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Guardian Reports Core At Reactor 2 May Have Melted To Concrete Floor, Radioactive Lava Next?

Tyler Durden's picture




 

And another update from Fukushima on its route to the concrete dome, irradiated ground water, and a 100 km "no live zone" from the Guardian:

The radioactive core in a reactor at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power  plant appears to have melted through the bottom of its containment vessel and on to a concrete floor, experts say, raising fears of a major release of radiation at the site.

The warning follows an analysis by a leading US expert of radiation levels at the plant. Readings from reactor two at the site have been made public by the Japanese authorities and Tepco, the utility that operates it.

Richard Lahey, who was head of safety research for boiling-water reactors at General Electric when the company installed the units at Fukushima, told the Guardian workers at the site appeared to have "lost the race" to save the reactor, but said there was no danger of a Chernobyl-style catastrophe.

Workers have been pumping water into three reactors at the stricken plant in a desperate bid to keep the fuel rods from melting down, but the fuel is at least partially exposed in all the reactors.

At least part of the molten core, which includes melted fuel rods and zirconium alloy cladding, seemed to have sunk through the steel "lower head" of the pressure vessel around reactor two, Lahey said.

"The indications we have, from the reactor to radiation readings and the materials they are seeing, suggest that the core has melted through the bottom of the pressure vessel in unit two, and at least some of it is down on the floor of the drywell," Lahey said. "I hope I am wrong, but that is certainly what the evidence is pointing towards."

The good news is that the next step will not be a Chernobyl type explosion, or so the GE expert believes, but a far more "benign" radioactive lava escalation.

The major concern when molten fuel breaches a containment vessel is that it reacts with the concrete floor of the drywell underneath, releasing radioactive gases into the surrounding area. At Fukushima, the drywell has been flooded with seawater, which will cool any molten fuel that escapes from the reactor and reduce the amount of radioactive gas released.

Lahey said: "It won't come out as one big glob; it'll come out like lava, and that is good because it's easier to cool."

The drywell is surrounded by a secondary steel-and-concrete structure designed to keep radioactive material from escaping into the environment. But an earlier hydrogen explosion at the reactor may have damaged this.

So you see: there is no reason to worry, and it is everyone's patriotic duty to BTFD as the "QE3 on - QE3 off" daily speculation reaches a schizophrenic crescendo.

 

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Tue, 03/29/2011 - 22:45 | 1115488 Real Estate Geek
Real Estate Geek's picture

troll.  lots of new names that only talk about HAARP

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:23 | 1114914 willien1derland
willien1derland's picture

So SD are you indicating that TD was being optimistic with a 100 km 'unlivable' Zone - Quick BTFD -

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:31 | 1114198 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

Tourists like to see stuff that spews lava. ANOTHER MONEY MAKER!!

 

CAPITALISME AT IT'S BEST LADIES AND BASTARDS!

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:24 | 1114919 Shell Game
Shell Game's picture

Capitalism? What capitalism?

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:38 | 1114237 Head for the Hills
Head for the Hills's picture

From that side of the world, do they call it a "US  Syndrome" ?

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:38 | 1114262 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

+1

#winning

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:19 | 1114115 SilverRhino
SilverRhino's picture

My only question at this point.   Why do reactors NOT have a tungsten or hafnium carbide bowl over the top of the concrete subfloor to keep it contained? 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:31 | 1114183 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Great question for the future.

Halfnium is a great neutron slayer! It (.7%) has to be removed from zirconium to allow the zircaloy (w/tin addition) tubes to function properly.

And silicon carbide is what my steel melting crucibles are made of!

You have been doing your homework young Jedi!

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:32 | 1114209 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

I think you both need a girlfriend :)

 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:36 | 1114228 SilverRhino
SilverRhino's picture

Got one big guy.   Checked the prices on tungsten and hafnium and answered my question (aka too damned expensive per a bean counter POV)

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:50 | 1114319 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Back off SD... for your information I'm currently dating the Palm sisters.

 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:58 | 1114352 John Law Lives
John Law Lives's picture

Maybe you should meet their sophisticated cousin, Miss Fleshlight.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:19 | 1114441 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

And I had always thought it was Rosie Palm and her five little daughters...

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:46 | 1114566 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

That's Prince Andrews friends terrain!

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:13 | 1114683 Dimeboy
Dimeboy's picture

I got a nice Canadian girl, name's Palmela Sue Handerson .

Shhh, don't tell my wife !

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:14 | 1114885 Hulk
Hulk's picture

Hope you showered the Palm sisters off, cause Leo was dating them before ya...

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:48 | 1114308 ddtuttle
ddtuttle's picture

It is my understanding that a 1" thick tungsten (highest melting point) liner is SOP.  But reactor 1 was built in 1967, so its totally 1950s technology.  Perhaps the tungsten idea came along later?

