Does Anybody REALLY Know What's Happening?

There are so many conflicting stories coming out of Japan about the condition of the hobbled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Reactor.  It seems so sad that already, various press outlets are spinning the story in any angle that suits their bias!  





Queen Ginger's most credible resource has opined that much of the concern and risk is overblown.  Apparently,  the design of the reactors and their current state pretty much precludes a Chernobyl type meltdown and public disaster.  


But here's one thing that confuses pea-brained Miss Ginger.  This article by CNN  describes the INES Rankings of Nuclear Disasters- sort of a "Richter Scale" of fall out risk, if you will.

The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale -- or INES -- ranks incidents from Level 1, which indicates very little danger to the general population, to Level 7, a "major accident" with a large release of radioactive material and widespread health and environmental effects.

"It's clear we are at Level 6, that's to say we're at a level in between what happened at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl," Andre-Claude Lacoste, president of France's nuclear safety authority, told reporters Tuesday.

The core meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania, in 1979 caused no injuries or deaths, and only low levels of radiation were found later in plants and animals, experts said.

At least 30 people died following the 1986 explosion and fire at Chernobyl, and large swaths of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia were contaminated from the nuclear fallout. Thousands of cases of childhood thyroid cancer resulted, according to Dr. Ira Helfand of Physicians for Social Responsibility, which opposes the use of nuclear power.

It seems to Miss Ginger that there is a pretty large gap between TMI and Chernobyl!




At this point, even experts can't agree on the magnitude of the disaster.  There are articles pointing to suspected cover-ups by the Japanese government. There are articles speculating the risk is greater than we know. 


We do know that most of the dramatic explosions and clouds we have seen on the news are steam. We also know that if the containment systems are intact, this steam should be, for the most part, benign, and no cause for concern.  We also know that the control rods have been inserted successfully in all reactors, allowing the reactor to shut down properly. What we don't know for sure is whether the primary containment systems are intact, and whether there are spent fuel rods outside of an intact containment barrier.  


Miss Ginger also has no idea what the breach of these containment systems would mean.  With the reactors shut down and the control rods in place, is there less risk of radiation leak, even if the containment systems are broken?


Let's get answers and facts, people! Enough speculation! These people have enough on their hands- they don't need us making it worse with inaccurate and sensational information!

Wow.

The pictures coming out of Japan are just horrifying!  It seems that our little Gulf Hurricanes are nothing compared to the power of an earthquake and the resultant tsunami! 


It boggles Miss Ginger's tiny little mind to imagine what devastation like this must look like!  She remembers the damage in the neighborhood after Hurricane Ike, but a hurricane covers much less ground than an earthquake and tsunami!  Oh, the humanity!

Now, it appears some degree of nuclear meltdown is underway.  This link takes you to an alarming depiction of what can happen! 


Now, certainly, Miss G is no nuclear physicist.. as a matter of fact, she had to use the dictionary to spell it...       ...but, there are a few things she understands here, and even more that she doesn't.




First of all, she is aware that this is a completely different type of reactor than the one that cause Russia's devastating Chernobyl disaster,  so hopefully we don't have to fear anything like that.  She also understands at this point that the Japanese company that owns the reactors is willing to sacrifice the unit's future in order to protect the safety of the country and its people- by flooding the core with seawater,  they will render the aging plant useless. Miss Ginger can't help but wonder if an American company would ruin their plant to protect the people? And she is aware that the Japanese plant was of modern design, with all expected safety systems, and was well-managed, well-run,  and considered well-equipped for its situation.


But here's what Miss Ginger can't wrap her tiny drag queen brain around:  If protecting the cooling system is the crucial part of preventing a nuclear meltdown, why can't the plant be designed to be self-sustaining, so it creates the energy it needs to cool itself down?  Obviously, the power grid will be compromised in a natural disaster, and that's what triggers the shutdown in the first place.  But diesel generators don't seem like the smartest equipment to use as a backup.  They are restricted by fuel capacity, and, as discovered by this particular incident, are susceptible to flooding and physical damage.


Why could there not be a system to use heat from the reactor itself to create the energy needed to drive a cooling system?  Surely there is a way to safely generate some amount of steam from the hobbled reactor; enough to drive an electric generator that could run a cooling unit?!  It seems to Miss G that there could be a lot more designed into the plants to ensure they can shut down safely in case of an unanticipated disaster!


Does anyone know what the "worst case scenario" could be? Is there any risk to the US?