"Hail Mary Pass"

Mar 14th 2011 10:42am CST
PLEASE DONATE to the cause of relief for Japan. Also HERE.

From The NY Times:

"Experts called the injection of seawater and neutron-absorbing boron into the site's three crippled reactors units a desperation move never attempted before in the industry. 


It amounted to sacrificing the reactors in an attempt to maintain the structural integrity of the reactor and its encasing concrete containment structure and prevent a potential uncontrolled major radiological release. Three other Fukushima Daiichi reactors had been shut down for planned work before Friday's 8.9 earthquake and were not part of the crisis.

"I would describe this measure as a Hail Mary Pass but if they succeed, there is plenty of water in the ocean and if they have the capability to pump this water in the necessary volume and at the necessary rates ... then they can stabilize the reactor," said former Energy Department official Robert Alvarez, according to press accounts of his press conference Saturday."

3rd Reactor In Crisis, U.S. 7th Fleet Pulled

March 14th, 2011 2:45am CST
UPDATE 3/14/11 7:10am CST Please CLICK HERE to find information to donate to Japanese relief efforts.

Both AP and The Washington Post are reporting that a third reactor has lost cooling and they again will be attempting to inject seawater as a stabilizer:

"The operator of a quake-stricken nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan says a third reactor has lost its cooling capacity, which could lead to overheating and an explosion similar to two blasts at its other reactors.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. official Takako Kitajima said Monday that plant workers were preparing to inject seawater into the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant's Unit 2 to cool down its reactor following the loss of its cooling system.

Kitajima said officials are also set to take other steps, including a release of pressure through ventilation if the reactor overheats."

In other related news, MSNBC reports via AP that the U.S. 7th Fleet has been moved further offshore from the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex after the detection of low level radiation:

"The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was about 100 miles (160 kilometers) offshore when its instruments detected the radiation. But the fleet says the dose of radiation was about the same as one month's normal exposure to natural background radiation in the environment."