The Clock Is Running (Japan Update 3/16) in [Market-Ticker]

Posted 2011-03-16 09:43
by Karl Denninger
in Editorial

The Clock Is Running (Japan Update 3/16)

The authorities in Japan appear to be losing control of the situation at their crippled nuclear plant.

We know serious core-melt incidents have occurred in three of the reactors (1-3.) These are bad and have economically destroyed the reactors, but none of that news is new, and my assessment of the issues and risks are unchanged on this basis. Core melts, even catastrophic ones (and the two percentages of presumed damaged rods at the plants in question I've seen quoted fall into that category) are not sufficient to result in a generalized catastrophe in the environment.

However, it appears that there's little evidence that TEPCO and other emergency responders are making any sort of progress in getting water feed back to the fuel pools stored near the reactors. That's an entirely different situation, and has now, in my opinion, escalated to an "all hands on deck" event.

The puzzling factor for the last couple of days has been that there have been no real response in getting water sources to the buildings - specifically, to those fuel pools. There is no pressure (beyond the lift to the height of the pool) required to feed these as they're open pools but the ability to replace water that boils off is absolutely essential in the absence of the normal heat exchange mechanism.

Actual facts on the ground have been difficult to come by, but one news flash came across late last night that implied what may be going on: TEPCO was reported to be deploying a maximum effort in building (!) a road to get fire engines to the plant.

Remember, this area got hit by a tsunami. That's bad. Apparently, it is much worse in terms of access to the plant that has been let on. While authorities have not said this, the destruction of three of the four fire engines at the plant by the explosion in Building 3 may have destroyed three of the only four fire engines that could reach the plant.

Rescue and recovery are important. But unless the Japanese are prepared to abandon a 25-mile or so diameter area of land around this plant permanently (which incidentally means abandoning not only the stricken four units but six more that are undamaged and will be needed for recovery of the nation from this disaster they need to get this situation under control - right now.

Reports yesterday of radiation rate spikes at the plant were very troubling. If you remember my missive from yesterday I said that the "gold standard" for a reason to get very nervous as to forward expectations were lethal-level radiation readings at the plant. We're now seeing them, albeit on an intermittent basis. Thus far it appears they're related to the release of steam from the shut down but hot reactors, specifically unit #3.

This will not be the case for a whole lot longer, however, if there is not meaningful progress on getting whatever infrastructure is necessary to provide water to the fuel pools restored and secured. Again, this is a matter of being able to provide water in volume, but there is no pressure requirement (other than the pressure necessary to lift the water to the height where the pool is) as there is with providing a water feed into a containment building or primary reactor pressure vessel.

I give this situation about another 48 hours before it becomes essentially impossible to manage. At this point it is likely that some people will have to sacrifice themselves intentionally in order to get the water feeds that are necessary in place and operating. That number may be significant and the longer it takes before this task is accomplished the higher the count is going to go.

I believe it is time for TEPCO to be relieved of their management of this situation and for civil defense and/or the military to step in and take control of the response. Irrespective of how or with what, including whatever loss of life may occur in establishing and maintaining water flow, cooling water must be secured on an immediate and continuing basis for the fuel pools.

For those who are in the United States there remains no reason to be alarmed by the events on the ground in terms of effects on human health here. Scare-mongers are now peddling Potassium Iodide tablets on eBAY for over two hundred dollars for a package of tablets - more than 10x the usual price - and some people are selling expired lots. This is utterly ridiculous; while there's a reason to keep some of this substance around in the US in the event of a local nuclear incident there is no reason to buy it as a US resident in response to what is going on in Japan.

This is not true, however, if you are in Japan. The impact in that nation, should the authorities fail to get fuel pool water levels under control, is entirely determined by the direction of the wind. So far it has been cooperative in that most of the radioactive products have been blown out to sea, and will be diluted in the Pacific. This cannot be assured on an ongoing basis and, in my opinion, if you live within 100 miles of the plant it would be prudent to determine if you can increase that distance on an expedited basis should it become necessary.

