Page 6 - Containment Structure News Today

Bob, thanks very much. the new york times have been reporting that the warnings have been issued for decades about possible flaws in the reactors at the center of this crisis. five of the people we spoke to are what are called mark one designs by general electric, one of the parent companies in this network. according to the times, scientists have warned that if the cooling systems failed at one of these reactors, the primary containment structure of that vessel would burst as the fuel rods in...

Does no good for the japanese people to increase the crisis mentality. were going to have more stress-related illness as a result of what is going on at the nuclear plants than were going to have radiation illness. there is radiation leaking out. but it is low level. it dissipates rapidly. the numbers we have heard near the plant have been high. still not impacting health, but as you move a few miles away, it drops dramatically. the -- we have never had any loss of life in a nuclear power plant ...

>> yes, there is a crack in the containment structure that. is beyond what is in three mile ilabbed. >> steve: but below chernobyl. you are talking apples oranges. in chernobyl there was graphite. >> that was a soviet extrave gansa. well never have that again. but people talk about what if it meltdowns as if it iss bomb going off. everyone thinks it is a bomb. if you have a meltdown. it means that the fuel melts to the bottom of the container and thats it what we are worried about is radiation r...

Exposed. march 1979, a partial reactor meltdown at pennsylvanias three mile island nuclear facility releases radioactive material. no one is killed. the cleanup takes years making it the worst nuclear accident in u.s. history. ron carsmar helped develop the facility 40 years ago. >> im concerned. im very concerned. >> william tucker authored a book on nuclear power. >> this is not a never could or would be a chernobyl. thats out of the question. >> why is that? >> very simply, the saudis didnt h...

Some towns reporting they cannot handle all the dead bodies. and evacuation centers are starting to report they are running out of food and water as well. >> and, akiko, did any of these fears prompt you to have to move throughout your reporting today? >> reporter: yeah. we were actually 40 miles south of the nuclear reactor plant. thats where we spoke to you from yesterday. but this morning after hearing reports of this latest explosion and assessing the situation, we decided to move further we...

Sets of nuclear material that we have to worry about. the nuclear material inside the reactors and the nuclear waste material which is in the cooling pool. this fire is in the cooling pool which you said already is not inside the containment structure which can deal with pressure and with shielding radiation. so the fear if this fire continues and continues to spew up a cloud of steam, that steam will contain particulate matter of items like eye -- iodine and -- these are materials which are hig...

Here is the most important part. they didnt have this. there was no outer containment structure around the core. it was this. so whe japan, the cant happen. they have the thick containment walls that would most likely contain radioactivity material even in the event of this meltdown. however. because of the update now, of the explosion last night, we do not know for sure but here is the worst case, the worst news ive heard that the explosion may have caused a crack in the containment core. if th...

Do we need nuclear power, could we use it ? is it safe? one certain is urging everyone to back off, right now, listen. >> i think there is no chance of a problem and even to get people concerned thinking there might be, because you know, anything could happen, it is absolutely wrong, there is really zero chance that any radiation is going to move out of the -- even if the outer containment structure exploded, and moved from japan to the united states, and create any health problem whatsoever. bi...

What does that actually mean? do you remember exactly what happened? it was a long time ago, so i think it helps to refresh the facts here, and these are the facts. three mile island is a nuclear plant middle town pennsylvania. the plant did not breach the containment structure. some irradiated gas was vented from the plant, and pregnant women and children were told to evacuate. there was false fears that a hydrogen bubble had formed, which caused widespread panic, but experts quickly determined...

That structure had completely surrounded the other containment structure, like containment within containment. the inner is primary containment, four to five feet thick concrete with inner steel liner two inches thick of steel to ride integrity against release of radioactivity. >> it is that primary containment vessel you are worried may have been compromised by the recent blast? >> initial reports hopefully turn out not to be true. initial reports are part of the containment called the pressure...