Sunday, March 13, 2011

Explosion at Fukushima 3 Nuclear Power Plant ... Which Used Plutonium



Japan's biggest news service - Nikkei - reports:

An explosion hit the Daiichi No. 3 nuclear plant in Fukushima Monday.

Here is footage:

And here is a before and after photo of number 3 from Japanese television station NHK:

AP/Huffington Post reports:

Japan's chief cabinet secretary says a hydrogen explosion has occurred at Unit 3 of Japan's stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. The blast was similar to an earlier one at a different unit of the facility.

Yukio Edano says people within a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius were ordered inside following Monday's. AP journalists felt the explosion 30 miles (50 kilometers) away.

This looks worse than yesterday's explosion at the number 1 reactor.

BBC points out that a meltdown at number 3 could be more serious than number 1, because number 3 uses plutonium as well as uranium:

The plant’s operator says pressure is rising inside reactor No. 3 after it lost its emergency cooling system.

A similar problem led to a blast at the plant’s No. 1 reactor on Saturday. …

But the BBC’s Chris Hogg in Tokyo says the second reactor is a different type which uses MOX (plutonium plus uranium) fuel and the consequences of a problem there are potentially more severe.

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2 comments:

  1. Majia's BlogMarch 13, 2011 at 9:47 PM

    Sunday, March 13, 2011
    Reuters: Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor No. 3 Explosion

    Reuters is reporting that the Japanese authorities would not confirm or not whether the hydrogen explosion had led to an uncontrolled leak of radiation.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/14/us-japan-quake-explosion-idUSTRE72D0GZ20110314

    It seems pretty fricken obvious to me that if they aren't confirming it, the reason is that the answer is YES.

    Now the NYT is reporting:
    Military Crew Said to Be Exposed to Radiation, but Officials Call Risk in U.S. Slight
    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/world/asia/14plume.html?_r=1

    Is there any way of knowing whether or not we on the west coast will indeed be exposed to radiation levels that are at all risky, particularly for kids?

    This appears to be playing out just like the Gulf drama. Propaganda is used to appease the public while authorities lie about the scope of the disaster.

    I don't mean to fear monger but I have friends who were affected by the Chernobyl disaster (lived in Poland at the time) and I want to protect my kids from any possible risks of excess radiation...

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 14, 2011 at 4:44 AM

    Do you guys think doomsday is coming soon?

    ReplyDelete

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