The humanitarian problems for those within the tsunami impact zone are extremely serious; large swaths of land were inundated by the flood.. Nonetheless the priority focus at the present time must be to get water supplies secured for the fuel pools at all six plants.

Here in the United States the political debate is, of course, once again heating up. We have not built a new nuclear plant since Three Mile Island. Our existing plants are aging and will have to be eventually replaced. At the same time we must deal with a need to improve our economic security through energy security. We continue to stick our heads in the sand when it comes to a coherent energy policy for America, relying instead of a patchwork that involves far too many foreign entanglements.

This must stop right here and now.

Nuclear power is not without risk. It is, however, the only viable alternative we have at the present time, and the only one we're likely to have for the foreseeable future, for base-load electrical generation. There are, in my opinion, better alternatives than the present boiling-water reactor designs that are in common use, but we have been unwilling to have a clean debate on the alternatives and put forward the necessary expenditures and efforts.

The level of screaming from the "anti-nuke" camp has, as expected, increased markedly in volume over the last week. False claims are being made, including raw acts of fraud such as the widely-distributed "map" that allegedly shows the entire population of the west coast being wiped out by a deadly radioactive cloud. We must not, as a nation, allow hype and fear to form the basis on which we make decisions for our energy future. The spent fuel problems at the Japanese plants, and those here in the United States, are largely of our own making as a direct and proximate consequence of our unwillingness to embrace and support reprocessing and re-use of nuclear fuel materials. We are being treated to a demonstration of what refusal to acknowledge and deal with those risks, instead hiding them away in pools of water, can bring to a nation when things go horribly wrong, exactly as we got a demonstration of how hiding financial risks with "credit default swaps" and other similar games can blow up in your face during the economic crash of 2008.

Incidentally, despite that lesson being taught in 2008 we have failed to learn from and act on it, and it will return with a vengeance much sooner than anyone (other than a few, like myself, who continue to see the deteriorating mathematical reality) expects.

We cannot make decisions predicated on irrational fear and exploitation of events to score political points. No economy can survive and prosper without secure energy sources. We have the technological ability to provide energy security but doing so will always involve the acceptance of risk. Those who claim that the risks are unacceptable must be charged with producing an alternative that is defensible both economically and on a thermodynamic and physical level, and if they are unable to do so, their opinions, no matter how well-constructed, must be discarded and ignored.

As with so many matters in the economic realm in which children waving the "Armageddon" card have managed to literally rob the public of trillions of dollars, we must, on the energy front, put the howling children in their playpens, close the door behind them, and allow the adults to have a reasoned and logical conversation on the alternatives, including a robust debate on both risk and reward.

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The Clock Is Running (Japan Update 3/16) in forum [Market-Ticker]

Onelegged
Posts: 265
Incept: 2009-11-13

NW Colorado

Someone needs to get creative in getting water to these reactors.

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The light at the end of this tunnel is a train.

2011-03-16 09:56:39
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Bagbalm
Posts: 4253
Incept: 2009-03-19
Green

Just North of Detroit

It's hard to understand why a bulldozer could not plow a route to the plant - towing a firetruck if need be. A big bulldozer can push a house aside and shear a phone pole off flush to the ground.
I do have to say something about Japanese culture.
They carry the politeness thing to the extreme. This is a country where the majority of doctors will not tell you frankly that you have cancer. It is considered a kindness to lie and at most perhaps tell a spouse the truth.
Now I can admire being subtle. Such as the Southern hostess that won't speak evil of another and instead praises their efforts or intentions and then appends that dreaded phrase: "Bless their heart."
But we are not smoothing over a social situation or commenting on a lady's taste in hats. We are talking about dispensing information upon which people depend for their survival. There is no room for lies.

2011-03-16 09:57:49
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Buck350
Posts: 1348
Incept: 2008-10-22
Green

This very interesting overview of the situation arrived from StratFor last night. The Political fallout may be the kind we should really be worried about...

(If there is a better spot for this, Gen, let me know.)

