In Japan plant, frantic efforts to steer clear of meltdown
TOKYO - Inside the troubled nuclear power plant, officials knew the risks had been high when they decided to vent radioactive steam from a severely overheated reactor vessel. They knew a hydrogen explosion could happen, and it did. The choice still trumped the worst-case alternative - total nuclear meltdown.
A minimum of for the time becoming.
The chain of events started Friday when a magnitude-8.9 earthquake and tsunami severed electricity to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex 170 miles (270 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, crippling its cooling system. Then, backup power did not kick in appropriately at one of its units.
From there, conditions steadily worsened, although government and nuclear officials initially said things were enhancing. Hours following the explosion, they contended that radiation leaks had been reduced and that circumstances had gotten much better at the 460-megawatt Unit 1. But crisis right after crisis continued to develop or be revealed.
Without power, and with out plant pipes and pumps that had been destroyed within the explosion of the most-troubled reactor's containment developing, authorities resorted to drawing seawater in an attempt to cool off the overheated uranium fuel rods.
Robert Alvarez, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and former senior policy adviser to the U.S. secretary of energy, said in a briefing for reporters that the seawater was a desperate measure.
"It's a Hail Mary pass," he said.
He said that the success of employing seawater and boron to cool the reactor will depend on the volume and rate of their distribution. He said the dousing would need to continue nonstop for days.
Yet another key, he said, was the restoration of electrical power, so that regular cooling systems could be restored.
Officials placed Dai-ichi Unit 1, and four other reactors, under states of emergency Friday simply because operators had lost the capability to cool the reactors using usual procedures.
An additional reactor was added to the list early Sunday, for a total of six - three at the Dai-ichi complex and three at another nearby complex. Local evacuations have been ordered at every single location. Japan has a total of 55 reactors spread across 17 complexes nationwide.
Officials began venting radioactive steam at Fukushima Dai-ichi's Unit 1 to relieve pressure inside the reactor vessel, which houses the overheated uranium fuel.
Concerns escalated dramatically Saturday when that unit's containment building exploded.
It turned out that officials were aware that the steam contained hydrogen, acknowledged Shinji Kinjo, spokesman for the government Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. More importantly, they also had been conscious they were risking an explosion by deciding to vent the steam.
The significance of the hydrogen began to come clear late Saturday:
_Officials decided to reduce rising pressure inside the reactor vessel, so they vented some of the steam buildup. They needed to do that to avoid the entire structure from exploding, and thus starting down the road to a meltdown.
_At the same time, to be able to maintain the reactor fuel cool, and also avoid a meltdown, operators necessary to maintain circulating far more and more cool water on the fuel rods.
_Temperature in the reactor vessel apparently kept rising, heating the zirconium cladding that makes up the fuel rod casings. As soon as the zirconium reached 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (1,200 Celsius), it reacted with the water, becoming zirconium oxide and hydrogen.
_When the hydrogen-filled steam was vented from the reactor vessel, the hydrogen reacted with oxygen, either within the air or water outside the vessel, and exploded.
A comparable "hydrogen bubble" had concerned officials at the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear disaster in Pennsylvania until it dissipated.
If the temperature inside the Fukushima reactor vessel continued to rise even a lot more - to roughly 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,200 Celsius) - then the uranium fuel pellets would begin to melt.
According to experts interviewed by The Associated Press, any melted fuel would eat by means of the bottom of the reactor vessel. Next, it would eat by means of the floor of the already-damaged containment creating. At that point, the uranium and hazardous byproducts would start escaping into the environment.
At some point within the process, the walls of the reactor vessel - 6 inches (15 centimeters) of stainless steel - would melt into a lava-like pile, slump into any remaining water on the floor, and potentially cause an explosion much bigger than the one caused by the hydrogen. Such an explosion would enhance the spread of radioactive contaminants.
If the reactor core became exposed to the external environment, officials would likely began pouring cement and sand over the whole facility, as was carried out at the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident in the Ukraine, Peter Bradford, a former commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in a briefing for reporters.
