Japan nuclear crisis: Xenon detected at Fukushima plant - Polidicks

[quote]A radioactive gas has been detected at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the facility's operator says. Tepco said xenon had been found in reactor two, which was previously thought to be near a stable shutdown. There has been no increase in temperature or pressure, but the discovery may indicate a problem with the reactor. Boric acid - used to suppress nuclear reactions - has been injected as a precaution. Ever since the meltdowns in March triggered by the huge earthquake and tsunami, engineers have been working to bring the Fukushima reactors under control. The government and Tepco - the Tokyo Electric Power Company - have said they are on track to achieve a stable shutdown by the end of the year. But now they have found what could be a problem - radioactive xenon gas detected in a filter in reactor two. Since it has a short half-life, it indicates a possibility of resumed nuclear fission in recent days. Tepco says the temperature of the reactor, which has been below boiling point, has not increased, indicating any reaction would be small. It is not ruling out a false reading but boric acid, which suppresses fission, was injected into the reactor overnight. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Japan a reactor has been switched on for the first time since the disaster. Safety fears mean local authorities have been refusing permission for restarts after routine maintenance. Dozens of facilities are offline amid concern about electricity shortages. [img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/53986000/jpg/_53986244_53986241.jpg[/img] Officials are not yet sure if the readings pose a problem [/quote] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/15550270[/url]

I misread that as Xenu, I'm disappointed now.

Sounds like even if it's not a false reading, the effects are small and being contained by the normal safety procedures. Noteworthy, but not very alarming.

Jesus Christ, are people still banging on about this?

I misread that as "xeno" and thought we had found alien mutants

Funny, when I hear Xenon I think of the rogue terraformers in X3. Seeing them here wouldn't have been good. Anyways, they seem to have it under control. Why is this news?

[QUOTE=QwertySecond;33086996]Jesus Christ, are people still banging on about this?[/QUOTE] Japan is turning into Radioactivity-World and you're just concerned about what clogs up your unimportant little forum?

[QUOTE=QwertySecond;33086996]Jesus Christ, are people still banging on about this?[/QUOTE] When there is still harmful radiation spewing from it, yes.

[QUOTE=QwertySecond;33086996]Jesus Christ, are people still banging on about this?[/QUOTE] Are you fucking serious?

[QUOTE=QwertySecond;33086996]Jesus Christ, are people still banging on about this?[/QUOTE]Yeah! How ridiculous! Fuck other countries for going through a radioactive crisis it doesn't involve me!

[QUOTE=QwertySecond;33086996]Jesus Christ, are people still banging on about this?[/QUOTE] Jesus Christ, are you still posting here?

[QUOTE=QwertySecond;33086996]Jesus Christ, are people still banging on about this?[/QUOTE] Yeah how dare helpless people in Japan die! I want different news!

[QUOTE=toaster468;33087836]Yeah how dare helpless people in Japan die! I want different news![/QUOTE] nobody's died yet e. nobody has died from [B]radiation [/B]in [B]fukushima[/B], is what I meant, which is what the thread is about

Send in the Grey Knights

[QUOTE=Turnips5;33087890]nobody's died yet[/QUOTE] Woops, I figured people would die. My histroy teacher told me that bodies were going to wash onto the shore, becuase of the different weights, mis-informed I guess.

[QUOTE=toaster468;33087943]Woops, I figured people would die. My histroy teacher told me that bodies were going to wash onto the shore, becuase of the different weights, mis-informed I guess.[/QUOTE] my mistake, 5 people actually did die one guy got trapped in the console of a crane during the earthquake, two were swept away by the tsunami, one died from a heart attack, and another died from unspecified causes. [url]http://asiancorrespondent.com/53036/the-fukushima-death-toll/[/url] still, less people died than most people figure. [editline]2nd November 2011[/editline] and none from radiation, which is expected [editline]2nd November 2011[/editline] you do realise I mean nobody's died from radiation in fukushima, right obviously people died in a fucking TSUNAMI

Xenon isnt radioactive I'm guessing they found some xenon isotope, since most have a really short half-life

[QUOTE=Zenpod;33087915]Send in the Grey Knights[/QUOTE] Off topic. They don't go after Xenos, they go after daemons.

So could this mean it explodes or something? Wow keep rating a legit question dumb don't bother answering it sorry I'm not an arm chair nuclear physicist nor did I have to learn about this in school.