Quote:

JAPAN, THE PERSIAN GULF AND ENERGY

By George Friedman

Over the past week, everything seemed to converge on energy. The unrest in the Persian Gulf raised the specter of the disruption of oil supplies to the rest of the world, and an earthquake in Japan knocked out a string of nuclear reactors with potentially devastating effect. Japan depends on nuclear energy and it depends on the Persian Gulf, which is where it gets most of its oil. It was, therefore, a profoundly bad week for Japan, not only because of the extensive damage and human suffering but also because Japan was being shown that it can't readily escape the realities of geography.

Japan is the world's third-largest economy, a bit behind China now. It is also the third-largest industrial economy, behind only the United States and China. Japan's problem is that its enormous industrial plant is built in a country almost totally devoid of mineral resources. It must import virtually all of the metals and energy that it uses to manufacture industrial products. It maintains stockpiles, but should those stockpiles be depleted and no new imports arrive, Japan stops being an industrial power.

The Geography of Oil

There are multiple sources for many of the metals Japan imports, so that if supplies stop flowing from one place it can get them from other places. The geography of oil is more limited. In order to access the amount of oil Japan needs, the only place to get it is the Persian Gulf. There are other places to get some of what Japan needs, but it cannot do without the Persian Gulf for its oil.

This past week, we saw that this was a potentially vulnerable source. The unrest that swept the western littoral of the Arabian Peninsula and the ongoing tension between the Saudis and Iranians, as well as the tension between Iran and the United States, raised the possibility of disruptions. The geography of the Persian Gulf is extraordinary. It is a narrow body of water opening into a narrow channel through the Strait of Hormuz. Any diminution of the flow from any source in the region, let alone the complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz, would have profound implications for the global economy.

For Japan it could mean more than higher prices. It could mean being unable to secure the amount of oil needed at any price. The movement of tankers, the limits on port facilities and long-term contracts that commit oil to other places could make it impossible for Japan to physically secure the oil it needs to run its industrial plant. On an extended basis, this would draw down reserves and constrain Japan's economy dramatically. And, obviously, when the world's third-largest industrial plant drastically slows, the impact on the global supply chain is both dramatic and complex.

In 1973, the Arab countries imposed an oil embargo on the world. Japan, entirely dependent on imported oil, was hit not only by high prices but also by the fact that it could not obtain enough fuel to keep going. While the embargo lasted only five months, the oil shock, as the Japanese called it, threatened Japan's industrial capability and shocked it into remembering its vulnerability. Japan relied on the United States to guarantee its oil supplies. The realization that the United States couldn't guarantee those supplies created a political crisis parallel to the economic one. It is one reason the Japanese are hypersensitive to events in the Persian Gulf and to the security of the supply lines running out of the region.

Regardless of other supplies, Japan will always import nearly 100 percent of its oil from other countries. If it cuts its consumption by 90 percent, it still imports nearly 100 percent of its oil. And to the extent that the Japanese economy requires oil -- which it does -- it is highly vulnerable to events in the Persian Gulf.

It is to mitigate the risk of oil dependency -- which cannot be eliminated altogether by any means -- that Japan employs two alternative fuels: It is the world's largest importer of seaborne coal, and it has become the third-largest producer of electricity from nuclear reactors, ranking after the United States and France in total amount produced. One-third of its electricity production comes from nuclear power plants. Nuclear power was critical to both Japan's industrial and national security strategy. It did not make Japan self-sufficient, since it needed to import coal and nuclear fuel, but access to these resources made it dependent on countries like Australia, which does not have choke points like Hormuz.

It is in this context that we need to understand the Japanese prime minister's statement that Japan was facing its worst crisis since World War II. First, the earthquake and the resulting damage to several of Japan's nuclear reactors created a long-term regional energy shortage in Japan that, along with the other damage caused by the earthquake, would certainly affect the economy. But the events in the Persian Gulf also raised the 1973 nightmare scenario for the Japanese. Depending how events evolved, the Japanese pipeline from the Persian Gulf could be threatened in a way that it had not been since 1973. Combined with the failure of several nuclear reactors, the Japanese economy is at risk.

