(Reuters) - The core at Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactor has melted through the reactor pressure vessel, Democratic Congressman Edward Markey told a hearing on the nuclear disaster on Wednesday.
"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," said Markey, a prominent nuclear critic in the House of Representatives.
This is commonly referred to as a "nuclear meltdown".
But then.. Markey is probably an anti-nuke liar who is being completely unreasonable. It's all about the politics after all.
2 comments:
Fukushima should be considered a triumph.
The plant is over 40 years old and designed to withstand a 6.0 earthquake. Yet it took a 9.0 quake and a Tsunami on the chin.
Many nations are pulling knee-jerk reactions. Germany for example has stopped 7 reactors. When the fuck is a Tsunami going to hit Germany?
I think the moral of the story is that backup pumps/generators need protective features installed.
In other news, FauxNoise has canceled Glen Becks show.
I mostly post these as a jab at Dan for pointing me to a stupid article with conspiracy theories about the political agenda of nuclear melt-downs.
Fukushima has a track record of mismanagement and incompetence. It is a minor miracle the whole thing hasn't exploded.
But ya.. I'm in favor of nuke plants as long as they're engineered and maintained well. In the US, we need a facility for storing spent fuel. At Fukushima, they stored the spent fuel rods on top of the reactor building which was a huge mistake.
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