VIDEO GALLERY
Ian Fairlie Bio, The Guardian: Dr Ian Fairlie is an independent consultant on radiation risks and a former scientific secretary to the [UK] government’s Committee Examining Radiation Risks from Internal Emitters.
Title: Ian Fairlie on the significance of the Fukushima disaster
Program: If You Love This Planet
Date Aired: Oct. 21, 2011
Description: Dr. Ian Fairlie joins Dr. Caldicott on the program in this interview recorded in July, a few months after the Fukushima accident. Dr. Fairlie is a radiobiologist from Great Britain. He works as an independent consultant in the field of radioactivity in the environment and advises environmental organizations, the European Parliament as well as local and national authorities in several countries. [...]
Listen to or download full program here.
Transcript Summary at ~7:00 in
Fairlie: Really it’s just a matter of time before it [the corium] goes through and into the bottom of the actual station itself. And if it ever hits ground, well… there’s a lot of water sloshing around there, if molten fuel gets into that water it will immediately flash to steam and you will have huge steam explosions going on.
From this weekend:
- China syndrome inevitable says architect of Fukushima Reactor No. 3 -- Warns of massive hydrovolcanic explosion -- Melted fuel inevitably sank underground
- Yomiuri: Unknown how much nuclear fuel has melted through Fukushima reactors and 'dispersed' -- Questionable to assess that as nearly a 'cold shutdown'
- Top Japan Official: There have been various discussions on location of melted fuel -- We 'think' we are able to cool fuel inside primary containers and pressure vessels
ABC on the melt-through:
5-minute video of clips from ‘The Battle of Chernobyl’ regarding steam explosions:
Related Posts
- Japan radiation expert: Plutonium-238 from inside reactors went far from Fukushima after explosions — ‘Misleading’ media said it would stay close by October 31, 2011
- China syndrome inevitable says architect of Fukushima Reactor No. 3 — Warns of massive hydrovolcanic explosion — Melted fuel inevitably sank underground November 19, 2011
- Dr. Koide: Massive amounts of radioactivity may again be released from Fukushima — Mentions “steam explosion” after melted fuel hits water September 9, 2011
- Report: Nuclear fuel fragments found over a mile away were “ejected from the reactor cores in those explosions” not spent fuel pools, according to NRC (VIDEO) August 18, 2011
- US nuke industry report: Explosions at Fukushima Units 1, 3, 4 may have caused inventory (nuclear rods) to be lost from spent fuel pools — “Debris” on ground near Unit 3 was extremely radioactive after blast November 11, 2011
48 
141
We Must Assume A Worst Case Scenario And Prepare For Corium Migration Or Even Hydro-Volcanic Explosion Which Could Compromise The Entire Six Reactor Complex.
Report Comment
Hello OSR,
You said,
“We Must Assume A Worst Case Scenario And Prepare For Corium Migration Or Even Hydro-Volcanic Explosion Which Could Compromise The Entire Six Reactor Complex.”
We have done so since the beginning of this horrendous disaster. Welcome to the crew. Nothing has changed because NOTHING has been done to stop the ONGOING release of radioactive contamination and fallout into the jet stream.
At this time and without all the hoo-ha fan-fare of fear around this possibility, the reactors boil and burble each day. What now comes as the question of the day is, how much longer can they percolate like this before they do phreatically erupt, or explode more devastating radioactive contamination into OUR environment?
Report Comment
So these statements were made in July. We’re 120 days further down the road.
I’d really appreciate this expert’s opinion of TODAY. I think every day that passes reduces the risk of that steam explosion, or not? As we’re all guessing in circles here, I for myself decided not to concentrate too much on the “what if’s” but on the factual releases….
Btw, Drnovo (Slovenia) still showing release of I-131, I-132, Cs-134, Cs-137 and Co-60 today.
Report Comment
No it increases. This is just the biggest concern since march. It takes time for the melted core to eat through vessel and basement (shield). They cannot locate the melted fuel/core so they don’t know when this event will happen but it probably will.
In Chernobyl they dug a tunnel under the reactor and build an extra shield to catch the core (corecatcher) which was also melting down.
Report Comment
I think comparing this and Chernobyl needs to stop. The radiation dispersion is maybe the only thing left currently applicable. The design for the reactors is entirely different thus giving us a entirely different situation here. This is a whole nother animal.
Lacsap, do you have anything to back up these claims? Out of all people, I wouldnt jump to BreadandButter’s defense first, but I feel shes right in this case.. its a matter of nuclear physics now.
