Nebraska Nuclear Plant at Level 4 Alert!!

[martybegan]

I just saw on PBS "Beyond the light switch" Even hardcore environmentalists are now supporting Nuke power, as long as extreme safety measures are taken into consideration. They had a segment on the close call at the Davis-Besse plant in Ohio, where there was only 3/8" of liner preventing a disaster, and the company fought to keep the plant open until its next maintenance check 2 yrs. away. It wouldn't have made it.
And there is another plant that has been on hold for decades, and they are going to push to finish it with an analog system to save costs of upgrading to digital.
I guess as long as the power companies submit to safety measures it would be better for the environment (green house gases), but if something goes wrong like Chernobyl, or Fukushima then what??
Also the costs to build one plant is in the billions??
The result will be higher bills right? Seems like a no win situation.


http://pbma.nasa.gov/docs/public/pbma/images/msm/9_11_06.pdf

This is a serious lack of imagination on their part considering where Japan is in relation to tectonic activity.

Remember at chernobyl the idiots were running a test that required them to go outside normal operating procedures. That coupled with a poor control rod design, high void coefficient, and a complete lack of a containment structure lead to the disaster. Add in the good old soviet "deny everything" response plan and you get the most massive nuclear clusterfuck we have seen.

Understood but the "deny everything" response is not limited to other countries, and the flooding, if it worsens like many are predicting,
could inundate the NE. plant and cause serious contamination to the waterways. It's potentially very serious problem if the water can't be contained.
If we are to allow new nuclear power plants, then the worst case scenarios for a failure should always be taken into account and planned for accordingly, the repercussions are no laughing matter, or wacko "conspiracy theories".
How will they be able to keep pumps running to get rid of the flood waters? There are reports that the river water is already being let in to cool the reactor, but I have not been able to confirm this....Wouldn't this render the reactor useless, or does that only apply to sea water?

The reactor is in cold shutdown. I dont have the design specifics, but usually you use outside water all the time to cool the primary and secondary cooling systems, as well as the used fuel pool cooling system. heat exchangers keep the radioactive water and any outside water seperate.

As for japan, they have not published a report on exactly what happened, so any current theories are speculation at best. From what I have heard the plant survived the quake just fine. It went into SCRAM and shut down. What was the killer problem was the entire secondary power infrastructure being borked by the tsunami wave. Add in the fact they could not bring in outside help fast enough due to the general devestation in the area, and you get the situation we have now.

Hopefully they get some sort of preliminary report out soon so everyone knows what happened.

 

[Intense]

Marty, what is your take on this?

Nuclear-powered cars! airplanes! Fridges and freezers! In the heady days of the early 1950s — at the dawn of the civilian nuclear power age and President Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace program — nuclear optimists imagined a world powered by tiny nuclear reactors. Today, in an era of climate change and energy insecurity, the nuclear industry is dusting off some of those old dreams. That includes the nuclear battery.

Designed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory spin-off Hyperion Power Generation Inc., the nuclear battery — so called because it is cheap, small and easily transportable — is about the size of a refrigerator, compared with a 50-ft.-tall traditional reactor. It produces 25 megawatts of electricity — approximately a fortieth the output of a large atomic power-plant reactor. While not quite compact enough for cars, the battery, known as the Hyperion Power Module, has been designed to power subdivisions or towns with fewer than 20,000 homes, as well as military bases, mining operations, desalination plants and even commercial ships, including cruise liners.

Read more: Nuclear Batteries - TIME

 

[Patriot911]

This is a serious lack of imagination on their part considering where Japan is in relation to tectonic activity.

You should have done some research before pretending to be some kind of expert. The fault that Fukushima was by had been dormant for decades, and it was never expected to produce ANYTHING of the size of a 9.0 earthquake. 7.5 was thought to be the maximum, and that is about a hundred times smaller than 9.0.

Location of Japanese Tremor Surprising Say Experts

Another source showing the location was unexpected.

Understood but the "deny everything" response is not limited to other countries, and the flooding, if it worsens like many are predicting,
could inundate the NE. plant and cause serious contamination to the waterways. It's potentially very serious problem if the water can't be contained.

