Today's press conference in Japan

[DMac]

Recorded earlier today

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13320454

[DMac]

The initial 30-45 minutes of the discussion is done by an engineer that designs containment walls for reactors. It is technical but not impossible to follow.

Around the 45 minute - 60 minute mark the Q & A period begins. I recommend the engineers and technically inclined on the board view what is being said. Some of the questions and answers indicate that we are facing the worst case scenario in 1 of the reactors.

The questions are good and to the point.

[joe_momma]

Here's an excellent earlier description from an MIT professor on what is going on inside the three reactors.

http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-reactors-pose-no-risk-2011-3


[snip]
The nuclear fuel is uranium oxide. Uranium oxide is a ceramic with a very high melting point of about 3000 °C. The fuel is manufactured in pellets (think little cylinders the size of Lego bricks). Those pieces are then put into a long tube made of Zircaloy with a melting point of 2200 °C, and sealed tight. The assembly is called a fuel rod. These fuel rods are then put together to form larger packages, and a number of these packages are then put into the reactor. All these packages together are referred to as “the core”.


...What happened now is that some of the byproducts of the uranium decay - radioactive Cesium and Iodine - started to mix with the steam. The big problem, uranium, was still under control, because the uranium oxide rods were good until 3000 °C. It is confirmed that a very small amount of Cesium and Iodine was measured in the steam that was released into the atmosphere. It seems this was the “go signal” for a major plan B. The small amounts of Cesium that were measured told the operators that the first containment on one of the rods somewhere was about to give.