Nuclear meltdown in Japan reactor?

[madasheck]

Rachel Maddow did a thorough discussion of the situation. It's pretty scary.

 

[madasheck]

The freezniks are going to come out of their mommie's closet that they've been in since the 1980's claiming that nuclear power (once the salvation of mankind) will kill us all... again.

A freak disaster and suddenly, it's Malthusian Time! Break out the Pinwheels, Mirrors and Moonshine! It's time to wear hemp and live in grass huts while hunting and gathering again.

You realize this could be an international catastrophe?

 

[dilloduck]

Rachel Maddow did a thorough discussion of the situation. It's pretty scary.

She's scary no matter what she says but stayed tuned to see what happens next in this thriller.

 

[Big Fitz]

The freezniks are going to come out of their mommie's closet that they've been in since the 1980's claiming that nuclear power (once the salvation of mankind) will kill us all... again.

A freak disaster and suddenly, it's Malthusian Time! Break out the Pinwheels, Mirrors and Moonshine! It's time to wear hemp and live in grass huts while hunting and gathering again.

You realize this could be an international catastrophe?

Obviously you're seeing something that may or may not be there. Please elaborate on how a National catastrophe is an international one.

 

[Big Fitz]

Rachel Maddow did a thorough discussion of the situation. It's pretty scary.

Madcow is a propagandist, not a news source.

 

[justintruth]

If any of you are US anti-nuclear activists I just wanted to thank you for stopping the tsunami of nuclear plants that would be in the USA right now. Your foresight and sustained political work over my entire adult life in anticipating the potential environmental damage has made the country much safer and I know it cost you personally as there is no profit motive in it for you. We can live wonderful lives in harmony with nature. The arrogance of the pro-nuclear industries who simultaneously assure us that there is no chance of a meltdown and demand that public funds indemnify their businesses "in case" there is one is surpassed only by their well funded attempts to characterize the normal, rational, practical, civic sense of the antinuclear activists as being "wide eyed", "naive", "kooky", "childish" etc. I am genuinely grateful for what you have accomplished. I know that the job is mostly "thankless". I therefore want to say thanks. So, thanks!

 

[bigrebnc1775]

Explosion en direct a la centrale de Fukushima #séisme #nucléaire

Mat - Explosion en direct a la centrale de Fukushima #séisme #nucléaire - TwitVid

 

[zzzz]

Hysteria gets you nowhere and the media specializes in hysterical hype. It is a critical situation but the media always presents everything in the worst light.

If all they need are generators, we have military airlift capability that can carry tanks and I am sure we have generators over here that power these cooling systems. And it is a national security concern for us because any radioactive release will inevitably over fly the US. But before you get all paranoid, remember back in the 50's and 60's nuclear fallout occurred quit frequently over the US because of nuclear testing in the west and the pacific ocean. Vast amount of radioactive material was released in the atmosphere and guess what. We are still here and many of you were born after that.

 

[editec]

The freezniks are going to come out of their mommie's closet that they've been in since the 1980's claiming that nuclear power (once the salvation of mankind) will kill us all... again.

A freak disaster and suddenly, it's Malthusian Time! Break out the Pinwheels, Mirrors and Moonshine! It's time to wear hemp and live in grass huts while hunting and gathering again.

Its' not a "freak" disaster, sport.

It was an earthquake in a place where earthquakes are a well known, well understood and completely NORMAL event.

Obviously the safegards put into place to deal with this earthquake and Tsuami just weren't good enough.

The solution isn't

Break out the Pinwheels, Mirrors and Moonshine! It's time to wear hemp and live in grass huts while hunting and gathering againMake those safeguards better.

it is to make even better safeguards.

It might behoove mankind NOT to put nuclear plants in active eathquake zones, too, don't you think?

 

[Annie]

The freezniks are going to come out of their mommie's closet that they've been in since the 1980's claiming that nuclear power (once the salvation of mankind) will kill us all... again.

A freak disaster and suddenly, it's Malthusian Time! Break out the Pinwheels, Mirrors and Moonshine! It's time to wear hemp and live in grass huts while hunting and gathering again.