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:48 | 1114574 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Tungsten is double damn difficult to cast and/or machine. I'm sure no-one thought a meldown could ever get that far so why bother with further redundancy.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:41 | 1114763 Broder_Tuck
Broder_Tuck's picture

Cannot be THAT difficult since Fort Knox is full of the stuff. Probably the nice sophisticated ones where they have mixed gold and tungsten in the bar in the middle. To fool the ultra-sound appearently...

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:44 | 1114777 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Good point!

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:48 | 1114302 etudiant
etudiant's picture

Excellent idea and you'll be happy to know GE thought of it too.

Not sure about the hafnium or tungsten part, those are very costly materials.

However, modern reactors do have a core catcher, an orange squeezer shaped structure within the base of the reactor shell, that acts to separate the core material into non critical fragments as the core melts down.

Fukushima 1 did not have this feature, as it is 40 years old. I do not know whether any of the other reactors in this set are so equipped.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:17 | 1114439 moneymutt
moneymutt's picture

So the lack of orange juicer shaped device at bottom of reactor will cause how much additional havoc...jeeese how hard would have been to think of this when they designed it the first time

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 20:34 | 1115120 Urban Roman
Urban Roman's picture

They need an egg carton or three under the spent fuel pools as well. Fukushima unit 4 was reportedly shut down and fuel removed from the core at the time of the quake. Its destruction was apparently the spent fuel pool catching fire.

And they say the pools have from two to eight reactor-loads of spent fuel, which still contains quite a bit of fissionable material. See 'Burnup' for an explanation.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:12 | 1114751 Triggernometry
Triggernometry's picture

Because tungsten was diverted to ft knox at the time of construction, duh

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 01:18 | 1115976 chumbawamba
chumbawamba's picture

They should use whatever material Karl Denninger's skull is made of.  Nothing can penetrate that dense slug of ignoranium.

I am Chumbawamba.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:23 | 1114146 nantucket
nantucket's picture

i gotta tell ya, i laugh EVERY time i see a sentence end with "bitchez".  i don't know why...it's childish and inappropriate, but I laugh at it.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:36 | 1114232 Bastiat
Bastiat's picture

I always smirk when I read "nantucket" -- I'll never get the limerick out of my head.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:40 | 1114264 Dr. Porkchop
Dr. Porkchop's picture

For the same reason that you still laugh about farts. It's innate.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:49 | 1114318 Sweet Chicken
Sweet Chicken's picture

Me too, it never gets old.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:59 | 1114369 trav7777
trav7777's picture

lol...I am up to 22 junks and going for a new PR

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:08 | 1114396 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

Let's see if I can break that record. Here I go:

 

THE HOLOCAUST DID NOT HAPPEN!

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:12 | 1114422 hambone
hambone's picture

Yawn

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:45 | 1114764 Mark McGoldrick
Mark McGoldrick's picture

-

 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:52 | 1114813 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

yawn x4

And it's DINTY MOORE beef stew dammit (not canned hams)... So get your facts straight! 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:53 | 1114817 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

Junked with love...  =]

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:16 | 1114436 hambone
hambone's picture

duplicate yawn...

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:23 | 1114461 andybev01
andybev01's picture

Tertiary yawn.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:39 | 1115258 chumbawamba
chumbawamba's picture

Teriyaki yawn.

I am Chumbawamba.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:21 | 1114455 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

Nuh uh, Sudden Debt!  My submission:

 

George W. Bush was the BEST President we have ever had!

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:24 | 1114469 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

Damn, I had to go oldschool. You win :)

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:29 | 1114496 cosmictrainwreck
cosmictrainwreck's picture

you dudes are NOT the Fed....manipulation of junks will not work

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 20:36 | 1115124 Urban Roman
Urban Roman's picture

And Reagan was a blithering idiot.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:34 | 1115243 The Limerick King
The Limerick King's picture

You boys are amatuers....watch this junk pile!

 

Our "Trav" is a Zero Hedge great

His genius is simply innate

Always right, never wrong

Teeth are white, dick is long

For his next post I simply can't wait.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:42 | 1115262 chumbawamba
chumbawamba's picture

I got you all beat:

Nigger.

I am Chumbawamba.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 22:40 | 1115466 chumbawamba
chumbawamba's picture

COME ON MOTHER FUCKERS!  I SAID NIGGER!

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 00:59 | 1115946 trav7777
trav7777's picture

You feeble skills are no match for me, boy

BOW THE FUCK DOWN ALL OF YOU

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 01:24 | 1115988 chumbawamba
chumbawamba's picture

No, I think my public exorcism last night worked.  I have defeated nigger!

Nigger is dead!  Long live nigger!

You're welcome.  All y'all niggers.