It becomes more and more obvious that you have no clue as to what happened in NE or what could happen if a flood were to happen. There is no danger of water contamination if there is a flood. This whole incident had nothing to do with the rising waters of the Missouri.

If we are to allow new nuclear power plants, then the worst case scenarios for a failure should always be taken into account and planned for accordingly, the repercussions are no laughing matter, or wacko "conspiracy theories".

No, but fearmongering like trying to compare what happened in NE to Fukushima should be condemned. Paranoid delusions like trying to pretend the event at Ft. Calhoun was in any way a risk that can compare to other nuclear disasters should be exposed for what they are.

How will they be able to keep pumps running to get rid of the flood waters? There are reports that the river water is already being let in to cool the reactor, but I have not been able to confirm this....Wouldn't this render the reactor useless, or does that only apply to sea water?

Seriously? You going to try and pretend they don't have a plan for keeping the pumps running in the event of a flood? That's funny! It boggles my mind you have the imagination to think up all kinds of fantastic conspiracy theories, yet can't fathom how they can keep a simple pump running in the event of a flood. Do you honestly think the planners didn't take into account the fact the Missouri can and does flood?

More fearmongering in the form of questioning the preparedness of the plant.

 

[Patriot911]

Marty, what is your take on this?

Nuclear-powered cars! airplanes! Fridges and freezers! In the heady days of the early 1950s — at the dawn of the civilian nuclear power age and President Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace program — nuclear optimists imagined a world powered by tiny nuclear reactors. Today, in an era of climate change and energy insecurity, the nuclear industry is dusting off some of those old dreams. That includes the nuclear battery.

Designed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory spin-off Hyperion Power Generation Inc., the nuclear battery — so called because it is cheap, small and easily transportable — is about the size of a refrigerator, compared with a 50-ft.-tall traditional reactor. It produces 25 megawatts of electricity — approximately a fortieth the output of a large atomic power-plant reactor. While not quite compact enough for cars, the battery, known as the Hyperion Power Module, has been designed to power subdivisions or towns with fewer than 20,000 homes, as well as military bases, mining operations, desalination plants and even commercial ships, including cruise liners.

Read more: Nuclear Batteries - TIME

I think the idea of nuclear powered Pintos that explode in a mini mushroom cloud when hit from the rear quelled any idea of small nuclear reactors for personal use. Just my opinion. ;-)

 

[martybegan]

Marty, what is your take on this?

Nuclear-powered cars! airplanes! Fridges and freezers! In the heady days of the early 1950s — at the dawn of the civilian nuclear power age and President Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace program — nuclear optimists imagined a world powered by tiny nuclear reactors. Today, in an era of climate change and energy insecurity, the nuclear industry is dusting off some of those old dreams. That includes the nuclear battery.

Designed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory spin-off Hyperion Power Generation Inc., the nuclear battery — so called because it is cheap, small and easily transportable — is about the size of a refrigerator, compared with a 50-ft.-tall traditional reactor. It produces 25 megawatts of electricity — approximately a fortieth the output of a large atomic power-plant reactor. While not quite compact enough for cars, the battery, known as the Hyperion Power Module, has been designed to power subdivisions or towns with fewer than 20,000 homes, as well as military bases, mining operations, desalination plants and even commercial ships, including cruise liners.

Read more: Nuclear Batteries - TIME

Looks like basically a small sealed reactor. you tie in a Heat exchanger to take heat from the lead-bismuth coolant. I guess the controls are built in.

It also doesnt seem to be something you just drop off in a field and turn on. you have to encase it in concrete and bury it.

I guess the idea is if you dont use too much fuel you cant get enough criticality to go boom if something goes wrong.

Interesting idea, but as the article says they are years away from trying it.

 

[Paulie]

Nuclear is a scary way to generate power for lots of folks. Every time something happens, the chicken little types freak.

Of course, given the downside potential of these plants, chicken little seems to be the sensible way to go.

If you add up all the deaths from nuclear power, you still come up short from the yearly deaths from mining or drilling.

