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

ColdAsIce said:
BBC News 24 trying their hardest to create a panic at the moment :( sigh
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The BBC one o'clock news just painted a gloomy picture which is exactly where Japan is at the moment. The news feeds have probably come down to a trickle now that it's 23:28 there so they’re just trying generate something out of nothing. It's fairly typical for them.
 
Lead-lined bunker in the basement for the win?

The whole German shutdown is clearly for political points and not because anyone with any knowledge actually thinks it should be done.
 
Tefal said:
well the other reactors at Chernobyl were operated and staffed until the early 2000's.
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They weren't suffering from non working cooling and needing active management though, the problem was entirely centred on one plant. The problem here would be that if you had lethal level of radiation come out of one plant, the people currently risking their lives working there would be unable to maintain the continued cooling of the other plants.

This is something I've been mentioning/thinking about, whats the long term plan here, to pump in water with valves breaking on and off for months, to get the normal cooling reactivated, or the backup cooling generators online/fixed.

They haven't really said that for instance the backup generators are broken but fixable, or they can get replacements.

The current situation isn't healthy as they are pouring water into the core and venting the gas, they need the outside cooling so they can stop venting gas but as yet they haven't said if thats remotely possible or when it might be possible.
 
France's nuclear safety authority (who certainly have no reason to exaggerate!) says it classifies the Fukushima plant accident as level six. The maximum is level seven, used only once for the 1986 Chernobyl accident, Three Mile Island was a five.
 
Concorde Rules said:
Just so we are on the same page, you are saying that whatever we do we will always miss something and at some point that missed issue will cause a nuclear disaster?

Fair comment, however given the public will now think 'OMGZ nuclear is bad' because a 40 year old reactor has mildly melted down but pretty much contained it as it's supposed to.
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I'm not saying that something will cause a nuclear disaster, I'm saying that this scenario has highlighted the risks posed by nuclear power plants and there is nothing wrong with scrutinising such matters to the nth degree. My comments were prompted by a number of posts that seemed to imply that this incident shouldn't be seen as a big deal when it has caused quite fair concern.
 
Well thats part of the problem. Nobody has any clue what the situation is and the only updates we get are large explosions, which the media will blow completely out of proportion because they don't understand whats going on either. Surely now is the time to look at just shutting them down as quickly as they can regardless of the damage it will cause to them.
 
PhillyDee said:
Actually, yes. Knowing what goes into building one of these plants, I would be happy enough living nearby. Plus, land prices will be cheaper due to the fact no one else wants to live next to one :D.
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Yes housing would be cheaper :D
If we built more nuclear plants, does anyone know where the proposed sites would be?
 
Jonnycoupe said:
Otherthan the MrLOL school of nuclear physics. ie wiki. Where is you nuclear physic education from Robbie?
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My formal physics education stretches only as far as A-Level physics (A).

Jonnycoupe said:
I think we are going round in circles on what is essentially common point only influenced on how you use words. At no point on a nuclear reaction would a spectrum analysis of the compound show the presence of U236 other than the % that is waste buildup. Hence U236 is not created.
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'Hence U236 is not created'?! You've just said it's created! How can it be a waste product if it's not created??? It IS created and then either instantly splits, or does not and remains as U236.

U235 nucleus absorbs neutron.
U235 becomes U236.
~82% of the time the U236 fissions almost instantly, ~18% of the time it does not and remains as U236.
It is the remaining 18% that forms waste U236 buildup.

If it fissions then the time that the U236 exists is infinitessimal and is therefore sometimes written out of descriptions of the fission process. I think this is where you are getting confused tbh. Just because it is not always explicitly described in the name of simplicity, this does mean it does not occur.

You are basically arguing that because it's not mentioned in your diagram, it does not occur. Bear in mind that this was the same post in which you assured everyone that levels of U238 are increased as a result of the enrichment process.

So I ask you, once last time, do you acknowledge that U236 is created in a neutron-bombardment nuclear fission reaction involving U235 and U238...yes or no?

Just to help you reach your epiphany and in one final attempt to drag your head out of the sand, I will provide a link from the America IEER which gives the formula:

92-U-235 + n ==> 92-U-236

92-U-236 ===> 38-strontium-90 + 54-xenon-144 + 2 neutrons + energy

Your face-saving has gone far enough now I think.
 
Stovies said:
Yes housing would be cheaper :D
If we built more nuclear plants, does anyone know where the proposed sites would be?
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The 10 sites deemed suitable for future nuclear plants are: Bradwell in Essex, Braystones, Kirksanton and Sellafield in Cumbria, Hartlepool, Heysham in Lancashire, Hinkley Point in Somerset, Oldbury in Gloucestershire, Sizewell in Suffolk and Wylfa in North Wales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8349715.stm
 
Robbie G said:
'Hence U236 is not created'?! You've just said it's created! How can it be a waste product if it's not created??? It IS created and then either instantly splits, or does not and remains as U236.
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The very moment i hit post I considered going back and adding 'created during fission' for this exact reason but did not. :mad:

Why do contributions end up like this, nit picking micro fine detail?

Yes it is created but I'm only happy to state that as a waste product.

Hardwork y0!
 
Sad story still over there but I'm glad to see Japan working together and still finding survivors!

Also just heard our school (where I work) is going to have a non-uniform day Friday to raise money for Japan Relief, hopefully some of you guys in offices can think of something to send some money to the red-cross ;)
 
maxilive said:
Sad story still over there but I'm glad to see Japan working together and still finding survivors!

Also just heard our school (where I work) is going to have a non-uniform day Friday to raise money for Japan Relief, hopefully some of you guys in offices can think of something to send some money to the red-cross ;)
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maybe no tie day or something....

or donate or you don't get internet.


Heard there has been another Earthquake of around 6, they just can't get a break can they?


also am i the only on thinking about the earthquake and tsunami not the nuclear power plant?
 
Sounds like people better at physics reside here, whats the take on Japanese situation getting worse.
Im not expecting it to achieve critical mass or whatever, its just a case of how much mess it makes right ? They just need to contain it till it runs itself down

My impression so far is minor contamination, obviously thats bad enough.
Is it stabilised or still possible to cause permanent damage to large section of land and/or people ?
 
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