Why You Can Stop Worrying About the Japan Nuclear Reactors

[burmafrd]

I didn't compare this accident to Chernobyl, I said it's a nuclear reactor. This plant is damn well capable of a Chernobyl like disaster. So, yes. They should make it withstand a 9.0 earthquake.

If you can't, then don't put it in populated areas.

You really do live on Fantasy Island.

 

[burmafrd]

The Japanese are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Nuclear is just not an option anymore. The Japanese will have to adjust to using less power. Necessity is the mother of all invention. The Japanese public will have to cope with a 1/3 power cut. They will have to milk solar and wind for everything they can. Maybe they can use the underwater sea currents to produce power. They may have to shift their energy-intensive factories abroad or to China.

Just casually do without 1/3 of your electricity. You try it. Will not happen. Those other plants will remain open.

 

[Anjinsan]

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.

I believe the reactors survived the quake rather well. It's the tsunamis that they weren't well prepared for. Rebuild em on higher ground.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

I believe the reactors survived the quake rather well. It's the tsunamis that they weren't well prepared for. Rebuild em on higher ground.

Rebuild them right where they are. Being able to flush the reactors with saltwater (Go Team!) is one of the reasons things are under control

NYC, you really need to understand the differences between Chernobyl and these light water reactor types. They are about as different as a John Deere 8650 tractor and a F1 Formula race car.

To start, Chernobyl was also a plutonium enrichment reactor.

 

[Arch Stanton]

Radiation Forces US 7th Fleet to Reposition Ships

By US Navy on Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

The U.S. 7th Fleet has temporarily repositioned its ships and aircraft away from Japan’s ***ushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant after detecting low-level contamination in the air and on its aircraft operating in the area.
The source of this airborne radioactivity is a radioactive plume released from the power plant, officials said.


Read more: http://www.defencetalk.com/radiation-forces-us-7th-fleet-to-reposition-ships-32785/?

 

[SaltwaterServr]

From that article:

In a statement announcing the decision, officials emphasized that the maximum potential radiation dose received by anyone aboard a ship that passed through the area was less than the radiation exposure received from about a month of exposure to natural background radiation from sources such as rocks, soil and the sun.

Read more: http://www.defencetalk.com/radiation-forces-us-7th-fleet-to-reposition-ships-32785/#ixzz1GkHORoEz

 

[Baileyneverfailey]

So what if the radiation exposure for people on ships 100 miles away was insignificant? I think the people in Japan are concerned about the ones that live nearby, not U.S. soldiers on ships.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

So what if the radiation exposure for people on ships 100 miles away was insignificant? I think the people in Japan are concerned about the ones that live nearby, not U.S. soldiers on ships.

Good job on missing the point entirely.

 

[daschoo]

i did like the news over here making a big thing about how radiation levels were 20 times the normal levels then at the end of the report somewhat sheepishly pointing out that thats less than you would be subjected to if you went for a CAT scan. just report the news please dont sensationalise it

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

From that article:

In a statement announcing the decision, officials emphasized that the maximum potential radiation dose received by anyone aboard a ship that passed through the area was less than the radiation exposure received from about a month of exposure to natural background radiation from sources such as rocks, soil and the sun.

Read more: http://www.defencetalk.com/radiation-forces-us-7th-fleet-to-reposition-ships-32785/#ixzz1GkHORoEz

:laugh2: Someone somewhere is pushing the spin.

Either they moved the ships because they were worried about the elevated levels like it stated, or they moved them for other reasons.

Because I don't think they normally move ships away from rocks, soil and sun due to normal background radiation.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Rebuild them right where they are. Being able to flush the reactors with saltwater (Go Team!) is one of the reasons things are under control

NYC, you really need to understand the differences between Chernobyl and these light water reactor types. They are about as different as a John Deere 8650 tractor and a F1 Formula race car.

To start, Chernobyl was also a plutonium enrichment reactor.

Umm, I understand they are different, but if it melts down it melts down. The outcome isn't going to change. Massive amounts of radiation will be released and people will probably die.

btw Theo, I'm pro nuclear energy and always have been. It's YOU that is showing YOUR ignorance as to why the US doesn't have more nuclear power plants. It was the idiots at Three Mile Island that caused the US to stop building the facilities.

 

[YosemiteSam]

From that article:

In a statement announcing the decision, officials emphasized that the maximum potential radiation dose received by anyone aboard a ship that passed through the area was less than the radiation exposure received from about a month of exposure to natural background radiation from sources such as rocks, soil and the sun.

Read more: http://www.defencetalk.com/radiation-forces-us-7th-fleet-to-reposition-ships-32785/#ixzz1GkHORoEz

Thats a load of crap :laugh2: If it was only that much (you would get a hell of a lot more just standing on concrete if it were true) Why in hell did they have to move the ships?

If they are going to lie, hell; at least make it a logical lie.

 

[burmafrd]

NYC, you really need to get a bit of education before you spout off with so much. You clearly know nothing except what the incompetent media tell you, and most of that is wrong or deliberately sensationalized.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Because I don't think they normally move ships away from rocks, soil and sun due to normal background radiation.

