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Originally posted by loam
reply to post by Stormdancer777
Originally posted by Stormdancer777
What's going to happen loam?
I've heard all kinds of scenarios, but the truth seems to be no one really knows.edit on 14-3-2011 by loam because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by loam
With the containment cell being cracked, I think the worst case has finally come upon us..
BREAKING NEWS:Fire at reactor 4 of Fukushima nuclear plant, says Japanese PM
Spent fuel rods containing radioactive material may have burned in Tuesday's fire at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant -- causing a spike in radiation levels, the plant's owner said.
The blaze started Tuesday morning but was later extinguished, Tokyo Electric Power Company said. It was unclear how much radioactive material may have been emitted, or what kind of health threat that could pose.
Even as reports began circulating around the globe about a spike in radiation levels at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear park, leading to fears that a meltdown in the reactors may have begun, the plant's owners have offered another explanation. Spent fuel rods, which are radioactive and still lying in a pool adjoining a nuclear reactor at the park, may have burned in a blaze noticed on Tuesday and were responsible for the radiation spike, the Tokyo Electric Power Co said.
...
More than 200 tons of spent nuclear fuel is stored in pools adjacent to the reactors. Those cooling pools depend on continually circulating water to keep the fuel rods from catching fire. Without power to circulate the water, the rods would heat up and the water boil away leaving the fuel rods exposed to air.
Earlier, an aerial photograph of the Fukushima complex appeared to show that the spent fuel pool was steaming hot, indicating that the water was boiling off, outside experts had said.
Japanese officials had earlier informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that radioactivity was "being released directly into the atmosphere" during the fire, according to an IAEA statement.
French nuclear agency now rates Japan accident at 6
France's ASN nuclear safety authority said on Tuesday the nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi plant could now be classed as level six out of an international scale of one to seven.
Fears that America could be hit by the nuclear fallout from the Japan earthquake have dramatically increased as workers prepared to abandon a reactor crippled by the earthquake and tsunami last night in the face of what is set to become the world's second worst nuclear disaster - topped only by Chernobyl.
Damage at the number two reactor at the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power complex is worse than thought, the Japanese government admitted tonight, sparking fears for human health both in Japan and the U.S.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has admitted it is 'quite possible' the fallout could reach America.
NUKE CRISIS ESCALATES: Fuel Rods In Reactors 4, 5, And 6 Exposed; Four Reactors Have Core Damage
UPDATE 12:36: Now the EU Energy Commissioner responsible for the earlier catastrophe comment says he did not say a catastrophe was going to happen, rather that it was his fear.
IAEA has denied the situation is "out of control," via CNBC.
UPDATE 11:55: Fuel rods in reactors 4, 5, and 6 are now exposed and four reactor units have core damage, according to the IAEA (via Bloomberg).
The EU energy minister responsible for the earlier comments claims he got his information from the EU, IAEA, Japan, and media reports.
UPDATE 11:01 Horrible headline crossing the wires via RanSquawk: EU ENERGY CHIEF SAYS POSSIBLE CATASTROPHIC EVENT IN NEXT HOURS.
He's also -- and this is via Dow Jones -- calling the situation "out of control"
The market briefly got hammered by this but has already recovered.