Solar and wind kills more animals than nuke plants ever have.

Devil's Advocate: Yeah but only the nuke plant offers the potential for many thousands of deaths all at once.

 

[dragon88]

I'm sorry, I cant help but laugh. I live in Russellillve, AR ..home to Arkansas Nuclear One which is on the Arkansas River and we have Alerts like this all the time. Ok, not ALL the time, that would be scary, but it has happened in the past. When I was in high school, I remember we had to go under lock-down due to a fire breaking out in one of the reactor rooms. I don't see a thread on here for when that happened .. darn.. guess the "media is keeping us in the dark"

Its funny, people come here from out of town and always ask, "how can you stand to live so close to a nuclear plant?!" .. honestly i personally never really think anything of it.. i see the cooling tower everyday, but i never think, "oh man, that thing is going to cost me my life someday.." because the odds are VERY very slim of that happening. I have a higher risk of dieing from a car accident while looking at the cooling tower. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's actually estimate the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Arkansas Nuclear One was 1 in 243,902, according to an NRC study published in August 2010. Now, flooding? idk.. i don't think ANO has ever had that problem, and i know the Arkansas River has flooded many times in the past.. It is conveniently located near the Dardanelle Lock & Dam though.

 

[Jessica Blume]

Nebraska Nuclear Plant at Level 4 Alert | Hawai`i News Daily

What the fuck does HI know about the conditions of a nuke plant in Nebraska?

This is an epic thread fail.

The question should be why isn't anyone else talking about the fact a nuclear power plant is under water.

 

[Intense]

Marty, what is your take on this?

Nuclear-powered cars! airplanes! Fridges and freezers! In the heady days of the early 1950s — at the dawn of the civilian nuclear power age and President Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace program — nuclear optimists imagined a world powered by tiny nuclear reactors. Today, in an era of climate change and energy insecurity, the nuclear industry is dusting off some of those old dreams. That includes the nuclear battery.

Designed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory spin-off Hyperion Power Generation Inc., the nuclear battery — so called because it is cheap, small and easily transportable — is about the size of a refrigerator, compared with a 50-ft.-tall traditional reactor. It produces 25 megawatts of electricity — approximately a fortieth the output of a large atomic power-plant reactor. While not quite compact enough for cars, the battery, known as the Hyperion Power Module, has been designed to power subdivisions or towns with fewer than 20,000 homes, as well as military bases, mining operations, desalination plants and even commercial ships, including cruise liners.

Read more: Nuclear Batteries - TIME

I think the idea of nuclear powered Pintos that explode in a mini mushroom cloud when hit from the rear quelled any idea of small nuclear reactors for personal use. Just my opinion. ;-)

Link?

 

[Patriot911]

Nebraska Nuclear Plant at Level 4 Alert | Hawai`i News Daily

What the fuck does HI know about the conditions of a nuke plant in Nebraska?

This is an epic thread fail.

The question should be why isn't anyone else talking about the fact a nuclear power plant is under water.

Because, like most conspiracy theorists buying into the hype and bull, your claim just isn't true. It is not under water. It is not flooded. It is not in danger of flooding. The Missouri River is expected to rise another foot. It would have to rise another 8.5 foot to flood the site.

Source

 

[Mr. Jones]

You should have done some research before pretending to be some kind of expert. The fault that Fukushima was by had been dormant for decades, and it was never expected to produce ANYTHING of the size of a 9.0 earthquake. 7.5 was thought to be the maximum, and that is about a hundred times smaller than 9.0.

Tectonic activity near the plant.

It becomes more and more obvious that you have no clue as to what happened in NE or what could happen if a flood were to happen. There is no danger of water contamination if there is a flood. This whole incident had nothing to do with the rising waters of the Missouri.

Rising water is a concern.

If we are to allow new nuclear power plants, then the worst case scenarios for a failure should always be taken into account and planned for accordingly, the repercussions are no laughing matter, or wacko "conspiracy theories".

No, but fearmongering like trying to compare what happened in NE to Fukushima should be condemned. Paranoid delusions like trying to pretend the event at Ft. Calhoun was in any way a risk that can compare to other nuclear disasters should be exposed for what they are.

