NRC says not clear that Japan reactor has melted vessel

[dipsydoodle]

Source: MSNBC

WASHINGTON — A top official from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Wednesday it was not clear that Japan's Fukushima No. 2 nuclear reactor has melted through the reactor pressure vessel.

Earlier, Democratic lawmaker Edward Markey told a House of Representatives hearing on the nuclear disaster that the NRC had told him the core had melted through the vessel.

"That's not clear to us, nor is it clear to us that the reactor has penetrated the vessel," said Martin Virgilio, deputy executive director for reactor and preparedness programs at the NRC.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42453662/ns/world_news-asiapacific

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see also ; http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFWNA555120110406

The key word in both links is the word NOT. In other words they have denied telling Democratic lawmaker Edward Markey the core had melted through the vessel.

[Wilms]

1. Perhaps what they think is that it's not clear that the containment vessel is holding.

:shrug:

The NRC seems to say one thing in private, and another in public.

Internal NRC Documents Reveal Doubts About Measures to Ensure U.S. Plants Survive Fukushima-Type Events

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=286321&mesg_id=286321

[abqmufc]

2. Agreed n/t

[jannyk]

3. Just what the hell is 'clear'?

Apparently...They are/were pumping nitrogen into #1 to stop it exploding again. Now the talk is that #1 is reaching/reached 'recriticality'. #2 has/maybe has/has not 'melted' through its vessel. #3 - who the hell knows.

The only clear thing seems to be they are still playing whack-a-mole and releasing as little information as possible.

[girl gone mad]

4. One thing is clear..

#2 has been acting much differently than the others in many respects. I would be surprised to learn the fuel had melted completely through the vessel, but something unexpected is going on.

[Turborama]

5. The email they sent Rep. Markey...

Conflicting Details Emerge About Status Of Japanese Nuclear Reactor

By Tennille Tracy, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

=snip=

Markey, a vocal critic of nuclear power, says a member of his staff received an e-mail Tuesday from an NRC official stating the core "may be out of the reactor pressure vessel."

"Based on radiation readings in the drywell and the torus ... the NRC staff speculates that part of the Unit 2 core may be out of the reactor pressure vessel and may be in the lower space of the drywell," according to a copy of the e-mail provided to Dow Jones. "Lower radiation readings in the torus suggest that there is not core material in the torus."

The e-mail was sent by Timothy Riley, a congressional affairs officer with the NRC.

It is unclear whether Virgilio or other NRC officials are aware of the e-mail Riley sent Markey's staff. An NRC spokesman didn't respond to immediate requests for comment.

Full article: http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201104061352dowjonesdjonline000545&title=conflicting-details-emerge-about-status-of-japanese-nuclear-reactor

[leveymg]

7. What the NRC email says is that they believe the meltdown has breached the vessel but has not yet

melted completely through the concrete base of the drywell and down into the torus (circular cooling pool) beneath Unit 2 reactor, based upon radiation levels.

[Turborama]

6. And now Reuters Via MSNBC are lying about what he said?

I know you didn't write it, but he did not tell "a House of Representatives hearing on the nuclear disaster that the NRC had told him the core had melted through the vessel."


He said: "The cores of at least two of the Japanese reactors are severely damaged. I have been informed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the core of Unit Two has gotten so hot that part of it has probably melted through the reactor pressure vessel."

Full transcript and video here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4802920#4803865