I am Chumbawamba.

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 03:58 | 1116133 Matte_Black
Matte_Black's picture

We are all niggers now. Please.

We have all been niggers for a long time now already.

Long live the niggers, for they are us.

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 08:40 | 1116414 Husk-Erzulie
Husk-Erzulie's picture

Jimi Hendrix was a Nigger, jESUS cHRIST and Grandma too....

(Lenny!)

Baby was a black sheep. Baby was a whore.
You know she got big. Well, she's gonna get bigger.
Baby got a hand; got a finger on the trigger.
Baby, baby, baby is a rock-and-roll nigger.

Outside of society, that's where I want to be.
Outside of society, they're waitin' for me.

(those who have suffered, understand suffering,
and thereby extend their hand
the storm that brings harm
also makes fertile
blessed is the grass
and herb and the true thorn and light)

I was lost in a valley of pleasure.
I was lost in the infinite sea.
I was lost, and measure for measure,
love spewed from the heart of me.
I was lost, and the cost,
and the cost didn't matter to me.
I was lost, and the cost
was to be outside society.

Jimi Hendrix was a nigger.
Jesus Christ and Grandma, too.
Jackson Pollock was a nigger.
Nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger,
nigger, nigger, nigger.

-Patti Smith  (love her)

By the way Google won't auto search "nigger".  The nanny search engine protects me from myself, just like the nanny state :-)

(won't do xhamster neither) :-(

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:24 | 1114909 wisefool
wisefool's picture

The NCAA Tournament did not respect the ingenuity (height disadvantaged) of our Japanese comrades. Yet the bammer will pick a bracket anyway.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 23:01 | 1115563 TerraHertz
TerraHertz's picture

Sorry, did you say something?

http://everist.org/archives/links/!_Holocaust_links.txt

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:48 | 1114803 Joeman34
Joeman34's picture

I helped your cause

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:47 | 1115265 10kby2k
10kby2k's picture

Because it was a lame post. I read it 3 times, and besides congratulating yourself I had no idea the point of the post. You are 'off your game' today. There's always tomorrow.

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 08:20 | 1116359 Reptil
Reptil's picture

Your wish is granted. ;-P

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 01:09 | 1115968 chumbawamba
chumbawamba's picture

You're welcome.

I am Chumbawamba.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:32 | 1114213 Ethics Gradient
Ethics Gradient's picture

+>9000

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:36 | 1114238 EscapeKey
EscapeKey's picture

I really don't get'cha. You've got your head screwed on the right way when it comes to peak oil, but the rest of your posts seem to be angrily pointing out this is a doomer site.

What the *BEEP* could be more doomer than peak oil?

For the record, I'm a peak oilist myself, just saying...

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:46 | 1114290 Alienated Serf
Alienated Serf's picture

Peak Oiler sounds better then Oilist...  just sayin.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:59 | 1114368 Jim in MN
Jim in MN's picture

Oilsayer?  Oilsay.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:01 | 1114375 trav7777
trav7777's picture

peak oil needn't be doom; I have clearly said LATOC outcome won't happen.

Again, there are more than 2 possible outcomes folks...we needn't make everything into a false dilemma.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:40 | 1114771 Rusty Shorts
Rusty Shorts's picture

My girlfriend thinks Canola oil is for cooking ... LMAO

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 20:09 | 1115054 serotonindumptruck
serotonindumptruck's picture

I rank canola right up there with rapeseed and mustard. Great stuff if you wanna invest in the energy sink known as biodiesel.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:02 | 1115178 tmosley
tmosley's picture

Canola is actually just a rebranded Rapeseed.  

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 00:21 | 1115854 TerraHertz
TerraHertz's picture

It is... cooking up the global population cull. Along with aspartame, thimerosal, flouridated water, MSG, aluminum cookware, unfermented soy products, and much else.

They could have skipped the nice trade name and just called it rape oil - people would still use it.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:45 | 1114570 the_magician
the_magician's picture

+1.00

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:53 | 1114823 goldfish1
goldfish1's picture

Bad newz...say it ain't so beavis.

Look here...just in time for tomorrow: A recent discovery that plutonium might* be good for you.

http://opinion.financialpost.com/2011/03/28/lawrence-solomon-plutonium-f...

“These statistics indicate the likelihood that low doses of alpha-particle radiation protected against and reduced the incidence of lung cancer relative to the controls,” reported the researchers, based at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, one of the Department of Energy’s 10 national laboratories.

Buy the fukking pharmaceuticals, bitchez.

*Don't try this at home.Other cancers not included in guarantee.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:52 | 1115007 Chumbadumba
Chumbadumba's picture

OH LOOK IT'S DOUCHE RACIST TRAV, WE Are EXPECTING YOU TO GIVE US ALL THE INFO WE NEED OH GREAT MORON!