The comparison with World War II was apt since it also began, in a way, with an energy crisis. The Japanese had invaded China, and after the fall of the Netherlands (which controlled today's Indonesia) and France (which controlled Indochina), Japan was concerned about agreements with France and the Netherlands continuing to be honored. Indochina supplied Japan with tin and rubber, among other raw materials. The Netherlands East Indies supplied oil. When the Japanese invaded Indochina, the United States both cut off oil shipments from the United States and started buying up oil from the Netherlands East Indies to keep Japan from getting it. The Japanese were faced with the collapse of their economy or war with the United States. They chose Pearl Harbor.

Today's situation is in no way comparable to what happened in 1941 except for the core geopolitical reality. Japan is dependent on imports of raw materials and particularly oil. Anything that interferes with the flow of oil creates a crisis in Japan. Anything that risks a cutoff makes Japan uneasy. Add an earthquake destroying part of its energy-producing plant and you force Japan into a profound internal crisis. However, it is essential to understand what energy has meant to Japan historically -- miscalculation about it led to national disaster and access to it remains Japan's psychological as well as physical pivot.

Japan's Nuclear Safety Net

Japan is still struggling with the consequences of its economic meltdown in the early 1990s. Rapid growth with low rates of return on capital created a massive financial crisis. Rather than allow a recession to force a wave of bankruptcies and unemployment, the Japanese sought to maintain their tradition of lifetime employment. To do that Japan had to keep interest rates extremely low and accept little or no economic growth. It achieved its goal, relatively low unemployment, but at the cost of a large debt burden and a long-term sluggish economy.

The Japanese were beginning to struggle with the question of what would come after a generation of economic stagnation and full employment. They had clearly not yet defined a path, although there was some recognition that a generation's economic reality could not sustain itself. The changes that Japan would face were going to be wrenching, and even under the best of circumstances, they would be politically difficult to manage. Suddenly, Japan is not facing the best of circumstances.

It is not yet clear how devastating the nuclear-reactor damage will prove to be, but the situation appears to be worsening. What is clear is that the potential crisis in the Persian Gulf, the loss of nuclear reactors and the rising radiation levels will undermine the confidence of the Japanese. Beyond the human toll, these reactors were Japan's hedge against an unpredictable world. They gave it control of a substantial amount of its energy production. Even if the Japanese still had to import coal and oil, there at least a part of their energy structure was largely under their own control and secure. Japan's nuclear power sector seemed invulnerable, which no other part of its energy infrastructure was. For Japan, a country that went to war with the United States over energy in 1941 and was devastated as a result, this was no small thing. Japan had a safety net.

The safety net was psychological as much as anything. The destruction of a series of nuclear reactors not only creates energy shortages and fear of radiation; it also drives home the profound and very real vulnerability underlying all of Japan's success. Japan does not control the source of its oil, it does not control the sea lanes over which coal and other minerals travel, and it cannot be certain that its nuclear reactors will not suddenly be destroyed. To the extent that economics and politics are psychological, this is a huge blow. Japan lives in constant danger, both from nature and from geopolitics. What the earthquake drove home was just how profound and how dangerous Japan's world is. It is difficult to imagine another industrial economy as inherently insecure as Japan's.
The earthquake will impose many economic constraints on Japan that will significantly complicate its emergence from its post-boom economy, but one important question is the impact on the political system. Since World War II, Japan has coped with its vulnerability by avoiding international entanglements and relying on its relationship with the United States. It sometimes wondered whether the United States, with its sometimes-unpredictable military operations, was more of a danger than a guarantor, but its policy remained intact.

