Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Reactors

[dorispulaski]

JAIF has posted a translation of the NHK news:

No. 41: 18:00, April 3
NHK news regarding status of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station
yesterday and today.
●Checkups find no problems in children's thyroid
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has said that recent checkups have found no problems in the thyroid of children in the area near the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Edano announced the finding at a news conference on Sunday. 900 children from newborns to those of 15 in Kawamata Town and Iitate Village in Fukushima Prefecture underwent tests for radiation exposure to their thyroid glands for 3 days through last Wednesday. He said none of them had exposure readings
exceeding the safety level. Sunday, April 03, 2011 16:02 +0900 (JST)

●TEPCO to stop radioactive water leak from plant \
The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will start injecting water-absorbing polymers into a cracked pit to stop radioactive water from leaking into the ocean. Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, says it will start the emergency operation on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, TEPCO found radioactive water was seeping into the ocean from a crack in a concrete pit that contains power cables near the Number 2 reactor's water intake. The level of radiation on the surface of the pit's water was measured at over 1,000 milisieverts per hour. An attempt to pour concrete into the pit, connected to the turbine building, failed to fix the leak on Saturday.

TEPCO hopes to collect overflowing water into a tank and other facilities in the complex. The radioactive intensity of water in the reactor's turbine building was about 100,000 times that of water inside a normally operating reactor. Water in a tunnel outside the turbine building also had high levels of radiation.

TEPCO says it has not detected water leaking from the pits of other reactors and is checking other locations. The company added that it began reducing the amount of water being injected into the Number 1 and 2 buildings to cool their reactors on Saturday night, saying temperatures and pressures there had stabilized.
Sunday, April 03, 2011 14:50 +0900 (JST)

●PM advisor: effort to stop radioactive leakage
An advisor to the prime minister has pledged an all-out effort to contain the leakage of radioactive substances from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex within a few months. Goshi Hosono told reporters on Sunday that environmental contamination caused by the leakage of highly radioactive water from the damaged plant to the ocean is very serious. Hosono said it is urgent to assess the impact of the leakage on the sea and assured that the results will be made public. The prime ministerial aide also said that the large amount of radioactive water which accumulated in the basement of the Number 2 reactor's turbine building must be removed as soon as possible. Hosono said the deepest concern for residents is when the radioactive leakage from the plant will end. He said the crisis at the plant has been continuing, but the situation is stabilizing. He added that the main task for now should shift to halting the leakage of
radioactive elements within a few months.
Sunday, April 03, 2011 12:50 +0900 (JST)

●Radioactive levels measured within 20km of plant
The Japanese government and the operator of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant have started to gauge radioactive levels in the air within a 20 kilometer radius of the plant. The government and Tokyo Electric Power Company have already been measuring radioactivity in the air outside the 20-kilometer exclusion zone that residents have been instructed to leave. But they have not conducted any detailed assessments within the zone, saying that most residents have already evacuated the area and that there would be an increased risk of workers conducting the tests being exposed to radiation. At a meeting of Japanese and US nuclear experts, the US side claimed more research is needed to determine the extent at which radioactive substances are spreading. After the gathering, the Japanese government and the power company began studying radioactive levels in the air at about 30 locations inside the exclusion zone.
Sunday, April 03, 2011 05:46 +0900 (JST)

●Radioactive water continues to leak into sea
Highly radioactive water continues to leak into the sea through a crack in a pit at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi power plant, despite ongoing work to pour concrete into the pit to stop the leakage. The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, found water between 10 and 20 centimeters deep in the pit on Saturday morning. The pit is located near the water intake of the No.2 reactor and contains power cables. The surface of the water in the pit was found to have a radiation level of over 1,000 milisieverts per hour. To fill in the crack in the pit, the utility firm began pouring in concrete at 4:30 PM on Saturday. But even more than 6 hours later, the amount of water flowing into the pit was so large that the injected concrete had not solidified yet, allowing radioactive water to leak into the ocean. The power company will try other measures on Sunday morning to stop water from entering the pit. It will use a particular kind of polymer which will absorb the water.

