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@Jo Lindien OK :)

@george - how many people on here just now

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From the Washington Post article someone just posted below. I knew there were penetrations through the reactor vessel for the control rods and instruments, but did not know about "graphite stoppers" for those holes.

"...Unlike in newer reactor designs, the older boiling water reactors at Daiichi are pierced by dozens of holes in the bottom of their reactor vessels. Each hole allows one control rod — made of a neutron-absorbing material that quickly stops nuclear fission inside the reactor — to slide into the reactor from below, as happened when the earthquake shook the plant March 11. During normal operations, a graphite stopper covers each hole, sealing in highly radioactive primary cooling water, said Arnie Gundersen, a consultant at Fairewinds Associates with 40 years of experience overseeing boiling water reactors.

But at temperatures above 350 degrees Fahrenheit, the graphite stoppers begin to melt.

“Since it is likely that rubble from the broken fuel rods . . . is collecting at the bottom of the reactor, the seals are being damaged by high temperature or high radiation,” Gundersen said. As the graphite seals fail, water in the reactor will leak into a network of pipes in the containment buildings surrounding each reactor — the very buildings that have been heavily damaged by explosions. Gundersen said that this piping is probably compromised, leaving highly radioactive water to seep from the reactor vessels into broken pipes — and from there into the turbine buildings and beyond. ..." Is this new information to you guys too?

@NervousinNJ Check this atmospheric dispersion model www.weatheronline.co.uk

@Tenzing, I posted a still shot of video someone posted recently. It showed a tight stream of steam coming out of something on the top of #3. They thought it was the reactor area. Can't tell but it was dark and towards the middle. Seemed like something other than the fuel pool and with some pressure behind it.

@Sky New to me thanks.

Japan just hit by another quake; small tsunami alert.
www.google.com

@gumba Becquels (bq) and Curies (Ci) measure the same thing, that is the number of nuclei emmissions per unit time. With Bq it's the number of nuclei that emit particles or a photon(s) of energy per second, so the numbers tend to be rather large. There's a conversion to Curies and you can look that up. Sieverts and Grays are more nebulous and involve exposures to organic tissue. While Grays and Sieverts can practically be used interchangably. It's very difficult to correlate emitted radiation with physiological effects. I've noticed the reports we are getting are very confusing in that they are giving readings in the field in Sv/t , but giving out the readings for liquids in Bq. (No time needed, it's already in seconds.) That's about all I know. I only minored in physics.

@Bobby - I saw that earlier, but must confess I don't really understand it. I was never too concerned about the radiation levels in the air here on the East Coast, and consequently never thought much about radiation in out water. But now I'm concerned.

@NervousinNJ It would be more a problem for the west coast, and food from there.

@you Oh forgot, with Bq you have to give a volume of sample, like liters, cubic centimeter (cc) (ml), etc.

@Hank the worrying item in that report is/was the Cl38

@Maureen Burke Thanks. Amazing sentence in there: "A TEPCO spokesperson declined to elaborate on his health condition, but said he did not fall over or need to be hooked up to an intravenous drip."

@es Such compassion.

I should imagine straight after the tsunami there would be no special suits, no respirators, or masks & lucky to find any people.

@Tenzing: new Tepco shot; no more smoke, only a few (not at all ?) steam

Second hand info from a friend of mine who works for Wackenhut at Turkey Point. 2 days ago they sent out a Emergencyc Response Kit to Japan. He had no info of what the kit contains except for some 'top notch' suits.

Anyone who what such a kit would entail?

@Jo Lindien it looks like there is a little smoke but its reduced quite a bit.