Decay heat in a reactor reduces exponentially with time, given water is circulating. Hopefully it is here. read up..
http://mitnse.com/2011/03/16/what-is-decay-heat/
The chart on that page shows estimated decay heat removal times, given ideal situations.
And my belief is the core is getting cooler ever so slightly. The gallons of water they pump daily directly into the pressure vessel has to be flowing somewhere, likely, in, through, around, whatever canal, the fuel has created. Inevitably im sure the water is leaking from the base of the plant and contaminating ground water. But there arent many options left.
Report Comment
Every time there is a re-criticality the corium heats up again. If this was not occurring it wouldn’t be near the problem that we have now. If it was getting cooler via decay heat it wouldn’t be burrowing underground and threatening a hydrovolcanic explosion.
Report Comment
Point taken. But every prediction about the corium is a guess at this point. My guess..It could be one giant blob, which i personally believe is the case, majority retained in the pressure vessel..it has lost its lid and some vaporized out the top during explosion and some melted out the bottom. The melted out has hit the base of the reactor and spread onto the slab which is working as a heat sink.
http://www.nzifst.org.nz/unitoperations/httrtheory2.htm#condslab
With regards to it surging and acheieving re-crticality, this can be in some small spots or maybe the whole thing or not, impossible to tell at this point. We can be sure that it is not capable of achieving anywhere above 7% its original power output. Either way I dont believe it to be anywhere near as hot as it was at the beginning of the crisis. Under belief the cores are more or less stablized and are beginning to solidify. That is if the water they inject is reaching the fuel.
maybe i just enjoy cheerful speculation.
Report Comment
Just the one corium? I thought there were three adrift somewhere, and let’s not talk about SFP 4 swinging in the breeze.
Also you speak optimistically of cooling a ‘blob’ with water pumped – again, optimistically if not desperately – so as to flow over the surface of the ‘blob’, which I must point out is made up of material capable of generating enormous heat when kept separated in finger-thin rods immersed in fast flowing water. Now that I think on it, optimistically isn’t the correct word… I think ‘naively’ covers it nicely.
Report Comment
“optimistically” ?
“naively” ?
Nah.
jdotg is just being “shilly”
Report Comment
BreadAndButter,
Well if a earthquake hits and causing disturbance “cracks, shaking just right amount’s and place’s”, we may not have to wait for it to hit the water table !
It’s got to be getting Mighty HOT down there when it dose hit the water table !
Report Comment
Well at least some people understand that the whole plant is going to see more eruptions of nuclear material into the atmosphere. TEPCO has been venting and purifying water, but I doubt that will help any when the fuel ignites pressurized flammable gas. Not a good situation right now 8 months in we could be watching a bigger set of fission events in the next 3 months or so.
Report Comment
Put the last eight months world event’s on a time line with the Fuka disaster !
What do we see ??
Report Comment
Just read all the above comments. First, you can’t stop comparing Chernobyl to Fukushima, as they are the two worst nuclear disasters in our history. The fact Communist Russia mobilized conscript militia while Tepco seems to remain in control as a business hiring temps to do the dirty work and calling the shots to the government, well that in of itself begs comparison. Russia was worried about ruining a huge underground aquafier, millions of people depended on for a water source. Maybe Japan doesn’t have that concern. Russia is a huge country making evacuation easier then Japan. Tokyo and suburbs are 35 million people. Where are they going to go? As long as Tepco is in charge they will try to do things on the cheap because thats what companies do. In Russia, it seems to me once they decided to fix the problem they went at it hardcore. Tepco appears to be dicking around. Looks like Japan will have a dead zone just like in Chernobyl, they just don’t want to admit it. So you will never be able to stop comparing Fuku to Chernobyl.
A huge explosion when the corium hits groundwater? We were talking about this possibility months ago. If I remember someone said that Fukushima was built on soft ground, someone else said Fuku was built on back fill. If this is the case I don’t see how you will get an explosion. Think of a pot on a stove, the water boils and even though the lid is on steam escapes. Of course if you welded the lid shut you would get an explosion. I think the steam will just vent through the earth. We have already heard of steam coming up from cracks in the ground. Someone else said that as the corium travels down it will gradually heat up the water so it won’t all of a sudden blow. I think the situation at Fukushima is grave and many people will die from it some in my neighborhood in Vancouver but I don’t think there will be a massive explosion from groundwater. Just a personal opinion of a layman.
Report Comment