It is not the loss of the reactors that will shake Japan the most but the loss of the certainty that the reactors were their path to some degree of safety, along with the added burden on the economy. The question is how the political system will respond. In dealing with the Persian Gulf, will Japan continue to follow the American lead or will it decide to take a greater degree of control and follow its own path? The likelihood is that a shaken self-confidence will make Japan more cautious and even more vulnerable. But it is interesting to look at Japanese history and realize that sometimes, and not always predictably, Japan takes insecurity as a goad to self-assertion.

This was no ordinary earthquake in magnitude or in the potential impact on Japan's view of the world. The earthquake shook a lot of pieces loose, not the least of which were in the Japanese psyche. Japan has tried to convince itself that it had provided a measure of security with nuclear plants and an alliance with the United States. Given the earthquake and situation in the Persian Gulf, recalculation is in order. But Japan is a country that has avoided recalculation for a long time. The question now is whether the extraordinary vulnerability exposed by the quake will be powerful enough to shake Japan into recalculating its long-standing political system.

This report may be forwarded or republished on your website with attribution to www.stratfor.com.

Copyright 2011 STRATFOR.

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I think Paulson and Bernanke knew early on that Wile E. Coyote had already run straight off the cliff, so they chose to focus on frantic efforts to slow his descent before J6P notices the "gravity" of what has happened, hoping that the proles won't panic telegenically on the way down.

2011-03-16 10:00:52
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$lacker
Posts: 63
Incept: 2009-08-10
Green

The military has access to helicopters that are capable of carrying fire trucks to and from the area, so I don't know why this road would be such a necessity

2011-03-16 10:06:59
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Larsenebezzle
Posts: 746
Incept: 2009-05-05
Green

Land of Oz

Why is Tepco ****ing around building a road? The military has heavy lift helicopters and I'm sure the Japanese ship building industry can supply packaged high volume pumps used in salvage operations to get water to those reactors. Fly the damn pumps in and get water flowing then worry about the road.

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I am heavily positioned in lead and lead delivery systems.

"Running's not a plan! Running's what you do, once a plan fails!" Earl Bassett

2011-03-16 10:08:36
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Genesis
Posts: 130686
Incept: 2007-06-26
Admin

Were I there I would do the following:

1. Secure as many large working bulldozers as I could (e.g. D-8s and bigger)

2. Weld plate steel to form a double cofferdam structure providing space for the operator to sit, enclosing him with a 1-2' closed space on all sides but that necessary to operate the unit.

3. Fill the now-created closed space with sand or quickset concrete.

I bet you could do that with a crew of guys to a dozen dozers in 12 hours. Who gives a **** if the welds are perfect - you're only trying to contain the media here that provides a reasonable degree of shielding, and are using BIG dozers because their frames can carry the load and so can their tracks. They'll also go ******n near anywhere, through anyTHING.

That would provide VERY meaningful protection against radiation exposure for the operator. If you now have a suit on to prevent particulate contamination and SCBA packs for respiration you'd likely be able to drop the rad level in the cab by a factor of 10 and eliminate inhaled particulate risk (which is the real big one if there's alpha emitters in the area - and there are.) This would give you a working time measured in a couple of hours instead of a couple of minutes without exceeding reasonably-safe short-term dose limits.

Now you have a way to get a ****ing PIPE up to the pool on the top of that now-exposed inner building structure. Get it up there, stake it (using the dozer to anchor and hold it if necessary) and then connect that ****er at the base to a fire truck and get the ******n water flowing.

Some people might get killed doing this.

But if they don't do it a lot of people are going to get killed.

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I don't care if it makes sense -- only if it makes money. -- Me
Bank (n): See scam, fraud and theft. Eat a bankster -- they're low-carb.
What part of "shall not be infringed" was unclear?

Last modified: 2011-03-16 10:13:14 by genesis

2011-03-16 10:11:30
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Asimov
Posts: 103892
Incept: 2007-08-26
Gold

East Tennessee Eastern Time
Online

Just weld a hard pipe straight to the dozer with a 90 degree bend at the top and enough sticking out to reach the pool. Drive up to the building and stick it through the big ass hole in the side.

