4 ms·
From what I was following at the time, it was looking very much like containment in one of the reactors was lost (I generally assumed from earthquake damage).
by einhverfr 13y ago
From what I was following at the time, it was looking very much like containment in one of the reactors was lost (I generally assumed from earthquake damage). This may not be all the contamination or even most of it. As the crisis unfolded you had a huge number of really big problems arise.
The thing to remember is that a massive earthquake caused this crisis. When you are dealing with seismic activity on that scale, ensuring that structures remain intact requires making assumptions which just are not readily testable.
- maxerickson 13y agoThere were loud reports of them venting steam from the containment into the atmosphere, so yes, they lost containment. As I understand it, none of the fuel is exposed directly to the environment, the problems have all been with the cooling water (which is still a big deal, but at least there is more hope of improving that situation than if the fuel had somehow dispersed).
- einhverfr 13y agoAlso the reports of the cracks in the containment structure would allow coolant water to leak out.