The power firm says the pit is connected to the trench of the No.2 reactor's turbine building. Last Sunday, the radioactive density of water in the reactor's turbine building was found to be about 100,000 times higher than the normal level. A high concentration of radioactive elements was also found in puddles in the trench. Analysis on Saturday showed that the radioactive density of the water in the pit was around 10,000 times above the usual level. On Saturday, the firm expanded its study of the radioactive level of seawater by analyzing samples collected about 15 kilometers from the plant in addition to samples taken near the Daiichi and Daini plants. The Daini plant sits about 10 kilometers south of the crippled Daiichi plant.
Sunday, April 03, 2011 01:41 +0900 (JST)

●Efforts to remove radioactive water stepped up
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is stepping up efforts to remove radioactive water that has been hindering its attempts to contain the ongoing problem at the power plant. Tokyo Electric Power Company is trying to remove contaminated water from the basements of the turbine buildings of the No.1, 2, and 3 reactors.

TEPCO hopes to move the radioactive water into storage tanks in the turbine condenser. But before that can be done, work began on Saturday to empty the storage tanks at the No. 2 reactor. TEPCO has been attempting to recover the reactors' cooling systems. It has been injecting seawater in order to prevent the reactors from overheating caused by the nuclear fuel. But it decided to use fresh water instead because seawater is corrosive. On Saturday morning, a docked US military barge began pumping fresh water to cool the reactors. Another US barge carrying about 1,300 tons of fresh water has
arrived at the site.

8 monitoring posts to measure radiation levels on the border of the compound started functioning again on Friday for the first time since the quake struck 3 weeks ago. However, as the automatic data transmission system is still out of order, workers will make daily visits to collect the radiation data which TEPCO will then post on its website.

Workers are also testing the spraying of synthetic resin in areas around the reactors in the hope that it will contain radioactive materials released by the hydrogen blasts.
Saturday, April 02, 2011 21:13 +0900 (JST)

●Tap water safe again
Japan's health ministry says test results of tap water show that radiation levels are within safety standards in all municipalities.

However, the village of Ii-tate in Fukushima Prefecture near the disabled nuclear power plant says the situation will have to be monitored for some time. It's calling on residents not to give tap water to infants as a precaution. On Friday, Iitate lifted restrictions on tap water consumption. According to the ministry, 965 becquerels of radioactive Iodine-131 was detected in tap water in Ii-tate Village on March 20th. The reading was about 3 times the national safety standard of 300 becquerels per liter. However, the measurements fell well below the legal standard at all checkpoints from March 29th.

At all the checkpoints in Fukushima Prefecture, the radioactive Iodine readings are now below the benchmark of 100 becquerels per liter for infants.All municipalities in the Kanto-Koshin-etsu regions including Tokyo had lifted a ban on tap-water consumption by March 27th. None of the municipalities has imposed any additional restrictions.Saturday, April 02, 2011 21:13 +0900 (JST)
End

[dorispulaski]

JAIF reports all the different actions taken at other nuclear power plants in Japan to improve safety.

Several have already acquired truck mounted generators to deploy to sites in case of an interruption of power (I wondered back in the beginning why TEPCO didn't have them.) .

Some examples:

On March 18, the Hokkaido Electric Power Co. deployed a vehicle-mounted power generator (320MW) at its Tomari Nuclear Power Station (NPS). It also ascertained that no abnormalities were to be found at the reactors, having undertaken special patrolling immediately after the earthquake of March 11, as well as routine patrolling and inspections of equipment significant to safety.

Meanwhile, the Tohoku Electric Power Co. has permanently deployed vehicle-mounted power generators, as well as ensured backup drive motors for seawater pumps at Units 1 to 3 of the Onagawa NPS, which automatically shut down when the earthquake occurred. It also secured routes to inject water into spent fuel storage pools by fire trucks, confirmed airtight seals at locations on walls of reactor buildings where piping and other equipment pass through, and inspected emergency diesel generators, emergency core cooling systems (ECCS), and others.

[dorispulaski]

It's good to hear that the IAEA's BWR style reactor experts have arrived to help. And to get confirmation that all un-evacuated areas now have drinking water restrictins lifted.

