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DISASTER Fukushima Reactor Disaster: Japan to Restart Nuclear Plants, Post #7824
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  1. #1
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    Fukushima Reactor Disaster: Japan to Restart Nuclear Plants, Post #7824

    Major development overnight,
    Attached Images

  2. #2
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    Japan earthquake: Footage of blast at nuclear plant

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12721498

    Note the supersonic shockwave from this greatly slowed down video.

    I believe this was a hydrogen explosion due to the core overheating.

    Big fear during Three Mile Island actually happened in Japan this morning.

    I think it is fair to say that the situation is out of control at this facility.
    "The most intriguing point for the historian is that where history and legend meet."

    "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who think they are free."

    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  3. #3
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    Well, this is going from bad to worse pretty damn quickly.
    The thing about common sense is, it is not so common any more
    Sic Semper Tyrannis

    "SO......What's going on in the Land of WTF Just Happened?" ~ Mr. BurtonLake

  4. #4
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    Here we go sports fans, strap on your hernia belts.

    10:59pm Of 90 people from within the 10km exclusion zone around Fukushima nuclear power plant tested, three have given positive results for radiation exposure, says Japanese public broadcaster NHK. That's just over three per cent.

    10:54pm Japanese authorities are making plans to distribute iodine to residents near the Fukushima nuclear plant. This helps to protect against radiation poisoning of the thyroid gland.


    http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/asia...pan-earthquake



    .
    "The most intriguing point for the historian is that where history and legend meet."

    "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who think they are free."

    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  5. #5
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    Thought to be hydrogen explosion. Heavily fortified reactor vessel inside believed to be still intact (for now.) Fuel rods were already slightly exposed from water. Media stating radiation level has actually decreased since explosion, however container building explosion likely took out cranes and other devices necessary to manipulate core material and/or manipulate emergency cooling methods. Evacuation zone moved out to 20 Km. Sea water now being considered for emergency cooling
    Wrapped in my binky, sucking my pinkie, entranced by American Idol.
    While meanwhile its storming, and the smart ones are warning and resisting the government's bridle.
    But Ill pay them no mind, it'll get better this time, the liberals have promised this plenty.
    Obama has hope, and I have my dope. Where's my bong ? It's almost 4:20 !

  6. #6
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    The area near the plant has just sustained a 6.4 earthquake and now white smoke is being observed coming from a reactor building.

    Press Release (Mar 12,2011)
    White smoke around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1

    On March 11, 2011, turbines and reactors of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
    Power Station Unit 1(Boiling Water Reactor, Rated Output 460 MW) and
    Unit 2 and 3 (Boiling Water Reactor, Rated Output 784 MW) that had been
    operating at rated power automatically shutdown due to the
    Tohoku-Chihou-Taiheiyou-Oki Earthquake.(already announced)

    Today at approximately 3:36PM, a big quake occurred and there was a big
    sound around the Unit 1 and white smoke.


    Our two employees and two subcontract workers working for the safety of
    the plant were injured and transported to the hospital.

    We are presently checking on the site situation of each plant and effect
    of discharged radioactive materials.

    We will endeavor to restore the units and continue monitoring the
    environment of the site periphery.

    http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp...1031225-e.html
    "The most intriguing point for the historian is that where history and legend meet."

    "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who think they are free."

    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  7. #7
    Thanks Red.

    I went to bed and woke up to news of the quake. Last night, I didn't want to go to sleep fearing the worst with the nuke plants. Woke up to this news...

    If momentum was a factor, then it seems all the momentum is going toward the negative. There hasn't been any positive news yet regarding the nuke situation and it seems to get worse and worse as moments pass. It really doesn't look good, does it?

    Mike


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    12 March 2011 Last updated at 08:44 ET

    Huge blast at Japan nuclear power plant

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12723092

    Richard Black By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News

    The word "meltdown" goes to the heart of the big nuclear question - is nuclear power safe?

    The term is associated in the public mind with the two most notorious accidents in recent memory - Three Mile Island, in the US, in 1979, and Chernobyl, in Ukraine, seven years later.