LOLOLOL I AM CHUMBADUMBA!!

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 15:55 | 1113986 HelluvaEngineer
Wed, 03/30/2011 - 00:27 | 1115875 TerraHertz
TerraHertz's picture

Have a bucketfull of lava, bitchez!

http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=680

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 15:56 | 1113987 redpill
redpill's picture

And now they are stuck trying to figure out what to do with tons of radioactive water before they can even get back to the reactors.  What a clusterfuck.

 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:03 | 1114017 umop episdn
umop episdn's picture

Dropping radioactive molten metal into radioactive water might take care of the problem. Or not. 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:33 | 1114744 BigJim
BigJim's picture

I assume the radioactive lava is still generating heat, even if it is submersed... and the water underneath the reactor isn't being circulated, and thus is rising in temperature. What's stopping it turning to steam and either venting off (and thus drying out, exposing the lava again), or exploding if there's no easy route of escape?

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:03 | 1114018 Logans_Run
Logans_Run's picture

RP, don't you mean crustafuck? Like Faw raw raw raw raw in Christmas Story?

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:06 | 1114042 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

I still say that nuclear power can be dangerous. Put on your coat and galoshes before you enter the facility and don't shoot your eye out!

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:42 | 1114272 Dr. Porkchop
Dr. Porkchop's picture

My Eyes! Ze goggles do nothing!

 

It's going to be like watching your kid play with a play-doh fun factory, except the label definitely doesn't say non-toxic!

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:10 | 1114405 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

did your kids ever made you eat a play-doh cake?

YOU'LL SHIT BRICKS FOR A MONTH!!!

 

thrust me...

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:22 | 1114138 KickIce
KickIce's picture

It'll melt your eye out, along with everything else attached...

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:29 | 1114186 KickIce
KickIce's picture

It'll melt your eye out, along with everything else attached...

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:15 | 1114089 pvmuse
pvmuse's picture

I don't think they are going back. I believe they have pretty much just been sitting back and watching this whole thing unfold from the beginning. I heard from someone that they wanted to abandon the whole thing on day three, and actually did pull everyone off the site. They only went back with a skeleton crew, when the Japanese government demanded they do so. They have called a few French people for some ideas, but I don't think really anything at all is being done at the reactors anymore. This is just going to burn slowly, with large radioactive lava mounds forming for years.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:58 | 1114350 msamour
msamour's picture

Let's not forget the radioactive salt that was created by pouring seawater on the reactors. I'd say dozens of tons of radioactive salt is a major problem.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 20:05 | 1115034 fuu
fuu's picture

Someone will package it and label it "Iodized Sea Salt" and Wholefoods will have a BOGO at $8.99.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 20:14 | 1115067 serotonindumptruck
serotonindumptruck's picture

And the USDA will label it "Certified Organic", and claim that it is a natural alternative to traditional cancer therapies.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 22:38 | 1115454 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

Rush Limbaugh Show will have advertisements for Fukushima Sea Salt, as endorsed by head cunt, Ann Coulter, every 10 minutes.

Cunt is one of the best profane words. I don't know why.

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 01:00 | 1115951 trav7777
trav7777's picture

it's because women hate it

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 00:34 | 1115894 TerraHertz
TerraHertz's picture

Has anyone checked ebay for sales of 'picturesque sea frontage property in Japan' going for surprisingly low buy-it-now?

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 15:59 | 1113990 alien-IQ
alien-IQ's picture

Excellent...it's the "good kind" of reactor core meltdown. Who knew?

Rally on for sure huh?

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:13 | 1114077 hambone
hambone's picture

+! - excellent takeaway

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:58 | 1114834 Judge Judy Scheinlok
Judge Judy Scheinlok's picture

I pity the fool who is cavalier about this. If you happen to be downwind like in the US you should be real concerned.

Unless you don't give a shit about your health. Or maybe you're a terrorist and want nuclear fallout all over the US.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:27 | 1115226 Dr. Richard Head
Dr. Richard Head's picture

a friend of mind was telling me about haiti.  when the devastation hit people were yelling for jesus, not for protection but for jesus to take them off this world...just sayin

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:48 | 1115275 cranky-old-geezer
cranky-old-geezer's picture

If radiation doesn't do us in Bernokio will. Pick your poison. 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:29 | 1114187 Cdad
Cdad's picture

The news was not even out, and some agent of one of the branches of the Ministry of Truth was already spinning the positive side of FUCKING CONTAINMENT BREACH!

Well, there you go Ponzi fans...your world at work.  And the next time some banker tells you a swell story about how housing plunging on its second leg down "is an opportunity", just remember how, in this case, molten, out of control uranium spewing radiation across the world's third largest economy...is good news.

