Chernobyl had some remarkably brave people and some remarkably stupid and arrogant people. Sometimes they were the same people. When I read Grigori Medvedev's The Truth About Chernobyl, which was his report on the accident that was suppressed by the Soviet government, I either cried or yelled all the way through.

Have you tried heavy duty antacids? It sounds somewhat like gastric reflux at its worst.

I've had the pain before (it's pretty unrelenting and lasts for five to ten hours) and this was the first time I tried Tums. I don't know if that's related to it also being the first time I upchucked. I still feel like crap, but the intense pain is gone. So...win?

I have a GP appointment in a month. I'll put it on the list. Statistically speaking it will happen a couple of times before then.

Ugh, ita. I hope the GP can figure it out.

IOoopsN, on the days I want to wear a dress to work (like today), I've gotten in the habit of throwing on comfy clothes for radiation, and then changing once I get to work.

I've been here since 8:30, and I only realized about 5 minutes ago that not only had I not changed, but the outfit I wanted to change into was still in the car.

I'm also amazed that Hungry Mother doesn't have something like this.

Yeah, I agree with that.

I've had the pain before (it's pretty unrelenting and lasts for five to ten hours) and this was the first time I tried Tums. I don't know if that's related to it also being the first time I upchucked. I still feel like crap, but the intense pain is gone. So...win?

This sounds a lot like the stomach pain I get occasionally, which has the new development of fading after throwing up. Unlike!

Be interested to hear what your GP has to say about it- mine (also specialists) couldn't figure out WTH it was.

Oh ita, that's no good. I hope that the pain at least has the good grace to stay away now.

Bacon bourbon does not sound good to me, but I'm open to trying it before I pass judgment.

We are heading out to look for a new dryer. With luck, we'll find one BEFORE one of us breaks down too.

Here's a summary of the current status as I understand it. One of the things that makes following this confusing is that a number of news sources seem to be reporting things that happened yesterday as things that just happened.

Units 1-3 are being cooled by sea water. There is evidence of damage to containment in Units 2 and 3 and probably fuel damage in all three. Unit 3 is of particular concern since it's using experimental mixed oxide fuel that has some more radioactive elements than in traditional fuel.

The biggest concern right now appears to be the spent fuel pool in Unit 4. Units 4-6 were in a refueling outage when the quake happened. When a reactor is being refueled, the old fuel is moved into a large, heavily reinforced pool of water that is cooled by circulating water. The fuel cools slowly and is eventually moved to long-term storage. Without cooling, enough water boiled away in the spent fuel pool to expose the fuel and melt some cladding. There have been at least two fires in that building and possibly a hydrogen explosion.

They were trying to see if water could be dumped on the spent fuel pool from helicopters, but they determined that the existing holes in the roof of the structure, caused by either the fire or the hydrogen explosion, were not large enough or in the right place. They seem to have decided the radiation levels were too high for workers to try make a larger opening and possibly too high for the helicopter pilots. Currently, they're working on spraying water using high-pressure hoses from the defense force. They're also running a temporary line for off-site power.

Several reports have said that the "50 workers stayed behind, a crew no larger than would be stationed at the plant on a quiet spring day." On a normal day, there would be 800+ workers. The rest of the workers were evacuated. I think they're referring only to reactor operators. I'd guess that the 50 who remained are a mix of operators, the people who run the units from the control rooms, and non-licensed operators, who do a number of technical jobs in the plant. Knowing reactor operators, I'd guess that many who aren't at the plant are asking to be sent back. It's hard to convey how dedicated most reactor operators are.

There was also a report that all employees "fled" the plant, leaving the recovery effort. There was a spike in radiation and those 50 moved further away for about an hour until it went down.

Thanks for that update, Ginger. As always, your ability to assess and synthesize all that information is incredibly valuable.

Can you comment on this quote from the LA Times?

The good news is that the reactors should be undergoing a certain amount of cooling on their own. When an operating reactor is shut down, it continues to produce a large amount of heat, known as decay heat. Within the first week after a shutdown, that decay heat declines by about 50%, experts said, so that the reactors require less external cooling.

How much longer do they have to maintain this holding action before things start to cool down on their own?

One of the things that makes following this confusing is that a number of news sources seem to be reporting things that happened yesterday as things that just happened.

Yes, this. It is so frustrating. And then, there are things that do recur, like the second fire in #4. I was convinced for a while that I was just seeing old reports cycled as new, but no.

Thanks once again, Ginger.

Thank goodness, Hayden.