→ Summary of Reactor Status, 3 April 2011, 12.00 UTC


On Sunday, 3 April 2011, the IAEA provided the following information on the current status of nuclear safety in Japan:

1.Current Situation at the plant

Overall at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, the situation remains very serious.

On 2nd April, transferring of water from the Unit 1 condenser storage tank to the surge tank of the suppression pool was completed in preparation for transferring water in the basement of the Unit 1 turbine building to the condenser. Also on the 2nd April Transferring of water from the Unit 2 condenser storage tank to the surge tank of the suppression pool was started in preparation for transferring water in the basement of the Unit 1 turbine building to the condenser.

A second US Navy barge arrived on 2nd April carrying fresh water to be transferred to the 'filtered water tank'.

TEPCO has identified a possible leakage path from the Turbine building of Unit 2 to the sea via a series of trenches/tunnels used to provide power to the sea water intake pumps and supply of service water to the reactor and turbine buildings. As of 2nd April 07:25 UTC the pouring of concrete was started in an attempt to stop the water leakage. As of 2nd April 10:15 UTC, pouring of concrete had ceased and no significant decrease in the rate of leakage was observed. There is a plan to inject polymer to attempt to stop the leakage. TEPCO announced on 2nd April that, following the detection of highly contaminated water leaking through a crack found in a pit near Unit 2, they had added 3 additional sampling points at 15km from Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daiini.

Fresh water has been continuously injected into the Reactor Pressure Vessel of Unit 1 through the feed-water line at an indicated flow rate of 8 m3/h using a temporary electric pump with diesel backup. Fresh water is being injected continuously into the RPVs in Units 2 and 3 at indicated rates of 9 m3/h and 7 m3/h respectively through the fire extinguisher lines using temporary electric pumps with diesel backup.

In Unit 1 the indicated temperature at the feed water nozzle of the RPV is relatively stable at 259°C and at the bottom of RPV at 117°C. The RPV pressure indications are fluctuating and Drywell pressure is slightly decreasing. In Unit 2 the indicated temperature at the feed water nozzle of the RPV has decreased slightly from 161°C to 153°C. The temperature at the bottom of RPV was not reported. Indicated Drywell pressure remains at atmospheric pressure. The indicated temperature at the feed water nozzle of the RPV in Unit 3 is stable at 118°C and at the bottom of the RPV is about 92°C. The validity of the RPV temperature measurement at the feed water nozzle is still under investigation.

Injection of water into the spent fuel pool in Unit 2 using the temporary pump was restarted on 1st April.

Units 5 and 6

Both units remain in cold shutdown with plant systems operating on off-site AC power.

Common Spent Fuel Storage Facility

The Common Spent Fuel Pool temperature is stable. TEPCO tested an 'anti-scattering' agent (2000 l) on 500 m2 area around the Common Spent Fuel Storage facility on 1st April. The purpose of spraying is to prevent radioactive particles from being dispersed from the plant by winds and rain.

2. Radiation Monitoring

On 2nd April, deposition of iodine-131 was detected in 7 prefectures ranging from 4 to 95 becquerel per square metre. Deposition of cesium-137 in 6 prefectures was reported on 2nd April ranging from 15 to 47 becquerel per square metre. Reported gamma dose rates in the 45 prefectures showed no significant changes compared to yesterday.

Most of the previously imposed recommendations for restrictions on drinking water have been lifted. As of 2nd April, one recommendation for the restriction based on iodine-131 concentration was in place in one village in the Fukushima prefecture, which applied for infants only. Meanwhile, also in this village, the iodine-131 level in drinking water has dropped below 100 becquerel per litre, which is the recommended restriction level for intake by infants. The restriction is still in place as a precautionary measure of the local authority.

Currently, one IAEA monitoring team is working in the Fukushima region. On 2 April, measurements were made at 7 locations at distances of 32 to 62 km, North and Northwest to the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The dose rates ranged from 0.6 to 4.5 microsievert per hour. At the same locations, results of beta-gamma contamination measurements ranged from 0.09 to 0.46 megabecquerel per square metre.

3. BWR experts

The two agency experts in BWR technology have arrived in Japan. The objective of this expert visit is to have a direct exchange of views with the Japanese counterparts.