That's right, a legitimate concern.

How will they be able to keep pumps running to get rid of the flood waters? There are reports that the river water is already being let in to cool the reactor, but I have not been able to confirm this....Wouldn't this render the reactor useless, or does that only apply to sea water?

Seriously? You going to try and pretend they don't have a plan for keeping the pumps running in the event of a flood? That's funny! It boggles my mind you have the imagination to think up all kinds of fantastic conspiracy theories, yet can't fathom how they can keep a simple pump running in the event of a flood. Do you honestly think the planners didn't take into account the fact the Missouri can and does flood?

Once again no reasonable response to the questions posed, just the usual driveled post heavy on assumptions and failed fallacy argument points..
What a loser

More fearmongering in the form of questioning the preparedness of the plant.

If you have no answers to the questions STFU you head case. You contribute absolutely nothing to any threads except tired and exposed tactics to derail.
The hope is that levys don't fail, and the river does not rise into the 2 nuke plants. Right now they are surrounded by water, alerts have been announced, there is a precarious situation, as has been reported, and there IS legitimate concerns. You purposely label a genuine concern , that has been reported, as fearmongering is a total fail at an attempt to engage in BS arguments, while contributing nothing useful. It has been pointed out to you in this thread, and yet you still continue to embarrass yourself by acting like a child.
In your world any questioning at all about anything is met with ridicule ad hominem and weak attempts at subterfuge of the topics.
Perhaps you should go outside and play, or take a trip to the areas in question in this thread, and talk to the locals the way you do here while hiding behind the anonymity of the internet and see where that gets you.
Again you fail while exposing your flaws, in a most humiliating manner...

 

[Patriot911]

You should have done some research before pretending to be some kind of expert. The fault that Fukushima was by had been dormant for decades, and it was never expected to produce ANYTHING of the size of a 9.0 earthquake. 7.5 was thought to be the maximum, and that is about a hundred times smaller than 9.0.

Tectonic activity near the plant.

So again you don't understand the difference between two events, one event a hundred times more powerful. A 7.5 magnitude quake would not have damaged the plant nor produced the kind of tsunami we saw on March 11.

It becomes more and more obvious that you have no clue as to what happened in NE or what could happen if a flood were to happen. There is no danger of water contamination if there is a flood. This whole incident had nothing to do with the rising waters of the Missouri.

Rising water is a concern.

That's right, a legitimate concern.

Really? So the Missouri is suppose to rise another foot. The safety margin at the plant before the first wall is breeched is 8.5 feet higher than that as I sourced in my last post.

So where are you going to come up with another 8.5 feet of rising water? I've looked. I don't see anyone predicting the Missouri to rise anywhere near that level by Fort Calhoun.

Nice fearmongering. Pretending the plant flooding is a legitimate concern when the facts don't support that concern.

Seriously? You going to try and pretend they don't have a plan for keeping the pumps running in the event of a flood? That's funny! It boggles my mind you have the imagination to think up all kinds of fantastic conspiracy theories, yet can't fathom how they can keep a simple pump running in the event of a flood. Do you honestly think the planners didn't take into account the fact the Missouri can and does flood?

Once again no reasonable response to the questions posed, just the usual driveled post heavy on assumptions and failed fallacy argument points..
What a loser

Wrong yet again. I laughed at your ignorance of the fact there are plans at the plant in the event of flooding. Funny how you couldn't defend your claims and had to resort to ad hominem.

More fearmongering in the form of questioning the preparedness of the plant.

If you have no answers to the questions STFU you head case. You contribute absolutely nothing to any threads except tired and exposed tactics to derail.

Wrong yet again. You're trying to pretend there are no plans for the plant in the event of flooding. I don't need to produce the plans to laugh in your face. Think anyone is actually going to believe your bullshit claims that there are no plans?

The hope is that levys don't fail, and the river does not rise into the 2 nuke plants. Right now they are surrounded by water, alerts have been announced, there is a precarious situation, as has been reported, and there IS legitimate concerns. You purposely label a genuine concern , that has been reported, as fearmongering is a total fail at an attempt to engage in BS arguments, while contributing nothing useful. It has been pointed out to you in this thread, and yet you still continue to embarrass yourself by acting like a child.

