Japan: Third blast strikes nuclear plant as workers struggle to cool reactor

 

Not good. Heard earlier today that US Navy assets in the area providing relieft were avoiding a particular area due to radiation levels they had detected.

 

I've heard some somewhat disturbing information with regards to their nuclear safety from some friends I know who were former nuclear engineers that worked at plants in the US.

The diesel generators did fail to engage and operate, which would have kept the cooling systems online. However, initial reports stated that they were damaged by the tsunami. However, there is a rumor going around that the Japanese plants failed to periodically test their diesel generators, which lead to the fuel becoming contaminated over time (water, etc). When they attempted to start them, they failed immediately. In the US, each plant tests the generators for 1 hour each week.

Also, the operators of the plant failed to engage the boron-injection (where you pump boron into the vessel) when it became clear that cooling attempts were failing. The idea was that such fail safes would render the plant useless and there are cultural issues at play where no one wanted to take responsibility for such a major decision.

I'm sure we'll all find out the story in the months (and years) that follow, but it seems as each day goes by the "its okay! really it is" facade is starting to fall a part. Some of the folks from the US who built the plants are starting to express their feelings and its not so good.

However, I'm still a huge supporter of nuclear energy though