What are you talking about. Most of my family were in the Navy. It was a daily procedure to put this all over the ship.

 

[daschoo]

:laugh2: Someone somewhere is pushing the spin.

Either they moved the ships because they were worried about the elevated levels like it stated, or they moved them for other reasons.

Because I don't think they normally move ships away from rocks, soil and sun due to normal background radiation.

not a big sailor but i'm fairly sure that thats one of the most important parts of steering your boat

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Umm, I understand they are different, but if it melts down it melts down. The outcome isn't going to change. Massive amounts of radiation will be released and people will probably die.

btw Theo, I'm pro nuclear energy and always have been. It's YOU that is showing YOUR ignorance as to why the US doesn't have more nuclear power plants. It was the idiots at Three Mile Island that caused the US to stop building the facilities.

No, a meltdown isn't a meltdown isn't a meltdown.

These plants are designed differently from the Chernobyl reactor. Chernobyl didn't have a contained reaction chamber as these do. The situations were totally different. The idiots in Chernobyl actually, at the end, tried to pull the fuel rods out and put control rods in, which spins up the heat reactions by a pretty good factor. Once the graphite top of the reactor blew off from the hydrogen and steam explosion, then the entire reactor was exposed to the outside environment.

These reactors are cold, not running. Chernobyl was running like a Formula 1 race car when they went supercritical.

Chernobyl had no containment other than the semi-enclosed stainless steel reaction chamber and concrete below it.

These have multiple layers of containment, including graphite casings that captures neutrinos as they are generated, helping to cool any melted material.

Again, Chernobyl and Daiichi are reactors. They both generate electricity via radioactive decay of enriched metals. That's about where the similarities begin and end.

Why did they move the ships out? Probably because nobody knows what exactly is happening, and the paranoia over it has reached it's own supercritical level. The media would be all over "American sailors and pilots experience 30x normal radiation levels", just like Reuters put out the "People have been found to show exposure to radiation leaving the ***ishima area" before redacting the article when they found out it was a dentist and his/her office assistant.

 

[Cythim]

Thats a load of crap :laugh2: If it was only that much (you would get a hell of a lot more just standing on concrete if it were true) Why in hell did they have to move the ships?

If they are going to lie, hell; at least make it a logical lie.

They moved because the ships were in the path of the plume. Right now the plume is harmless but if something worse happens they do not want to be in the way.

 

[YosemiteSam]

NYC, you really need to get a bit of education before you spout off with so much. You clearly know nothing except what the incompetent media tell you, and most of that is wrong or deliberately sensationalized.

Really burm. What exactly do you know about it? Are you saying the plant can't meltdown? That radiation can't be released? btw, I haven't been watching this on TV. To me *THIS* story isn't what I'm talking about, it's just an instance of what *could* happen.

I'm well aware of what radiation is and what it does. I don't need a mediot to tell me. I am pro nuclear energy, but I'm also extremely aware that it is infinity more dangerous than a coal or natural gas plant.

Some people have an extreme view of some subjects and some have a lackadaisical view. I consider myself very middle ground. I am for it as long as you can make it safe. I'm well aware that the people who build these with ever effort to make them safe. All I said is if you are going to build a nuclear power plant in an extremely volatile area, then it should be able to withstand extreme conditions. Japan is an extremely volatile area. They have lots of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, typhoons, floods and giant mudslides all compacted into a relatively small land mass.

The Japaneses plant is sitting on an extremely active fault line, unlike the Comanche Peak plant in Glen Rose.

 

[YosemiteSam]

No, a meltdown isn't a meltdown isn't a meltdown.

These plants are designed differently from the Chernobyl reactor. Chernobyl didn't have a contained reaction chamber as these do. The situations were totally different. The idiots in Chernobyl actually, at the end, tried to pull the fuel rods out and put control rods in, which spins up the heat reactions by a pretty good factor. Once the graphite top of the reactor blew off from the hydrogen and steam explosion, then the entire reactor was exposed to the outside environment.

These reactors are cold, not running. Chernobyl was running like a Formula 1 race car when they went supercritical.

Chernobyl had no containment other than the semi-enclosed stainless steel reaction chamber and concrete below it.

These have multiple layers of containment, including graphite casings that captures neutrinos as they are generated, helping to cool any melted material.

Again, Chernobyl and Daiichi are reactors. They both generate electricity via radioactive decay of enriched metals. That's about where the similarities begin and end.

Why did they move the ships out? Probably because nobody knows what exactly is happening, and the paranoia over it has reached it's own supercritical level. The media would be all over "American sailors and pilots experience 30x normal radiation levels", just like Reuters put out the "People have been found to show exposure to radiation leaving the ***ishima area" before redacting the article when they found out it was a dentist and his/her office assistant.

I studied the Chernobyl disaster when I was in school. I know step by step what and how it happen there.

 

[big dog cowboy]

just report the news please dont sensationalise it

Those days are over for good I'm afraid.