    You can think of the core of a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), such as the ones at Fukushima Daiichi, as a massive version of the electrical element you may have in your kettle.

    It sits there, immersed in water, getting very hot.

    The water cools it, and also carries the heat away - usually as steam - so it can be used to turn turbines and generate electricity.

    If the water stops flowing, there is a problem. The core overheats and more of the water turns to steam.

    The steam generates huge pressures inside the reactor vessel - a big, sealed container - and if the largely metal core gets too hot, it will just melt, with some components perhaps catching fire.

    In the worst-case scenario, the core melts through the bottom of the reactor vessel and falls onto the floor of the containment vessel - an outer sealed unit.

    This is designed to prevent the molten reactor from penetrating any further. Local damage in this case will be serious, but in principle there should be no leakage of radioactive material into the outside world.

    But the term "in principle" is the difficult one.

    Reactors are designed to have "multiply redundant" safety features: if one fails, another should contain the problem.

    However, the fact that this does not always work is shown at Fukushima Daiichi.

    The earthquake meant the three functioning reactors shut down. But it also removed the power that kept the vital water pumps running, sending cooling water around the hot core.



    Diesel generators were installed to provide power in such a situation. They did cut in - but then they cut out again an hour later, for reasons that have not yet been revealed.

    In this case, redundancy did not work. And the big fear within the anti-nuclear movement, as used in the film The China Syndrome, is that the multiple containment of a molten core might not work either, allowing highly radioactive and toxic metals to burrow into the ground, with serious and long-lasting environmental impacts - total meltdown.

    However, the counter-argument from nuclear proponents is that the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island did not cause any serious effects.

    Yes, the core melted, but the containment systems held.

    And at Chernobyl - a reactor design regarded in the West as inherently unsafe, and which would not have been sanctioned in any non-Soviet bloc nation - the environmental impacts occurred through explosive release of material into the air, not from a melting reactor core.

    To keep things in perspective, no nuclear accident has caused anything approaching the 1,000 fatalities stemming from Friday's earthquake and tsunami.
    'Subcritical' reactors

    Whether a partial meltdown is under way at Fukushima Daiichi is not yet clear.

    The most important factor is summed up in a bulletin from the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) that owns the facility: "Control rods are fully inserted (reactor is in subcritical status)."
    Smoke billowing from Fukushima nuclear plant A large explosion was seen at the plant with debris blow out from the building

    Control rods shut off the nuclear reaction. Heat continues to be produced at that stage through the decay of radioactive nuclei - but that process in turn will begin to tail off.

    Intriguingly, Ryohei Shiomi, an official at Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission, is widely quoted as having said a meltdown was possible and that officials were checking.

    Meanwhile, a visually dramatic explosion in one of the reactor buildings has at least severely damaged the external walls.

    In principle, this should not cause leakage of radioactive material because the building is just an outside shell; the job of keeping dangerous materials sealed in falls to the the metal containment vessel inside.

    Chief cabinet secretary Chief Yukio Edano confirmed this was the case, saying: "The concrete building collapsed. We found out that the reactor container inside didn't explode."

    He attributed the explosion to a build-up of hydrogen, related in turn to the cooling problem.
    Under pressure

    The only release of any radioactive material that we know about so far concerns venting of the containment vessel.

    When steam pressure builds up in the reactor vessel, it stops some of the emergency cooling systems working, and so some of the steam is released into the containment vessel.

    However, according to World Nuclear News, an industry newsletter, this caused pressure in the containment vessel to rise to twice the intended operating level, so the decision was taken to vent some of this into the atmosphere.

    In principle, this should contain only short-lived radioactive isotopes such as nitrogen-16 produced through the water's exposure to the core. Venting this would be likely to produce short-lived gamma-ray activity - which has, reportedly, been detected.

    One factor that has yet to be explained is the apparent detection of radioactive isotopes of caesium.

    This is produced during the nuclear reaction, and should be confined within the reactor core.

    If it has been detected outside the plant, that could imply that the core has begun to disintegrate.

