Claims are being made that the situation at Fukushima is starting to improve, but there is no actual evidence of this. We probably (but not certainly) passed the point where nuclear fuel is likely to accumulate in such a way as to cause a major fission event or explosion, but there is still sufficient heat to cause, apparently, water to split into hydrogen and oxygen, or at least, there is concern of this possibility. (Hydrogen explosions have already occurred here early on in the crisis, and there is concern that this may happen again.) All of the basic safety systems are still not working, and radioactive releases to both the sea and the air continue to happen, and notably, to happen with no clear explanation that might give us an indication that engineers have the most basic information about what is going on here.
Either fission continues or very high levels of radiation are occurring in reactors 1,2 and 3, indicated by temperatures well above "cold shutdown" levels in the pressure vessels. There may be fission occurring in the spent fuel pool of Rector 4.
There is still "smoke" of unknown composition and meaning coming from units 2 and 3, and now it is also coming from Unit 4. They are still working on getting electricity and water lines in place. The IAEA has started to use the phrase "...there are early signs of recovery in some functions, such as electrical power and instrumentation" in introducing their reports. They do not explicitly state what those signs are.
Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
Either fission continues or very high levels of radiation are occurring in reactors 1,2 and 3, indicated by temperatures well above "cold shutdown" levels in the pressure vessels. There may be fission occurring in the spent fuel pool of Rector 4.
There is still "smoke" of unknown composition and meaning coming from units 2 and 3, and now it is also coming from Unit 4. They are still working on getting electricity and water lines in place. The IAEA has started to use the phrase "...there are early signs of recovery in some functions, such as electrical power and instrumentation" in introducing their reports. They do not explicitly state what those signs are.
Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...