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Snap analysis: Japan may have hours to prevent nuclear meltdown

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sasha031 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-11-11 08:11 PM
Original message
Snap analysis: Japan may have hours to prevent nuclear meltdown
) - Japanese officials may only have hours to cool reactors that have been disabled by Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami or face a nuclear meltdown.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) (9501.T) is racing to cool down the reactor core after a highly unusual "station blackout" -- the total loss of power necessary to keep water circulating through the plant to prevent overheating.Daiichi Units 1, 2 and 3 reactors shut down automatically at 2:46 p.m. local time due to the earthquake. But about an hour later, the on-site diesel back-up generators also shut, leaving the reactors without alternating current (AC) power.
That caused Tepco to declare an emergency and the government to evacuate thousands of people from near the plant. Such a blackout is "one of the most serious conditions that can affect a nuclear plant," according to experts at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a U.S. based nuclear watchdog group.

If all AC power is lost, the options to cool the core are limited," the group warned.
TEPCO also said it has lost ability to control pressure at some of the reactors at its Daini plant nearby.
The reactors at Fukushima can operate without AC power because they are steam-driven and therefore do not require electric pumps, but the reactors do require direct current (DC) power from batteries for its valves and controls to function.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/us-japan-quake-nuclear-us-analysis-idUSTRE72B04C20110312
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jpak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-11-11 08:13 PM
Response to Original message
1. I was just about to post this
not good
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sasha031 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-11-11 08:14 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. update
8:59am
With a state of emergency declared at another nuclear reactor, there are now five reactors under a state of emergency - two at Fukushima No.1 plant, and three at the nearby Fukushima No.2 plant.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/asia/live-blog-japan-ea...
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AtheistCrusader Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-11-11 08:31 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. I think you should post more threads.
Never stop posting.
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jpak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-11-11 08:35 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. OK
:hi:
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AtheistCrusader Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-11-11 08:30 PM
Response to Original message
3. Quite possibly the most idiotic synopsis I've seen.
That last sentence makes NO SENSE AT ALL.

Also, the reactors are generating less and less heat as the hours go on, since the cores are scrammed.
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