    "If any of the fuel rods have been compromised, there would be evidence of a small amount of radioisotopes in the atmosphere [such as] radio-caesium and radio-iodine," says Paddy Regan, professor of nuclear physics at the UK's University of Surrey.

    "The amount that you measure would tell you to what degree the fuel rods have been compromised."

    It is an important question - but as yet, unanswered.
    Cover-ups and questions

    In fact, the whole incident so far contains more questions than answers.

    Parallels with Three Mile Island and Chernobyl suggest that while some answers will materialise soon, it may takes months, even years, for the full picture to emerge.

    How that happens depends in large part on the approach taken by Tepco and Japan's nuclear authorities.

    As with its counterparts in many other countries, Japan's nuclear industry has not exactly been renowned for openness and transparency.

    Tepco itself has been implicated in a series of cover-ups down the years.

    In 2002, the chairman and four other executives resigned, suspected of having falsified safety records at Tepco power stations.

    Further examples of falsification were identified in 2006 and 2007.

    In the longer term, Fukushima Daiichi raises several more very big questions, inside and outside Japan.

    Given that this is not the first time a Japanese nuclear station has been hit by earthquake damage, is it wise to build such stations along the east coast, given that such a seismically active zone lies just offshore?

    And given that Three Mile Island effectively shut down the construction of civilian nuclear reactors in the US for 30 years, what impact is Fukushima Daiichi likely to have in an era when many countries, not least the UK, are looking to re-enter the nuclear industry?

  8. #8
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    Folks, this is a desperate last ditch effort to prevent a full scale meltdown of the stricken reactor.

    They are attempting to scuttle the reactor by any means possible. This may result in another hydrogen explosion and also greatly increases the risk of additional radiation leakage.

    This is a true emergency as they have to do -anything- right now to prevent a core meltdown. RB

    -------

    10:29pm The operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co, will fill the leaking reactor with sea water to cool it down and reduce pressure in the unit, a government spokesman says. Cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said:

    The nuclear reactor is surrounded by a steel reactor container, which is then surrounded by a concrete building.

    The concrete building collapsed. We found out that the reactor container inside didn't explode.

    Authorities earlier warned of a reactor meltdown at the reactor, damaged when a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the northeast coast, but said the risk of radiation contamination was small.

    We've confirmed that the reactor container was not damaged. The explosion didn't occur inside the reactor container. As such there was no large amount of radiation leakage outside.

    At this point, there has been no major change to the level of radiation leakage outside, so we'd like everyone to respond calmly.

    We've decided to fill the reactor container with sea water. Trade minister Kaieda has instructed us to do so. By doing this, we will use boric acid to prevent criticality.

    It is expected to take between five and ten hours to fill the reactor core with sea water - and around ten days to complete the process.

    Edano said due to the falling level of cooling water, hydrogen was generated and that leaked to the space between the building and the container and the explosion happened when the hydrogen mixed with oxygen there.

    http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/asia...pan-earthquake
    "The most intriguing point for the historian is that where history and legend meet."

    "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who think they are free."

    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  9. #9
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    Fukushima Daiichi
    Unit 1
    - 439 MWe BWR, 1971
    - Automatically shut down
    - Water level decreasing
    - Pressure release implemented
    - Explosion observed with unknown
    effect

    - Containment believed intact
    - Seawater injection has started

    Unit 2
    - 760 MWe BWR, 1974
    - Automatically shut down
    - Water level lower but steady
    - Preparations for pressure release
    Unit 3
    - 760 MWe BWR, 1976
    - Automatically shut down
    - Preparations for pressure release
    Unit 4
    - 760 MWe BWR, 1978
    - Shut for periodic inspection
    Unit 5
    - 760 MWe BWR, 1978

    - Shut for periodic inspection

    Unit 6
    - 1067 MWe BWR, 1979
    - Shut for periodic inspection

    Battle to stabilise earthquake reactors
    12 March 2011
    UPDATE 8: 1.35 pm GMT


    Attention is focused on the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants as Japan struggles to cope in the aftermath of its worst earthquake in recorded history. An explosion has been seen at the site and seawater is now being injected to the plant.