Wrong yet again. I've already posted the estimated rise in the Missouri River levels and what it would take to breech the plant. Can you produce evidence that refutes this? Or are you just going to keep on pretending insults can take the place of addressing the facts?

In your world any questioning at all about anything is met with ridicule ad hominem and weak attempts at subterfuge of the topics.

Wrong yet again. I addressed your fearmongering with the facts and with sources. All you've done in response is what you pretend I've done. Maybe you need to look up hypocrite in the dictionary and see what the word means.

Perhaps you should go outside and play, or take a trip to the areas in question in this thread, and talk to the locals the way you do here while hiding behind the anonymity of the internet and see where that gets you.

Just went through that area, TYVM. Nobody was all that worried. The only ones pretending there is some huge issue are the fearmongerers like you and the Russians who are still pissed off over Cheyrnobl.

Again you fail while exposing your flaws, in a most humiliating manner...

Wrong yet again. I've posted the facts. I've backed them up with sources. All you've been able to do is use ad hominem as an attempt to divert everyone's attention away from your failed claims you couldn't defend.

So tell us again how Fort Calhoun is like Fukushima again! That one still cracks me up! A minor fire and a pump outage for 90 minutes which didn't even require activating backup systems, according to what you posted, is somehow comparable to a major catastrophy resulting in numerous explosions, containment breech and radioactive leaks. And you pretend you're not fearmongering by pretending the event at Fort Calhoun was the equivalent of a major worldwide event. Maybe you don't know what fearmongering means.....

 

[dragon88]

New CNN article:

(CNN) -- U.S. nuclear regulators say two Nebraska nuclear power plants have protected critical equipment from the rising waters of the Missouri River even though flooding has reached the grounds of one of them.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is confident those safeguards will prevent a disaster at either plant even though the Missouri is expected to remain flooded for several weeks, NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said Thursday.

The Fort Calhoun plant, about 20 miles north of Omaha, was shut down for refueling in April. Parts of the grounds are already under two feet of water as the swollen Missouri overflows its banks. But the Omaha Public Power District, which owns the plant, has built flood walls around the reactor, transformers and the plant's electrical switchyard, the NRC said.

"They've surrounded all the vital equipment with berms," Dricks said.

An 8-foot-tall, water-filled berm, 16 feet wide at its base, surrounds the reactor containment structure and auxiliary buildings, the NRC says. The plant has brought in an additional emergency diesel generator, water pumps, sandbags and firefighting equipment as well, according to regulators.

Dricks said the NRC has sent additional inspectors to Fort Calhoun, which declared an "unusual event" -- the lowest level of alert -- on June 6 due to rising water. Six inspectors are now monitoring conditions there around the clock, Dricks said.

The Cooper Nuclear Station, about 80 miles south of Omaha, remains operating at full power. The plant issued an unusual event declaration on Sunday as water levels rose, but the current level is two feet below the plant's elevation, Dricks said.

The NRC will dispatch additional inspectors to the plant "if conditions warrant," Dricks said.

Heavy rainfall in Montana and North Dakota, combined with melting snow from the Rocky Mountains, have sent the Missouri urging downstream this summer. The river washed over and punched through levees in nearby northwestern Missouri over the weekend, spurring authorities to urge about 250 nearby residents to leave their homes.

The 6 to 12 inches of rainfall in the upper Missouri basin in the past few weeks is nearly a normal year's worth, and runoff from the mountain snowpack is 140% of normal, according to weather forecasters.

And CNN affiliate KETV reported Wednesday that, as a precautionary move, the Cooper facility is keeping dozens of staff members onsite around the clock. The station reported that about 60 people are sleeping on cots at the plant and that the staffers are being rotated out every two days.

It was catastrophic flooding from Japan's March 11 tsunami that knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulting in three reactors melting down and producing the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. This year's Midwestern flooding has also led to a spate of rumors about the Fort Calhoun plant that Omaha Public Power and the NRC have been trying to knock down.