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It's justifiably immoral to deal morally with an immoral entity.
If you trade based on what other people say, you will lose money. Especially what I say. I won't be held responsible. Festina lente.

2011-03-16 10:13:48
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Xanares
Posts: 2595
Incept: 2008-11-10
Green

Between Sicily and Tunisia

Building a road?? Don't they have helis that can carry a firetruck?

2011-03-16 10:16:12
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Genesis
Posts: 130686
Incept: 2007-06-26
Admin

That's exactly what I'm talking about Asimov. Use the Dozer as the anchor and armor the ****er so that you can fill the void space with enough media (e.g. sand or concrete) to form a meaningful radiation shield. A half-dozen guys could weld up some plate steel to enclose media like this in a couple of hours. Who gives a **** if you pull the temper on the frame of the dozer welding directly to the frame - you're only going to use this ****er ONCE.

This will cut the rad exposure for the operator - easily by a factor of 10, and maybe more. More than enough to be able to get it in there and with one of them big ****ers it's not going ANYWHERE once it's placed.

Hook up your hoses and fill that bitch full of water.

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Last modified: 2011-03-16 10:19:56 by genesis

2011-03-16 10:16:58
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Asimov
Posts: 103892
Incept: 2007-08-26
Gold

East Tennessee Eastern Time
Online

Simple and obvious solutions like that not being tried is EXACTLY what concerns me.

We don't know the whole story.

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It's justifiably immoral to deal morally with an immoral entity.
If you trade based on what other people say, you will lose money. Especially what I say. I won't be held responsible. Festina lente.

2011-03-16 10:18:09
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Tallystick
Posts: 2228
Incept: 2009-09-20
Green

They need to use a helicopter or bulldozers to drop firehoses with weighted ends into the reactors, and fill them up from a distance. They have to find a way to get a big enough hose to stay pointed in the right direction, or bring enough volume to fill up the containers faster than they leak.

2011-03-16 10:22:15
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Mortgageguymn
Posts: 1562
Incept: 2009-03-09
Green

North Coast

You guys are thinking like Americans.

2011-03-16 10:22:18
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Winstonsmith2009
Posts: 1060
Incept: 2009-08-05

"Building 3 may have destroyed three of the only four fire engines that could reach the plant."

Seems to be confirmed by the US military is sending fire trucks there to be operated by Japanese personnel. They're often all-terrain types:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110316/ap_o....

WASHINGTON The U.S. military sent two fire trucks to help with fires at one of Japan's nuclear plants, but the Pentagon says it hasn't been asked to use its troops for the developing nuclear crisis.

2011-03-16 10:22:28
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Widgeon
Posts: 13481
Incept: 2007-08-30
Green

Region formerly known as the United States

Point Being ... None of It APPEARS to be Happening ... No Road, No Dozers, No Heli's Bringing in Supplies & Equip ... No Boats/Ships at the Water Unloading.

Just the same reference to 50 people and their fire truck for the last 4 days; sometimes w/ fuel & sometimes not.

50 People ... 6 Installations ... :Less than 10 People Working per Installation.

2011-03-16 10:23:33
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Tallystick
Posts: 2228
Incept: 2009-09-20
Green

Do we know if the storage pools contained only spent fuel, or did they have a large supply of unused in storage as well?

2011-03-16 10:25:04
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Mdm
Posts: 332
Incept: 2010-10-13

South Florida

I was watching Fox News last night and they brought up the past decade of safety issues with TEPCO plants. They have been known to falsify safety records. In 2002, TEPCO's president and four executives resigned after it was revealed that repair and inspection records had been falsified. It seems that not much changed there after the resignation. It is reported that the Japanese Prime Minister has been using profanity in his phone calls with TEPCO executives.

Why is TEPCO still in charge here?

