What's caused the radiation problems since the power failure -- The Rosewater Foundation, Rosewater, Indiana

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Date Posted: 20:01:03 03/19/11 Sat
Author: Paul Davis
Subject: What's caused the radiation problems since the power failure
In reply to: Jeffman 's message, "Re: A comment on the nuke problems in Japan" on 17:34:34 03/15/11 Tue

From what I can determine, is something the "green" groups insisted on, that fuel rods never be reprocessed or shipped, but stored on site. When the fuel ponds cracked and all the water drained out, the rods heated up and caught fire. That caused the spread of a lot of radiation.

Despite the blathering of the press, there has not (as of last night) been any confirmation at all of any cracks in containment, much less "exposed rods".

All the exposed anything that's been confirmed was in the spent rod ponds - again, that never should have been there and were not supposed to be there, except in the fantasies of Greens that claimed that was "safer" than either reprocessing or moving to permanent storage.

And THATS what comes of listening to people who are neither experts nor engineers nor much of ANYTHING but loud sounding boards.

>Yeah the press is having a heyday over this but its
>all to do about nothing. The reaction was shut down
>minutes after the earthquake. Currently all they are
>dealing with is residual heat. Granted that heat is in
>the neighborhood of 2000 degrees but they will get
>this under control. What people dont seem to realize
>is that it will take quite a while to cool down all
>those rods and cannisters that have been generating
>that kind of heat.
>
>>Ok, the absolute worst that could happen with a Gen II
>>nuclear reactor happened, it got hit with an
>>earthquake, and then flooded, all backup power died,
>>cooling failed, and on and on.
>>
>>Despite the panic inducing press, there has been no
>>nuclear explosion, no fallout, no vast amount of
>>radiation detectable off the plant property. There
>>has been no China Syndrome, they've not got the core
>>down on the ground or anything outside the vault it's
>>all built in, and it's not done anything a Gen II
>>reactor under those extreme circumstances wasn't
>>expected to do.
>>
>>Compare that to the result if a couple of large dams
>>had been upriver from Honsho. We'd not be discussing
>>anything except the death toll when the entire city
>>was flushed out to sea after the tidal wave receded
>>and the dam waters hit after the dam broke.
>>
>>To discuss consequences, you have to ask what the
>>dangers are from other means of generating power.
>>Coal mines collapse, catch fire (just ask folks in
>>Pennsylvania and West Virginia about those issues),
>>steam plants burn and explode, dams break, oil has
>>spills, natural gas is explosive and poisonous, solar
>>power covers acres of area. Nothing is perfect, and I
>>doubt the perfect power source will ever be found.
>>Compare risks, don't compare to perfect. Perfect
>>doesn't exist.

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