The utility has set up a "flood rumor control" page to reassure the public that there has been no release of radioactivity from the plant. An electrical fire June 7 did knock out cooling to its spent fuel storage pool for about 90 minutes, but the coolant water did not reach a boiling point before backup pumps went into service, it said.

"People are getting scared by a lot of the misinformation," Dricks said. "It's primarily coming from Internet bloggers rather than the mainstream media. None of them have bothered to check with us."

 

[Intense]

Nebraska Nuclear Plant at Level 4 Alert | Hawai`i News Daily

What the fuck does HI know about the conditions of a nuke plant in Nebraska?

This is an epic thread fail.

The question should be why isn't anyone else talking about the fact a nuclear power plant is under water.

The Puppet Masters are blocking out the Reports. Same with Japan and the effects on agriculture.

 

[Intense]

Guy's, is this about a pissing contest or the recognition of the true effects, both good and bad, on the Nuclear Industry.

 

[martybegan]

Guy's, is this about a pissing contest or the recognition of the true effects, both good and bad, on the Nuclear Industry.

I am going to start a new thread, with the link to the CNN story stating what is ACTUALLY going on. Not the ZOMG TEH PLANTZ IS GOINGZ TEH BOOMSEH!!!

 

[Patriot911]

Guy's, is this about a pissing contest or the recognition of the true effects, both good and bad, on the Nuclear Industry.

Doesn't a perceived effect become reality when it becomes ingrained in the public opinion? When people go running around spouting misinformation and attempting to spread fear and discontent, shouldn't people stand up to them and point to the truth?

Sure the truth isn't nearly as dramatic or as attention getting as what people like Jones spout, but that is why they make up lies; to grab the attention.

There was a hiccup at one plant. There is zero evidence anything more happened than what was reported. There was zero danger. The water temperature went up a whole two degrees and backup systems weren't even needed.

Two plants are under a potential flood situation and have taken steps to mitigate any ill effects of the rising waters. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has deemed the mitigation sufficient to ward off the floods.

THAT is the truth of the matter. Pretending the cooling system shutdown at Fort Calhoun for 90 minutes is the same as the Fukushima disaster is neither accurate nor responsible. Pretending there was a radiation leak based on what has happened elsewhere in the past with reporting is neither accurate nor responsible.

Claims like Jones' erode the public's confidence in the nuclear reactors based on nothing but fearmongering and lies, not the truth. How can that be good for the nuclear industry? Here in Colorado a plant was just denied construction in Pueblo based on public opinion that was extremely negative. People like Jones pretend they bear no responsibility for the consequences of their irresponsible BS. I don't think that is right, so I speak up and expose the lies for what they are.

Is this a bad thing? Or should we just let the lies rot and fester in the minds of the readers?

 

[Intense]

Guy's, is this about a pissing contest or the recognition of the true effects, both good and bad, on the Nuclear Industry.

Doesn't a perceived effect become reality when it becomes ingrained in the public opinion? When people go running around spouting misinformation and attempting to spread fear and discontent, shouldn't people stand up to them and point to the truth?

Sure the truth isn't nearly as dramatic or as attention getting as what people like Jones spout, but that is why they make up lies; to grab the attention.

There was a hiccup at one plant. There is zero evidence anything more happened than what was reported. There was zero danger. The water temperature went up a whole two degrees and backup systems weren't even needed.

Two plants are under a potential flood situation and have taken steps to mitigate any ill effects of the rising waters. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has deemed the mitigation sufficient to ward off the floods.

THAT is the truth of the matter. Pretending the cooling system shutdown at Fort Calhoun for 90 minutes is the same as the Fukushima disaster is neither accurate nor responsible. Pretending there was a radiation leak based on what has happened elsewhere in the past with reporting is neither accurate nor responsible.

Claims like Jones' erode the public's confidence in the nuclear reactors based on nothing but fearmongering and lies, not the truth. How can that be good for the nuclear industry? Here in Colorado a plant was just denied construction in Pueblo based on public opinion that was extremely negative. People like Jones pretend they bear no responsibility for the consequences of their irresponsible BS. I don't think that is right, so I speak up and expose the lies for what they are.

