Reactor #3

[Richard Myers]

It is now being reported that reactor number three at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has experienced an explosion. Reactor number one at the plant experienced a similar explosion yesterday.

The explosions are said to be the result of hydrogen begin given off when the fuel overheats. This is not the same as a full meltdown of the core.  The uranium itself has a much higher melting temperature. When it melts, then there is a full meltdown.

They are pumping sea water into the reactor vessel in order to cool the rods. The water turns to steam and in order to keep the vessel from exploding, they must vent the steam which is contaminated by radiation. Since the steam is contaminated, then it would seem that the sea water is contaminated also.  This has not been mentioned.

The radiation level in the area of the reactors presents a problem for those working at the plant. Nothing is automated any longer, it is up to the men at the plant to pump the water and monitor the temperature at each reactor. When the pressure levels become too high, they must vent the steam in order to avoid an explosion of the core containment vessel.

[Mimi]

Such devastation!

Sometime over the weekend, one of the news anchors for CNN said, "This is apocalyptic!" Another said, "This is like the end of the world!"

One of the tsunami survivors said she was not sure if surviving everything was such a good thing. There is incredible hopelessness and fear for tomorrow. We cannot comprehend it while we still have everything we own around us. Soon, the world will experience thirst, hunger and uncertainty on a grand scale. Judgments are in the land. The winds are being loosed. "Get ready" cannot be stressed enough. Our day is coming. Better yet - the day of salvation is today! 

[Richard Myers]

"The winds are being loosed."   There are almost a half million people in shelters in Japan. There are 13 million people in Tokyo. Japan is very densely populated. Right now, these people are praying for the winds to blow, to blow away from them. The winds are carrying radiation and the threat of increased levels is very real.

[Richard Myers]

There is a lot of discussion to keep the fear level down. That is fine. But, the reality is that people being exposed to low levels of radiation that can be washed off the skin, are not being told that they inhale the radiation also. The US Ronald Reagan backed away from the crippled nuclear plant for good reason.

As the truth becomes more apparent, the direction the winds blow will become a matter of prayer, even for Japanese who do not know God. It is time for us to pray more earnestly for the Holy Spirit to open their minds to the love of a God whom few of them know. May the Seventh-day Adventists in Japan be filled with the Spirit of God that they may be His witnesses in this time of great trial.

[Mimi]

Amen!

[Richard Myers]

Reactor #3 looks like a bomb hit it. It is a mess. The experts are saying that the immediate problem of greatest concern is this reactor, not because of the reactor, but because in this building was housed spent fuel rods that were not protected by a containment vessel. The explanation has been given that the cooling pool evaporated and exposed the spent fuel rods. They gave off hydrogen and thus the explosion at #3.

There is concern that high levels of radiation may be coming form this pool of spent fuel. The plan is to fill the pool with water. The helicopters failed at this. Steam was created when they dumped their water on the spent fuel.

Electricity will be restored to the plant site soon, God willing and this will help them to activate the existing cooling systems that went down when the tsunami hit. At least that is the hope.

I question how much of a container still exists in building #3. If the container has been ruptured, then what will hold the water? The reactor vessel survived the blast, but did the spent fuel pool container?

[Mimi]

That is what we do not know.

[Richard Myers]

Helicopters dumped water on #3 today in an attempt to cover the spent fuel. The effort so far has been dismal, not because of a lack on the part of those fighting the battle in person, but because the effort has been made by so few with so little. If Japan does not turn their attention to this meltdown at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and provide the manpower and equipment needed, they and their neighbors, China, Korea, and Russia are going to lose much more than they have lost so far.

How about 20 helicopters and 100 firetrucks. Yes, some may be lost, but isn't that better than risking contaminating people, animals, crops, water, and land? If the spent fuel goes up in flames, especially the plutonium in #3, there is going to be some dead land for a few years, quite a few.

Russia shut Chernobyl down and Japan can shut these reactors and spent fuel pools down also. The longer they wait, the more damage that will be done. Our prayers are with the people of Japan.

[Mimi]

Potentially very bad news this morning:

Tokyo (CNN) Japan reactor core may be leaking radioactive material, official says -- Authorities in Japan raised the prospect Friday of a likely breach in the all-important containment vessel of the No. 3 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a potentially ominous development in the race to prevent a large-scale release of radiation.

Contaminated water likely seeped through the containment vessel protecting from the reactor's core, said Hidehiko Nishiyama of the Japan nuclear and industrial safety agency.

Three men working inside the No. 3 reactor stepped into water this week that had 10,000 times the amount of radiation typical for that locale, Nishiyama said. That water likely indicates "some sort of leakage" from the reactor core, signaling a possible break of the containment vessel that houses the core

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/25/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html?hpt=T1