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Originally Posted by kwicslvr
Hopefully I can clear up some misinformation hear about the nuclear facilities.
First and for most the Unit 1 nuclear plant in Japan will not "explode". This plant is in no way like the chernobyl design. The uranium in almost all commercial facilities is only enriched to 3-5% uranium-235. For it to "explode" via nuclear detonation it must be enriched to >95%.
Chernobyl was cooled by a source other than water which is what caused the explosion and not the fule itself. This boiling water reactor (BWR) in Japan is cooled by water. If it loses water inventory the metal fuel will get hot enough to melt (Three Mile Island) and that is it. The explosion seen earlier was due to a build up of hydrogen gas. This explosion blew off an outer shell of a building that actually houses the containment vessel which houses the reactor vessel which houses the fuel.
As for back up power. All nuclear facilities, at least in the US and multiple forms of back up power supplies in case of a loss of power. First are diesel generators(multiples just in case) which from what I can gather failed to start or even run at the Japanesse plant. Next is a battery that is big enough to fill a small house. Not sure if they had this and if so why it failed.
Iodine pills - this is being considered currently for people still in the local are and the workers. It has to be given within a certain period of time of a release of radioactive particles (Iodine-131) for it to be effective. IIRC within 4-6 hours of the release. A full release has not occured yet. A full release would require the fuel cladding to "melt", reactor vessel and/or associated piping to break and the containment building to break. It is possible to get minor releases but would create minimal if any issues to the public. Appears to be what has happened so far.
Cooling - The primary means is are pumps that pump water through the reactor vessel and over the fuel to remove the heat. With a loss of all power, safety injection should of initiated, which it appear to of for Units 2 and 3 but not Unit 1. If cooling is not restored, core damage (meltdown) will occur and radioactive fission products will be released into the water that cools the core.
I know there is more but feel free to post up any questiona and I will try to answer to the best of my abilility. Oh, and that whole "The Air Force is flying in coolant" from HRC...um coolant is nothing more than water! Why the hell we flying in water when they are surrounded by it!!! Only to find out later that was bogus info she was spouting. Helps if politicians and the media actually have people around them that know what the hell they are talking about.
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Glenbeck just did a nice demo with M&Ms [probably to get more free] on how "safe" it is even though its in melt down.
But he adds that the quake was 7x greater then it was built for so who knows. what?