Quake Rocks Japan

[MDS]

yea but no one gives a shtein about indonesia

[Sgt PSN]

Pretty sure every major designer label out there cares. 

[ice grillin you]

including mitchell and ness

[MDS]

Pretty sure every major designer label out there cares. 

yea cant they move that to bangladesh or cambodia or something

not exactly a  major financial overhaul to build a shack and find 8 year olds willing to work for 14 cents an hour

[MMH]

Good point.  I think the term meltdown just refers to a nuclear reactor experiencing overheating.  Wouldn't want to be close enough to see it myself.

The Flyers should fly to Sendai and give their insights on a meltdown.

A meltdown means the fuel rods have gotten so hot that they literally melt into a blob.  Ever see the documentary about Chernobyl?  They have what is called "the elephant's foot", which is an amorphous blob which was the nuclear core, which melted through the floor of the building housing it.  They tried to chip off a piece to analyze it, and sent in a robot to do it, since the foot puts out enough rems per hour to kill a human in close proximity.  The robot couldn't chip a piece off (it's all lead shielding and steel), and eventually the radiation fried the robot.

Chernobyl was an archaic piece of shtein, and fargushima is probably the best built nuclear facility in the world.  A meltdown there won't be Chernobyl, but it will release lots of radioactive material into the environment, which obviously is bad.
As for evidence of a meltdown, the Japanese are detecting radioactive cesium in the air around fargushima.  That's a byproduct of the fission process, and would only occur if the core was melting, ie aerosolizing the fuel rods.

[Diomedes]

some incredible video bubbling to the surface

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LPGzzaSsbU&feature=player_embedded

[Diomedes]

at 2:09 on the right side of the screen....

something big and fast is all....CEEEYAAA!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cwPf5tbcB8&feature=related

[QB Eagles]

A meltdown means the fuel rods have gotten so hot that they literally melt into a blob.  Ever see the documentary about Chernobyl?  They have what is called "the elephant's foot", which is an amorphous blob which was the nuclear core, which melted through the floor of the building housing it.  They tried to chip off a piece to analyze it, and sent in a robot to do it, since the foot puts out enough rems per hour to kill a human in close proximity.  The robot couldn't chip a piece off (it's all lead shielding and steel), and eventually the radiation fried the robot.

Chernobyl was an archaic piece of shtein, and fargushima is probably the best built nuclear facility in the world.  A meltdown there won't be Chernobyl, but it will release lots of radioactive material into the environment, which obviously is bad.
As for evidence of a meltdown, the Japanese are detecting radioactive cesium in the air around fargushima.  That's a byproduct of the fission process, and would only occur if the core was melting, ie aerosolizing the fuel rods.

Well, a meltdown means melted fuel, period. It doesn't mean the whole core has melted into a blob. It also doesn't mean a large amount of radiation will necessarily be released; in most meltdowns (there have been about 12 in history) the vast majority of radiation is localized in the plant. Chernobyl had no containment building, which is one of the factors that made that accident so bad. Chernobyl also occurred while the core was critical (supercritical in fact), so the core blew itself apart, sending fission products everywhere. The Japanese reactors are shut down, but they are still generating heat from radioactive decay, and the cooling systems and their backups were apparently all affected by the earthquake and tsunami. This boric seawater plan they are talking about now was something designed into the plant, but it's among their last options.

Thus this is a much more controlled meltdown situation than Chernobyl. I suspect the results will be similar to that of Three Mile Island. Some fuel will melt and those cores will probably be lost. They will vent some radioactive gas to try to prevent additional hydrogen buildups, like that which caused the previous building explosion. There may be some other localized radiation, but nothing serious to the public. While this is probably the most serious nuclear incident since Chernobyl in terms of core damage, in terms of effects on people I'd say it's small potatoes compared to the enormous natural catastrophe that has just occurred.

[QB Eagles]

some incredible video bubbling to the surface

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LPGzzaSsbU&feature=player_embedded

Cool footage, but doesn't it seem particularly dumb to be hanging out next to moving fissures in the earth during an earthquake? I don't know what the real risk of those things quickly opening up wider is, but I don't think I would have stayed around to find out.

[Diomedes]

Whatever is actually happening, we know this much:  these four plants are not going back online any time soon, and possibly never again.  That's going to create a serious long term problem for the people of Japan.

Cool footage, but doesn't it seem particularly dumb to be hanging out next to moving fissures in the earth during an earthquake? I don't know what the real risk of those things quickly opening up wider is, but I don't think I would have stayed around to find out.

uhm yeah..I wouldn't be filming that either...but it sorta begs the question...where else do you go when the ground is opening up beneath your feet?  run away from the ground?

[Rome]

farg nuclear power.  hard.

[QB Eagles]

Before and after pics:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm

[Diomedes]

by this point, I've seen most of the videos available, but somehow this one got by me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APEsVeE7FGk&feature=related

street level view (at first) of tsunami rolling through town...then from above (the guy must have been able to climb something that didn't float away)

[SD]

Anyone want a nuclear power plant in their back yard now?

I wouldn't mind. Nuclear energy is safe. A massive quake goes off and a tiny bit of radioactive material reached the air, the rest was contained. I don't see the big deal. Good luck getting people to use less electricity. And just an FYI plants supply enough energy to meet the publics needs, if the public cuts back the energy produced goes unused. I think you'd have a stronger case if there was an energy shortage.

Japanese energy minister now says meltdown likely occurring as we speak.  Change your mind?

Absolutely not. Like I said, one of the biggest earthquakes in modern times followed by a huge tsunami and the damage is minimal.

Thus this is a much more controlled meltdown situation than Chernobyl. I suspect the results will be similar to that of Three Mile Island. Some fuel will melt and those cores will probably be lost. They will vent some radioactive gas to try to prevent additional hydrogen buildups, like that which caused the previous building explosion. There may be some other localized radiation, but nothing serious to the public. While this is probably the most serious nuclear incident since Chernobyl in terms of core damage, in terms of effects on people I'd say it's small potatoes compared to the enormous natural catastrophe that has just occurred.

Couldn't have said it better myself. When I was on the Reagan we did Nuke training and the possibility of a large amount of radioactive material spreading is highly unlikely. Even if missiles bombarded the ship it would take a million different things going wrong for there to be a leak on a large scale. A freakin 8.9 quake just rocked a nuke plant and the damage is minimal. The word 'meltdown' carries more weight than it should.

This article from cnn says everything is contained and no major disasters are imminent:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/13/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

Also, can't forget:

[Diomedes]

Yeah that's nice. 

How about we put the controlled meltdown in your 'hood rather than mine, mkay?  I'll even do you a solid and get my power elsewhere, if that makes you feel better in your tyvek jumpsuit.