ScribbleLive

@all Thanks! The thing I love most about this blog is the general quality of the information being discussed. The people of Japan deserve the respect of their government and I feel that they are being dismissed in a big way. Economic interests will be trumped by illness if they don't get it together!

Latest Kyodo update on plutonium in the soil: english.kyodonews.jp

Good info on Plutonium by the World Nuclear Association www.world-nuclear.org

Plutonium metal is difficult to handle and store safely, because it is radioactive and "pyrophoric" meaning it oxidizes and can become very hot when exposed to air. It can ignite nearby flammable materials, causing fires that can result in plutonium exposure of workers and the public. In addition, workers must avoid storing more than a few pounds in close proximity to prevent runaway fission, an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction. Such a reaction’s burst of energy, known as a "criticality event," would not become a nuclear explosion, but could release radiation very dangerous to nearby workers. Such an event can also result in uncontrolled releases of both plutonium and fission products to the environment.

From the link i posted below

@kgriff As radioguy said, they are probably returning to collect valuables because it's not getting any better.

@Matsuoko I am posting the numbers and units from another blog, so take that with a grain of salt.

@VeenOui - Reactor three is MOX, which is mixed oxide, thus the plutonium is allready oxidised, so i dont see how it would be flammable in this context.

@Jim Carver I wish I had a crystal ball, sometimes. Only sometimes. Anyway, according to TEPCO the traces of Pu found in the soil samples are "almost the same" (I wonder what this means) as Pu fallout from past nuclear experiences.

Humanitarian Topic: @Joshua Diamond I was under the impression the basis of science was to investigate that which is nebulous, immeasurable, and unfalsifiable (?) for the purpose of creating a greater understanding of our internal and external environments to the point that what was once unknown becomes known. Furthermore this blog is titled Japan Earthquake LIVE not Everyone Focus on Engineering and Science Only. I think its wonderful that so many scientific minds are calculating the possibilities of what is taking place at Fukushima Plant No. 1 but I must make this point: To what end? How will the explorations and explanations of the hypotheses and theories presented here by the scientific minds truly assist in the crisis at Fukushima Plant No. 1 and why would they have greater value and censorship over other perspectives?

I see IAEA reports on the pressure being stable in the pressure vessels, indicating there is no major breach. How are they able to monitor the pressure in the RPV 's and CV's given the state of the control rooms and monitoring equipment? Same for the water level in the RPV's, is this known?

@all just a thought since Daiini is in the exclusion zone Tepco will eventually have to shut that down permanently as well. This too could be a logistical nightmare as it would likely take years and a lot of manpower and gear. By the time this disaster at Daichi is stable Tepco will be broke and gone, the GoJ will have to take it over, sooner rather than later could be a good thing.

@Jojo i cannot understand the quantities listed ((5.4+-0.62) x 10^-1). there is no unit given. is it Bq ? grams ? could be anything.

If Adamo (IAEA) is saying it's difficult to know what is the right thing to do and what is the wrong thing to do. Every time they try to control one aspect (heat, or emissios) they seem to ignore what the reactor is going to do with their solutions....(leak water, look for a way to release ) On the other hand they may need to start considering what's the lesser of two evils....like instead of trying to control by pumping the tunnel water into non existant containment on site ( with no plan B if that doesn't work) they could chose to transfer the radioactive water completely away to a mid point in the ocean instead of allowing it to release just off shore in fishing grounds. Nobody WANTS to release the material into the ocean...(except the reactor) but if they continue to believe they can keep every aspect of this undercontrol, iof they continue to believe they can protect every indivicual human in the area, well that's only wishful thinking. I think they need to back track to keeping the site workable, and if that means dumping then do it. The alternative is too great an impact locally. What's the alternative- a site too hot to work in? Large releases locally?

@Markfm I get the same feeling. I don't see anything in Kyodo's report that might indicate any level of disclaiming. I think they're still not sure. I believe they actually feared a lot more Pu being traced in the soil... maybe this is not so bad news after all. We have to wait and see.

@Matsuoko I will try to verify but the blog said it was Bq/kg.

@Markfm I hope so. Though I really doubt that Tepco will survive this no matter what the outcome.

@elainekirk -- Regardless of the source (IAEA, Tepco, JAIF), is even possible to measure the pressure and water levels?

@karen- yeah. i know. I was posting about it everyday too, but my group started commenting that I was obsessed. I hadn't shared my "experience" with anyone until here. I feel the need to keep this in the public eye as well- despite people saying I'm nuts. :P

If Daini has the same build as Dai-ichi, there will likely be at least a heck of a lot of remedial action before it will go live again.

Suggest it is more a productive and more useful focus to put our attention on >200,000 homeless, >25,000 killed, massive property destruction, etc. rather than self-pity.