Is this a bad thing? Or should we just let the lies rot and fester in the minds of the readers?

Nobody should intentionally be spreading misinformation, true enough. We have just went through allot with Japan, effecting our air, water, land, and food. If we cannot trust our Media to be honest and open in reporting to us on the matters and concerns at hand, it breeds distrust. These News Black outs are by design, there is a purpose behind them, to promote an industry, rather than to inform impartially, the effect of that cuts both ways.

Throughout all of what has happened recently, there are allot of lessons we should be learning to create better fail-safe and Emergency response, at the least.

More than three months after a powerful earthquake and 14-meter-tall tsunami struck Japan, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains flooded with a salty mix of fresh and sea water—saltwater contaminated with the radioactive residue of three reactors and four spent fuel pools' worth of nuclear fuel. Every day an additional 500 metric tons of seawater is poured onto the still hot nuclear fuel in the stricken reactors and fuel pools. More than 100,000 metric tons of such water now sits in the basement and trenches of the reactors—or evaporates inside the hot reactor buildings, making for a radioactive onsen.

Thus far, neither the nation's 75 aftershocks of magnitude 6.0 or greater—the latest of which struck on June 23—nor inclement weather has halted ongoing efforts to cool the stricken nuclear power plant. With the start of any decommissioning process still at least year away, cooling the fuel with water remains the focus—and a potential source of additional problems as contaminated water threatens to overwhelm the plant and its environs.

In early June, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) installed a series of devices—from nuclear equipment manufacturers Kurion and Areva—meant to filter radioactive material from the contaminated cooling water and enable it to be reused on the hot nuclear fuel rods. Without such filtration, radiation levels in the reactor buildings can climb too high to permit workers to advance their efforts to control and clean up the damaged power plant. But a trial run of the new filtration system was halted on June 18 in less than five hours when it captured as much radioactive cesium-137 in that span as was expected to be filtered in a month.

Fukushima Meltdown Mitigation Aims to Prevent Radioactive Flood: Scientific American

 

[Patriot911]

Guy's, is this about a pissing contest or the recognition of the true effects, both good and bad, on the Nuclear Industry.

Doesn't a perceived effect become reality when it becomes ingrained in the public opinion? When people go running around spouting misinformation and attempting to spread fear and discontent, shouldn't people stand up to them and point to the truth?

Sure the truth isn't nearly as dramatic or as attention getting as what people like Jones spout, but that is why they make up lies; to grab the attention.

There was a hiccup at one plant. There is zero evidence anything more happened than what was reported. There was zero danger. The water temperature went up a whole two degrees and backup systems weren't even needed.

Two plants are under a potential flood situation and have taken steps to mitigate any ill effects of the rising waters. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has deemed the mitigation sufficient to ward off the floods.

THAT is the truth of the matter. Pretending the cooling system shutdown at Fort Calhoun for 90 minutes is the same as the Fukushima disaster is neither accurate nor responsible. Pretending there was a radiation leak based on what has happened elsewhere in the past with reporting is neither accurate nor responsible.

Claims like Jones' erode the public's confidence in the nuclear reactors based on nothing but fearmongering and lies, not the truth. How can that be good for the nuclear industry? Here in Colorado a plant was just denied construction in Pueblo based on public opinion that was extremely negative. People like Jones pretend they bear no responsibility for the consequences of their irresponsible BS. I don't think that is right, so I speak up and expose the lies for what they are.

Is this a bad thing? Or should we just let the lies rot and fester in the minds of the readers?

Nobody should intentionally be spreading misinformation, true enough. We have just went through allot with Japan, effecting our air, water, land, and food. If we cannot trust our Media to be honest and open in reporting to us on the matters and concerns at hand, it breeds distrust. These News Black outs are by design, there is a purpose behind them, to promote an industry, rather than to inform impartially, the effect of that cuts both ways.