    Three of Fukushima Daiichi's six reactors were in operation when yesterday's quake hit, at which point they shut down automatically and commenced removal of residual heat with the help of emergency diesel generators. These suddenly stopped about an hour later, and this has been put down to tsunami flooding by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

    The loss of the diesels led the plant owners Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) to immediately notify the government of a technical emergency situation, which allows officials to take additional precautionary measures.



    For many hours the primary focus of work at the site was to connect enough portable power modules to fully replace the diesels and enable the full operation of cooling systems.



    Pressure and releases



    Without enough power for cooling systems, decay heat from the reactor cores of units 1, 2 and 3 has gradually reduced coolant water levels through evaporation. The consequent increase in pressure in the coolant circuit can be managed via pressure release valves. However, this leads to an increase in pressure within the reactor building containment. Tepco has said that the pressure within the containment of Fukushima Daiichi 1 has reached around 840 kPa, compared to reference levels of 400 kPa.



    The company has decided to manage this "for those units that cannot confirm certain levels of water injection" by means of a controlled release of air and water vapour to the atmosphere. Because this water has been through the reactor core, this would inevitably mean a certain release of radiation. The IAEA said this would be filtered to retain radiation within the containment. Tepco has confirmed it was in the process of relieving pressure at unit 1 while preparing to do the same for units 2 and 3



    Explosion



    Television cameras trained on the plant captured a dramatic explosion surrounding unit 1 at around 6pm. Amid a visible pressure release and a cloud of dust it was not possible to know the extent of the damage. The external building structure does not act as the containment, which is an airtight engineered boundary within. According to reported comments attributed to chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano, the containment has not been comprimised.



    Monitoring of Fukushima Daiichi 1 had previously shown an increase in radiation levels detected emerging from the plant via routes such as the exhaust stack and the discharge canal. Tepco have said that the amount of radioactive material such as iodine it is detecting have been increasing. The amount of radiation at the site boundary now exceeds a regulatory limit triggering another set of emergency precautions.



    To protect the public from potential health effects of radioactive isotopes of iodine that could potentially be released, authorities are preparing to distribute tablets of non-radioactive potassium-iodide. This is quickly taken up by the body and its presence prevents the take-up of iodine should people be exposed to it.



    The injection of seawater into the building followed 8.20pm and this will be followed by addition of boric acid, which is used to inhibit nuclear reactions.



    Over the last several hours evacuation orders for local residents have been incrementally increased and now cover people living within 20 kilometres of the power plant.



    Raised temperatures



    Meanwhile at adjacent Fukushima Daini, where four reactors have been shut down safely since the earthquake hit, Tepco has notified government of another emergency status.



    Unit 1's reactor core isolation cooling system had been operating normally, and this was later supplemented by a separate make-up water condensate system. However, the latter was lost at 5.32am local time when its suppression chamber reached 100ºC. This led Tepco to notify government of another technical emergency situation.



    Tepco has announced it has decided to prepare for controlled releases to ease pressure in the containments of all four units at Fukushima Daini.



    A three kilometre evacuation is in progress, with residents in a zone out to ten kilometres given notice of potential expansion.



    Workers



    A seriously injured worker was trapped within Fukushima Daiichi unit 1 in the crane operating console of the exhaust stack and is now confirmed to have died. At Fukushima Daiini unit 3 one worker received a radiation dose of 106 mSv. This is comparable to levels deemed acceptable in emergency situations by the UK Health and Safety Executive, for example.

    http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS...s_1203111.html
    "The most intriguing point for the historian is that where history and legend meet."

    "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who think they are free."

    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  10. #10
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    As I posted on another thread!
    They have the wrong people in charge and they do not take this seriously enough. They needed to get generators to the plants no matter what, what ever it takes including running over anyone the won't get out of the way of a giant pay-loader pushing its way to the power plant with a generator.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Publius View Post
    As I posted on another thread!
    They have the wrong people in charge and they do not take this seriously enough. They needed to get generators to the plants no matter what, what ever it takes including running over anyone the won't get out of the way of a giant pay-loader pushing its way to the power plant with a generator.
    They waited too long to get outside help, tried to "internalize" the problem and it appears to have gotten literally out of control.

