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Fukushima Burning: Anatomy of a Nuclear Disaster　May. 22, 2011 - Nov. 30, -0001
The May/June edition of Australian magazine Physician Life features a lengthy report on the Fukushima crisis by Melbourne-based nuclear radiologist Dr. Peter Karamoskos. What happens when a nuclear reactor overheats?

When nuclear cores overheat due to a lack of water coolant, they ultimately melt. Remaining water quickly turns to steam preventing replenishment of the water and endangering the integrity of the pressure vessel. Furthermore, the reactor pressure vessel may also melt leaking the melted fuel which may escape into the environment if the primary and secondary containment structures (concrete) have been damaged. Spent fuel is kept at around 25 degrees in cooling ponds for a few decades. The water must be continually replenished to maintain this temperature. If there is a loss of water or a failure of replenishment, the spent fuel will overheat and catch fire, releasing its radiotoxic contents. Note that the longer fuel is irradiated in the reactor core, the more radioactive it becomes due to the build-up of fission by-products which also contaminate the fuel limiting its usable life. Only about 1-2% of the uranium in fuel rods is actually used up in a reactor. It is these fission by-products that pose the greatest immediate danger if released into the environment. Radioactive fallout and its health effects the greatest health threat are Cesium-137 (half-life 30 years) and Iodine-131 (half- life 8 days). Iodine-131 is a beta emitter and is absorbed into the blood stream through inhalation and ingestion and concentrated by the thyroid gland where it is highly carcinogenic, predominantly in young people under 18 years of age. Cesium is a gamma and beta emitter. It is also absorbed by the body through the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts and subsequently into the bloodstream and deposited throughout the body. Cesium takes between 10 days and 100 days for half of it to be excreted from the body so there is significant hazard once it is absorbed. Unlike I-131 therefore which loses most of its potential for harm in a few months, cesium remains hazardous in the environment for several hundred years. How long will it take to resolve the crisis? If the plant is able to be brought under control, it will take more than 30 years to decommission the reactors and decontaminate the site and will cost “more than 12 billion dollars.” Of course, that is not the upper limit of liability for the beleaguered Japanese taxpayer Bank of America-Merrill Lynch has estimated an upper bound of $130bn for the Fukushima disaster alone in liabilities and economic losses. The decommissioning effort alone will likely bankrupt the operator TEPCO resulting in a knock-on massive liability for Japanese taxpayers. Unlike the case with all nuclear power generated around the world, where operators refuse to generate electricity unless most of their liabilities are capped in the event of a major accident, the 1961 Act on Compensation for Nuclear Damage places no cap on damages. However, if the company is bankrupted, this liability transfers to the taxpayers. After this disaster, the Japanese tax-payers will realise that it is they, not the nuclear power companies, who need protection. japanfocus.org

Observations of Fallout from the Fukushima Reactor Accident in San Francisco Bay Area Rainwater
Eric B. Norman, Christopher T. Angell and Perry A. Chodash
Department of Nuclear Engineering University of California Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Abstract
We have observed fallout from the recent Fukushima Dai-ichi reactor accident in
samples of rainwater collected in the San Francisco Bay area. Gamma ray spectra
measured from these samples show clear evidence of fission products – 131,132I,
132Te, and 134,137Cs. The activity levels we have measured for these isotopes are
very low and pose no health risk to the public.

We have observed fallout from the recent Fukushima Dai-ichi reactor accident in samples of rainwater collected in the San Francisco Bay area. Gamma ray spectra measured from these samples show clear evidence of fission products - 131,132I, 132Te, and 134,137Cs. The activity levels we have measured for these isotopes are very low and pose no health risk to the public. The rainwater spectrum shown in Figure 1(a) clearly shows the presence of 131,132I, 132Te, and 134,137Cs. These are relatively volatile fission fragments produced with large ***ulative yields from the fission of 235U and 239Pu (3). The half-lives (2) of 132Te (3.26 days) and 131I (8.04 days) are sufficiently short in order for them to present now, that they must have been released from the reactor core(s) rather than from spent fuel repositories. arxiv.org

MAY 25, 2011 All Things Nuclear Insights on Science and Security

Fukushima Dai-Ichi Unit 3: The First 80 Minutes Fukushima Dai-Ichi Unit 2: The First 60 Minutes Fukushima Dai-Ichi Unit 1: The First 30 Minutes allthingsnuclear.org

Hi Bobby1 Yes, a good amount of salt is required when drinking this kool-aid, my interest is in the statement they make that the fission products must have leaked from the reactor core not the SFP which begs the question WHICH REACTOR CORE 1 - 2 - 3 or 4?

Fukushima Dai-Ichi Unit 3: The First 80 Minutes David Lochbaum Director, Nuclear Safety Project Key aspects from the first 80 minutes on Unit 3 are detailed below. www.ucsusa.org

This is a map of radiation levels determined by hand held dosimeters in Ibaraki Prefecture on May 11. www.pref.ibaraki.jp

The following are measurements of radiation levels at points around the US. radiationreadings.tumblr.com

Medford, Oregon 0.1166 uSv/hr
Brookings, Oregon 0.08 uSv/hr
Kentucky 0.2033 µSv/hr
Chicago, Illinois 0.11 uSv/hr
Pacific City, Oregon 0.1262 uSv/hr
Michigan .2266 uSv/hr
Westminster, Colorado 0.143 µSv/hr

As you can see, the US readings are comparable to those in Ibaraki Prefecture, which is immediately south of Fukushima Prefecture, along the coast.

Looking at the current reactor stats, if TEPCO can continue to hold things together there for another month, they will probably get past this crisis. By then all the corium will have melted, the radioactivity will have been washed out of the Drywell's, and they will be left with empty reactor's, which will start cooling off. The damage has been done to the environment. Basically TEPCO has dropped 4 atomic bombs on it's homeland, and the GoJ is telling the Japanese people to ignore that fact !!!!

@wtm Any local temporary criticalities will heat the corium up again. This is probably happening occasionally.

New TEPCO analysis shows 94% of nuclear fuel melted in Reactor No. 3
www.world-nuclear-news.org

Leaving for the weekend. Take care all.

@wtm Yes, I agree with the 4 bomb comparison, but I don't believe that the corium will travel through the concrete.

@Reed, No you are correct, unless it melts through ? But at some point, it may slow/stop it's melting and cool off ? However, all the radioactivity in the reactor will slowly be washed out by all the water that they are injecting, and which is constantly leaking into parts unknown ?? The CAMS stats show that the readings are slowly coming down in there. Most of the rods will have melted off, and through, leaving nothing to go critical inside the units.

West LA live radiation monitor. Just watched him calibrate, now they are measuring air, They put a note up saying St Louis, MO - 62xbackground (this was probably the hail Dutch measured) www.ustream.tv

here...use this...I posted it. houseoffoust.com

@Ian The clamps tighten...

UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation Interim report on the Japanese earthquake and tsunami: Implications for the UK nuclear industry: www.hse.gov.uk

@elainekirk I'll work on it. I've been working out latest readings on the Reactor pages. Onlt 5 and 6 done, as they were the simplest. Check them out: houseoffoust.com