The "news blackout" is just another one of the lies. There was no news blackout. It was reported. Our government DOES NOT HAVE THE POWER to black out the news. The news is protected by the first amendment. The most the government can do is ask for a media blackout. But why? It was a very low level incident that endangered nobody and never put the plant in jeopardy.

So why didn't we hear much about it? Because unless you wrap sensationalism around the story with things like IT WAS A LEVEL 4 EMERGENCY, it isn't very good news.

Throughout all of what has happened recently, there are allot of lessons we should be learning to create better fail-safe and Emergency response, at the least.

ABSOLUTELY!!!!! I have no issues at ALL with learning from mistakes including reporting what is really going on. The issue wasn't with the media, however, but with Tokyo Power. Was how Tokyo Power's handling of the truth right? Not in my opinion, but I also understand they're walking on the edge of a knife. Too much information without the proper framing and you would have unneccessary widespread panic. Too little information and you put people in danger. In my OPINION, TEPCO didn't give people quite enough information to truly understand what was going on.

I am a firm believer of learning from every mistake.

 

[martybegan]

Doesn't a perceived effect become reality when it becomes ingrained in the public opinion? When people go running around spouting misinformation and attempting to spread fear and discontent, shouldn't people stand up to them and point to the truth?

Sure the truth isn't nearly as dramatic or as attention getting as what people like Jones spout, but that is why they make up lies; to grab the attention.

There was a hiccup at one plant. There is zero evidence anything more happened than what was reported. There was zero danger. The water temperature went up a whole two degrees and backup systems weren't even needed.

Two plants are under a potential flood situation and have taken steps to mitigate any ill effects of the rising waters. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has deemed the mitigation sufficient to ward off the floods.

THAT is the truth of the matter. Pretending the cooling system shutdown at Fort Calhoun for 90 minutes is the same as the Fukushima disaster is neither accurate nor responsible. Pretending there was a radiation leak based on what has happened elsewhere in the past with reporting is neither accurate nor responsible.

Claims like Jones' erode the public's confidence in the nuclear reactors based on nothing but fearmongering and lies, not the truth. How can that be good for the nuclear industry? Here in Colorado a plant was just denied construction in Pueblo based on public opinion that was extremely negative. People like Jones pretend they bear no responsibility for the consequences of their irresponsible BS. I don't think that is right, so I speak up and expose the lies for what they are.

Is this a bad thing? Or should we just let the lies rot and fester in the minds of the readers?

Nobody should intentionally be spreading misinformation, true enough. We have just went through allot with Japan, effecting our air, water, land, and food. If we cannot trust our Media to be honest and open in reporting to us on the matters and concerns at hand, it breeds distrust. These News Black outs are by design, there is a purpose behind them, to promote an industry, rather than to inform impartially, the effect of that cuts both ways.

The "news blackout" is just another one of the lies. There was no news blackout. It was reported. Our government DOES NOT HAVE THE POWER to black out the news. The news is protected by the first amendment. The most the government can do is ask for a media blackout. But why? It was a very low level incident that endangered nobody and never put the plant in jeopardy.

So why didn't we hear much about it? Because unless you wrap sensationalism around the story with things like IT WAS A LEVEL 4 EMERGENCY, it isn't very good news.

Throughout all of what has happened recently, there are allot of lessons we should be learning to create better fail-safe and Emergency response, at the least.

ABSOLUTELY!!!!! I have no issues at ALL with learning from mistakes including reporting what is really going on. The issue wasn't with the media, however, but with Tokyo Power. Was how Tokyo Power's handling of the truth right? Not in my opinion, but I also understand they're walking on the edge of a knife. Too much information without the proper framing and you would have unneccessary widespread panic. Too little information and you put people in danger. In my OPINION, TEPCO didn't give people quite enough information to truly understand what was going on.

I am a firm believer of learning from every mistake.

Leaning from mistakes is how most industries advance. Regulations can improve the layers of safety, and reduce accidents, but sometimes the best plans still end up being short.

If one counted the amount of people killed in total by airline crashes, they would probably be appalled at the number of deaths. But the overall risk is small, and getting smaller, as each time there is an accident people learn from it, and improve the system and the equipment.