Its' not a "freak" disaster, sport.

It was an earthquake in a place where earthquakes are a well known, well understood and completely NORMAL event.

Obviously the safegards put into place to deal with this earthquake and Tsuami just weren't good enough.

The solution isn't

Break out the Pinwheels, Mirrors and Moonshine! It's time to wear hemp and live in grass huts while hunting and gathering againMake those safeguards better.

it is to make even better safeguards.

It might behoove mankind NOT to put nuclear plants in active eathquake zones, too, don't you think?

I actually agree that building nuclear reactors in earthquake zones is not such a great idea. However, how bad an idea is likely to be known soon. So far Japanese authorities seem confident that the containment building will be the big problem, not a Chernobyl type problem. Given the catastrophe they are operating under, if they are correct, I expect nuclear power will become more prevalent not less, outside of earthquake zones.

 

[Annie]

The freezniks are going to come out of their mommie's closet that they've been in since the 1980's claiming that nuclear power (once the salvation of mankind) will kill us all... again.

A freak disaster and suddenly, it's Malthusian Time! Break out the Pinwheels, Mirrors and Moonshine! It's time to wear hemp and live in grass huts while hunting and gathering again.

Its' not a "freak" disaster, sport.

It was an earthquake in a place where earthquakes are a well known, well understood and completely NORMAL event.

Obviously the safegards put into place to deal with this earthquake and Tsuami just weren't good enough.

The solution isn't

Break out the Pinwheels, Mirrors and Moonshine! It's time to wear hemp and live in grass huts while hunting and gathering againMake those safeguards better.

it is to make even better safeguards.

It might behoove mankind NOT to put nuclear plants in active eathquake zones, too, don't you think?

I actually agree that building nuclear reactors in earthquake zones is not such a great idea. However, how bad an idea is likely to be known soon. So far Japanese authorities seem confident that the containment building will be the big problem, not a Chernobyl type problem. Given the catastrophe they are operating under, if they are correct, I expect nuclear power will become more prevalent not less, outside of earthquake zones.

A bit of 'good' news?

Radiation down at Japan nuke plant after blast - Yahoo! News

Radiation down at Japan nuke plant after blast
By YURI KAGEYAMA, Associated Press Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press 32 mins ago

TOKYO – Japan's government spokesman says the metal container sheltering a nuclear reactor was not affected by an explosion that destroyed the building it's in.

Yukio Edano says the radiation around the plant did not rise after the blast but instead is decreasing. He added that pressure in the reactor was also decreasing.

Pressure and heat have been building at the nuclear reactor since an earthquake and tsunami Friday caused its cooling system to fail.

An explosion Saturday blew out the walls of the building housing the reactor. The government has ordered people within a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius of the plant in Fukushima to evacuate the area...

 

[Ravi]

The freezniks are going to come out of their mommie's closet that they've been in since the 1980's claiming that nuclear power (once the salvation of mankind) will kill us all... again.

A freak disaster and suddenly, it's Malthusian Time! Break out the Pinwheels, Mirrors and Moonshine! It's time to wear hemp and live in grass huts while hunting and gathering again.

That's always a possibility...and if the worst happens, who could blame them?

But supposedly Japan has the most stringent regulations of anyone regarding reactors so let us all hope they are stringent enough.

This kind of reminds me of a Godzilla movie...evacuating people in a 12 mile radius...it is also kind of ironic that the Japanese have reactors, considering.

 

[Mini 14]

A bit of 'good' news?

I hope so, but I'm more inclined to think it is a false positive, or a logistical abnormality.

That wasn't a small explosion. And it appeared to come with no warning at all.

But I will say this.....

If this plant comes through this without releasing a major amount of radiation through a period of almost complete blackout, logistical paralysis, and total isolation, we need to build these things on every street corner we can find.

I'm more inclined to think the situation is much worse than they are letting on. And I can understand why they would try to keep it quiet at this time. Once their infrastructures have recovered sufficiently, I suspect the story will be different.

 

[Ravi]

A bit of 'good' news?

I hope so, but I'm more inclined to think it is a false positive, or a logistical abnormality.