    The loss of back-up power is going to be a huge scandal.

    I also read where the water intake screens may have been clogged from the tsunami and confused efforts to diagnose the problem.
    "The most intriguing point for the historian is that where history and legend meet."

    "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who think they are free."

    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  12. #12
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    We'd been getting slammed all yesterday, now orders coming in on-line at rate of one per minute or more.

    Will be sold out of current KI shortly and shifting to Plan 'B', our emergency back-up supply of 6.2 million doses, soon.

    I won't be on-line much anymore till things cool down.

    Best info we have for this developing Japan situation, especially for those in U.S., is our 'When An Ill Wind Blows From Afar' guide...

    www.ki4u.com/illwind.htm

    Pointing others to it in my absence, will be helpful to many trying to sort this all out and help avert panic amongst some others.

    - Shane
    THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT NUCLEAR DESTRUCTION!
    WHAT TO DO IF A NUCLEAR DISASTER IS IMMINENT!
    When An ill Wind Blows From Afar! (Overseas Fallout)

    "A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them;
    the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."
    - Proverbs 22:3

  13. #13
    This could turn into a real full blown sh*t sandwich if they don't get this under control

  14. #14
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    Thanks for the info Shane!

    I have KI, gas masks and a rad meter in the basement.

    BTW, I gave you a plug this morning over at Free Republic.

    RB
    "The most intriguing point for the historian is that where history and legend meet."

    "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who think they are free."

    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  15. #15
    I have a very limited understanding of nuclear power plants. I know that the nuclear materials get hot and cause steam which turns turbines and makes the electricity. I know that control rods between the rods are used to attract particles to prevent collisions of certain particles. The collisions are what make the heat, right?

    So, what exactly is a "melt down?" I'm taking that it means things get so hot, that the melting point of every material in the reactor is reached at some stage, thus everything "melts?" I'm all guessing fires will start due to the intense heat? So after things start melting...that is what I want to know. What happens then? What is the danger, if any, to the US? Do the nuclear reactions continue to take place in some sort of melted glob of metal? Is the melt down material so hot that it melts down to the center of the Earth?

  16. #16
    In a nutshell, the fuel rods melt into a lava-type material and the reactor core itself is compromised. At that point, an intact containment structure might keep the reaction mass contained for a time, but the fear would be that the mass would eventually burn through the structure, into the environment, where it could hit groundwater; radioactive sludge hitting H2O leads to steam type explosions, with fallout being blown into the atmosphere.

    The fear for us would be the fallout making in into the jetstream and then falling on us - "fallout". We've taken fallout from foreign nuclear tests, but there's never been a full-out "China Syndrome" so results might well be different. IIRC Chernobyl was different - there was a fire from the outside air hitting the exposed reactor core that spread the contamination, not the fuel elements interacting with groundwater. So, we're going ever farther into unknown territory.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Ravekid View Post
    I have a very limited understanding of nuclear power plants. I know that the nuclear materials get hot and cause steam which turns turbines and makes the electricity. I know that control rods between the rods are used to attract particles to prevent collisions of certain particles. The collisions are what make the heat, right?

    So, what exactly is a "melt down?" I'm taking that it means things get so hot, that the melting point of every material in the reactor is reached at some stage, thus everything "melts?" I'm all guessing fires will start due to the intense heat? So after things start melting...that is what I want to know. What happens then? What is the danger, if any, to the US? Do the nuclear reactions continue to take place in some sort of melted glob of metal? Is the melt down material so hot that it melts down to the center of the Earth?
    Excellent questions.....anyone know the answers?
    Far away across the field
    The tolling of the iron bell
    Calls the faithful to their knees
    To hear the softly spoken magic spells.

  18. #18
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    The loss of back-up power is going to be a huge scandal.
    Yup. I heard they had 13 backup generators that all failed when the flood hit.

