Major Earthquake & Tsunami in Japan

[spiker]

Here's MIT's Nuclear Science and Engineering website. It is a great resource of facts to help people understand what is happening.

 

[Wdave]

You know, I would go to Japan and help out with the clean up if it wasn't for work. I'm not worried too much about radiation.
All I know is that anti nuclear people are having a field day with this. Everything went wrong at the powerplant from a freak accident. The earthquake killed the main power grid then the diesel generators were swept away. But the back up batteries were there and cooled the plant for 8 hours. Primarily they are focusing on cooling it. Secondarily they have to bring in new power lines to get the normal cooling system back online.

The fact of the matter is that people are just overreacting with no justifiable cause other then they hear the word nuclear and hydrogen.

If you really don't want to get cancer or be affected by any source of radiation your going to have to dig yourself a nice big hole to live underground in the middle of Australia, and for heavens sake you better not eat a banana!
/rant.

Sent from my HD2 using the GTplanet app.

 

[HKS racer]

Japan rushes to cool reactor TOKYO - Japanese military helicopters and fire trucks poured water on an overheating nuclear facility on Thursday and the plant operator said electricity to part of the crippled complex could be restored in a desperate bid to avert catastrophe.

Washington and other foreign capitals expressed growing alarm about radiation leaking from the earthquake-shattered plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo. The United States said it was sending aircraft to help Americans leave Japan.

"The situation continues to be very serious," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano told reporters at Vienna airport as he left with a group of nuclear experts for Japan.

Processing for travel docs free for Pinoys in Japan

French embassy urges citizens to leave Tokyo area in case radiation reaches city

German Embassy recommends Germans with children to leave Tokyo/Yokohama area

They aren't talking about to evacuate the population yet but the situation is not easy.

 

[Azuremen]

Leave the thread. Now. You are just ignoring everything that disagrees with you and trying to fear monger.

Get. Out.

 

[HKS racer]

News are saying that, not me. I'm looking forward to read better news in the next days, really. I hope they find a solution.

About your weak comments. Leave the thread? Get out?
What's that? Seriusly. I've only posted links to actual news.

 

[Azuremen]

News are saying that, not me. I'm looking forward to read better news in the next days, really. I hope they find a solution.

About your weak comments. Leave the thread? Get out?
What's that? Seriusly. I've only posted links to actual news.

Our weak comments? You mean raining on your parade of "Nuclear power will kill us all?"

You haven't addressed a single point anyone has made in here. You are just trying to poor gasoline on an issue you've fanned into flames.

Make a new thread, or at least try to have a discussion. Otherwise, you might as well be Fox News or any other sensationalist reporting agency.

 

[FoolKiller]

News are saying that, not me. I'm looking forward to read better news in the next days, really.

Here you go: Nagasaki survivor: People seem 'too sensitive'

She survived being 3.6km away from the bomb. Doesn't get the panic while she sits in Tokyo now.


EDIT:

Our weak comments? You mean raining on your parade of "Nuclear power will kill us all?"

You haven't addressed a single point anyone has made in here. You are just trying to poor gasoline on an issue you've fanned into flames.

Make a new thread, or at least try to have a discussion. Otherwise, you might as well be Fox News or any other sensationalist reporting agency.

To give him the benefit of the doubt all those stories are about the possible risks now. They all are based on worst case scenarios, but they are relevant.


That said, HKS racer, you seem single-minded in what you see the disaster is.

 

[Nicknamealguem]

They don't have a concrete embedment as far as I know, it's a pretty old design with just a steel vessel. A lot of old plants have that and it's a huge issue, one of the reasons why they've shut down some of the plants here in Germany now, to check if they are really safe.

They have, according to this article, that shows a typical BWR Mark 1 reactor:

http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/13/fukushima-simple-explanation/

Since the initial design as been superseded to Mark 2 and 3, I believe some modifications were made to the Mark 1 reactor.
Thing is, I don't really know the conditions inside the containment and if the reports of the core being partially uncovered are true. But even if they are, I think they wouldn't cause much trouble. The problem now is the cooling pools to cool the fuel.
This article is also pretty interesting:
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/energy/26524/

 

[porkchop87]

Radiations? Hazard of Nuclear? I am assuming these odd bits of grammar are from English being a second language? Read this.

Not all radiation is equal ... radiation emitted from bananas (because of the Potassium in bananas) are betas.

