Update | 4:32 pm It looks like there is some confusion about the source of the fire, which the IAEA reported was “at the spent fuel storage pond.” Keith Bradsher and Hiroko Tabuchi in the New York Times quote an “American official” saying the “fire there may have been caused by machine oil in a …
The Age of Extremes
by | 2011-03-15 | 9 Comments
Over the eons, Planet Earth has been profoundly marked by violent collisions, including perhaps five that prompted great extinctions. The playground now known as the Chesapeake Bay was created thirty-five million years ago by an asteroid three to five kilometers in diameter. The Himalayas, about an hour away from sea level, as the crow flies, …
Another FEPC Statement
by | 2011-03-14 | 64 Comments
Another statement from FEPC. My comment: TEPCO is fighting the good fight, continuing to inject seawater into Units 1 and 2. TEPCO has suspended seawater injection on Unit 3 after the explosion. That looks very bad. Remember, the goal now is to prevent breaching of the primary containment vessels. There also remains an outstanding question …
IAEA on Fukushima
by | 2011-03-14 | 15 Comments
Credit: Digital Globe Below is the full text of an IAEA update on Fukushima. Please note that the situation is, unfortunately, worsening by the minute. TEPCO is fighting heroically to stabilize the reactors, but they seem to be losing. I am not a reactor safety engineer, so I am uncomfortable offering too much commentary. But …
