Why You Can Stop Worrying About the Japan Nuclear Reactors

[YosemiteSam]

For the weak minded sheep who are willing to follow anything without thinking for themselves...sure.

...must....resist....commenting...

:laugh2:

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

...must....resist....commenting...

:laugh2:

Shut up apple fan boy. Now go make Stevie a martini. :

 

[theogt]

For the weak minded sheep who are willing to follow anything without thinking for themselves...sure.

That's a sufficient percentage of the population to affect these decisions, unfortunately.

 

[MyBad]

It is just like this NFL thingy...reports, and opinions fall on two sides. I wonder why the U.S. moved it's warships? Said it was because of radiation?

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/03/navy-ships-japan-radiation-move-031411w

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

That's a sufficient percentage of the population to affect these decisions, unfortunately.

Well, sadly, I have to agree with that.

 

[YosemiteSam]

It is just like this NFL thingy...reports, and opinions fall on two sides. I wonder why the U.S. moved it's warships? Said it was because of radiation?

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/03/navy-ships-japan-radiation-move-031411w

That page has gone AWOL! :laugh2:

Here is a fixed link

 

[theogt]

That page has gone AWOL! :laugh2:

:laugh2:

 

[baj1dallas]

I think this should be a testament to the safety of nuclear power. If a plant can withstand a 9.0 earthquake, have multiple meltdowns, and yet pose no real threat to the surrounding populace, it's time the stigma is removed.

unfortunately they had to use seawater to cool one of the reactors which pretty much shuts it down permanently. That is a big loss of money there. I am not surprised that Japanese would make that decision. Americans might not.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

That page has gone AWOL! :laugh2:

Here is a fixed link

HAHA that is the best...much funnier than some lame 404 error message.

 

[baj1dallas]

Yeah, great article... Hope it's all accurate.

And those plants are 40 years old. You know the industry has developed even more safety measures since then.

True but it's not a given that all those new measures are always incorporated. This basic design is still what's being considered for a plant in Tennessee.

 

[MyBad]

LOL...thx

 

[DallasCowpoke]

By “not free of errors” I mean blatant errors regarding physics and natural law, as well as gross misinterpretation of facts, due to an obvious lack of fundamental and basic understanding of the way nuclear reactors are build and operated. I have read a 3 page report on CNN where every single paragraph contained an error.

Umm, not to be too nit-picky there Professor Highbrow, but isn't the word your looking for, in the very paragraph where you're calling everyone to task for their "blatant errors", BUILT?

 

[burmafrd]

It's not a strawman, if states don't want it in their states because they worry about it.

Just because you don't like the argument, does not mean it does not exist.

It is a legit concern among many people and states.

If that can be corrected and they can come up with a way that it is no longer a concern...well, it will no longer be a concern.

Those that allow the media to shape their opinions. Do a little research on the actual amount of long half life waste that is currently generated. You would be amazed at how little there is.

Even the long term waste is not that big of a deal. You just need a place that is safe for 500 or so years at most. By that time we will figure out how to destroy it or cheaply and safely shoot it into the sun. Idiots thinking that we have to have something safe for thousands of years are just that.

 

[arglebargle]

The issue here is that the decisions on nuclear power are based on public perception, not the truth. The public perception is based on the sensationalism, not the redaction.

There are some historical issues here. While it would be nice to think that the genesis of the nuclear power industry was done by far forward thinking folks, the truth is, it was set up to make nukes seem nicer. And to provide material for bombs and such. It was completely not cost effective at the time.

You also have the Department of Energy, which oversaw the set up of the industry. It was notorious for blatent lies, coverups, and slanted coverage. Over time, people who paid attention grew to discount whatever they said. Like the boy who cried wolf, their words stopped being taken seriously.

The nuclear industry in the US has been implemented in a haphazard manner, with poor siting, questionable construction, every design being different. Insurance companies would not cover the risk until a special law limiting liability was enacted. The history of letting the lowest bidder build your plant is kinda frightening. Texas let Brown and Root build the South Texas Nuclear Project! Anyone familiar with their misdeeds should be frightened as well.

We should be able to do better than this. To play to a local prejudice, even the French run a successful, large nuclear power network.

The website was great, learned a great deal there. The Japanese team handling things on the power plant site seem like they are doing a real good job under the most trying of circumstances. Though as always, the big spector is human error. I noted that they were able to get mobile generators into the plant very early, but couldn't use them because the connectors did not match. Ouch.

 

[burmafrd]

The Nuclear power industry started going into the toilet from the moment they stopped following Rickovers plans. The first nuke plants were his design and were superb. France basically followed the same plans and improved on them over time and they have what is almost certainly the best Nuclear Power system in the world. Bottom line what happened in the US was that politics got injected into the process and it went downhill from there. From the moment the NRC was formed and taken away from Rickover and given to the bureaucrats the situation started to go into the crapper.

 

[Arch Stanton]

Radiation ‘high’ after new fire, explosion
Day 4: Worst nuclear crisis in Japan since Hiroshima
ERIC TALMADGE AND SHINO YUASA; The Associated Press | • Published March 15, 2011


SOMA, Japan — Dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant forced Japan to order 140,000 people to seal themselves indoors Tuesday after an explosion and a fire dramatically escalated the 4-day-old crisis spawned by a deadly tsunami.

In a nationally televised statement, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation has spread from four reactors of the ***ushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in ***ushima state, one of the hardest-hit in Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that has killed more than 10,000 people, plunged millions into misery and pummeled the world's third-largest economy.


Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/03/15/1579350/radiation-high-after-new-fire.html?



So is it safe or not?

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Radiation ‘high’ after new fire, explosion
Day 4: Worst nuclear crisis in Japan since Hiroshima
ERIC TALMADGE AND SHINO YUASA; The Associated Press | • Published March 15, 2011


SOMA, Japan — Dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant forced Japan to order 140,000 people to seal themselves indoors Tuesday after an explosion and a fire dramatically escalated the 4-day-old crisis spawned by a deadly tsunami.

In a nationally televised statement, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation has spread from four reactors of the ***ushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in ***ushima state, one of the hardest-hit in Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that has killed more than 10,000 people, plunged millions into misery and pummeled the world's third-largest economy.


Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/03/15/1579350/radiation-high-after-new-fire.html?



So is it safe or not?

I wouldn't know judging by the article. Have there been more than 10,000 killed? Maybe, but we have no idea and yet they're reporting it as more than 10,000, so start with that grain of salt and move forward.

24 hours ago a news site was reporting that people outside of the reactor area were detected to have been contaminated with radiation. The retraction a few hours later mentioned it was a dentist and a dental technician.

Everyone is trying to be the first person with the news, and facts be damned if they stand in the way.

Even the article spins the radiation as being somewhere between Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, and does so after saying the person they're quoting doesn't have any idea about the actual dose levels. So it's somewhere between a minor leak and a full blown meltdown. ****ing media.

 

[burmafrd]

I notice that in virtually every report they do not give a specific dosage. That is the only way you can tell if its serious or not. I have no doubt that right now the Japanese government is in total crisis mode and is over reacting to everything.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Hmm.. Japan is known for massive quakes. You figured their facilities would be built to withstand 9+ quakes considering we are talking about nuclear disaster being the result of a catastrophic failure.

 

[burmafrd]

In the last 100+ years there have been only four quakes worldwide that are bigger then this one. So saying they should be prepared for a 9.0 is kind of dumb.