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Fukushima again
Mar. 29th, 2011 03:01 pmHere is the thing I fail to understand.
OK, Japan probably had reasons to cover up the details of the nuclear accident. But some public data on radiaiton levels was available. I was tracking it. Slightly later, Wikipedia got a way more detailed picture. Even from those spotty data, judging by the peak levels of radiation and by shape of the spikes, it became obvious around 3/15 that at least one reactor's containment vessel is damaged and leaking, and that pouring more water into it will result only in the release of highly radioactive water or steam without fixing the actual problem -- and that will continue until you plug the hole(s) somehow.
Now we see on Wikipedia: "28 March: The Japanese Nuclear Safety Commission stated that it "assumed" melted fuel rods in unit 2 have released radioactive substances into cooling water which subsequently leaked out through an unknown route to the unit 2 turbine building basement.[96] To reduce the amount of water subject to leaking, TEPCO reduced the amount of water pumped into unit 2 reactor from 16 tons per hour to 7 ton per hour, which could lead to higher reactor temperatures"
Why is it coming as a suprise? OK, the general public was not aware, but is it possible that experts could not read the radioactivity curves and make the right conclusions two weeks ago? If so, why the apparent focus of the operation is still on pouring water?
OK, Japan probably had reasons to cover up the details of the nuclear accident. But some public data on radiaiton levels was available. I was tracking it. Slightly later, Wikipedia got a way more detailed picture. Even from those spotty data, judging by the peak levels of radiation and by shape of the spikes, it became obvious around 3/15 that at least one reactor's containment vessel is damaged and leaking, and that pouring more water into it will result only in the release of highly radioactive water or steam without fixing the actual problem -- and that will continue until you plug the hole(s) somehow.
Now we see on Wikipedia: "28 March: The Japanese Nuclear Safety Commission stated that it "assumed" melted fuel rods in unit 2 have released radioactive substances into cooling water which subsequently leaked out through an unknown route to the unit 2 turbine building basement.[96] To reduce the amount of water subject to leaking, TEPCO reduced the amount of water pumped into unit 2 reactor from 16 tons per hour to 7 ton per hour, which could lead to higher reactor temperatures"
Why is it coming as a suprise? OK, the general public was not aware, but is it possible that experts could not read the radioactivity curves and make the right conclusions two weeks ago? If so, why the apparent focus of the operation is still on pouring water?
