Article

2004-08-09 China-Japan-Koreas

Five Hurt in Japan Nuclear Plant Accident

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Posted by Steve 2004-08-09 8:56:48 AM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 No radiation leaks, merely live steam.

Posted by Shipman 2004-08-09 10:23:02 AM|| 2004-08-09 10:23:02 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Steam--why does it hate us?

Posted by Dar 2004-08-09 10:28:02 AM|| 2004-08-09 10:28:02 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Steam accidents are nasty. Fourth degree burns. Inhalation burns.

Posted by Chuck Simmins 2004-08-09 12:01:57 PM|| [http://blog.simmins.org] 2004-08-09 12:01:57 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 Four dead now reported, multiple injured

Posted by Steve 2004-08-09 12:18:26 PM|| 2004-08-09 12:18:26 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Am I correct in understanding that a true steam leak is for the most part invisible? And that what most laypeople understand to be steam is actually condensation at a temperature below the boiling point?

Posted by Dar 2004-08-09 12:30:52 PM|| 2004-08-09 12:30:52 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Dar,

Your understanding is correct. Steam is a gas, but unless it's superheated there will always be some degree of moisture in it, which makes it visible.

Depending on the pressure of the system, leaks can be invisible. On Navy powerplants that are 1200 psig (are there any left?), they hunt down pinhole leaks with a broomstick. On a 600 psig system, you can see the plume.

However, this was probably a ruptured pipe, so it would have been like a hellish sauna. It's a nasty death.

Posted by dreadnought 2004-08-09 1:29:09 PM|| 2004-08-09 1:29:09 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Yep. You run the broomstick along the pipe until it falls in half. That's the leak.

Posted by Anonymous 2004-08-09 18:09|| 2004-08-09 18:09|| Front Page Top

#8 The broomstick falls in half, not the pipe, just to be clear! High pressure leaks from pinholes make an airjet or waterjet or whatever jet knife. Much better to find the hole with the old broomstick trick than to wave your hand around such a leak and watch your fingers drop to the ground.
My condolences to the families of the casualties.

Posted by Craig">Craig 2004-08-09 21:19|| 2004-08-09 21:19|| Front Page Top

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