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

Kristoph said:
Even if the rods are damaged. So long as the container does its job, and they continue to cool it in whatever makeshift way they're doing it, then I really can't see there being anymore problems?

Yes, steam will be released, and there will be some short lived radioactive things dispersed as a result, but I can't see anything getting any worse.

I'm pretty sure they're writing off these reactors for good, so as long as it's contained, it'll just end up being disposed of when the time comes. Expensive, probably, but no huge dangers.
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The more damaged the rods are, the worse potential for nastier things in the steam there is, thats one problem. Secondly it pretty much suggests on going cooling isn't working particularly well and they've hit more than one problem where they've lost cooling.

It would seem theres been some level of containment defect at reactor 2, and theres two 8metre holes in the reactor 4 roof which again, isn't good and problems cooling, fires they can't see/control very well.

Its not dire news or anything, damage doesn't mean automatic massive problems, its just a bit of an indication that things really aren't under control.
 
Burned_Alive said:
What are the control rooms like at these places? Bunkers? Heavily protected?
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Not bunkers, not sure on the design in this place but they are typically highly shielded concrete with iron and lead shot, couple of angles on the entrance, no Windows. designed to be self contained to play out a wide range of emergencys.
 
Azza said:
From BBC news right now... Telegraph reporting that WikiLeaks saying they have documents from Atomic Energy Committee about Japans power plants and their ability to with stand an Earthquake and they were only able to with stand one up to 7.0 and the Telegraph has cleared their whole front page to it. :confused: I doubt no one could for see a Earthquake of 9.0 occurring never mind a freaking 30 foot high wave smashing the side of the country!
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I'm sure that someone has pointed this out earlier in the thread (Rroff, was it?), the reactors weren't supposed to withstand such forces for such a long time.
 
Is this emergency control room in the plant? Surely the technicians there aren't exactly going to be healthy afterwards? Urgh I find any Nuclear incident scary as hell - documentaries of Chernobyl and the film K19 terrified me :(
 
Azza said:
From BBC news right now... Telegraph reporting that WikiLeaks saying they have documents from Atomic Energy Committee about Japans power plants and their ability to with stand an Earthquake and they were only able to with stand one up to 7.0 and the Telegraph has cleared their whole front page to it. :confused: I doubt no one could for see a Earthquake of 9.0 occurring never mind a freaking 30 foot high wave smashing the side of the country!



The presenter on the BBC right now, who may not be able to read from an auto-queue, is actually talking sense on Japanese related stuff!
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Mr Krugga said:
I'm sure that someone has pointed this out earlier in the thread (Rroff, was it?), the reactors weren't supposed to withstand such forces for such a long time.
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They aren't built to withstand a certain magnitude exactly but it works out equivalent to a magnitude 7 with the epicenter literally right on the plant... the chances of which even there are really slim, so a higher magnitude quake at a distance isn't as much a problem.
 
I am sitting here, head in hands, lost with words, unknown what to do or think next. This is terrible, I wouldnt know where to start to help over there, let alone feel like i would BE any help.

Am just flabbergasted
 
Tummy said:
Interesting article.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/14/fukushiima_analysis/

Also, re: the bunkers / rooms, they're designed to keep you safe in pretty much all circumstances. They're incredibly well designed rooms. Only under the worst circumstances would they fail.
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Oh that's good, I had visions of them going outside with shovels with lead plates over their crotches. Any sauce on that info? Or do you work in the industry?

That article contrasts heavily with other news outlets - is the author well informed?
 
Tummy said:
Interesting article.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/14/fukushiima_analysis/

Also, re: the bunkers / rooms, they're designed to keep you safe in pretty much all circumstances. They're incredibly well designed rooms. Only under the worst circumstances would they fail.
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Their pro nuclear articles, the other being incorrect in SO many places is getting tiresome already, after 2 of them. This is by no means over, at all, I think at the very best you've got 3 reactors now, maybe 4 that are going to be ridiculously expensive to clean up now, all needing decommissioning, which takes huge amounts of time, money, and effort. All the while significantly higher than normal levels of radiation HAVE leaked now, theres no getting around that, it might hurt no one, no one might die from it, but quite a few could, and again this is by no means the end.

If, god forbid(great saying, feels right, don't even remotely believe in god, so feels very strange using it), one or more of the reactors actually do melt down, the increased cost of decommissioning, or even worse, any kind of leak will drastically alter how that article plays out. But they are claiming a victory for nuclear power already, despite two guys having almost certainly died at reactor 4 today, with 50 guys potentially all taking very dangerous levels of radiation, its just in bad taste.

Sure, if in a week, or 3 months it turns out the guys in charge got every last decision right, they were hellish decisions and everything came out rosey the other side, write that article, right now, with everything hanging in the balance and people risking their lives, writing that just makes me angry.

Actually one thing I was wondering from a point of financial benefit is, how much does it cost to build and then decommision a nuclear power plant, aswell as estimated costs of paying a company that eventually stores spent fuel rods. Are we talking about billions in profit after 4 years, or millions, could the cost of an overly long/expensive/difficult clean up decrease profits to the point its not been worth it.
 
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I haven't actually read that one, the other one was what got me with how wrong bits of it were, stating catagorically the danger was over, criticality wasn't an issue, it was safe, radiation wasn't that bad despite the 400Msv being announced while he wrote that article almost 12 hours later and claimed the max was 8000microSv, 500 times less, saying there was really no danger, etc, etc. Considering the companies involved have stated there's danger, they've thrown boron on the spent fuel pool to slow down any reactions, more fires, higher radiation, more radiation again, etc, etc.

Both articles are just claiming its definately not that bad, that nothing can now go wrong, with such authority with no facts while ignoring the wrongness of their data, while also belittling everyone else's reporting as being incorrect.

As someone who got a little upset with Jonny over the U236>256 fiasco earlier, its not that they got something wrong, its that they got something wrong while catagorically stating the other people were wrong and why and how much righter they were.

If they posted another "this is what we think is happening and why if all goes well its a good advert for nuclear power " they've said "everyone else sucks, we're right, nothing can go wrong, we're the best, you're the worst, suck it", then proceded to get some basic stuff completely wrong. Its the attitude more than the content, but the content is as incorrect as everyone else.
 
Ewanb75 said:
I am sitting here, head in hands, lost with words, unknown what to do or think next. This is terrible, I wouldnt know where to start to help over there, let alone feel like i would BE any help.

Am just flabbergasted
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Spitfir3 said:
Oh that's good, I had visions of them going outside with shovels with lead plates over their crotches. Any sauce on that info? Or do you work in the industry?

That article contrasts heavily with other news outlets - is the author well informed?
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Nope I don't work in the industry :p

While I'm not 100% on any figures he uses, what he's saying the gist of it is about right.
 
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