Japanese Reactor Container Breached

As the crisis continues with Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a variety of STRATFOR nuclear science and engineering sources said Japanese government statements that the troubled Unit 1 reactor container has not been breached are highly dubious. Reports of iodine and cesium outside of the plant indicate that the reactor’s containment structure has been breached.

Iodine is in the fuel pins and cesium is a particulate, meaning there are heavy particles in the air, which are basically radioactive dust. Cesium 137, which Yomiuri Shimbun reports has been discovered in the surrounding area, is probably a product of the nuclear fission process and a strong demonstration of severe damage to the nuclear reactor’s core. The fact that the government has prepared a series of iodine treatments for locals in the vicinity of the nuclear plants suggests it is anticipating the need to prevent iodine exposure.

Meanwhile 90 people were reported as possibly exposed to radiation, including 30 refugees from the area and 60 people on staff at Futaba hospital. Sources suspect that Japan has already undergone “clad failure” (when zirconium in the rods reacts with water) leading to a violent exothermic reaction. This produces large quantities of hydrogen. The March 12 blast was probably caused by a combined steam and hydrogen explosion. The explosion may have destroyed the containment structure in the reactor vessel. This raises the distinct possibility that the core will gain heat to the point that it will melt through the reactor at the bottom of the reactor vessel. While there remain too many uncertainties to make reliable forecasts, the disaster has clearly escalated to a high level. Critical questions will be whether the radiation count rises above 1000 millirems per hour and whether winds should change direction to blow radiation from the north into Tokyo.

www.stratfor.com...

I am pasting this information in every thread I feel it is relevant. As I am currently unable to create a thread of my own please excuse the repetition. I feel this information is possibly of great importance and so wish to promulgate it rapidly:

Q. Would ingestion of iodized, common table salt be effective in a nuclear accident if KI pills are not available?

A. The daily dose of potassium iodide (KI) for thyroid blocking is 130 mg per day for up to two weeks. This equates to 96 mg of iodine (I). Iodized salt contains about 0.085 mg of KI per gram of salt (according to the Morton Salt Company). To get the I equivalent of a 130 mg KI pill would require the ingestion of 1,529 grams of salt which would most likely be fatal. According to research by Health Physicist Ken Miller, Hershey Medical Center,

a person can get a blocking dose of iodine by painting 8 ml of either tincture of iodine or providone iodine (betadine) scrub on the forearm daily

. William Kirk, PhD, CHP Pennsylvania Bureau of Radiation Protection

LINK

PLEASE PASS THIS INFORMATION TO YOUR FRIENDS ON THE WEST COAST AND CONTACTS IN JAPAN

This is a pretty sharp contrast to what most are saying right now....Stratfor tends to be pretty right on though.....

I keep posting this in all reactor threads only because I want to make sure everyone gets that some are saying this is not serious. Personally I don't believe that.

Just watched CNN and they had two separate "officials" on at different times who said they were 100% certain that this is a non issue. One guy as from the university of Georgia and another was from some other institution I didn't catch.
That this whole idea about melt down is being WAY over blown.
Now when I watched Bill Nye on CNN he had a much different opinion.

Personally whenever I hear a guy downplaying potentially serious situations like that I almost immediately think to myself. Government SHILL.
One guy mentioned that the only reason to have people move away from the reactor was so that the people could just feel better, that in reality there was absolutely zero threat or reason beyond that to evacuate.

One guy even went so far as to say that getting a CT scan at the hospital would expose you to more than 100 times more radiation than you would get standing for hours at ground zero of the reactor.

Something smells like low tide after a tsunami here and I don't like it. Personally I think these two guys are a bunch of BS.

Does anyone have any idea how much (if any) radiation the United States could get from across the Pacific with something like this?

reply to post by Hardfelt


So in that circumstance, the average 1 ounce bottle of Iodine would last 4 people 1 day,or one person 4 days,
2 people 2 days.etc. Populations in The Northwest (Seattle),West Coast of U.S.A. are (possibly) in path
of (possible contamination). Data of actual (radioactive) release and weather conditions do apply.
But just remember, it does not just "go away" for 30,000 years.

Stay Tuned ....S&F

Well, I'm glad I ordered my radiation pills (potassium iodide) today from Amazon before they all sell out. Then again, radiation may be the least of our problems if that reactor melts through the Earth's crust to the mantle. Then we'll be worry about TEOTWAWKI!!!!!

reply to post by harrytuttle


No way...that can't happen...can it? I've never heard about it being able to burn through the crust.

Originally posted by coldkidc
reply to post by harrytuttle

 

No way...that can't happen...can it? I've never heard about it being able to burn through the crust.

Its a theory...China Syndrome....

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by coldkidc


Enough to make you have to have Thyroid treatment, breast removal, or skin carcinoma, plus prostate and
bladder cancer predominately in males. But you wont realize it until you are in your 60's or so. That is just about
when your Social Security, and medical benefits will run out. Just to let you know .