4. TEPCO Employees

TEPCO had been investigating two employees who had been missing since the earthquake of 11th March. On 2nd April NISA reported that on the afternoon of 30th March the two employees were found dead in the -1 Level of the Turbine Building of Unit 4.

[dorispulaski]

It's worth looking at again.


Fact Sheet
Health Impacts of Iodine-131
(Last updated 3/23/11)

Iodine 131 is a fission product produced in a commercial reactor and used in medical treatments. It forms a vapor that can be transported in the air. Iodine 131 is released at minute levels from nuclear power facilities during normal operation, but it has been detected in Japan at higher levels after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. There is no health concern for U.S. residents.

Iodine 131 has an 8-day half life and decays after about two months. The use of potassium iodide can decrease the effects of radioactive iodine. Potassium iodide should be taken only after a recommendation of a physician or local health officials. When ingested, Iodine 131 is concentrated in the thyroid gland. In high concentrations, the primary health hazard is thyroid cancer, especially in children.

As part of U.S. emergency response capabilities, state and local officials closely monitor food and drinking water supplies and, if needed, quarantine any contaminated supplies to prevent public exposure. Officials use pre-established guidelines for safe consumption of food and water set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

In Japan, one water sample taken March 23 in Tokyo showed that levels of Iodine 131 (5,700 picocuries per liter) were approximately twice the Japanese government limit. This resulted in the government advising the public to restrict the use of drinking water for infants; however water consumption is safe [ETA at that dose] for older children and adults. A picocurie is 1/one-trillionth of a curie.

Background
The accident at Three Mile Island is believed to have released 17 curies of iodine from the core; however no Iodine was detected in cows or goat milk following the accident. The Chernobyl accident released approximately 7 million curies of Iodine 131. Exposure of the population to iodine was the most significant radiological health impact of thataccident.

�� Adult consumption of 1,000 picocuries per liter concentration for 30days will result in aradiation dose of 24 millirem.
�� Infant consumption of 1,000 picocuries per liter concentration for 30 days will result in a radiation dose of 331 millirem.

[dorispulaski]

Re the cracked concrete maintenance pit that is spewing water, I wish that TEPCO would get in touch with the US Navy (or USCG for that matter). They have great techniques for stopping up holes where water is flowing in or out, and an entire specialty, damage control men, devoted to that sort of thing. No doubt other navies have similar specialties, but I know the US Navy does, and as it has numerous nuclear submarines and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, I'll bet a cookie they have done drills about radioactive water spewing from a pipe into the inside of the ship.

They even hold a damage control Olympics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnavynvns/4865416627/

[dorispulaski]

Meanwhile, the 6:00 PM April 3 status is in from TEPCO.
Wind is in the north

Gamma Radiation
Daini, 10:00 PM April 3, Monitor Point 4, 3.7 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi, 10:00 PM April 3, West Gate, 76.7 microSieverts per hour

Radiation Dose
Daiichi Main Building 10:00 PM April 3, 0.80 milliSieverts per hour
Daiichi Main Gate 10:00 PM April 3, 120 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi West Gate 10:00 PM April 3, 56 microSieverts per hour


It does not look like the polymer is an instant success. Again, I wish they would call the US Navy for some help:

-Today at around 9:30 am, we detected water containing radiation dose overc
1,000 mSv/h in the pit* where supply cables are stored near the intake channel of Unit 2. Furthermore, there was a crack about 20 cm on the concrete lateral of the pit, from where the water in the pit was out flowing.(We already informed.) During the same day, we injected fresh concrete to the pit, but we could not observe a reduction in the amount of water spilling from the pit to the sea. Therefore, we considered that a new method of stopping the water and determined to use the polymer. Necessary equipment and experts of water shutoff will be dispatched to the site and after checking the condition, we're doing continuous work to stop water by injecting polymer(April 3rd).

And pumping and cooling are still going on:

Today's work for cooling the spent fuel pools
-Water spray by the concrete pump truck to Unit 4 started at 5:14 pm.
.

This has got to be a lot easier now that they have electicity (lights at least) in all four disabled units' turbine buildings.

