Fukushima Status?

[billdeserthills]

Fukushima radiation levels underestimated by five times - TEPCO

http://rt.com/news/fukushima-radiation-levels-underestimated-143/

TEPCO has revised the readings on the radioactivity levels at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant well to 5 million becquerels of strontium per liter – both a record, and nearly five times higher than the original reading of 900,000 becquerels per liter.

Now that we know TEPCO was lying what makes you think it isn't much higher?

 

[Hook686]

“It’s about 20,000 times less than drinking water standards. And so what we like to say is it’s detectable but harmless.”

There really is no such thing as a harmless dose of ionizing radiation. Just because no observable damage occurred does not mean the dose was harmless. One alpha, or beta particle, or Xray can do serious damage if internalized.

 

[Riot]

Heard on the radio...

Scientists Say Stop Worrying About Fukushima Radioactivity In Fish

Not a problem...



Or, maybe a problem....



Or, maybe not...

The issue isn't necessarily just the sources of the testing, but the sources of the samples. For example, if Harvard wanted to do tests and I was a government agency trying to keep the panic down, I would ensure that the test samples that Harvard received were clear...same thing reversed- if I wanted to instill fear, I would ensure the test samples that were received are positive for Cesium.

Unless they're actually catching this stuff and testing it themselves, I wouldn't take too much of the information from these tests at face value.

It would be nice, however, if someone could do me a favor and walk into my favorite sushi place with a geiger counter every once in a while...

There really is no such thing as a harmless dose of ionizing radiation...

This is it in a nutshell...no mater how much they spin this, down play it or compare it with other disasters or forms of radiation- it's still radiation and it's still poisonous to you.

 

[cookie]

Scientists have proven their opinion is mostly what it is paid to be. The power plant is GE and do you think GE will allow much bad press about its products.

 

[pdx210]

Heard on the radio...

Scientists Say Stop Worrying About Fukushima Radioactivity In Fish

Not a problem...



Or, maybe a problem....



Or, maybe not...

There's one article running around how there's radio active potassium 40 in bananas and we eat them too so a little cesium isn't a big deal.


Cesium 137 is a man made isotope the byproduct of nuclear fission of uranium-235 it has a mass 3.5 times lager potasuim 40.

Potassium 40 has 21 neutrons and 19 protons and half life of 1.28 billion years and and emits beta
Cesium 137 has 82 neutrons and 55 protons and a half live of 30.17 years and emits beta & gamma

So why does Cesium such a larger mass decay so much faster? The very simple layman explanation is the radiation emitted by
an isotope of cesium 137 is much greater or cesium is less stable than that of naturally occurring potassium.

You won't die of radiation poisoning small amounts of cesium get in your body damaging chromosomes greatly increasing cancer risks.

 

[ATCclears]

A record radiation level has been detected inside the No. 2 reactor at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, with the estimated reading of up to 530 sieverts per hour, the plant operator said Thursday.

The new radiation level, described by some experts as "unimaginable," far exceeds 73 sieverts per hour, the previously highest radiation reading monitored in the interior of the reactor.

An official of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences said medical professionals have never considered dealing with this level of radiation in their work.

<broken link removed>

 

[Mister Bisley]

Very scary stuff. Have never been a fan of nuclear energy because of things like this. It is nearly impossible to contain when SHTF.

 

[U8395279]

Very scary stuff. Have never been a fan of nuclear energy because of things like this. It is nearly impossible to contain when SHTF.

These things only happen with old nuclear technology. New generation reactors, like the ones designed at Oregon State University's Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, are perfectly safe.

Oddly enough, though, only the Chinese are currently moving forward in building these safer new generation nuclear reactors, that use technology developed here in the USA.
.

 

[U8395279]

Now that we know TEPCO was lying what makes you think it isn't much higher?

Believing news published by Putin's propaganda machine Russia Today is no different than believing what Joseph Goebbels told the public 75 years ago.

 

[Mister Bisley]

Perfectly safe huh? I don't believe that for one second. Are they now safer? Sure. Are they better at minimizing the likelihood of accidents and the probablitlity of an accident declining? Sure. Just because we have reduced the risks doesn't mean they are "perfectly safe". Nothing is 100%....guns are safe but people still accidentally shoot themselves

 

[bbbass]

 

[Libertas7]

are perfectly safe.

You don't have much experience with Mr Murphy huh?

 

[Certaindeaf]

You don't have much experience with Mr Murphy huh?

Or Homer Simpson.

 

[Mister Bisley]

DOH!

