Is there a role for nuclear energy?

[Outlaw Yogi]

Toxic plutonium seeping from Japan's nuclear plant
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ ... TE=DEFAULT

TOKYO (AP) -- Highly toxic plutonium is seeping from the damaged nuclear power plant in Japan's tsunami disaster zone into the soil outside, officials said Tuesday, further complicating the delicate operation to stabilize the overheated facility.

Workers succeeded last week in reconnecting some parts of the plant to the power grid. But as they pumped water into units to cool the reactors down, they discovered pools of contaminated water in numerous spots, including the basements of several buildings and in tunnels outside them.

The discovery of plutonium, released from fuel rods only when temperatures are extremely high, confirms the severity of the damage, Nishiyama said.

More Radioactive Water Spills at Japan Nuke Plant
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/03/28-5

Officials believe the contaminated water has sent radioactivity levels soaring at the coastal complex and caused more radiation to seep into soil and seawater.

That has left officials struggling with two sometimes-contradictory efforts: pumping in water to keep the fuel rods cool and pumping out - and then safely storing - contaminated water.

TEPCO officials said Sunday that radiation in leaking water in Unit 2 was 10 million times above normal - a report that sent employees fleeing. But the day ended with officials saying that figure had been miscalculated and the level was actually 100,000 times above normal, still very high but far better than the earlier results.

Radiation in Japan Seawater, Soil May Be Spreading
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/03/28

TOKYO - Workers at Japan's damaged nuclear plant raced to pump out contaminated water suspected of sending radioactivity levels soaring as officials warned Monday that radiation seeping from the complex was spreading to seawater and soil.

[Jovial Monk]

None of which removes the need for a low CO2 emissions energy source. Only 3/4Gen nuke plants provide the level of low emissions energy needed.

[Outlaw Yogi]

JM, no point repeating yourself if you can't address/counter the material posted trashing the concepts you advocate.
Every single claim you've made, I've countered with evidence and/or examples, and you're yet to engage any of the details concerning nuke reactors. You just keep parroting industry hype.

[Outlaw Yogi]

Dangerous Levels of Radioactive Isotope Found 25 Miles From Nuclear Plant
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/world ... .html?_r=1

The isotope, cesium 137, was measured in one village by the International Atomic Energy Agency at a level exceeding the standard that the Soviet Union used as a gauge to recommend abandoning land surrounding the Chernobyl reactor, and at another location not precisely identified by the agency at more than double the Soviet standard.

The international team, using a measure of radioactivity called the becquerel, found as much as 3.7 million becquerels per square meter; the standard used at Chernobyl was 1.48 million.

In another development, seawater near the plant showed significantly higher levels of radioactive iodine than in recent days, Japan’s nuclear safety agency reported Wednesday. In addition, the operator of the plant acknowledged for the first time that at least four of the six reactors at the multibillion-dollar complex would have to be scrapped.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said Wednesday that seawater collected about 300 yards from the Fukushima Daiichi station was found to contain iodine 131 at 3,355 times the safety standard. On Sunday, a test a mile north showed 1,150 times the maximum level, and a test the day before showed 1,250 times the limit in seawater taken from a monitoring station at the plant.

The level of radioactive iodine 131 in the waters off the Daiichi plant continued to increase on Thursday, rising to 4,385 times the statutory limit, Mr. Nishiyama said at a news conference. The increases raise the possibility that contaminants from the plant are continuously leaking into the sea, he said.

The plant’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, acknowledged that it would write off Reactors 1 through 4.

Is Fukushima About To Blow?
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article27229.html

volatile radioactive elements are already being lofted into the jet stream and spread across continents. What's different here is that the quantities are much larger than they were at Chernobyl, thus, the dangers are far greater. According to the same group of scientists "the Fukushima plant has around 1760 tonnes of fresh and used nuclear fuel on site" (while) "the Chernobyl reactor had only 180 tonnes."

Japan PM says stricken nuclear plant to be scrapped
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-wo ... 1cnm0.html

The comments came after the IAEA added its voice to that of Greenpeace, which has warned for several days that residents, especially children and pregnant women, should leave Iitate village.

The IAEA's head of nuclear safety and security, Denis Flory, told reporters in Vienna that radiation levels there had exceeded the criteria for triggering evacuations.

Japan has considered a range of high-tech options -- including covering the explosion-charred reactor buildings with fabric, and bringing in robots to clear irradiated rubble.

A US military barge carrying more fresh water to be pumped into the reactors docked off the plant Thursday, the nuclear safety agency said.

Workers also plan to spray an industrial resin at the plant to trap settled radioactive particles, although plans to start Thursday were delayed because of weather conditions.

[Rainbow Moonlight]

I am against nuclear energy. Liked the clean energy future I saw in a report I linked at some other sites. Why risk nuclear when you don't have to?

[Jovial Monk]

But we do have to.

There are risks, localised risks, but in the meantime emissions just keep increasing—that is the real danger. Stuff like wind, expensive, will never be more than a supplementary source of electricity. Eventually fusion, but there is no date on when fusion will be feasible.

Those Jap reactors, very old technology.

[Outlaw Yogi]

Those Jap reactors, very old technology.

All reactors are just glorified steam engines, and the most expensive method of boiling water ever devised.

[Rainbow Moonlight]

No, i do not think we have to. We have to invest in our wind power and clean up our coal power generation and work on solar and tidal/wave generated energy.

[Outlaw Yogi]

Fukushima beyond point of no return as radioactive core melts through containment vessel
http://www.infowars.com/fukushima-beyon ... nt-vessel/

The battle to save the Fukushima nuclear power plant now appears lost as the radioactive core from Reactor No. 2 has melted through the containment vessel and dropped into the concrete basement of the reactor structure. This is “raising fears of a major release of radiation at the site,” reports The Guardian, which broke the story (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/ma ... ar-reactor). A former General Electric nuclear expert told The Guardian that Japan appears to have “lost the race” to save the reactor.

Japan nuclear crisis: evacuees turned away from shelters
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... lters.html

Hundreds of people evacuated from towns and villages close to the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant are being turned away by medical institutions and emergency shelters as fears of radioactive contagion catch on.

The situation at the plant remains critical, with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency yesterday that radioactive iodine-131 at more than 3,350 times permitted levels has been found in a sample of seawater taken from near the facility.

With experienced engineers close to exhaustion after working around the clock, TEPCO is reportedly offering up to Y400,000 (£2,995) per day for anyone willing to brave the rigours of the plant – with the employees now being described in the media here as modern-day samurai or "suicide squads."

The United States has confirmed that it plans to send robots to the stricken reactor. The robots will work in areas considered too dangerous for human emergency repair teams to operate in.

[Viking King.]

I am against nuclear energy. Liked the clean energy future I saw in a report I linked at some other sites. Why risk nuclear when you don't have to?

There are high risks and low risks with everything regarding energy,
there are likes and dislikes as well,
wind farms, a great way to provide power, but a great number don't like the look of them and so no installation is particular areas, same with solar panels, people don't like the look of them and so no installation,
many don't want nuclear plants but a greater number don't want to use fossil fuels such as coal,
so where do we go?
I am confident that if coal was no longer used for power stations, half the mine workers would be out of work,
that would make Abbott happy wouldn't it.