Page 35 - Treactor Core News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Reactors. four, five and six. those reactors are not running, they're in cold shutdown. there's no fear that there would be a meltdown of the reactor core. instead there's a separate concern, that is that the waste, remember when these reactors burned the fuel and then you have waste and you have to put that waste somewhere. unfortunately, the decision was made we're going to store that waste right next to the reactor and they're vulnerable in a different sort of way. >> right. and i should just clarify nhk is saying they're not sure the image they just put out taken from a helicopter, they're...

To some extent. not a full-blown meltdown, but that it is melting. and particularly, this reactor where we had an explosion today, that reactor core was exposed for several hours to the air without being protected by water. so the combination of those two things, a possible containment breach and the exposure of the fuel elements, you know, that -- if, if, if that's true, that's bad news. but we should be able to take air samples soon. we should be able to take ground samples soon and determine whether that's true or not. >> there's also very real concerns about how honest the government and t...

We can expect to see continued fluctuations of the radiation level as this crisis evolves. >> what do we know about the spent fuel rods? it's not only the reactor core itself but it's also apparently exposure to the spent fuel, which is also supposed to be cooled but all of the backup systems failed as we know. >> the the spent fuel, andrea, is something that worries me at the moment. after fuel is taken out of a nuclear reactor, it's stored in bas basically next door to keep it cool. then the water will evaporate and that can lead to fire a. it can lead to radiation, but it's another pathway ...

Be a meltdown of the reactor core. instead there's a separate concern, that is that the waste, remember when these reactors burned the fuel and then you have waste and you have to put that waste somewhere. unfortunately the decision was made we're going to store that waste right next to the reactor and they're vulnerable in a different sort of way. >> right. and i should just clarify nhk is saying they're not sure the image they just put out taken from a helicopter, they're not sure if the smoke is coming from reactor three or reactor four. if it was reactor four, it could have been possibly f...

Three reactors now, there's -- it's likely the core has melted to some extent. now, not a full-blown meltdown, but it's melting. and particularly this reactor where we had an explosion today, that reactor core was exposed for several hours to the air, without being protected by water. so the combination of those two things, a possible containment breach and the exposure of the fuel elements, you know, if -- if, if, if -- if that's true, that's bad news. but we should be able to take air samples soon, and ground samples soon, and determine whether that's true or not. >> there's also very real c...