Danger increasing at nuclear reactors

by David Safier

From a NY Times article, 9pm, our time:

Japan’s nuclear crisis verged toward catastrophe on Tuesday . . .

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. . . most of the 800 workers at the Daiichi facility had been told to leave to avoid exposure to unhealthy levels of radiation at the plant. They said 50 workers would remain at the plant to pump seawater into three reactors and fight the fire at the fourth reactor.

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[Prime Minister Naoto] Kan said that radiation had spread from the crippled reactors and there was “a very high risk” of further leakages.

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. . . industry executives in close contact with officials in Japan said that the chain of events at Daiichi suggested that the authorities had come close to losing control of the situation, and that it would be difficult to maintain emergency seawater cooling operations at stricken reactors if a fire at a fourth reactor nearby was releasing large amounts of radioactive material — at least without threatening the health of emergency workers onsite.

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One executive with extensive contacts among Japanese nuclear industry and government officials said the situation had in fact spiraled out of control and that all plant workers would almost certainly need to leave the plant to avoid excessive exposure to radioactive leaks.

If all workers do in fact leave the plant, the nuclear fuel in all three reactors is likely to meltdown, which would lead to wholesale releases of radioactive material — by far the largest accident of its kind since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.

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“It’s way past Three Mile Island already,” said Frank von Hippel, a physicist and professor at Princeton. “The biggest risk now is that the core really melts down and you have a steam explosion.”