Things are actually so much worse than even I dare to contemplate most days.  There is hardly anything left of us.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:36 | 1114231 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

This nuclear meltdown and catastophe in a massive reactor site with 4500 tons of spent fuel and Mox on-site beat expectations.

It's all about language as art, bitchez.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:51 | 1114320 Cdad
Cdad's picture

And the useless beat goes on at the Ministry of Truth [CNBC]...not missing a beat, subject:  Italy's future growth prospects.  Brilliant.  

On with news about the Apollo IPO pricing....sure!  And next up...news about the hit TV show Mad Men.  Not making this up.  

Just do not look behind the curtain where one nuclear reactor has melted down [in a nice way] which will probably lead to five more reactors melting down in due time.  

Good grief [by which I mean...holy shit, things are bad] 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:12 | 1114413 alien-IQ
alien-IQ's picture

I remember about a year ago or so...I was sitting on the sofa with my niece and watching CNBC. She was talking at the same time CNBC was pumping some shit or another... At that moment I realized that my niece was making more sense than CNBC...she was 3 years old at the time. I haven't watched CNBC since.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:09 | 1114661 Cdad
Cdad's picture

Yeah...I get this response constantly.  It ISN'T about people at the Ministry of Truth [CNBC] being stupid.  Neither do I watch them to become informed.  I follow the dereliction of their duties to determine how far along the American Marxist/Banker party is in destroying America.

When nuclear reactors can go Chernobyl, and the Ministry goes with "Blackrock added to the S&P," I know the "evolution" is pretty far along.

For those of you who do not live in the States, I suspect you have no idea just how far gone America is.  And while some of you may choose to celebrate this fact, the truth is that darkness is approaching all of us.

 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:53 | 1114819 cossack55
cossack55's picture

The dark is my element.  I'm looking forward to some good times.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:09 | 1114872 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

I'm just hoping Mandy D & Erin B (cups) will take the opportunity this week to get into a nice little jello wrestling match on air...

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:49 | 1115283 chumbawamba
chumbawamba's picture

They'll be booking clients on craigslist in cheap motels.  America will replace Thailand as the sex vacation destination because we have a surplus of stupid useless tarts with no skills and tits that will never sag.

I am Chumbawamba.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:32 | 1115236 i-dog
i-dog's picture

"the truth is that darkness is approaching all of us"

Indeed. America was just the "tough nut" to crack ... the rest of the world's governments and dictators were/will be easy for them to "mop up" over the coming 18 months.

This has been a long time in the making and there have been plenty of signposts along the way: 'Atlas Shrugged', '1984', the Georgia Guidestones, and a raft of Hollywood movies, to mention just a few.

Six months ago, I thought "they" could be thwarted by the 50 US states each seceding to starve the federal government (and therefore the Fed and the military) of both funds and authority -- but it seems too late now for even this to be an option.

The Fukushima facility is, in a way, a metaphor for the world as we knew it ... we can watch it melting down and discuss it to death, but we have left it too late to be able to do anything about changing the eventual outcome.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 22:32 | 1115429 Cdad
Cdad's picture

 

Indeed. America was just the "tough nut" to crack

I-dog,

Yep...exactly.  Let them say of us what they will, comment on our arrogance, call us fat, etc.  But for generations now, our economy, our freedom has been the light of the world.  If it is as it seems, and the nut is cracked, and our liberty should fall, then the darkness that others suggest they welcome will be far worse than any is prepared for...and that darkness will also last for generations.

This is the tipping point of which we have been warned.  Our enemies are within the system now, and our immorality has multiplied and spread throughout the nation...in the form of bankers, of all things.  Insert a willing accomplice in DC, and the path of least resistance for us seems pretty clear.

It is true, what you say of Fukushima, how we went ahead like good engineers and entrepreneurs, harnessed the atom and made cheap energy...only to forget that through regulation and crony capitalists, the folks in charge of those plants were very dangerous men, indeed...their principles long since traded in for pay increases and better health care packages.  Considering the who of who is in charge, I rather think my  opinion about nuclear power is irrevocably changed.  

And now, in plain site, the keepers of the atoms, the safety patrols, are in consultation to respond to this crisis here in America...by raising the safe exposure limits on certain radioactive elements.  If that is not a perfect regulatory response to fission out of control, well then we shall never need another response.

Is it too late?  I'm not sure.  The Federal Funding issue directly ahead of us will certainly present a chance at redemption.  The end of QE is another...and perhaps the end of the Federal Reserve Bank.  It is hard to see it just now...I agree...but I wonder, should we fall, who would raise the flag and carry on? I wonder.


Tue, 03/29/2011 - 22:48 | 1115501 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

It really is up in the air, right now.

