Quake/Tsunami

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by infinite monkey

You can't put too much woman in a nuclear reactor.

That only works with breeder reactors.



I'll be here with a half-life of 12 days, try the boron.

[monster]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

try the boron.

tw? That's not nice!


(I find her guilty)

[glatt]

Originally Posted by infinite monkey

You can't put too much woman in a nuclear reactor.

[tw]

NHK, two years later, continues exposing unreported facts about Fukishima. Latest revelations come from research performed by NHK by 'secretly' obtaining engineering documents.

First, nuclear power plants have passive cooling systems (called isolation condensers) that permit a plant to cool itself passively. No electricity required. But, for reasons that remain unknown and undiscussed, those passive cooling systems were not operational. And those systems had never been tested in 40 years.

Since the system had never been tested, then no one knew what a working cooling system looks like. Management 'assumed' a trace amount of steam meant it was working. When passive cooling works, the noise is quite loud. Steam fills the sky all around the plant. Trace amounts of steam, assumed to be a working cooling system, meant a complete failure.

In both company and an independent investigations, no mention of these passive cooling systems. And yet that alone could have averted the nuclear meltdown in Fukishima Daiche One that occurred within 24 hours. (A meltdown that the company denied for weeks even though it was obvious even to layman in days.)

To keep water in Fukishima 3, fire engines were connected to pump 400 tons of water into the reactor. Operators knew water was leaking elsewhere. And again, company investigations ignore this. So again, NHK did independent investigations. Discovered the leak and why it occurred. Explained why so much water was discovered later in condensors.

A pump, operating not as designed, had leaked 55% of the incoming water, through a tiny 1.5 inch pipe, into the condensors. NHK recorded an Italian laboratory duplicating this failure. Had only 25% of the water leaked, then Fukishima 3 could have been saved. Another fact somehow lost in TEPCO's investigations and another by the government. Another in a long list of facts that NHK discovered 'overlooked' by TEPCO and government investigations.

In the US, identical plants (ie 9 Mile Island) test their passive cooling systems every four years. Have obtained mobile pumps and installed dedicated pipes so that external cooling can be performed directly. These potential weaknesses are not unique to Fukishima. But NHK is demonstrating a serious problem with honesty at the higher levels of TEPCO management. And questionable investigations by Japanese Nuclear Regulators. 85% of all problems ...

Shocking were comments by top TEPCO people who accuse TEPCO employees of having insufficient knowledge of basic concepts. Anyone with any industrial or military experience knows that attitude and knowledge must come from top management. Can management actually blame employees for what is obvious a major management created disaster? Apparently that still is their attitude.

This NHK report is the third in a series exposing lack of clarity or intentionally convoluted reports from TEPCO (whose management created the Fukishima disaster) and from government regulators.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Do you mean 3 mile island, or 9 mile point?

[Griff]

The speedway?

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by tw

... But NHK is demonstrating a serious problem with honesty at the higher levels of TEPCO management...

That's so surprising given the Japanese government's reputation for transparency, candidness, and lack of guile.

[tw]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

That's so surprising given the Japanese government's reputation for transparency, candidness, and lack of guile.

That may be a Japanese attitude. But that clearly was not TEPCO management's attitude. Problems were apparent and discussed here especially on and after 14 March 2011. The Japanese Prime Minster personally stormed into TEPCO headquarters to personally order them to not abandon those plants. After a meltdown was even obvious here, weeks later, TEPCO finally admitted to those meltdowns.

Read that at least one potential Three Mile Island situation had started on 12 Mar 2011 (day after the quake). By 14 Mar, a meltdown was apparent.

In hindsight, Reactor One had already exposed and melted its core when Fukishima Three and Two were following - as discussed here:
Quake/Tsunami

NHK makes government nuclear regulators also look evasive and misleading.

Nine Mile Point (only Unit One) and Fukishima Daichi were similar designs constructed about the same time. Its not the designs that are a problem. Fukishima had a management problem as posts after 11 Mar 2011 demonstrate. NHK's documentaries also demonstrate.

Mismanagement was also the reason for Three Mile Island. A disaster averted only because Pres Carter ordered Denton to discover what was happening. Denton discovered that GPU mismanagement was so gross as to personally take ownership of that plant - without authorization.

People are quick to blame the plant(s) rather than reasons why a problem turns into a major disaster.

[BigV]

Is that a Yo Mama joke?

[ZenGum]

FFF, you forgot to use these.

[sarcasm] [/sarcasm]

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

FFF, you forgot to use these.

I did "air quotes" but I guess no one saw them.

[BigV]

yikes!

[Lamplighter]

The tv news is saying that about 10% of the houses in (Moore ?) Oklahoma have "safe rooms"

It seems to me that with the "tornado alley" reputation of Oklahoma and Red River Valley,
this % is very low, and I wonder if there is a belief that they are too expensive.

Safe rooms can be built to be "usable" in the daily life of the family.
So on a cost per sq ft, this is what FEMA says is average...

Q16. What is the cost of installing a safe room in a new home or small business?

A16. Costs for construction vary across the United States
The cost for constructing a safe room that can double as a master closet,
bathroom, or utility room inside a new home or small business
ranges from approximately $6,600 to $8,700 (in 2011 dollars).
This cost range is applicable to the basic designs in FEMA P-320 (FEMA, 2008a)
for an 8-foot by 8-foot safe room (approximately 64 square feet of protected space).
Larger, more refined designs for greater comfort cost more,
with 14‑foot by 14-foot safe rooms ranging in cost from approximately
$12,000 to $14,300.
The cost of the safe room can vary significantly, depending on the following factors:

* The size of the safe room
* The location of the safe room within the home or small business
* The number of exterior home walls used in the construction of the safe room
* The type of door used
* The type of foundation on which the safe room is constructed
* The location of the home or small business within the United States

Since (unless the Republicans have killed them ) there are federal grants to help pay for construction, state tax credits, etc.

It seems to me that $10/sq ft is a lot less expensive than
the sq footage in the remainder of the house, either new or retrofit.

[glatt]

Yeah, building codes should be changed so that new construction in high risk areas has appropriate safe rooms. This is a failure of local and state government, which are the government entities responsible for building codes. There are lots of easy and inexpensive ways to incorporate a shelter in a new house, such as under the front steps.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by glatt

Yeah, building codes should be changed so that new construction in high risk areas has appropriate safe rooms. This is a failure of top management, which are the government entities responsible for building codes. There are lots of easy and inexpensive ways to incorporate a shelter in a new house, such as under the front steps.