An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
Arab proverb
More Fukushima Nuclear Incident Notes
I found additional posts yesterday that reactor 3 and 4 spent fuel rod pools were NOT empty as earlier conjectured, but needed some refilling. Normally there's something like 16 feet of water covering the rods. Ordinary evaporation would not be disconcerting, but the pools, which are normally cooled, became warmer since power loss, accelerating evaporation. The reason why we are concerned about this is that unlike the steam from containment vessels which would go through some scrubbers to filter away cesium, iodine and/or other harmful particles, there is no such filtering above the pools. The more water we replenish into the pools, we mitigate the risk of radioactive leaks into the environment.
NEI has an outstanding fact sheet posted on spent fuel rod storage/pools at Fukushima Daiichi. Barring structural damage to building floors, they don't leak (no drains, etc., at the bottom). Even in the event of cooling system loss, only a few percent of coolant should evaporate per day. Oxidation of the fuel rods upon exposure to air would be more likely with more recently used rods without significant cooling exposure over time. DOE suggests zirconium fires are extremely unlikely.
The interesting Hiroshima Syndrome blog today debunks the anti-nuke myth of zirconium explosions or fires. The author rightly rakes NRC Chair Gregory Jaczko over the coals for speculating about coolant levels in the two serious condition spent fuel rod pools. He also pointed out ongoing radioactive decay in the reactor core fuel rods make further melting less of a factor.
NEI has the following status updates:
- reactors 1, 2, 3 at Fukushima Daiichi are in stable condition, containment structure verified (11:20AM)
- site radiation doses have been decreasing since Wednesday
- the International Atomic Energy Agency has raised the New International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) score to 5 because of reactor core damage in reactors 2 and 3 (an INES score of 5 matches that of Three Mile Island)
- the Japanese Self-Defense Force started at 1AM to spray 50 tons of water at the target Unit 3 spent fuel rod pool from 7 fire-fighting trucks
- electrical high-voltage cable connections from nearby transmission lines to reactors 1 and 2; additional connections in process for other reactors. First priority to reactor 2 (least damaged); heat removal and cooling water pumps, then 1, 3, 4 (5 and 6 are on backup power), phased in over the weekend
- the much-hyped radioactive plume reached the West Coast with negligible readings (Department of Energy and EPA)
Following up on yesterday's critical commentary on fear-mongering coverage by Fox News, the heavily rotated story of the day was speculation over the "Chernobyl solution", with certain "experts" advocating burial of the Daiichi site with sand, concrete, etc. (Just an ironic note here: Fox News will invite progressives and conservatives to face off on political issues, but it doesn't do the same when it comes to the concept of nuclear energy.) Oddly enough, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku seems to be driving the anti-nuke agenda; a cursory look at Kaku's biography shows that he is opposed in principle to nuclear armament, nuclear power, etc. So much for "fair and balanced" coverage...
Guest IBD Editorial: A Meltdown Of Fearmongers: Thumbs UP!
The anti-nuke movement hypocritically ignores the fact of industrial accidents and incidents from other (e.g., fossil fuel) plants. Some notable quotes from the editorial (below):
- "For more than half a century, the Navy has operated for more than 5,800 reactor years and steamed over 136 million miles without accident or radioactive release."
- "According to an analysis last year by the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, plants being constructed by today's standards are 1,600 times safer than early nuclear plants."
- "Between 1995 and 2005, U.S. nuclear generation avoided the emission of 41 million tons of sulfur dioxide, 16.9 million tons of nitrogen oxide and 7.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute."
Political Humor
Some originals:
- Barack H. Obama Elementary School in Asbury Park, NJ will close this summer due to low enrollment. Is it surprising that the school couldn't balance its budget either?
- The CBO announced that President Obama has underestimated spending over the next decade by $2.3T. How much is a trillion dollars? Well, if you covered the distance with hundred dollar bills to and from each Obama campaign appearance, fund raiser, vacation, and foreign visit, you would still have enough money left over to fund new Democratic boondoggles...
America, "Sister Golden Hair"