    Gotta wonder about some of the design decisions. I mean the plant is on the coast, what did they expect. Japan has more Tsunamis than anyplace on Earth I believe. Sure, this was a big one, but when you're talking about nuke plant safety, you've got to consider everything, including "once in a lifetime" events...

    Why didn't they have a couple generators on the roof, or someplace else above any "potential" hi-water mark???

    Yea, I know, 20-20...

    .




    Murphy's Laws of the Office #2 - To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer...

    If the auto industry kept pace with the computer industry, a Rolls Royce would cost $1.99 and get 100,000 miles to the gallon...

    Beam me up Scotty, there is no sign of intelligent life here...

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ravekid View Post
    I have a very limited understanding of nuclear power plants. I know that the nuclear materials get hot and cause steam which turns turbines and makes the electricity. I know that control rods between the rods are used to attract particles to prevent collisions of certain particles. The collisions are what make the heat, right?

    So, what exactly is a "melt down?" I'm taking that it means things get so hot, that the melting point of every material in the reactor is reached at some stage, thus everything "melts?" I'm all guessing fires will start due to the intense heat? So after things start melting...that is what I want to know. What happens then? What is the danger, if any, to the US? Do the nuclear reactions continue to take place in some sort of melted glob of metal? Is the melt down material so hot that it melts down to the center of the Earth?

    The Temperature inside the reactor core is about 3000. Degrees and it will melt cement and steel and once containment is breached the will start put out radiation particulate into the atmosphere and radiate in evey direction also. Anyone that gets close to it at that point tying to contain it will likely die days later if not the next day, anyone within a mile or two of the plant will likely die in months or a year later and the land around will uninhabitable for maybe 100 to 200 years or more.

  20. #20
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    The airport there is the only one operational and where the rescue and relief efforts are being staged.

  21. #21
    Talking head from the Heritage Foundation talking down the situation, saying the Japanese have it in hand, and this shows how "robust" their system is. I would argue that the exact opposite is happening; 24 hours ago, we were just getting hints that there were troubles, and right now there's a wrecked containment building, and they're trying to scuttle the reactor with seawater to prevent a meltdown, if there hasn't been a partial one already. Best at this point to assume that the Japanese gov is not letting the full story out, and that the situation is probably progressing to a worse case scenario, although I hope not for the residents around there.

  22. #22
    Yes, thanks for the info Shane from me too. I couldn't find my potassium iodide pills so I put in an order with you this morning... V

  23. #23
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    For those that didn't order any KI tablets, here is the next best thing. I'd get to the pharmacy before it gets sold out. This is from Shane's site.

    http://www.ki4u.com/illwind.htm

    In an emergency, if no more KI tablets available here, you can topically (on the skin) apply an iodine solution, like tincture of iodine or Betadine, for a similar protective effect. (WARNING: Iodine is NEVER to be ingested or swallowed, it is poison to drink.) For adults, paint 8 ml of a 2 percent tincture of Iodine on the abdomen or forearm each day, ideally at least 2 hours prior to initial exposure. For children 3 to 18, but under 150 pounds, only half that amount painted on daily, or 4 ml. For children under 3 but older than a month, half again, or 2 ml. For newborns to 1 month old, half it again, or just 1 ml. (One measuring teaspoon is about 5 ml, if you don't have a medicine dropper graduated in ml.) If your iodine solution is stronger than 2%, reduce the dosage accordingly. Absorption through the skin is not as reliable a dosing method as using the tablets, but tests show that it will still be very effective for most.

  24. #24
    Scary before and after images of the containment building:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:20...creen_shot.jpg

  25. #25
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    I don't believe what the Japanese officials are telling the public. How do I know when to start taking KI tablets? I don't want to take longer than necessary. Here's a snip from Shane's site that gives the FDA's recommendations on taking KI.