Educate Yourself. Regards......

There is way too much fearmongering going on in these threads.


I love getting news and real time updates from ATS...but with people freaking out about radiation poisoning in the US or the end of the world...it's really distracting and really making me question the validity of any updates or information coming in about this topic.

Originally posted by MindSpin
There is way too much fearmongering going on in these threads.


I love getting news and real time updates from ATS...but with people freaking out about radiation poisoning in the US or the end of the world...it's really distracting and really making me question the validity of any updates or information coming in about this topic.

Youve got a point, but Stratfor isnt really a news source. They are part of the intelligence community. Governments make decisions based on their information.

Im really fairly surprised this thread isnt getting more attention....it is likely the first 'real' report we've gotten all day

Quick info on Stratfor:

Strategic Forecasting, Inc., more commonly known as STRATFOR, is a global intelligence company founded in 1996 in Austin, Texas by George Friedman who is the founder, chief intelligence officer, and CEO of the company. Fred Burton is STRATFOR's Vice President for Counterterrorism and Corporate Security.

STRATFOR has been cited by media such as CNN, Bloomberg, the Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times and the BBC as an authority on strategic and tactical intelligence issues.[6] Barron's once referred to it as "The Shadow CIA".[7]

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by coldkidc


Your right, its silly, because the crust is burned through daily by Magma Volcano. For a nuclear core to burn down into the crust would be equivalent. The main concern would be groundwater contamination.However, an antimatter experiment could possibly create the conditions
you all speak of. Granted, the odds are remote, but still part of the data.

In the meantime, it can't hurt to have some good girls scout /boy scout skills.

Regards....

reply to post by Wildmanimal


Not only contamination, but hitting ground water (or any water) would likely cause a steam explosion spreading the radiation a lot further.

Originally posted by harrytuttle
Radiation may be the least of our problems if that reactor melts through the Earth's crust to the mantle. Then we'll be worry about TEOTWAWKI!!!!!

The more material the reactor core burns through the more its diluted.
Just burning through the 8 inches of steel in the bottom reactor vessel will cool and dilute the core material to the point its no longer a critical mass and will stop the nuclear reaction. And this is after its been diluted by mixing with all the internal fixtures inside the reactor.
Enough non fuel mixed with the fuel and you no longer have neutron generation.
And since they have already been dumping boron into the reactor it will not take much more dilution to stop the reaction.

I just love the odder BS spread on this site.

The movie China Syndrome was BS and not based on facts like many scare movies.

Originally posted by snowen20


One guy even went so far as to say that getting a CT scan at the hospital would expose you to more than 100 times more radiation than you would get standing for hours at ground zero of the reactor

He is mistaken here.

According to published reports at one point the area around the reactor was giving off 1015 mSv an hour. A full body CT scan would give you about 10 mSv.

Radiation sickness is an acute event and gradual exposure of much higher doses (frationalization) results in a much higher tolerance for radiation.

That being said. from 2000 to 6000 mSv gives you a mortality of 5-50% with medical care. Anything over 6000 mSv will pretty much ensure you a bad death. en.wikipedia.org...

So based on that "EXPERT" two hours at ground zero if its emitting 1015 mSv's would give you a lethal exposure for sure in 6 hours and give you bad odds with say a 3 hour exposure

reply to post by ANNED


Even Chernobyl whos graphite moderated reactor (graphite burnes BTW) and lack of a secondary containment dome did not melt down far enough to get to the water table or leave the lower level of the building.

The BWR reactor we are talking about here has a primary steel containment structure and 4-8 foot secondary containment structure that is made up of prestressed reinforced concrete. Add to the fact they have flooded it with sea water AND injected boron (which basically captures stray neutrons and slows the reaction hence heat) makes unlikely the core will be able to melt its way past the secondary dome.

Originally posted by harrytuttle
Well, I'm glad I ordered my radiation pills (potassium iodide) today from Amazon before they all sell out. Then again, radiation may be the least of our problems if that reactor melts through the Earth's crust to the mantle. Then we'll be worry about TEOTWAWKI!!!!!

My wife did the same this morning.


On Topic:

Stratfor has been very good. Intel services are probably going to be more reliable than MSM sources.

That reactor is melting down as we speak. People are already being exposed to high levels of radiation and the government of Japan + the MSM is essentially keeping people in the dark about it.

reply to post by FredT


This guy, was literally laughing off the whole event as though it were nothing more than a minor case of gingivitis.
He went on and on about what he knows and how silly willy people are for being concerned about it. At the end of the talk the CNN reporter thanked him for setting us straight. LOL

Meanwhile reports contradict everything thing this academic blow hard had to say throughout his whole interview. It is painfully obvious that the facility has suffered at the very least a minor meltdown. The fact that this guy purposely put out false information about radiation levels among other things stinks of government involvement, though he didn't really seem to be a PR guy for Japan, so I don't know what the deal is. Maybe he is just a freaking idiot.