Core Melting News Today

Waste systems. we know that the gaseous waste system was destroyed in the explosions. if they dont deal with this, we are out of the apocalyptic scenarios of core melting and things like that. thats clearly no longer the issue. the prospect of potentially spilling massive quantities of highly contaminated water really, really worries me. >> what would you normally do with contaminated water? >> normally, anderson, we have systems where you process it through a sort of demineralizers and charcoal...

Trees, i worry that the accident management thats going on, that theyre not being able to stay one or two steps ahead of the evolution. we should have known that there was going to be millions of gallons of contaminated water that needed to be addressed at some point in time. and the ability to handle that should have been something that got put in motion days ago, if not weeks ago. i mean, the fact of the matter is, these tanks are filling up, we continue to inject water. normal operations woul...

Was the one they were most worried about the core melting and thats why they decided to go for that reactor rather than the others. but as i say, thats just my best guess. >> in terms of what might happen and how theyre sort of triaging the different reactors and the different areas of this plant that require attention, how concerned are you about the fission, nuclear fission process starting again, about there being a recriticality in one of these reactors or in one of the spent fuel pools? >> ...

Made the decision to go for unit 2 first. but if you remember, a couple of days ago there was an explosion. and unlike the explosions we saw at 1 and 3 that led to all that mangled mess on the outside of the plant, the explosion at 2 was on the inside of the plant, and it has potentially damaged that key giant concrete and reinforced -- reinforced concrete and steel tomb-like internal containment structure. so my guess, and this is only just a guess, is that when they made the decision about whe...

Was the one they were most worried about the core melting and thats why they decided to go for that reactor rather than the others. but as i say, thats just my best guess. >> in terms of what might happen and how theyre sort of triaging the different reactors and the different areas of this plant that require attention, how concerned are you about the fission, nuclear fission process starting again, about there being a recriticality in one of these reactors or in one of the spent fuel pools? >> ...

Unchartered waters right now. >> we are. i think thats right. theres only been one event in nuclear history where there was a substantial degree of core melting and that was at three mile island, so there is a very small experience base if you like to predict how this crisis is going to unfold from here. >> james acton, thank you for your time. >> my pleasure. >> appreciate your expertise as this breaking story unfolds. for those in other parts of the country, rolling blackouts and empty superma...

Accident. three mile was very difficult. it was caused by operation error. this was following by a devastating earthquake and tsunami. nonetheless the nature of cooling the reactor was the same. three mile island was the expense x tense sieve meltings of the core. what we have to hope is theres a similar outcome on this occasion. any time you have a core melting theres a substantial increase for radio activity but theres no guarantee. >> you can find out more about the impact the earthquake has ...

Basic. preferred. at meineke i have options on oil changes. and now i get free roadside assistance with preferred or supreme. my money. my choice. my meineke. joining me now, james acton, a physician cy . >> 24 hours, they started pumping sea water into the course of the first of the reactors. you only do that if you basically decided to write off the reactor anyway. >> because it rested out and no longer useful. >> correct. so youre only going to do that if youre seriously worried about the p...

Of possibilities. we have seen the japanese authorities already acknowledged there has been some partial melting of the core. which is the better end of this bad spectrum. a whole specter of possibilities. melting of the core might release substantial amounts of radioactivity into the environment. but it does not necessarily do so. the three mile island accident, there was a very large degree of core melting. actually remarkably little quantity of radiation released into the environment. both si...

The largest earthquake in its history. dealing with a massive tsunami follow-up. and on top of the nuclear power plant there is the entire country is having to deal with this enormous catastrophe. so there is no -- they wouldnt be doing this if the situation werent serious. but i think it is necessary to distinguish here between a serious situation because it has the potential to get worse and it actually he getting worse. we havent yet seen a significant core meltdown. and hopefully we wont. >>...