the largest earthquake in its history. dealing with a massive tsunami follow-up. and on top of the nuclear power plant there is the entire country is having to deal with this enormous catastrophe. so there is no they wouldn t be doing this if the situation weren t serious. but i think it is necessary to distinguish here between a serious situation because it has the potential to get worse and it actually he getting worse. we haven t yet seen a significant core meltdown. and hopefully we won t. but if the unthinkable did happen and there were a meltdown, i mean what would be what would actually happen and what would the global effect be? well, there is actually a range of outcomes. the three mile island accident in 1979 did more the core melting but there actually wasn t very much radiation release inside the environment. that is actually the best case.
history. dealing with a massive tsunami follow-up. and on top of the nuclear power plant there is the entire country is having to deal with this enormous catastrophe. so there is no they wouldn t be doing this if the situation weren t serious. but i think it is necessary to distinguish here between a serious situation because it has the potential to get worse and it actually he getting worse. we haven t yet seen a significant core meltdown. and hopefully we won t. but if the unthinkable did happen and there were a meltdown, i mean what would be what would actually happen and what would the global effect be? well, there is actually a range of outcomes. the three mile island accident in 1979 did more the core melting but there actually wasn t very much radiation release inside the environment. that is actually the best case. it wouldn t look all that
boric acid to try to cool it all down, is that a good idea? it s hard to say. i imagine their judgment is this is the only tool left in their tool kit, but it sea water, with all the salt it contains, can be extremely corrosive to equipment, especially at high temperatures, so i expect this is a last ditch effort to cool the core, but it will ultimately destroy most of the reactor. very quickly, what if that doesn t work? if that doesn t work, then we ll be faced with further core melting and a larger radiological release to the environment and more countermeasures will have to be applied to protect the population. edwin lyman thank you so much for your thoughts and brings us up to date on this nuclear crisis in japan. in general, tsunamis are among the most devastating natural forces on earth. but how exactly do they form and why are they so powerful?
there will be a similarly large explosion or that such a large quantity of radiation will be spewed. mr. acton, give us the worst case scenario right now. what s the worst case scenario and what does this mean for the survivors? well, the worst case scenario is there is extensive melting of the core. and at that point the core could effectively turn into a molten mush and burn through the bottom of the reactor vessel. the good news, if there is a good side to this, is that even under extensive core melting, a large release of radiation is not guaranteed. under the three mile island accident, for instance, there was very extensive core melting but only a small release of radiation into the environment. so i think that the japanese analysis that a large release, a very significant release of radiation into the environment is fortunately unlikely even though i don t want to underplay the seriousness of this
prevent, hopefully prevent the worst case outcome here. have we been given good enough information from the japanese government? you know, ed, it is very hard to assess that at the moment. i, like many experts, have been frustrated by the slow pace of information. but we ve also got to recognize that japan suffered the largest earthquake in its history, a massive tsunami, the operators all probably have their own personal tragedies, and they re having to deal with this situation in three reactors. so i think the in the investigation we re going to have to look at who understood what, when, and whether information was being withheld. but right now, given the extraordinary challenges that the japanese operators are working under, i do think it s too early to share the blame on that front. we are definitely in unchartered waters right now. we are. i think that s right. there s only been one event in nuclear history where there was a substantial degree of core