Draining water from underground floor of turbine buildings

-In regard with transferring water from a condensate storage tank to a suppression pool water surge-tank in unit 1, the work began at 1:55 pm April 3rd.
-Water transfer from a condenser to a condensate storage tank in unit 2, began at approximately 5:10 pm, April 2nd.

I'm not sure quite what this means, but JAIF lists it as new news

April 3rd:
12:18 Power supply to water injection pumps to the reactors of Unit 1, 2 ,and 3 was switched from power supply vehicles to originally equipped power source.
2.

IAEA is reporting this too:

Fukushima Nuclear Accident Update (3 April 2011, 17:15 UTC)
Japanese authorities today informed the IAEA of the following developments at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant:

In Units 1, 2 and 3, external power supply is now being used to power the pumps that are injecting fresh water into the reactors, thus replacing temporary electrical pumps.

The switch to external power supply occurred on 3 April at:

03:02 UTC (12:02 Japan time) for Unit 1.
03:12 UTC (12:12 Japan time) for Unit 2.
03:18 UTC (12:18 Japan time) for Unit 3.

Some lighting has been reactivated in the turbine buildings of Units 1, 2, 3 and 4.

[Olympia]

Re the cracked concrete maintenance pit that is spewing water, I wish that TEPCO would get in touch with the US Navy (or USCG for that matter). They have great techniques for stopping up holes where water is flowing in or out, and an entire specialty, damage control men, devoted to that sort of thing. No doubt other navies have similar specialties, but I know the US Navy does, and as it has numerous nuclear submarines and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, I'll bet a cookie they have done drills about radioactive water spewing from a pipe into the inside of the ship.

They even hold a damage control Olympics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnavynvns/4865416627/

How awesome! Kind of like the contests that volunteer firefighters hold, I guess. I hope they are able to get some specialists in.

By the way, not entirely on the subject but sort of, I think at one point when Jimmy Carter was in the Navy, he worked as a jumper. He was actually quite knowledgeable about nuclear-powered subs.

[Tonichelle]

Carter? Knowledgeable? (sorry, Alaskan bitterness showing here.)

[dorispulaski]

http://www.cartercenter.org/news/exp...my_carter.html

The Seawolf
http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08575a.htm

He was educated in the public school of Plains, attended Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology, and received a bachelor of science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1946. In the Navy he became a submariner, serving in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets and rising to the rank of lieutenant. Chosen by Admiral Hyman Rickover for the nuclear submarine program, he was assigned to Schenectady, N.Y., where he took graduate work at Union College in reactor technology and nuclear physics, and served as senior officer of the pre-commissioning crew of the Seawolf, the second nuclear submarine.

Jimmy never actually served on the Seawolf-he was on the 'crew' that worked with the folks at General Dynamics. He also never worked in the nuclear industry in commercial atomic power, since the first commercial nuclear reactor for electric power in the US was not built until 1958 at Shippingport.

Carter as president made one of the most unfortunate decisions in the history of nuclear power. He stopped the US from reprocessing nuclear fuel, and he did so while crippling all efforts to have a national (or shared international) spent fuel repository. His thought was that this would somehow prevent the proliferation of the atomic bomb; unfortunately, all it did was leave unsettled the question of the handling of nuclear waste. It resulting in the closing of 2 reprocessing plants.

So while he has a nuclear submarine, the Jimmy Carter, named after him, he is not necessarily an expert on the subject.

[dorispulaski]

I'm glad to hear that both TEPCO and the government are doing something for the evacuees.

UPDATE AS OF 3 P.M. EDT, SUNDAY, APRIL 3:
Tokyo Electric Power planned Sunday to inject water-absorbing polymer into a cracked concrete enclosure near the reactor 2 water intake at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in an effort to stop radioactive water from leaking into the ocean. Yesterday, pouring concrete into the concrete enclosure, which carries electric cables, failed to seal the crack.

TEPCO said it had not found water leaking from the concrete enclosures at other reactors, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum reported.

Following detection of the reactor 2 leak, the power company began testing radiation levels in sea water 15 kilometers (about 9.5 miles) from the facility.