 

[ZeGermanBastorD]

Here you go: Nagasaki survivor: People seem 'too sensitive'

She survived being 3.6km away from the bomb. Doesn't get the panic while she sits in Tokyo now.

Yes, some people are uber natural and "immune" against radioactivity, f.e. Anatoli Stepanowitsch Djatlow

But you can't use these examples to play down the dangerousness of the situation. Just look how much people died around Chernobyl on cancer or watch the vid's on YouTube about mutated newborns.

What the Japanese are currently doing in Fukushima is like a drop in the bucket. The next 2, 3 days will show us the real situation in Fukushima and around Fukushima.

 

[Stevisiov]

Not all radiation is equal ... radiation emitted from bananas (because of the Potassium in bananas) are betas.

The main particle emission from Fukishima are iodine 131 and Caesium 137, both of which are Beta sources.

 

[porkchop87]

But you can't use these examples to play down the dangerousness of the situation. Just look how much people died around Chernobyl on cancer or watch the vid's on YouTube about mutated newborns.

Still, it's sad that this problem at the nuclear plant is completely overshadowing the real tragedy and problem which is the tsunami and earthquake. Lots of fear-mongering in the media, lots of misinformation, etc.

 

[spiker]

Lots of fear-mongering in the media, lots of misinformation, etc.

Par for the course, really.

 

[porkchop87]

The main particle emission from Fukishima are iodine 131 and Caesium 137, both of which are Beta sources.

Right, sorry I wasn't disputing the post. I just meant to add-on to the post, as in bananas emit "safer" radiation. People may get the wrong idea from the article and think bananas are shooting out alpha rays or something...

 

[Akira AC]

I don't get it,there is a huge deal about nuclear power in several forums,and from what I heard from NHK and TBS,the only thing that the government says is an overheating in 4 reactors,which is been put out by the water to cool down the reactors,which as for now seems to be under control.No big deal of radiation have been detected in Tokyo or nearby cities,and the power shortages have become the mayor problem at the moment,local industries and distribution of services are on hold due to the power shortage.

What I have seen thought is the local and international news,and they are making a huge buzz about it,on the local news I found a death toll of 14000,while in Japanese media this number is averaging the 5000 mark,in other channels I found "Meltdown disaster",which is a false statement .

And from what I have read,the tendency is "Maybe,Probably,In the future,Possibly,Etc..",if we analyze this,we can also find that probably a meteor can impact in the city of Los Angeles,a big fire can consume the city of Dallas,a volcano can wipe out the city of San Francisco.So people,don't make a huge deal about it,is not funny and is really not "correct" from my point of view,maybe there are residents in japan who might be reading this and the worst thing you could do now is scare them with exaggerated stuff from the international media.

 

[Griffith500]

They have, according to this article, that shows a typical BWR Mark 1 reactor:

http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/13/fukushima-simple-explanation/

Since the initial design as been superseded to Mark 2 and 3, I believe some modifications were made to the Mark 1 reactor.
Thing is, I don't really know the conditions inside the containment and if the reports of the core being partially uncovered are true. But even if they are, I think they wouldn't cause much trouble. The problem now is the cooling pools to cool the fuel.
This article is also pretty interesting:
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/energy/26524/

There have been several follow-ups on that site since then. Professor Brook is somewhat "pro-nuclear" so be sure to extract the "facts" and recognise the parts that are mere opinion. He appears to have a decent level of integrity, though.

Here's his summary as of the 17th of March (AU).

 

[Nicknamealguem]

There have been several follow-ups on that site since then. Professor Brook is somewhat "pro-nuclear" so be sure to extract the "facts" and recognise the parts that are mere opinion. He appears to have a decent level of integrity, though.

Here's his summary as of the 17th of March (AU).

Yes. Though I've also been following it up, I was pointing more toward the concrete embedded shield that surrounds the core and protects (I think) from a possible meltdown.

 

[ZeGermanBastorD]

There have been several follow-ups on that site since then. Professor Brook is somewhat "pro-nuclear" so be sure to extract the "facts" and recognise the parts that are mere opinion. He appears to have a decent level of integrity, though.

Here's his summary as of the 17th of March (AU).

When i take a look at the two images from your link:

Reactor 4 & 3 (the 2 from the left) are both ruins and visible nearly completely detroyed.

Using the first picture as reference, i can't locate the reactor vessels in the scrap heap in picture two where they should be.

