear fuel rods. In 2002 cracks were discovered in the water pipes.
And the company TEPCO admitted handling damage reports for years. The earthquake and tsunami led to the suspension of energy supplies. Then activated diesel generators that supply power to the boiling reactors. But these failed after an hour, possibly because of the tsunami that caused heavy flooding and batteries can only hold a provisional cooling.
Consequence: fuel rods could not cool enough, because the pumps lacked electricity to circulate the water. According to the Japanese government also failed cooling system in the reactor 3, so there is a risk of a meltdown in two of the reactors. The removal of the plants are producing different reactions, hence the risk that, without cooling, there is a meltdown.
When decreasing the cooling water, overheated and reactor fuel rods are damaged, which can cause melting. Temperatures soar to 2,000 degrees. The core is so hot that it melts the mass can reach the steel walls of the reactor, which releases a large amount of radioactivity. In the final stage the molten core beyond the walls of the reactor and radioactive material leaks out, as was the major accident so far in history, Chernobyl in 1986.
According to some experts, when the cooling system fails, the process can not be stopped. The communication policy of the Japanese government is very reminiscent of Chernobyl, where the extent of the catastrophe was announced only days after the incident. In Japan, it tries to control the situation by pumping sea water reactor.
Nor is it clear that it will with that water contaminated with radioactivity. The last resort would be to mix the melt with sand and keep it as far as possible to the environment. So far, 200,000 people evacuated within a radius of 20 kilometers. Greenpeace said that the case can not be compared with that of Chernobyl, where the reactor burned for several days and released a large amount of radioactivity.
How serious the Japanese case is that there could be several mergers of cores. Furthermore, Fukushima is only 250 kilometers from Tokyo and the surrounding area the population density is 20 times higher than that of Chernobyl. To the people you are dealing with iodine tablets that are expected to counteract the effect of radioactive iodine 131 may have on the thyroid.
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- "URGENT: Explosion did not occur in Fukushima reactor: Edano" and related posts (12/03/2011)
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