I sometimes wonder if the 14 to 20 year olds that I see, who seem docile, feminized and obsessed with everything iPad, would ever fight and bleed and die, rather than have what remains of their free will and inalienable rights taken away.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not an old man. But I am older than 20, and I learned that giving or taking a beating is not a very big deal at all if the stakes warrant it.

There are some basic things in this universe that are just too damn important and inalienable to the human spirit to give up no matter what the price or alternative.

And if one finds themself willing to give these things up - these precious few things - then they are already dead.

A great man spoke these words 236 years ago:

 

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the house? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation -- the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer.

Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned -- we have remonstrated -- we have supplicated -- we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free -- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending -- if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained -- we must fight! -- I repeat it, sir, we must fight!! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts, is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak -- unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature has placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come!! I repeat it, sir, let it come!!!

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! -- I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth -- and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 23:33 | 1115671 Milestones
Milestones's picture

Thank you very much for that post; it has been many years since I have read it. It gets better and more meaningful with each read. Again---thank you.       Milestones

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:36 | 1114756 Arkadaba
Arkadaba's picture

CNBC anchor and guest _____ (fill in the blank with any banker, politician or policy wank):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JmA2ClUvUY&feature=player_embedded

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:08 | 1115198 crazyjsmith
crazyjsmith's picture

Classic! The nuclear meltdown has "beat expectations".  You simply can't make this shit up. 

This will certainly hurt the Chernobyl short positions.     

Does this mean we won't need QE3?     

We have all become, comfortably numb. 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:35 | 1114212 greenbear
greenbear's picture

duplicate post

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:34 | 1114215 greenbear
greenbear's picture

+1 Hahaha!!

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:08 | 1114395 duckduckMOOSE
duckduckMOOSE's picture

And, it's "Japanese" radiation! Much more refined, with centuries of culture, than gross, hairy, western radiation.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 23:24 | 1115626 duckduckMOOSE
duckduckMOOSE's picture

And to think, they just could have called Tech Support at the very beginning and none of this would have happened.  Just check the connection from the control room to the reactor  and then "power cycle" both.  It's all in the big tech support manual.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 15:58 | 1113993 OldPhart
OldPhart's picture

With the chain of luck, next event for Japan will be a volcanic eruption once the material melts deep enough.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:58 | 1114367 Manthong
Manthong's picture

The volcano black swan is circling and obscuring the view of the asteroid that is hurtling toward them.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:01 | 1114371 Manthong
Manthong's picture

The volcano black swan is circling and obscuring the view of the asteroid that is hurtling toward them.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 15:58 | 1113995 monkeyfaction
monkeyfaction's picture

You know things are serious when spewing radioactive lava is not the worst thing that could have happened.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:11 | 1115203 crazyjsmith
crazyjsmith's picture

Wow, I am trying really hard to not laugh at that, but it is so hard.  What a truth. 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 15:58 | 1113998 Archimedes
Archimedes's picture

GE has experts?

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:02 | 1114019 tmosley
tmosley's picture

Marketing and political spin experts.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:35 | 1114528 Sabibaby
Sabibaby's picture

Tax experts from the IRS too!

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 23:35 | 1115687 Milestones
Milestones's picture

Good Gawd, don't forget the accounting dept.       Milestones

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:09 | 1114054 Id fight Gandhi
Id fight Gandhi's picture

Tax loophole experts. Best there is.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:10 | 1114069 the not so migh...
the not so mighty maximiza's picture

Becky Quick with her Warren Buffet knee pads

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:28 | 1114189 Sig Sauer
Sig Sauer's picture

to be fair to GE, i think those kneepads now have a comcast logo.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:11 | 1114876 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

They're just doing their thing bringing "Good things to RIFE"

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:01 | 1114001 trav7777
trav7777's picture

at least after the lava flows, it will disperse and cool much more rapidly.  This seals the fate as far as entombment goes.

One might conjecture that a big risk they faced was that the control rods melted or they had other neutron absorption failure, perhaps even the rods got bent and didn't fully insert.  This placed them in a catch .22 where they needed cooling but couldn't inject regular water because that would moderate the reaction and restart fission.  Dunno how much borax they poured in or even had available but the last thing they needed was more heat.

Again, prevention of fire and explosions leading to radionuclide excursion remains their biggest priority.  The reactors are lost.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:06 | 1114030 Threeggg
Threeggg's picture

Trav,

Did you watch the battle for Chernobyl. ? ..............I don't think so. I suggest you do and your post will be rendered useless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiCXb1Nhd1o

You said: "it will disperse and cool much more rapidly"

You are kidding right ?

 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:36 | 1114245 trav7777
trav7777's picture

yeah I have watched it...how does it render my post useless?

