Topic: nuclear power - on March 15, 2011 at 5:46:00 PM CET
Caesium
Caesium or cesium[note 1] (play /ˈsiːziəm/ SEE-zee-əm) is the chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali metal with a melting point of 28 °C (82 °F), which makes it one of only five elemental metals that are liquid at (or near) room temperature.[note 2] Caesium is an alkali metal and has physical and chemical properties similar to those of rubidium and potassium. The metal is extremely reactive and pyrophoric, reacting with water even at −116 °C (−177 °F). It is the least electronegative element that has stable isotopes, of which it has only one, caesium-133. Caesium is mined mostly from pollucite, while the radioisotopes, especially caesium-137, are extracted from waste produced by nuclear reactors.
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Topic: nuclear power - on March 15, 2011 at 5:42:00 PM CET
Doomsday Scenario at Fukushima
The slow motion events occurring at Japan's (or GE's) Fukushima reactor cannot be sugar-coated. It is a doomsday scenario unfolding.
Nuclear reactors are not the same as coal/oil/gas electricity plants. Unlike conventional plants, they cannot be turned off. So while brave workers were tending to Units 1, 2 and 3 reactors, attempting against all odds to keep the reactor from overheating, the fuel pool at Unit 4 was left untended; without makeup water to cool them, the fuel rods overheated. Above 1800 oF, an exothermic reaction, a fire, took place with the zirconium cladding around the uranium pellets. Zirconium burned, forming zirconium oxide and hydrogen gas, which then exploded and released radioactive cesium, a semi-volatile metal, to the atmosphere.
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Topic: nuclear power - on March 15, 2011 at 4:11:00 PM CET
Japanese nuclear plant hit by fire and third explosion
Amid growing fears that the situation is heading for catastrophe, 70 technicians are still battling to cool reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi facility but non-essential personnel have been ordered to leave and the Kyodo news agency reported that radiation levels have become too high for staff to remain in control rooms. The government has already called in international help in tackling the spiralling crisis.
Early on Tuesday, the power plant in the country's stricken north-east was rocked by an explosion at the No 2 reactor, the third blast at the site in four days. That was followed by a fire that broke out at the No 4 reactor unit, which appeared to be the cause of today's radiation leaks. That reactor was shut down for maintenance before the earthquake, but its spent fuel rods are stored in a pool at the site. The fire was later extinguished but Kyodo reported that the pool was subsequently boiling, with the water level falling. If the water boils off there is a risk that the fuel could catch fire, sending a plume of radiation directly into the atmosphere.
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Topic: nuclear power - on March 15, 2011 at 3:21:00 PM CET
Live: Super-GAU in Japan? NHK World Deutsch
TW1 überträgt das Programm des japanischen Senders NHK und berichtet live von den Ereignissen in Japan - Livestream in
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Topic: nuclear power - on March 15, 2011 at 3:12:00 PM CET
Das habe die Betreiberfirmer TEPCO mitgeteilt, meldete die Nachrichtenagentur Kyodo heute. Eine weitere Eskalation der Situation drohe.
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Topic: nuclear power - on March 15, 2011 at 12:05:00 PM CET
Germany shuts down seven nuclear reactors
"We are launching a safety review of all nuclear reactors ... with all reactors in operation since the end of 1980 set to be idled for the period of the (three-month) moratorium," Merkel said.
Germany's 17 nuclear power stations are operated by E.ON, RWE, EnBW and Swedish Vattenfall.
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Topic: nuclear power - on March 15, 2011 at 10:43:00 AM CET
Radiation level falls in Tokyo: city government - Tokyo a city on edge amid nuclear emergency
The level of radiation in Tokyo fell Tuesday afternoon after rising above normal levels in the morning due to radiation emmitted from a quake-hit nuclear power plant, metropolitan officials said.
Tokyo officials said they detected 0.809 of a micro-sievert between 10:00 am (0100 GMT) and 11:00 am in the capital, some 250 kilometres (155 miles) southwest of the troubled Fukushima plant on the Pacific coast.
mysinchew.com Tokyo a city on edge amid nuclear emergencynews.com.au Geiger counter reading Tokyo
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Topic: nuclear power - on March 15, 2011 at 10:19:00 AM CET
Operator says asks military to put out Fukushima Daiichi No.4 unit fire
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Topic: nuclear power - on March 15, 2011 at 9:46:00 AM CET
French nuclear agency rates Japan accident 5 or 6
France's ASN nuclear safety authority said on Monday the nuclear accident in Japan could be classed as level 5 or 6 on the international scale of 1 to 7, on a par with the 1979 US Three Mile Island meltdown.
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Topic: nuclear power - on March 15, 2011 at 8:28:00 AM CET
PM Kan urges those remaining near plants to leave
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has urged all residents to evacuate from within 20 kilometers of the disaster-stricken Fukushima No.1 nuclear power station. He told people living within 20 to 30 kilometers to stay indoors.
Kan issued a public appeal on Tuesday morning, saying 2 hydrogen explosions and a fire are raising the level of radioactivity released into the atmosphere. He said there's also an increased danger of more radioactive leaks.
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Topic: nuclear power - on March 15, 2011 at 8:27:00 AM CET
Edano: radiation high enough to affect health
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says the level of radiation around the quake-damaged Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant is high enough to affect human health.
Edano told reporters on Tuesday morning that 400 millisieverts of radiation per hour had been detected around the plant's No.3 reactor building at 10:22 AM.
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Topic: nuclear power - on March 15, 2011 at 8:23:00 AM CET
Japan - Vast Devastation
The vast devastation wrought by the earthquake and resulting tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011, may only be matched by the destroyed lives left in their wake. Few survivors have been found, but families continue to search for their sons, daughters, wives, husbands and friends. Threats of a nuclear reactor meltdown and resulting disaster loom. -- Paula Nelson (51 photos total)
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