Daiichi unit three is the only MOX reactor at danger, AFAIK. (http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/mox-fuel-loaded-into-tokyo-electrics-old-fukushima-reactor). Whether or not it has had a partial meltdown is a bit unclear, but some reports say several meters of fuel rods were uncovered, they have been damaged, and it got hot enough that hydrogen may have been produced and the top of the building may also blow following venting. Unit 1 is uranium, and was constructed in the sixties. Wikipedia says it was slated to be decommissioned this year, but had recently gotten a ten year extension. The official line is that hydrogen ignited for unknown reasons, which is fair, because there are any number of things from electrical sparks to static electricity that can do that. One article I read claimed that by their analysis of the shockwave just hydrogen exploding in a relatively soft-sided secondary containment building doesn't account for the severity, but who the heck knows. Worrisome are also the reports that detectors at the Onegawa plant went past the regulatory limits but the operator is confident nothing from the Onegawa plant is leaking, suggesting the contamination is coming from somewhere else (i.e. Fukushima, suggesting the release of material has been worse than admitted.) Ironically, Onegawa is the plant much closer to the epicenter, near the maximum tsunami area, and they haven't had any (reported) problems, aside from temporarily elevated readings from an unknown external source.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-03-13 10:47 pm (UTC)Unit 1 is uranium, and was constructed in the sixties. Wikipedia says it was slated to be decommissioned this year, but had recently gotten a ten year extension.
The official line is that hydrogen ignited for unknown reasons, which is fair, because there are any number of things from electrical sparks to static electricity that can do that. One article I read claimed that by their analysis of the shockwave just hydrogen exploding in a relatively soft-sided secondary containment building doesn't account for the severity, but who the heck knows. Worrisome are also the reports that detectors at the Onegawa plant went past the regulatory limits but the operator is confident nothing from the Onegawa plant is leaking, suggesting the contamination is coming from somewhere else (i.e. Fukushima, suggesting the release of material has been worse than admitted.) Ironically, Onegawa is the plant much closer to the epicenter, near the maximum tsunami area, and they haven't had any (reported) problems, aside from temporarily elevated readings from an unknown external source.