Hi Paul, with all the Doomsday Predictions, hysteria, and
general
 misinformation we are getting on the news, I found a much
better
 source at MIT School of Nuclear Engineering. Their Web
Site also being
 updated as new events occur.

 http://mitnse.com/

 Joel

 Yes that is a very good site. I agree.

 Paul Lamar



 Paul,  Joel

 I agree as well but MIT is not getting all the news. TEPCO
has a history
 of covering up incidents.
 #1and #2 were designed by GE about the time USA started
their
 moratorium.  #3 is a Toshiba design and number 4 was
designed by my
 friend and co founder of our Institute. Mitsuhiko
Tanaka.  He quit 30
 years ago because Hitachi installed a known defective
pressure vessel in
 another south west Japan.

 According to him, at least one reactor will melt down but
he is not at
 all convinced the concrete bunker will contain the
pressure. Hydrogen
 migrates through concrete.  Like Chernobyl and 3
mile, a hydrogen bubble
 will form in the concrete shell.   They
will have to vent it off into
 the environment or risk an catastrophic
explosion.   1 - 3 were using
 MOX fuel.  A mix containing high percent of hot plutonium.  Highly
 toxic.
 At this moment the control rooms have been evacuated
because the
 radiation levels are dangerously high.

 Number 4 reactor is a different matter.  It is
vacant.  It was down for
 maintenance and most of the spent fuel rods are out of the
reactor and
 in a cooling pool.  Most of the water sloshed out of
the ten meter deep
 pool during the earth quake.  The spent fuel rods are
still plenty hot,
 but what's worse is there are lots of them in an
environment with just a
 roof over them.  The water sources were limited and
cooling the hot
 reactors were the priority.

 Evacuation zone is now a 30km and if the winds shift
south, which they
 normally are in the winter, Tokyo comes under risk. News gets worse and
 worse.

 Tomorrow I'm building a jig to hold my engine mount.


 Doug in Japan

 They could drop a small GPS guided bomb on the roof and
break through to the
 swimming pool. Then water bomb the pool with a 747. The
jet will not spend
 enough time over the site to get radiated.

 I don't think the Seawind will be done in time to escape.
Better to take
 a vacation now and fly out of Osaka. Hoard gasoline for a
few days and
 you can make it in Mishiwa's car. It is only about 300
miles.
 China Eastern for about $550 to LAX. Robin rented the
hangar upstairs
 apartment to a nurse unfortunately.

 Paul Lamar


Dropping just the right sized bomb to blow the roof open,
but not damage the reactor or accessory equipment? Seems tricky. Maybe not.

The MIT data shows there will be significant ongoing heat
rejection.  For weeks or months.  They need a long
term supply of flowing water.  It doesn't seem that
firefighting equipment is going to cut it.

Surely they're looking at an end game.  Making
arrangements to stage resources.  I know the
infrastructure is damaged.  The firefighting has to be
a stop gap part of a plan.

Remotely operated heavy equipment?


 Matt



Tsunami is spelled with a Capital "T"

This web page allows you to see the Tsunami damage caused by moving the vertical line left or right on the picture with your mouse.  WOW!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html

Joel