Once the lava got out of the core, it cooled more rapidly *because* it dispersed.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:53 | 1114328 A Man without Q...
A Man without Qualities's picture

No, I don't think this is totally correct - I think it was because of the mixture of sand that cooled it... 

In December 1986, an intensely radioactive mass was discovered in the basement of Unit Four and scientists rigged up a crude wheeled camera to investigate. The mass was more than two metres across and weighed hundreds of tons. Because of its odd wrinkled shape, it was christened, "the elephant's foot". To approach it meant certain death.

Analysis of the material showed that it was composed of sand, glass and nuclear fuel, and the proportion of sand suggested to scientists that a large amount of fuel had escaped from the reactor in this form. Underneath the reactor, the investigation team found steaming hot concrete and, draining into the basement, lava and spectacular unknown crystalline forms - Chernobylite.

The findings meant that the risk of a second explosion had receded, but that serious problems remained.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1997/chernobyl/33005.stm

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:06 | 1114388 trav7777
trav7777's picture

um...as the flow disperses it cools more rapidly.  Analog is like how a thin film of water evaporates more quickly than a bucket- surface area.

Now I wanna get a uranium glass table as a conversation piece; maybe a Chernobylite sculpture if it's not a heavy beta emitter lol.  It would lose its freak value if it were anodized

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:49 | 1114578 A Man without Q...
A Man without Qualities's picture

Well, the evidence above -elephant's foot - suggests that the fuel rods melted to create a few massive blobs, and it was actually the additives - sand and lead - that drove the cooling by somehow slowing the process in the same way boric acid would, but it seems this thing was still fucking hot.

The other thing is, this is an exothermic process, where the heat is created by the decay, so the most important thing is not being critical - isn't this a genuine risk, if they cannot get near the larva and it's forming in large pure lumps?

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:02 | 1114634 trav7777
trav7777's picture

I'm not sure how much lead made it into the bottom of Ch4.  A damned sure lot of it went up into the air, adding to contamination.

One problem w/ Ch4 was it was graphite moderated, so it could continue to fission after the explosion.  Just read up on the Hanford reactors from Manhattan; just a big assed cylindrical block of graphite with axial holes drilled through it in which fuel rods went.

You could take off a chunk of it and still have fission ongoing while things burnt.

That's not likely to be occurring here, because molten fuel rods have poor fissile nature due to doppler broadening of U238 (same thing that makes PBMRs not melt down) and there are no neutron moderators when water is gone.

Perhaps the sand at Ch4 made a better flow material...nobody will ever know because that mfer is so off-charts hot that they can't ever get near enough to it to do any real analysis.

Something that should scare EVERYONE to death is not LWRs in Japan; it is the fact that PRK has hanford style graphite moderated reactors for Pu production.  Do you really believe these things are safe?  They could contaminate most of China with an accident there (ok, yeah contaminate it worse), and if you thought the USSR's response was slow...sheeit.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:51 | 1114704 bob_dabolina
bob_dabolina's picture

"Perhaps the sand at Ch4 made a better flow material...nobody will ever know because that mfer is so off-charts hot that they can't ever get near enough to it to do any real analysis."

Funny you should say that.

Here is footage of scientists inside of the Chernobyl sarcophagus (suicide missions; stated in the video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPyrqRczmQ4

....I thought you were an expert or something. Did you not have avail. to these videos during your training?

<sight>

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 18:56 | 1114837 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

Stop. Please.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:00 | 1114847 bob_dabolina
bob_dabolina's picture

fuck you

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:10 | 1114878 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

Why?

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:31 | 1114910 bob_dabolina
bob_dabolina's picture

Don't tell me to stop when I say the truth.

What did you not agree with in my prior post that prompted you to state:

 "stop. please"

The fact that I was right? The fact that I brought information to the table? Or the fact that I refuted someone telling bullshit lies and calling them out (with video evidence)?

 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 20:44 | 1115136 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture
by bob_dabolina
on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:41
#1114259

can all moonbats please jfc stop being all jfc hysterical.

jfc stfu jfc

don't you moonbats travel on delta jfc? eat bananas jfc? drive a car lately jfc? than just stfu

and

....I thought you were an expert or something. Did you not have avail. to these videos during your training?

 

I see folks on this thread making some effort not to be so negative when they are disagreeing. tmosely is not being ugly at all last I saw.

I'm worried about the things you are worried about. I'm afraid that before this whole thing is over there will be a tragic number of casualties. I hate their lies. But the name calling splattering the thread with fecal matter does not get to the heart of the matter at all. And it may chase off people who could learn from reading the exchanges.

I do not intend to offend you.  You appeared to me to be trying to "start" something. I am requesting that you stop, please.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:16 | 1115197 bob_dabolina
bob_dabolina's picture

None of this has to do with the comment I made.

Shut The Fuck Up.

What I said was CORRECT.

