给大家贴一个我朋友给我发的EMAIL。她是在达拉丝NUCLEAR PLANT做ENGINEER的。毕业于塔木NUCLEAR ENGINEERING,很聪明的女孩子。
As the resident nuclear expert in the family (I know, scary...), I feel like I need to send accurate information on what's going on in Japan. While the earthquakes and tsunami have had devastating consequences, the situation regarding the nuclear power plants is not like the media is describing it. It's wrong for them to act like they understand what is giong on and what they are talking about, and they make lots and lots of assumptions which are simply incorrect.
If you want to know what is really going on, please check out the websites of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) www.nei.org and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) www.iaea.org.
Some important points:
There are several nuclear power plants near the epicenter of the main earthquake. Fukushima Daini, Onagawa and Tokai nuclear power plants are all in cold shutdown condition (safe and stable). All were shutdown automatically (as they are designed to do) and no radiation releases occurred. There was at least one fire at the Onagawa plant but it was extinguished (I'm assuming it was on the secondary (power producing) side of the plant). One worker did die at Daini but it was due to a crane operation accident.
Fukushima Daiichi is the one we are hearing most about. It contains 6 nuclear reactors (so the plant contains 6 "unts"). 3 were operating, 3 were not. Listening to the media, it sounds like a reactor has exploded and there is radioactivity being release in large amounts in the atmosphere. it is not true. Three of the fires were due to hydrogen releases, one from an oil leak. None were reactor/fuel-related. The containment buildings are all intact except for the OUTER shell of the containment of unit 2. Some radioactivity has been released in localized areas and the levels are decreasing. 70% of the fuel in units 1 and 2 is damaged but it is contained in the reactor vessels and being cooled.
As you read about radiation levels, keep in mind that the limit for the public (you and me) is 100 mrem/yr and 5000 mrem/yr for radiation workers.
So far, and based on the information available, the reactors have done their jobs quite successfully. The area was hit by several earthquakes and a tsunami. Houses are floating in the water, some towns have pretty much disappeared. And yet, all plants are now in cold shutdown mode. It is not another Chernobyl as the media wants to make people believe. The situation should definitely not be taken lightly and that's why many actions are being implemented for preventative measures. The nuclear plant problems are actually fairly minor compared to what Japan is going through right now.
There's a lot more to say about all this but it's late so I'm going to stop now. Let me know if you have any comments about this. I'm not a fanatic and I'm not saying that these events are insignificant, I just want to clarify what is happening and remind all of you that what you're hearing is not what's going on.