That wasn't a small explosion. And it appeared to come with no warning at all.

But I will say this.....

If this plant comes through this without releasing a major amount of radiation through a period of almost complete blackout, logistical paralysis, and total isolation, we need to build these things on every street corner we can find.

I'm more inclined to think the situation is much worse than they are letting on. And I can understand why they would try to keep it quiet at this time. Once their infrastructures have recovered sufficiently, I suspect the story will be different.

Sure...if we use the same stringent regulations and safety checks.

 

[Mini 14]

A bit of 'good' news?

I hope so, but I'm more inclined to think it is a false positive, or a logistical abnormality.

That wasn't a small explosion. And it appeared to come with no warning at all.

But I will say this.....

If this plant comes through this without releasing a major amount of radiation through a period of almost complete blackout, logistical paralysis, and total isolation, we need to build these things on every street corner we can find.

I'm more inclined to think the situation is much worse than they are letting on. And I can understand why they would try to keep it quiet at this time. Once their infrastructures have recovered sufficiently, I suspect the story will be different.

Sure...if we use the same stringent regulations and safety checks.

Agreed.

But I don't think we should get our hopes up, just yet. As I've said, I think the real story is being muted, understandably, right now (at least to those of us in the "general public).

I don't think it is possible we have misjudged the effects of a meltdown for 50 years now. But if we have, then we should take the Japanese program and build these things everywhere there is a vacant lot.

 

[Annie]

A bit of 'good' news?

I hope so, but I'm more inclined to think it is a false positive, or a logistical abnormality.

That wasn't a small explosion. And it appeared to come with no warning at all.

But I will say this.....

If this plant comes through this without releasing a major amount of radiation through a period of almost complete blackout, logistical paralysis, and total isolation, we need to build these things on every street corner we can find.

I'm more inclined to think the situation is much worse than they are letting on. And I can understand why they would try to keep it quiet at this time. Once their infrastructures have recovered sufficiently, I suspect the story will be different.

Sure...if we use the same stringent regulations and safety checks.

Have you visited a nuclear power plant? I have. If these reactors get through a 8.9 earthquake and a tsunami that combined to basically bring down communications, power, etc., with minimal problems-and yes, losing the building surrounding the containment area would be minimal, then the safeguards did what they were meant to do. Ours are basically along the same lines, design wise. We just don't have any new ones, not allowed to build them.

 

[Mini 14]

I take it they have not restored the cooling systems yet? Does anyone know?

 

[Annie]

I take it they have not restored the cooling systems yet? Does anyone know?

From what I'm reading and understanding, emphasis on the second as a matter of warning; no, they've not stopped the heating, but seems they have contained the problem within the building. As you said, we'll know more soon. Even those islands are not insulated, remember that I believe it was the Swiss that picked up the radiation levels with Chernobyl, not the USSR.

 

[KissMy]

Radiation leaking from Japan's quake-hit nuclear - Reuters

Radiation leaked from a damaged Japanese nuclear reactor on Saturday after an explosion blew the roof off in the wake of a massive earthquake, but the government insisted that radiation levels were low.

The blast raised fears of a meltdown at the facility north of Tokyo as officials scrambled to contain what could be the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl explosion in 1986 that shocked the world.

 

[Mini 14]

I take it they have not restored the cooling systems yet? Does anyone know?

From what I'm reading and understanding, emphasis on the second as a matter of warning; no, they've not stopped the heating, but seems they have contained the problem within the building. As you said, we'll know more soon. Even those islands are not insulated, remember that I believe it was the Swiss that picked up the radiation levels with Chernobyl, not the USSR.

Yeah, that's what concerns me.....that the decreases they are measuring are anomalies created by the mechanics of the explosion. While it is a scary, and risky proposal, I can also understand where it might be safer to hide the actual situation from the local population right now. I would think that the true story is being shared with foreign governments a little more openly.

As I said yesterday morning, we are VERY lucky that this hit Japan. They are as prepared and capable of dealing with it as any nation on Earth, probably more so. Imagine if it had been focused on North Korea, or Mexico.