More focus is being put on unit 3, even though there are reports that the pool containing the spent fuel rods at unit 4 is empty. An empty pool at unit 4 is very bad; however, apparently the plutonium in the rods at storage pond in #3 is more of a health risk:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/17/japan-nuclear-crisis-deepens-radiation
"The emergency workers focused their efforts on the storage pool at reactor 3, the only unit at the site that runs on mixed oxide fuel, which contains reclaimed plutonium. The strategy appeared to conflict with comments made by US nuclear officials and Sir John Beddington, the UK government's chief science adviser, who are most concerned about the storage pool at reactor 4, which they say is now completely empty...."
Kyodo news confirms that there exists no containment of the pools in both unit 3 and 4.
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/79057.html
Kyodo also reports:
"The spent fuel pools at the power station lost their cooling function after the quake and tsunami struck last Friday. It is also no longer possible to monitor the water level and temperature of the pools of the Nos. 1 to 4 units..."
NPR reported this afternoon that this disaster is likely to go on for weeks!!!!
How much dispersed radiation will the truly unfortunate citizens of Japan be exposed to? My heart aches for them. What about the rest of the world?
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