 

[ATCclears]

Another robot just broke down investigating Fukushima's record high radiation levels

Another robot has died in the depths of one of Fukushima's nuclear reactors, as attempts to locate and remove melted radioactive fuel continue. This is the second robot in two weeks to meet its end in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, the site of a major nuclear accident caused by the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The robot's mission was to investigate the pedestal underneath the Unit 2 nuclear reactor, where melted nuclear fuel is suspected to have fallen. But about 10 feet away from its target, one of the robot's tank-like treads got stuck, World Nuclear News reports. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which operates the plant, decided to cut the robot's cable and abandon it inside the reactor. A TEPCO spokeswoman told Phys.org that they don't yet know whether radiation or debris stopped the robot.

 

[HappyRoman]

Perfectly safe huh? I don't believe that for one second. Are they now safer? Sure. Are they better at minimizing the likelihood of accidents and the probablitlity of an accident declining? Sure. Just because we have reduced the risks doesn't mean they are "perfectly safe". Nothing is 100%....guns are safe but people still accidentally shoot themselves

It's a-shame, that this logic follows..!

1. Nuclear power is safe when constructed, operated, and maintained.

2. New reactors have been engineered in such ways to even prevent and stop accidents.
We learn by mistakes. Accidents are caused, or happen from failures in people and operations.

3. The world's carbon foot print could be reduced, along with green house gases, if we would logically plan, build and use nuclear power. Remote dessert or even mountain locations would remove most hazards from population centers, and when we reduce the red tape and stop the demonstrators from controlling the world we could be better.

 

[Mister Bisley]

It's a-shame, that this logic follows..!

1. Nuclear power is safe when constructed, operated, and maintained.

2. New reactors have been engineered in such ways to even prevent and stop accidents.
We learn by mistakes. Accidents are caused, or happen from failures in people and operations.

3. The world's carbon foot print could be reduced, along with green house gases, if we would logically plan, build and use nuclear power. Remote dessert or even mountain locations would remove most hazards from population centers, and when we reduce the red tape and stop the demonstrators from controlling the world we could be better.

Mr. Einstein, please elaborate just what methods are used to prevent and stop accidents and keep these reactors 100% safe.

BTW, I'm not fully against nuclear energy, but only a fool would believe they are perfectly safe.

 

[P7M13]

These things only happen with old nuclear technology. New generation reactors, like the ones designed at Oregon State University's Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, are perfectly safe.

Oddly enough, though, only the Chinese are currently moving forward in building these safer new generation nuclear reactors, that use technology developed here in the USA.
.

Lance, you're a smart man. You know better than to drink the "perfectly safe" Kool Aid.

Believing news published by Putin's propaganda machine Russia Today is no different than believing what Joseph Goebbels told the public 75 years ago.

I do read foreign news, and ironically, it has been my observation that the communist block countries do report global news accurately. Their analysis has to be read with a high BS filter, though.

Perfectly safe huh? I don't believe that for one second. Are they now safer? Sure. Are they better at minimizing the likelihood of accidents and the probablitlity of an accident declining? Sure. Just because we have reduced the risks doesn't mean they are "perfectly safe". Nothing is 100%....guns are safe but people still accidentally shoot themselves

Silly man, it's not the guns or people. It's the bullets that are unsafe.

 

[HB of CJ]

There remains a steep learning curve regarding nuclear power plants? Even 400 years from now, Starships all shot up in an epic space battle will have to abandon ship because the warp core is breached and will blow up in 3 minutes! Man all lifeboats NOW! Yikes!

Can one imagine the amount of energy focused upon just a small section of tough 3 meter thick Starship hull in order to even reach central engineering? And that is after punching through all the redundant shields, deflectors, screens and bulkheads gutting the ship?

But ... such vast destructive power is nothing compared to Mother Natures wrath of a good sized Tsunami!

 

[Crohnos01]

The irony of the Fukushima disaster is that had the Tsunami hit 3 months later than it did, there would have been no issue. Before everyone beats up on Mr. Jacobs for making statements about nuclear power being "perfectly safe", you should know that he is not completely wrong. The Fukushima plant WAS old technology. New technology and designs would have eliminated the issue that caused the meltdown. The issue was with the loss of power to the plant and failure of the backup power generation due to the saltwater flooding the site. Without power, the coolant pumps to the reactor failed and this in turn caused the meltdown. The current designs take advantage of natural convection to circulate the coolant water so that even if power is lost and/or pumps fail, enough water is circulated to prevent a disaster. The Fukushima plant was scheduled to receive an upgrade to their cooling systems within the next 90 days which would have implemented this design just before the Tsunami occurred. This by the way all came from an in depth article one year after the disaster that was published in the IEEE magazine.... I think there is always a risk with nuclear power, but as our technology continues to improve, i think its not an unreasonable source of power.....

And for the love of Mary, Joseph, and all the barnyard critters, please don't bring Homer Simpson into the discussion.