Page 3 - Unit 4 News Today

lets go "out front" -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hi there, and good evening. im brooke bolduan sitting "out front" with erin burnett. five days, were five days away in the contest for the gop nomination, and as i mentioned a moment ago i know its following. newt going after romney and perry going after santorum and everyone going after paul and bachmann is fighting very publicly with her now former iowa chief, but romney, he seems to be riding pretty high after a new cnn pol...

These buildings. what does that tell you? >> well, i think anderson cooper had it right. theres a lot of rubble there. and it isnt clear that once they get the electricity to the pumps that are in those buildings that the pumps will work. and if the pumps work, its not clear that the pipes that are connected to them will work. so getting the electricitys critical, but its not game over at that point. its a real big question about whether or not theyll be able to get water in. on unit 4 this pict...

So, but you notice no one is spraying the building or unit 1 spent fuel pond. there is a lot of trepidation that maybe the u.s. is right, and it could be dangerous to spray the pond without knowing whats there. and so one of the priorities is going to be, i think after they deal with reactor three, is to turn to the spent fuel pond in unity 1 and try to get that under control. that probably will continue into next week. >> shepard: i know people get bogged down in 1, 2, 3, 4s we talk about all t...

They increase, then you run the risk of melting, and thats what theyre trying to avoid. whos the honest broker here, lawrence? the truth is i dont know, and i am not sure anyone knows. youve got people who are trying to get the best information they can, but when theyre not sure of the information, thats why you have governments urging their people to leave because you just cant take that risk. >> nbc news chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson reporting to us from london. thank...

Lower. in fact, iaea as of 15 minutes ago is now publishing the data that they have on the water levels in the spent fuel containment areas for all the reactors and you can see theyre getting lower in several of the different reactors. >> guys, we got to break here. we got to break here. i want to add one thing, unit 4, the spent rods had been taken out of that active nuclear reactor only a couple of days before were told. even though sometimes rods in the pool have lower levels of radiation, th...

>> in a situation like this, what is the danger of overreacting to what has occurred? >> let me put it this way. we have a situation unfolding now that was an accident that was never analyzed. so nobody has had the experience of bringing a full nuclear reactor core out of the reactor, out of containment at unit 4, and placing it in a pool of water 40 feet deep and then losing power for seven days. and now we have a situation where, you know, as if what was not already dramatic in terms of the ex...

Water 40 feet deep and then losing power for seven days. and now we have a situation of bringing a full nuclear reactor core out of the reactor, out of containment at unit 4, and placing it in a pool of water 40 feet deep and then losing power for seven days. and now we have a situation where, you know, as if what was not already dramatic in terms of the explosions that are now occurring, we are now about to witness really an unparalleled event where an entire reactor core is melting down or poi...

Levels, spent fuel rods, and unexplained white smoke seen spewing from the damaged reactors today. the water level in unit five is also on the decline. officials plan to use an operational diesel generator in unit six to get water to the unit. then, there was this alarming testimony today by u.s. nuclear regulatory commission chief regarding unit 4s condition. >> a fourth reactor is also right now under concern. this reactor was shut down at the time of the earthquake. what we believe at this ti...

So nobody has had thesexperience of bringing a full nuclear reactor core out of the reactor, out of containment at unit 4, and placing it in a pool of water 40 feet deep and then losing power for seven days. and now we have a situation where, you know, as if what was not already dramatic in terms of the explosions that are now occurring, we are now about to witness really an unparalleled event where an entire reactor core is melting down or poised to meltdown. certainly slumping. it is losing it...

And you have a risk that something worse could happen and we saw a preview of that. the international atomic energy agency reported yesterday based on japanese information there was a fire in the spent fuel ponds at unit 4. there you can have radiation material directly into the atmosphere. theres also been a worry that if they dont cool the reactor that you could have a meltdown. theres been a partial melting of fuel according to most observers and experts and that that could become worse and i...