If you want to defend trav7777 for making FALSE comments that's cool. But if you want to blow him, do it on a less public venue.

I am a truth speaker here...so again

Shut The Fuck Up

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:22 | 1115220 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

 

 

 

I don't see you or trav making "false comments." I see a debate, many people making good points. We will not know the truth of the situation until it plays out. Why is it necessary to be disrespectful if you are a "truth speaker here?" One does not go with the other.

Why do you need me to Shut The Fuck Up?

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:31 | 1115228 bob_dabolina
bob_dabolina's picture

I don't see you or trav making "false comments."

Well than you are blind. Because he is making false comments. I call him out on them every night (to include the one this argument started)

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 22:11 | 1115367 goldfish1
goldfish1's picture

Am I sensing sexual tension here?

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:02 | 1114856 BigJim
BigJim's picture

Wow. No respirators, no proper suits... not even wearing gloves.

Mindboggling.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:08 | 1114875 Rusty Shorts
Rusty Shorts's picture

HAHAHA, the Russians took the foreign film crew to the wrong building. burrrrp

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:21 | 1115215 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

Hey Rusty! What a heated argument! I can't believe this market action! Complete B.S. FWIW Cherynobyl was a GRAPHITE reactor core. So everyone is right to some degree.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:28 | 1114921 Jay Gould Esq.
Jay Gould Esq.'s picture

Incredible. This is essentially a snuff film, Bob.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 22:42 | 1115403 trav7777
trav7777's picture

idiot...I watched that docu on PBS when it was out.

Being inside the sarcophagus and having direct access to corium flow are two entirely different things.  You can't just walk the fuck up to lava; they used remote cameras and shit on poles to look at it.

Notice how they stick a dosimeter downhole to look at this shit.  The lava was similar to the crap up on the roof, and it would have killed liquidators dead if they had stayed up there for about 2 minutes.  They'd have collapsed and ended up being shoveled overboard.

They can photograph, film, or tape the lava, but it is too radioactively hot for them to just roll up on and fuck with unless they want to die.

You're too desperate now to show me up, bob...maybe you should take a vacation

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 23:18 | 1115598 bob_dabolina
bob_dabolina's picture

"and it would have killed liquidators dead if they had stayed up there for about 2 minutes." It did....hundreds of thousands of people....excuse me; liquidators.

You might want to re-read my quote you piece of shit (and rewatch) the video.

It was a "suicide" mission

You will also notice in the video how it said people died with a swiftness (not the words in the video)

 

Wed, 03/30/2011 - 01:15 | 1115974 trav7777
trav7777's picture

I meant ON THE SPOT, dickfuck.  With shovel in hand.

They were limited to 45s; they made it back down only to have to sit down at best.  They said it felt like vampires had sucked their blood out.  Some spontaneously bled; some collapsed.  From 45 seconds.

Nobody is standing a rad field for 2 minutes straight in close proximity to core material, which is what the lava is and to what I was referring when I said "that mfer."  They can't approach it; they can only use poles and cameras poked around corners or robots.  The entire line of comments is about the LAVA, not the plant.

People can get inside the sarcophagus and crawl around in the bowels a bit, but if they encounter the ghost of the core down there, it will fry them.

Now, seek help.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 17:45 | 1114561 InconvenientCou...
InconvenientCounterParty's picture

The take away isn't the state of the fuel. It's that no matter what state the fuel is in, there needs to be recovery and containment. There also needs to be a fuckload of scrutiny of Tepco's containment plans. If they try something half-assed it could leak. In other words, don't let those f-tards just seal the drywell with concrete. At least make them get good data on what they are dealing with first. Pictures and all. Bring in the roomba already.

 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:23 | 1114152 perchprism
perchprism's picture

 

Number 2 did not blow its roof off because, although they wanted to vent gas (hydrogen, which probably would have led to a huge blast), the vent valve was stuck.   So unlike reactors 1 and 3, there was no humongous explosion, but the pressure got so high that the temperatures likely got too high along with it (pressure/volume/temp). 

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 21:48 | 1115277 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

The tops of containment buildings are designed to blow off on older reactor designs. I know it's kookie. It is what it is. GE placed these reactors in the mid 60's.

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 16:28 | 1114172 Carl Spackler-t...
Carl Spackler-the Creator of Spackler Feather Bent's picture

Only flaw in this argument is that once it tunnels through primary containment vessel, it allows a further reduction in the water level which is what is covering the remaining part of the fuel rods - remember they say this is a partial meltdown.  Considering that the secondary containment has confirmed cracks, this will allow more water to escape.  Now they can continue to try and fill the containment with more water, but that water will hit the uranium slag as it leaks out.  As water hits the slag, it will release larger amounts of hydrogen which can (if not vented vigorously) cause another explosion.

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