A U.S. Navy barge has begun supplying fresh water as injection continues to cool reactors 1, 2, and 3. TEPCO is using a motor-driven pump powered by an off-site transmission line. A second barge with more fresh water has arrived at the site. Electric power has been restored to lighting in the turbine buildings of reactors 1, 2, and 3.

Radiation Measurements
After consultations with nuclear experts from the United States, TEPCO has begun to measure radiation levels inside the nuclear power plant’s 20-kilometer (12.5 mile) evacuation zone. Measurements have been taken routinely outside the zone, but TEPCO has been reluctant to conduct tests closer to the plant because of anticipated radiation exposure to workers taking those measurements.

Radiation levels off site and at the site boundary are generally decreasing, although localized areas with elevated levels are being identified for further analysis. Protective action recommendations for food and water are gradually being lifted in many locations, but some remain pending further analysis.

The government is looking carefully at how and when to allow evacuees to return to their homes. The situation remains difficult for evacuees, especially the elderly and ill among them, but the government is escalating efforts to accommodate those who have evacuated.

The government is monitoring children up to 15 years old in some prefectures for possible iodine-131 exposure. Based on preliminary results, iodine-131 has not been found at levels that exceed action levels, and in many areas there has been no exposure.

Missing Workers Found
Tokyo Electric Power Co. has confirmed that two company employees who had been missing since the tsunami occurred on March 11 were found dead March 30 in the basement of the turbine building of reactor 4.

[dorispulaski]

April 4th, 9 AM TEPCO update on radiation measurements

Gamma Radiation
Daini 9:00 AM, April 4th, Measure point 4, 3.6 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi 9:00 AM, April 4th, West Gate, 74.1 microSieverts per hour

Radiation Dose
Daiichi Main Building 0.78 milliSieverts per hour
Daiichi Main Gate 121 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi West Gare 55 microSieverts per hour

[Tonichelle]

So while he has a nuclear submarine, the Jimmy Carter, named after him, he is not necessarily an expert on the subject.

Is he an expert at anything? He made some pretty big mistakes with Alaska, too. Which means most of the rest of the US's $$ now comes to us (thank you Senator Ted Stevens) since Carter closed almost 45% of the state to any exploration or development (killing hundreds of jobs and devastating native villages) our founding Senator Stevens decided he'd fight for every tax dollar he could. Let the Federal Government pay for "their" land. :D Stupid, Stevens was not... and that's how our state grew as it has...

now all we're known for is a dozen reality shows, and Sarah Palin. *facepalm*

[dorispulaski]

Actually, Jimmy is pretty good on religion.

Thanks for explaining why Jimmy was bad for Alaska. I had no idea.

As to being good or bad for you, there's an article in The Lancet that talks about the effects of different methods of generating energy on health in Europe. The results are summarized in this table:

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...tionType=green

The figures for nuclear include Chernobyl.


You have to register to view anything on The Lancet.

The author makes the point that smoking takes 8 years off your life, which is far worse than any of the forms of energy.

Units are in either Deaths per Terawatt-hour of electricity generated or Cases per Terawatt-hour of electricity generated.

Amongst the public, coal burning in Europe is responsible for 24.5 deaths per Terawatt hour,
225 serious illnesses per Terawatt hour, and 17,676 minor illnesses per Terawatt hour. (A Terawatt is ten to the ninth power kilowatt-hours, the unit we usually see on the electric bill)

By comparison, nuclear in Europe, including Chernobyl, is responsible for 0.22 deaths per Terawatt hour and 0.52 serious illnesses per Terawatt hour. It is responsible for no known minor illnesses.

The other methods of large scale electrical generation fall between those extremes, except lignite burning (brown coal), which is not commonly practiced in the US, although Mississippi plans a plant, is a lot worse than coal.

In the US, the numbers would look even better, since we have had no Chernobyl sized incident here.

On the same scale, biomass causes 4.63 deaths,2276 minor illnesses, and 43 serious illnesses per Terawatt hour.
Natural gas causes 2.8i deaths, 30 serious illnesses and 703 minor illnesses per Terawatt hour.

