Earthquake in Japan....9.0...ouch!

Lagmeister · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:27

NiCkNaMe said:
Are Tsunami's a new found phenomena?

To me it seems quite an easy thought that if an earthquake was to occur in any vicinity to the island then a Tsunami was not to hard to accept?

They were just built to withstand an earthquake with the power of around 8 megatons of TNT, the fact that they withstood a magnitude of 474 megatons is a miracle of engineering to be quite honest, its hard to fathom how powerful this earthquake was just looking at the richter scale.

VFM Addict · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:27

For me the biggest risk I can see of things really going **** up is another major quake/aftershock and tsunami. Especially in that most rescue teams are working within the danger area of such, often with little chance of evacuating if its a short warning tsunami.

See the following link remembering that Japan itself uses a 1 to 7 scale.
- http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/14_34.html

NiCkNaMe · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:28

Concorde Rules said:
Absolutely no reason for this 'OMGZ Nuclear is bad man' attitude.

Try telling that to the poor sods fighting a losing battle in Fukushima.

I'm not completly denoucning Nuclear. You pro-nuclear'ites just need to learn to converse with people who have a bit of trepidation when it comes to the tech given the pretty horrendous outcomes we have seen in history. Instead you just belittle there lack of knowledge!

Jonnycoupe · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:32

Robbie G said:

Is that from Rypts crackpot university texbook?

Sharlaw · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:42

NiCkNaMe said:
Instead you just belittle there lack of knowledge!

Their lack of knowledge.

Jonnycoupe · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:43

Thread has peaked. We have grammar correction and wiki pictures on the same page!

rypt · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:46

Jonnycoupe said:
Is that from Rypts crackpot university texbook?

...

Better than whatever (lack of) book you use on most car related discussions

GJ02 · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:48

did anyone just see the sky reporter outside downing street, talking about the cabinet meeting
was watching that she had tears rolling down her face while talking, thought she was going to loose it for a min
its effecting everyone in different ways this japan crisis

VFM Addict · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:48

Jonnycoupe said:
Thread has peaked. We have grammar correction and wiki pictures on the same page!

Better throw in a cliche too then. This thread has jumped the shark.

Castiel · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:49

Jonnycoupe said:
Is that from Rypts crackpot university texbook?

rypt · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:50

DreXeL said:
I guess they were designed to take the kind of tsunami that a 7.9 would cause.

Which is pretty impressive in itself

Designing a reactor that can take an earthquake is relatively easy as the whole reactor is mounted on a giant damper in effect, and the piping is bent to allow it to flex (same principle as nuclear subs use to avoid getting wrecked by depth charges).

Designing the outer building to take an earthquake is also doable

But a Tsunami is a whole other kind of force, it is masses of water smashing into the building

VFM Addict · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:51

GJ02 said:
did anyone just see the sky reporter outside downing street, talking about the cabinet meeting
was watching that she had tears rolling down her face while talking, thought she was going to loose it for a min
its effecting everyone in different ways this japan crisis

What the heck was the cabinet meeting supposed to have been about such that it caused her to cry?

FreeStream · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:51

NiCkNaMe said:
Try telling that to the poor sods fighting a losing battle in Fukushima.

I'm not completly denoucning Nuclear. You pro-nuclear'ites just need to learn to converse with people who have a bit of trepidation when it comes to the tech given the pretty horrendous outcomes we have seen in history. Instead you just belittle there lack of knowledge!

Who says it is a loosing battle? The media? Just because you've seen two explosions on TV (third one hasn't been shown yet) does NOT mean a large radioactive release is on the cards.

A chernobyl type accident IS NOT POSSIBLE.

As for being a pro-nuclear'ite, hardly, I'm just looking at this from an engineering PoV.

I *could* say that it's people with attitudes like that which hold back technological advances because it's too risky.

When generation IV reactors start failing then I'll start believing that the risk is too high, but when 40 year old reactors start going wrong after what has hit them, it's to be expected. Number 1 was supposed to be decommissioned this month!!

Cosimo · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:52

Japan's coastline before and after the tsunami:

rypt · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:53

Concorde Rules said:
I *could* say that it's people with attitudes like that which hold back technological advances because it's too risky.

Agreed

Everything has a risk, it is how you manage and mitigate that risk that matters

OriginalJonty · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:56

Germany shuts down 7 nuclear plants.

A temporary measure while the German's assess its nuclear strategy. I suppose this is bowing to public demand after the events in Japan but seems a bit much.

rypt · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:59

OriginalJonty said:
Germany shuts down 7 nuclear plants.

A temporary measure while the German's assess its nuclear strategy. I suppose this is bowing to public demand after the events in Japan but seems a bit much.

Politicians with no balls

Participant · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:59

Jonnycoupe said:
Thread has peaked. We have grammar correction and wiki pictures on the same page!

Yeah, facts, whatever next!?

And ah, the mentioning of rypt, the perennial attention-diverting escape route

.

Firestar_3x · 15 Mar 2011 at 11:59

OriginalJonty said:
Germany shuts down 7 nuclear plants.

A temporary measure while the German's assess its nuclear strategy. I suppose this is bowing to public demand after the events in Japan but seems a bit much.

I want to know what these 'safety checks' are, they have to be over and above the existing maintenance schedule, i can see this as a two step plan.

1. 10 people outside shaking the outside of the building...
2. hosepipe on the walls....

GJ02 · 15 Mar 2011 at 12:02

VFM Addict said:
What the heck was the cabinet meeting supposed to have been about such that it caused her to cry?

lol you know what i cant remember lol , but she was clearly crying
im no reporter expert but im guessing either she wasn't happy with her report, or she had lost her cat
im thinking it was the cat as i thought her report was ok