Page 5 - Containment Structure News Today

Federation of american scientists. i want to start with this. first of all were getting conflicting reports. they say the power has been reconnected. whether reactor number two is back up and working is an open question so it is hopeful. it doesnt mean that the problem is solved by any stretch of the imagination. but for a second let us assume they can get the power working again in reactor two and then in all of the reactors. would that solve the problem? >> well, cenk it first this sounds like...

Containment structure. it didnt even have that type of feature and a different type of system. the graphite in the chernobyl reactor which this doesnt have, the graphite caught fire. it was like a chimney effect. it was lofting materials into the air. that created the exclusion zones and also the readings read out in various parts of europe. were far from that situation here in japan. weve seen these excess radiation levels but theyre far, far less than we experienced in cher thoebl. >> the last...

Back and theres some type of core, reactor number two i think theres still cause for concern they need to make sure theres not a bridge to that containment structure. >> and how about reing a tore number four? it was leaking before from what we heard. even if you get the power back up, how do they plug that leak in the radiation? >> exactly. that was my next concern. reactor number four theres a spent fuel pool. yesterday we heard the chairman of the enthusiastic leer regulatory commission say t...

Streaming from a reactor today. authorities said it appeared to be radioactive steam from a breach in reactor 3s containment structure. the small crew still working at the plant was temporarily evacuated until the radiation dropped. over 8,000 people are missing and the weather is adding to the misery. snow has been falling on homeless survivors, rescue crews and anyone still alive under all of that debris. freezing temperatures are expected to hang on into next week. now for some other stor...

They have a good chance to get through this without enormous additional releases, but it could go in any number of different directions. they had a fire in one of the reactors. there was some initial report it was the spent fuel pool which would have been really awful. it turns out to have been oil, lubricating oil in machinery near the pool. theyre talking about bringing in helicopters as they did at chernobyl. in this case, the helicopters would drop water into the spent fuel pool. the spent f...

Different directions. they had a fire in one of the reactors. there was some initial report it was the spent fuel pool which would have been really awful. it turns out to have been oil, lubricating oil in machinery near the pool. theyre talking about bringing in helicopters as they did at chernobyl. in this case, the helicopters would drop water into the spent fuel pool. the spent fuel pool started out with maybe five or six times as much material as is in the reactor. and 30 feet of water over ...

Was that yes, there were a lot of problems, there were major, major, major modifications that had to be made to the containment structure, reinforcements, flash deflecters and surge deflectors and stuff like that. and as far as i know, those modifications were or should have been implemented at fukushima but i dont pus -- because i left g.e. before the modifications were made. >>neil: before we even had three mile island and the situation in chernobyl. g.e. said they have a good safety record an...

In reactors three containment structure. there are four reactors at that plant. the small crew still working at plant was temporarily evacuated until those radiation levels dropped. official death toll has jumped again. it is now 4,314. but nearly 9,000 people are still listed as missing. meantime the weathers addings to misery in the quake and tsunami zone. snow falling on survivors, anyone alive under the debris. freezing temperatures are expected to hang on into next week. other stories t...

One of the large pipes in the reactor primary system, and the release, subsequent release of steam and fission products and -- into the containment structure itself. it was -- it had not been considered that this event would cause dynamic loads, say heavy vibrations in the reactor suppression pool that could cause the containment system to fail. >> okay. well keep bringing you back to plain english. what youre worried about is this thing is going to lose coolant? like if your car engine loses it...

With the oxygen. it causes the explosion. it was causing the explosion for the top of the outer containment. they have to release that. its a risk they have to take, knowing they still have the pressure cooker. the main containment structure around the reactor. they say that that is still intact. now you are hearing about radiation in the air. lets have some perspective. the latest explosion at the number two reactor may have leaked radioactive materials in to the air. the plant operators say it...