2011-03-16 10:26:15
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Cswake
Posts: 38
Incept: 2010-04-12

Not sure why it took them so long to decide to get trucks there, but they are coming:

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/16/jap....
[7:55 a.m. ET Wednesday, 8:55 p.m. in Tokyo] Two U.S. military water trucks are being sent to help in cooling damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the U.S. military says. The trucks will not be operated by U.S. military personnel, but by employees of Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the nuclear plant.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/1....
(Reuters) - Japanese police will attempt to cool the spent nuclear fuel pool at the No. 4 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant using a water cannon truck as early as Wednesday night, NHK television said.

2011-03-16 10:26:58
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Genesis
Posts: 130686
Incept: 2007-06-26
Admin

Tally, from a standpoint of safety unused fuel is better as it doesn't have any decay heat issues.

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2011-03-16 10:27:14
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Sean
Posts: 1765
Incept: 2009-04-21

Quote:

No economy can survive and prosper without secure energy sources.

Edit: No economy can survive and prosper without secure, cheap, plentiful energy sources.

... which nuclear power is.

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* I think Ann Barnhardt is more and more right. God help us!
* Progressives / Marxists / Communists are many things, STUPID and IMPATIENT are not two of them.
* A hot civil war is coming.
* And people wonder why I prep!

Last modified: 2011-03-16 10:56:30 by sean

2011-03-16 10:28:05
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Lordhumongous
Posts: 4279
Incept: 2008-09-29
Green

USA

Probably because everyone else doesn't want to be running the show if things really go south.

2011-03-16 10:28:43
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Geckolizard
Posts: 189
Incept: 2011-02-16
Green

Your Monitor

After following this story for the last few days, I'm finally willing to say we'll be dealing with a Chernobyl-like event. It sounds like pretty much all fuel at the plant (including the spent fuel) is at risk. To put that in perspective with Chernobyl, they only lost ONE reactor core (although the failure was catastrophic) whereas we are looking at SEVERAL reactors with varying levels of failure along with the spent fuel onsite, which might be a considerable amount of material. It should be said that nuclear fuel doesn't cool down quickly due to the ongoing radioactive decay of the isotopes present (including, yes, Plutonium) so the water needs are pretty constant if they're boiling it away- and they've been losing that battle, big time, if everything is failing the way it has been.

Another nasty thing to keep into account- they're using sea water, but the water is boiling/evaporating away due to the heat. This is increasing the salinity and the corrosion effects of the remaining water enormously. The salt at some point will begin to come out of solution and pile up in the pool, preventing further cooling (unless they are flushing it out which, you guessed it, requires even MORE water).

Karl- the clock isn't just running, it's running out. They need a HUGE, CONSTANT supply of water for an EXTENDED (months) period of time to keep things cool and they don't have it and can't get it.

And BTW- I'd tell any *IDIOT* who thinks this represents any type of threat to the US or Europe to take as much iodine as they can get their hands on. I leave it as an excercise to everyone else why I'd tell them that.

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The preacher man says it's the end of time. He says that America's rivers are going dry. The interest is up, The stock market's down. You guys have to be careful walking around here this late at night. This-this is the perfect place to get jumped. ('Providence', Godspeed You! Black Emperor)

Last modified: 2011-03-16 10:41:22 by geckolizard

2011-03-16 10:32:16
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Cswake
Posts: 38
Incept: 2010-04-12

Quote:

Seems to be confirmed by the US military is sending fire trucks there to be operated by Japanese personnel. They're often all-terrain types:

If they're anything like what we see here, I would not consider them "all-terrain":

http://islamabad.usembassy.gov/pr-090620....

inline

2011-03-16 10:34:53
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Janedeaux
Posts: 287
Incept: 2009-09-16
Green

Mississippi

Quote:

We have not built a new nuclear plant since Three Mile Island.

No true..........Here is Miss. we are in the process of enlarging the Grand Gulf nuclear power plant to accommodate about 250,000 more households.

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A nation of sheep breeds a government of wolves.-anon

2011-03-16 10:36:00
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Bagbalm
Posts: 4253
Incept: 2009-03-19
Green

Just North of Detroit

Why do I suspect they are attempting to reach consensus on the make-up of a committee to decide which approach to study?

2011-03-16 10:36:00
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