What's New Robert L. Park 1 April 2011

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 1 Apr 2011   Washington, DC

1. APRIL FOOLS: A DAY LIKE ALL DAYS; TRUTH MUST BE SEPARATED FROM FRAUD.
I have no stomach for jokes today.  The truth is too sad, and the lies to=
o=20
numerous.

2. FUKUSHIMA: HYDROGEN EXPLOSION IN THE REACTOR #4 SPENT-FUEL POOL.
It may be months before events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power pla=
nt=20
are sorted out following the massive earthquake on 11 Mar 2011 at 14:46 J=
ST=20
and the huge tsunami it caused.  The major concern involves the fuel=20
storage pool for reactor #4 which held the entire complement of fuel rods=
=20
from the reactor coreand may yet melt down.  The rods had been removed ju=
st=20
three months earlier.  Reactors 4, 5 and 6 had been shut down prior to th=
e=20
earthquake for scheduled maintenance.  The remaining reactors shut down=20
automatically during the earthquake, but the 14 meter tsunami flooded the=
=20
plant, knocking out emergency generators needed to run the pumps that coo=
l=20
and control the reactors; damage to transportation blocked help from=20
elsewhere.   It gets worse.  Four days later, 15 March at about 06:00 JST=
,=20
a hydrogen bubble that had collected above the spent fuel pond exploded,=20
heavily damaging the rooftop area of the Unit 4 reactor.  At 09:40, the=20
Unit 4 spent-fuel pool caught fire.  It was extinguished by 12:00, but no=
t=20
before huge amounts of radioactive contaminants had been released.  That=20
should not have happened.  A hydrogen bubble is explosive only when mixed=
=20
with a critical level of oxygen.  During the 1979 Three-Mile Island=20
accident, it was feared that a large hydrogen bubble in the containment=20
dome would explode rupturing the building.  It did not happen, but I have=
=20
repeatedly urged that a tuft of "platinum wool" always be attached at the=
=20
high points of nuclear containment buildings where hydrogen bubbles would=
=20
be expected to collect.   The platinum would catalyze the oxidation of=20
hydrogen back to water before the mixture reaches an explosive level.  Th=
e=20
one-time cost would be trivial. =20

2. GROWTH: 2011 CENSUS PUTS THE POPULATION OF INDIA AT 1.21 BILLION.
Most of India's newborns are male according to the new 2011 census. The=20
Census is taken every 10 years.  For every 1000 boys born, 917 girls were=
=20
born.  The imbalance is greater than in 2001.  It does not reflect some=20
biological advantage of Y chromosomes; rather daughters in India tend to =
be=20
regarded as financial burdens.  Female feticide remains common in India,=20
even though sex-selective abortion based on ultrasound scans is illegal. =
=20
China remains the most populous sovereign nation at 1.3 billion, but Indi=
a=20
is closing fast at 1.21 billion, and now makes up 17% of the world=20
population.   India's fertility rate (2.68) is higher than it should be f=
or=20
sustainability (generally taken as 2.1), but only slightly above the worl=
d=20
average for sovereign states (2.56).  For comparison, the fertility rate =
in=20
the US is given as 2.06.  It should be recognized that a sustainable=20
population does not mean a sustainable environment.  Global warming, ocea=
n=20
garbage patches in gyres, shortages of fresh water and phosphates,=20
accumulations of mine tailings and fly ash from coal-fired power plants,=20
the Hubbert peak in oil, extinction of ocean fisheries and the apparent=20
onset of the sixth great extinction, demonstrate that we have already far=
=20
exceeded the sustainability limit.  I would guess that the sustainability=
=20
limit of high-technology society is not much over 1 billion.  We need to=20
have a discussion of what an appropriate limit would be. =20

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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