At that point, Bradford added, "many 1st responders would di
TOKYO - Inside the troubled nuclear power plant, officials knew the risks had been high when they decided to vent radioactive steam from a severely overheated reactor vessel. They knew a hydrogen explosion could happen, and it did. The choice still trumped the worst-case alternative - total nuclear meltdown.
A minimum of for the time becoming.
The chain of events started Friday when a magnitude-8.9 earthquake and tsunami severed electricity to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex 170 miles (270 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, crippling its cooling system. Then, backup power did not kick in appropriately at one of its units.
From there, conditions steadily worsened, although government and nuclear officials initially said things were enhancing. Hours following the explosion, they contended that radiation leaks had been reduced and that circumstances had gotten much better at the 460-megawatt Unit 1. But crisis right after crisis continued to develop or be revealed.
Without power, and with out plant pipes and pumps that had been destroyed within the explosion of the most-troubled reactor's containment developing, authorities resorted to drawing seawater in an attempt to cool off the overheated uranium fuel rods.
Robert Alvarez, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and former senior policy adviser to the U.S. secretary of energy, said in a briefing for reporters that the seawater was a desperate measure.
"It's a Hail Mary pass," he said.
He said that the success of employing seawater and boron to cool the reactor will depend on the volume and rate of their distribution. He said the dousing would need to continue nonstop for days.
Yet another key, he said, was the restoration of electrical power, so that regular cooling systems could be restored.
Officials placed Dai-ichi Unit 1, and four other reactors, under states of emergency Friday simply because operators had lost the capability to cool the reactors using usual procedures.
An additional reactor was added to the list early Sunday, for a total of six - three at the Dai-ichi complex and three at another nearby complex. Local evacuations have been ordered at every single location. Japan has a total of 55 reactors spread across 17 complexes nationwide.
Officials began venting radioactive steam at Fukushima Dai-ichi's Unit 1 to relieve pressure inside the reactor vessel, which houses the overheated uranium fuel.
Concerns escalated dramatically Saturday when that unit's containment building exploded.
It turned out that officials were aware that the steam contained hydrogen, acknowledged Shinji Kinjo, spokesman for the government Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. More importantly, they also had been conscious they were risking an explosion by deciding to vent the steam.
The significance of the hydrogen began to come clear late Saturday:
_Officials decided to reduce rising pressure inside the reactor vessel, so they vented some of the steam buildup. They needed to do that to avoid the entire structure from exploding, and thus starting down the road to a meltdown.
_At the same time, to be able to maintain the reactor fuel cool, and also avoid a meltdown, operators necessary to maintain circulating far more and more cool water on the fuel rods.
_Temperature in the reactor vessel apparently kept rising, heating the zirconium cladding that makes up the fuel rod casings. As soon as the zirconium reached 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (1,200 Celsius), it reacted with the water, becoming zirconium oxide and hydrogen.
_When the hydrogen-filled steam was vented from the reactor vessel, the hydrogen reacted with oxygen, either within the air or water outside the vessel, and exploded.
A comparable "hydrogen bubble" had concerned officials at the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear disaster in Pennsylvania until it dissipated.
If the temperature inside the Fukushima reactor vessel continued to rise even a lot more - to roughly 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,200 Celsius) - then the uranium fuel pellets would begin to melt.
According to experts interviewed by The Associated Press, any melted fuel would eat by means of the bottom of the reactor vessel. Next, it would eat by means of the floor of the already-damaged containment creating. At that point, the uranium and hazardous byproducts would start escaping into the environment.
At some point within the process, the walls of the reactor vessel - 6 inches (15 centimeters) of stainless steel - would melt into a lava-like pile, slump into any remaining water on the floor, and potentially cause an explosion much bigger than the one caused by the hydrogen. Such an explosion would enhance the spread of radioactive contaminants.
If the reactor core became exposed to the external environment, officials would likely began pouring cement and sand over the whole facility, as was carried out at the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident in the Ukraine, Peter Bradford, a former commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in a briefing for reporters.
At that point, Bradford added, "many 1st responders would di
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