[QUOTE=QwertySecond;33086996]Jesus Christ, are people still banging on about this?[/QUOTE] If people didn't care about the reactors and just ignored them they'd cause allot more deaths and injuries than Tsunami did in the long run.

Well, that went down a treat. Alright, let me clarify: I'm both surprised and annoyed that the mainstream media are still producing stories on something that wrapped up months ago. There was never a nuclear catastrophe, and there never will be, with regards to Fukushima. I'm surprised, because I expect an organisation like the BBC to perform proper research, rather than spinning out sensationalist stories of [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12825342]danergous levels of iodine 131.[/url] [url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/25/fukushima_scaremongering_debunk/page2.html]Websites which quote their sources and offer some numbers tend to paint a different picture.[/url] And I'm annoyed for several reasons, primarily because this is nothing more than senseless scaremongering to sell a story. As with Chernobyl, [url=http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr38/en/index.html]this tends to affect people mentally[/url]: [quote=W.H.O]Alongside radiation-induced deaths and diseases, the report labels the mental health impact of Chernobyl as “the largest public health problem created by the accident” and partially attributes this damaging psychological impact to a lack of accurate information. These problems manifest as negative self-assessments of health, belief in a shortened life expectancy, lack of initiative, and dependency on assistance from the state.[/quote] I'm also annoyed with this because nuclear power is undoubtedly one of the major avenues we as a civilisation need to take. It's one of the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable forms of power generation we have. What with the damned Feed in Tariffs and Renewable Obligation Certificates, it will become too expensive for many people to heat their homes over winter. Nuclear offers an alternative to this, but if major news outlets continue to paint nuclear power as a glowing monster it will never become a widespread power supply. And, looking at some of your replies, some of you appear to think that I'm annoyed about having the tsunami reported. The title of this thread "Japan nuclear crisis: Xenon detected at Fukushima plant" the only reference in the OP: [quote]Ever since the meltdowns in March triggered by the huge earthquake and tsunami[/quote] We're not talking about the tsunami, are we? As Turnips5 pointed out, 5 people have died, none from radiation poisoning. Rather than find and refute every misguided article from the past year with regards to Fukishima I will direct you to [url=http://search.theregister.co.uk/?q=fukushima]El reg[/url], who have produced a number of well written articles on the subject, the [url=http://search.who.int/search?q=fukushima&ie=utf8&site=default_collection&client=_en&proxystylesheet=_en&output=xml_no_dtd&oe=utf8]WHO[/url], and [url=http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/stdsearch.aspx?sparam=fukushima&fid=778]World Nuclear News[/url].

[QUOTE=Tobba;33088733]Xenon isnt radioactive I'm guessing they found some xenon isotope, since most have a really short half-life[/QUOTE]IIRC there's a few radioactive isotopes of xenon that are most commonly produced during nuclear fission of Pu239 and U235 [editline]2nd November 2011[/editline] Wikipedia says 31mXe, 133Xe, 133mXe, and 135Xe

[QUOTE=Tobba;33088733]Xenon isnt radioactive I'm guessing they found some xenon isotope, since most have a really short half-life[/QUOTE] The name of the element reffers to every isotope the element has. It's just that the most common isotope (barring exceptions like silver which the two most common isotopes are 51%/48%) is just named like the element, even though hydrogen with A=1 should be called protium but is just called hydrogen.

I think it's remarkable how they've managed to contain the situation at Fukushima, especially considering the scale of damage done by both the earthquake and tsunami.

A wild radioactive gas appears! Why isn't anything more-or-less simple? Whenever people come up with a concrete set of choices for tackling a situation, probability goes all Murphy's Law on our asses...

I thought since Xenon was a noble gas it couldn't have any radiation or dangerous health effects. I guess not though, I never read about the isotopes.

xenon is pretty much the most inert thing there is, why is this such a big deal? water is more dangerous than xenon

[QUOTE=ButtsexV3;33097198]xenon is pretty much the most inert thing there is, why is this such a big deal? water is more dangerous than xenon[/QUOTE] It's apparently hazardous enough that people scan their basements for it.

[QUOTE=QwertySecond;33086996]Jesus Christ, are people still banging on about this?[/QUOTE] Oh no people are ruining Facepunch's News forum by filling it with interesting world issues... quick, call a moderator to stop this nonsense immediately.

[QUOTE=ButtsexV3;33097198]xenon is pretty much the most inert thing there is, why is this such a big deal? water is more dangerous than xenon[/QUOTE] Because it can be radioactive?