    FDA PATIENT INFORMATION USE OF 130-MG SCORED TABLETS OF POTASSIUM IODIDE FOR THYROID BLOCKING
    (Potassium Iodide Tablets, U.S.P.)
    (Pronounced poe-TASS-e-um EYE-oh-dyed)
    (Abbreviated KI)

    TAKE POTASSIUM IODIDE ONLY WHEN PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS TELL YOU. IN A RADIATION EMERGENCY, RADIOACTIVE IODINE COULD BE RELEASED INTO THE AIR. POTASSIUM IODIDE (A FORM OF IODINE) CAN HELP PROTECT YOU.

    IF YOU ARE TOLD TO TAKE THIS MEDICINE, TAKE IT ONE TIME EVERY 24 HOURS. DO NOT TAKE IT MORE OFTEN. MORE WILL NOT HELP YOU AND MAY INCREASE THE RISK OF SIDE EFFECTS. DO NOT TAKE THIS DRUG IF YOU KNOW YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO IODINE (SEE SIDE EFFECTS BELOW).

    DIRECTIONS FOR USE
    Use only as directed by State or local public health authorities in the event of a radiation emergency.DOSE

    ADULTS AND CHILDREN ONE YEAR OF AGE OR

    OLDER: One (1) tablet once a day. Crush for small children.

    BABIES UNDER ONE YEAR OF AGE: One-half (1/2) tablet once a day. Crush first.

    DOSAGE: Take for 10 days unless directed otherwise by State or local public health authorities.

    Store at controlled room temperature between 15 and 30C (59 degrees to 86 degrees F). Keep bottle tightly closed and protect from light.

    HOW AND WHEN TO TAKE POTASSIUM IODIDE

    Potassium iodide should be taken as soon as possible after public health officials tell you. You should take one dose every 24 hours. More will not help you because the thyroid can "hold" only limited amounts of iodine. Larger doses will increase the risk of side effects. You will probably be told not to take the drug for more than 10 days.

  26. #26
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    286
    I am one of the people that is allergic to Iodine. What are we supposed to do?

  27. #27
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    The "real" upstate New York
    Posts
    127
    Does anyone know how effective Shane's KI tablets are if the expiration date is 2006. I happen to have a few bottles around from that time. I know his website said that they will still be effective, but does any one have any additional information?
    Last edited by anasusan; 03-12-2011 at 10:41 AM.

  28. #28
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    East TN
    Posts
    4,446
    I wish we could combine the 2 nuke threads. I'm not sure where to post what.
    "I think the most un-American thing you can say is, 'You can't say that.'” Garrison Keillor

    "It's time to make your stand." - Mother Abigail

  29. #29
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Louisiana
    Posts
    2,658
    Quote Originally Posted by tno5 View Post
    I am one of the people that is allergic to Iodine. What are we supposed to do?
    From what I have read, Pure Prussian Blue (a pigment- make sure it's 100%!) used to make Radiogardase is effective for many forms of radiation poisoning.It binds to the ions so they can be excreted from the body.

    Remember, KI does not prevent radiation sickness; it only fills up the thyroid so one doesn't get thyroid cancer later.


    Eating a diet rich in fruits and veggies can help speed recovery to lower doses of radiation. My guess is that it increases the speed of elimination from the body.

  30. #30
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Behind Enemy Lines
    Posts
    88,518
    And another thing about the thyroid: it's most critical to "fill it up" for children and young adults. Us older people aren't nearly as susceptible to that form of radiation uptake.

  31. #31
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Louisiana
    Posts
    2,658
    Handy charts you can print out for reference.
    Attached Images

  32. #32
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    East Texas
    Posts
    1,365
    Fox news just reported that over 190 people have signs of radiation sickness.

  33. #33
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    11,139
    bought my KI from Shane years ago + i have some that the .govt sent to everybody as a proactive measure some years ago, shame the Japanese didn't do the same, it would have been easier than trying to distribute it now
    Si vis pacem para bellum.

