Japan may hand out iodine near nuclear plants: IAEA
Police wearing protective clothing and respirators head towards the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant in trucks in Minamisouma City, Fukushima Prefecture March 12, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Yomiuri
VIENNA |
VIENNA (Reuters) - Japanese authorities have told the U.N.'s atomic watchdog they are making preparations to distribute iodine to people living near nuclear power plants affected by Friday's earthquake, the Vienna-based agency said.
Iodine can be used to help protect against thyroid cancer in the case of radioactive exposure in a nuclear accident.
After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, thousands of cases of thyroid cancer were reported in children and adolescents who were exposed at the time of the accident. More cases are expected.
In Japan Saturday, radiation leaked from a damaged nuclear reactor after an explosion blew the roof off in the wake of the massive earthquake, but the government insisted that radiation levels were low.
Japan's Jiji news agency later said three workers suffered radiation exposure near the Fukushima nuclear plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear body, said Japanese authorities had informed it of the explosion and that they were "assessing the condition of the reactor core."
Japan expanded the evacuation zone around the plant, Fukushima Daiichi, and also that of the nearby Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant.
"The authorities also say they are making preparations to distribute iodine to residents in the area of both the plants," the IAEA said in a statement.
"The IAEA has reiterated its offer of technical assistance to Japan, should the government request this," it said.
(Reporting by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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Study prevailing winds.
Traditional cooling not possible.
Containment has been breached.
Dishonest governments never tell the truth.
Corrupt controlled media never tell the truth.
Study prevailing winds.
Traditional cooling not possible.
Containment has been breached.
Dishonest governments never tell the truth.
Corrupt controlled media never tell the truth.
The pressure inside both buildings is coming from superheated coolant, not a melted core. You have two coolant systems in the plant: one is in direct contact with the core and picks up a lot of radioactivity due to the neutrons being released inside the core. If this coolant leaks and vapor escapes you have a moderately high level of radiation release. This coolant can be water or a salted water or a liquid metal – depends on the design of the reactor. But this primary coolant is then cooled by a water coolant. The secondary coolant generally has very low levels of radioactivity picked up in the heat exchanger from the first coolant sending neutrons into the second coolant. Generally this secondary coolant is contained in a closed circuit and not released. In a dire emergency, that secondary coolant can be flushed by connecting “city water” or a water tower to provide pressure to move the fluid on the loss of the pumping systems. I here they are proposing using sea water because of the loss of infrastructure there.
All of this is “good”. The release of secondary coolant and it’s lower level of radioactivity is to be preferred over what would happen if the core itself melted and fused.
This is an extreme test of the Japanese engineering and will affect the design of future power plants and probably lead to improvements and modifications of existing power plants. This is now being reported as a 9.1 to 9.2 earthquake. The plant core did not break. The secondary systems did take severer damage but still kept the core from meltdown. It is in the extended period of cooling the plant down to the “Off” temperature that systems are failing (no city water). Lets salute those who are getting the job done under very difficult circumstances.
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