Or are the reactor vessels in Fukushima placed a bit "deeper" in the underground?

 

[Mark T]

Just read on the BBC that they have managed to connect powerlines to reactor 2. Hopefully they can get the pumps up and running and get the cooling system back in place. 👍

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12779512

 

[Famine]

When i take a look at the two images from your link:

Reactor 4 & 3 (the 2 from the left) are both ruins and visible nearly completely detroyed.

Using the first picture as reference, i can't locate the reactor vessels in the scrap heap in picture two where they should be.

Or are the reactor vessels in Fukushima placed a bit "deeper" in the underground?

What you can see as damage is what is labelled as "Refuelling Bay" on the first image. If there was an appropriate angle, you would be able to see the top of the reactor (which will be capped with a 3-foot thick concrete lid).

 

[CodeRedR51]

Thanks for posting the pictures. Now I can actually see what most of you are talking about. 👍

 

[BWX]

What you can see as damage is what is labelled as "Refuelling Bay" on the first image. If there was an appropriate angle, you would be able to see the top of the reactor (which will be capped with a 3-foot thick concrete lid).

Apparently YouTube keeps scrubbing this vid so the guy put it on imageshack.. Shows damage to nuke plant.

http://img140.imageshack.us/i/49657371.mp4/

 

[ZeGermanBastorD]

I just found 2 videos which describes the whole thing at Fukushima very good.

Note: you should watch the first vid before the second one to get all the basic informations.





PS: seems like he upload regulary new vids.

 

[Dotini]

http://www.theenergyreport.com/pub/na/8956

Efforts to regain the upper hand continue, as electrical power is on the verge of being restored to #2.

BBC's Richard Black analysis: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12779512

 

[prisonermonkeys]

These are the human limits, thinking a powerful earthquake is just a "convergence of everything going wrong". We all need to understand everytime you create a Nuclear power plant there will be always a percentage of risks. Humans can't control earthquakes they can just hope those phenomenons aren't strong enough to cause massive damages. Planet Earth don't give a damn if we created Nuclear powerplants everywhere. If Planet Earth need to move, it will do it, no matter how many Nuclear Stations we've installed all around the world. Stating "Nuclear power is actually very safe" doesn't make too much sense. Even a car is safe is you don't crash, a motorbike is safe, until you don't fall dawn.. but a car and a motorbike cannot create massive radiations when they crash. Nuclear is too dangerous if something goes wrong.

Sorry, but reading your post makes me think you've seen what is happening in Japan and decided to take an anti-nuclear stance without actually knowing anything about the subject.

So here's an invitation to prove me wrong. I want you to show that you understand what is happening in Fukushima by telling me not just what happened, but why things happened the way they did. Don't just say "the earthquake and tsunami", because there is a lot more to it than that.

 

[Matty]

I seen on Sky News earlier that there's more bad news for Japan, this may already have been said and if so I'm sorry.

Apparently from what I remember there will be a full moon on Friday, but it's not an ordinary full moon, it's a rare occurrence where the moon is closer to the earth and it pulls the tides more then usual. Currently there is still seawater in a town 4kms from the sea and the huge tide that is about to happen will flood the town that I speak of.

Basically what Sky News are hinting is that there will be a slower tidal tsunami... I think (Correct me if I'm wrong.).

I hope this is 🤬 and doesn't actually have any major affects.

P.S. I also seen on CNN that as off about 11-12 tonight there have been 533 aftershocks all above 4.0 on the Rictor Scale.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Is that moon stuff legit, or is that just another news station looking for anything and everything to report about?

 

[Matty]

Apparently I'm not sure about the tidal tsunami bit but that's how I interpreted it. But Sky News say it's been verified by NASA and it's the biggest tidal effect caused by the moon since 1993.

 

[FoolKiller]

Apparently I'm not sure about the tidal tsunami bit but that's how I interpreted it. But Sky News say it's been verified by NASA and it's the biggest tidal effect caused by the moon since 1993.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermoon

The combined effect of the Sun and Moon on Earth's oceans, the tide, is greatest when the Moon is new or full.[5] Full Moons during lunar perigees (such as in the case of supermoons) exert an even stronger tidal force, resulting in more extreme high and low tides, but even at their most powerful this force is still considerably weak.[6]

It is just a slightly higher tide than normal. All the rest is astrology mumbo jumbo.

 

[Matty]

Sky News are making something of nothing then?