  34. #34
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Kriya Yogi dwelling in enchanted land of Cascadia
    Posts
    12,013
    Reading from another forum, translation, that the USA is evacuating all its citizens from Japan. Is this true?

    http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate...rUrl=Translate

    Also that the USA now is planning to distribute KI also?

    http://en.rian.ru/natural/20110312/162973901.html

  35. #35
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    547
    Great question Cascadians, are there plans for a mass distribution in the States by TPTB. Even if some of us go out and buy it ourselves, I'm sure the supply will outweigh the demand.
    "Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it." Pericles

  36. #36
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Pacific NW
    Posts
    2,559
    Quote Originally Posted by Archetype View Post
    Scary before and after images of the containment building:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:20...creen_shot.jpg
    Looking at the two photos carefully, they don't appear to be of the same location. Very similar, but not the same. Perhaps it's just different angles..... Whether the same or not, the devastation to the containment building is near total. Anything that would blast all that concrete out from the steel frames has to have damaged anything left inside the building, like the cores. Just IMO.

  37. #37
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    The Gunshine State
    Posts
    8,005
    Quote Originally Posted by Red Baron View Post
    Japan earthquake: Footage of blast at nuclear plant

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12721498

    Note the supersonic shockwave from this greatly slowed down video.

    I believe this was a hydrogen explosion due to the core overheating.

    Big fear during Three Mile Island actually happened in Japan this morning.

    I think it is fair to say that the situation is out of control at this facility.
    Well OF ALL THE DANGED TIMES TO START BEING FAIR!!! TAKE IT BACK, RIGHT NOW MR.!!!!!

    GOD LORD MAKE THIS JUST GO AWAY...

  38. #38
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Pottersville
    Posts
    20,434
    I notice that the unit having problems is the oldest at this site, in service 1971, forty years old? ETA: a friend has sent me a note that this reactor was built by US company General Electric GE. Let's hope they did a good job.


    Fukushima Daiichi
    Unit 1
    - 439 MWe BWR, 1971
    - Automatically shut down
    - Water level decreasing
    - Pressure release implemented
    - Explosion observed with unknown
    effect

    - Containment believed intact
    - Seawater injection has started
    Unit 2
    - 760 MWe BWR, 1974
    - Automatically shut down
    - Water level lower but steady
    - Preparations for pressure release
    Unit 3
    - 760 MWe BWR, 1976
    - Automatically shut down
    - Preparations for pressure release
    Unit 4
    - 760 MWe BWR, 1978
    - Shut for periodic inspection
    Unit 5
    - 760 MWe BWR, 1978

    - Shut for periodic inspection

    Unit 6
    - 1067 MWe BWR, 1979
    - Shut for periodic inspection
    Last edited by Double_A; 03-12-2011 at 02:00 PM.

  39. #39
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Posts
    10,014
    Quote Originally Posted by Publius View Post
    The Temperature inside the reactor core is about 3000. Degrees and it will melt cement and steel and once containment is breached the will start put out radiation particulate into the atmosphere and radiate in evey direction also. Anyone that gets close to it at that point tying to contain it will likely die days later if not the next day, anyone within a mile or two of the plant will likely die in months or a year later and the land around will uninhabitable for maybe 100 to 200 years or more.
    Iirc, I read elsewhere that the fuel rods are encased in some sort of other metal (zinc-based?) called "cladding"--I suppose it acts as sort of an "insulator" to hold the rods in?--and of course I know it's the "control" rods were (supposedly) inserted fully, thus preventing the fuel rods from coming into contact with one another and re-starting the fission process. HOWEVER--what I read, was that "if" the core overheated, the cladding itself would melt, and THAT would put the fuel rods back into contact with one another, re-starting the fission process and leading to full meltdown.

    Can you tell me if I'm understanding this correctly, and if that is indeed a possible scenario?
    The only "change" I CAN believe in: I Corinthians 15: 51-52!


    WAKE ME WHEN IT'S OVER....

  40. #40
    Pretty sure this is the after effects of the explosion at Daiichi #1:



    via http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/ne....htm?from=navr

    If you look at the before and after posted earlier, you can see the steel girders exposed above.

    Largely intact actually, i'd imagine containment is not compromised at this point.
    Throughout the world
    Everywhere we are all brothers
    Why then do the winds and waves rage so turbulently?

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