In the area of accidental deaths among the public, the other methods listed range from 0.02 to 0.03 deaths per Terawatthour. Nuclear is listed at 0.003 deaths among the public due to accident per Terawatthour. In the case of deaths among plant workers, it is more, 0.019 per Terawatt hour, third behind coal at 0.20 deaths per Terawatt hour, and 0.20 deaths per Terawatt hour for lignite. (and the nuclear numbers were driven by Chernobyl, whereas I expect the coal/lignite numbers are driven by deaths in mines).

It's an interesting comparison and The Washington post is drawing on this study when it wrote this article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...yQC_story.html

"Nuclear Power Is Safest Way To Make Electricity"

he effects of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant grow by the week, creating a lengthening catalogue of worries and proving once again that nuclear power frightens people as few other technologies do.

But when the dead and sickened are added up, how dangerous is it really?

The partial meltdown in Japan has injured 23 people and exposed as many as 21 to levels of radiation higher than is considered safe to receive in one year. Two workers are still missing but are assumed to have been killed by the earthquake or tsunami, not the nuclear accident. No people in the “plume zone” outside the plant have been contaminated to a degree that is expected to affect their health, based on radiation readings so far.

In the months after the world’s worst nuclear disaster, in Chernobyl in 1986, about 50 people died. In the next-biggest accident, at Three Mile Island in 1979, no one did.

History suggests that nuclear power rarely kills and causes little illness. That’s also the conclusion engineers reach when they model scenarios for thousands of potential accidents.

Making electricity from nuclear power turns out to be far less damaging to human health than making it from coal, oil or even clean-burning natural gas, according to numerous analyses. That’s even more true if the predicted effects of climate change are thrown in.

[Olympia]

I have looked further, and Carter did assist in a nuclear accident while in the Navy. The accident was in Canada, in an experimental reactor in a place called Chalk River. Americans were sent to assist the Canadians. Carter and his team used hand tools to take things apart, and they worked only a few seconds at a time.

As for Alaska, I understand your dislike of Carter's policies, Tonichelle, but as I mulled your excellent points later, I decided to retain my opinion of the situation. The deciding factor: when we read about the Gulf Oil spill, I noticed that the company responsible for the spill was not run by people born in Montgomery, Mobile, or Biloxi. It was British Petroleum. The lion's share of the revenue doesn't go to the ordinary working stiffs, but golly, the environmental degradation sure does. I don't think the guys in the front office way back in England are eating contaminated shrimp. I don't expect to convince you--my philosophy is vive la difference--but I thought I'd bring it up.

[dorispulaski]

Olympia, I'll have to read up about Jimmy at Chalk River. I didn't know that about him.

As to drilling in the Arctic Slope in Alaska in ANWR, particularly on land in the Arctic Slope, I don't see why not. People don't seem to realize how huge an area they are talking about. They see Alaska off on the side of their map of the US, in a little inset, and don't realize that people are talking about a couple or three square miles of ANWR that the caribou will happily walk around, given that ANWR is a region the size of South Carolina. Here's a good site for showing the size of things, something that is sadly missing from the discussion most times. You can disagree with the conclusion, but its worth understanding why some people find this less disturbing than others.
http://www.candidity.org/drill_baby_drill.htm

OTOH, I don't like the idea of off-shore drilling up there, unless they're using that artificial island method that BP talked about. It was nightmarishly difficult stopping the Deep Water Horizon and Ixtoc 1 and Atlantic Empress oil spills in the relatively warm seas of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. I can't imagine the difficulty of doing that in the Arctic Ocean or the Bering Sea in winter.

However, the damage was severely overblown in the press. The Gulf of Mexico has had oil seeps for years, exactly because it has so much oil under it. Things that can't survive some level of oil spill don't live here. That helps. And the size of the area affected severely was definitely overblown, as they were behaving like the Florida Panhandle was already devastated and dead.

The oysters are fine and the shrimp fine, all the way to Panama City these days, if not further. I don't know about the Alabama and Louisiana coasts and bayous, but I may be taking a trip up that way to see Ski's uncle, and will report back.

I may be picturing Dauphin island, Alabama's sugary white sand as littered with tar balls, but I was picturing Manasota Key that way, and when we got here, it was not so.

I hope it's OK. It has an amazing bird sanctuary there.