Huge Explosion at Japanese Nuclear Plant

Byrnzie

This looks bad:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12720219


Japan quake: Huge explosion at Fukushima nuclear plant


A massive explosion has struck a Japanese nuclear power plant after Friday's devastating earthquake.

A huge pall of smoke was seen coming from the plant at Fukushima and several workers were injured.

Japanese officials fear a meltdown at one of the plant's reactors after radioactive material was detected outside it.

A huge relief operation is under way after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 600.

Hundreds more people are missing and it is feared about 1,300 may have died.

The offshore earthquake triggered a tsunami which wreaked havoc on Japan's north-east coast, sweeping far inland and devastating a number of towns and villages.

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared a state of emergency at the Fukushima 1 and 2 power plants as engineers try to confirm whether a reactor at one of the stations has gone into meltdown.

It is an automatic procedure after nuclear reactors shut down in the event of an earthquake, allowing officials to take rapid action.

Continue reading the main story

Japan quake: video reports
Quake: Wave forecast map
Japan's NHK TV showed before and after pictures of the Fukushima plant. They appeared to show that the outer structure of one of four buildings at the plant had collapsed.

Cooling systems inside several reactors at the plants stopped working after Friday's earthquake cut the power supply.

Japan's nuclear agency said on Saturday that radioactive caesium and iodine had been detected near the number one reactor of the Fukushima 1 plant.

The agency said this may indicate that containers of uranium fuel inside the reactor may have begun melting.

Air has been released from several of the reactors at both plants in an effort to relieve the huge amount of pressure building up inside.

Mr Kan said the amount of radiation released was "tiny".

Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate the area near the plants.

Analysts say a meltdown would not necessarily lead to a major disaster because light-water reactors would not explode even if they overheated.

The 8.9-magnitude tremor struck in the afternoon local time on Friday off the coast of Honshu island at a depth of about 24km, 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo.

It was nearly 8,000 times stronger than last month's quake in New Zealand that devastated the city of Christchurch, scientists said.

Some of the same search and rescue teams from around the world that helped in that disaster are now on their way to Japan.

Claireack

This is just terrible. :(

BinauralJam

Fuckin UnReal

catefrances

BinauralJam wrote:

Fuckin UnReal

oh its very real.


to allow a country in such a sensitive seismic location to build nuclear power stations is irresponsible.. not only to the locals but to the entire planet.

BinauralJam

catefrances wrote:

BinauralJam wrote:

Fuckin UnReal

oh its very real.


to allow a country in such a sensitive seismic location to build nuclear power stations is irresponsible.. not only to the locals but to the entire planet.

But i mean this is just a Nitemare on top of everything else.

catefrances

BinauralJam wrote:

catefrances wrote:

BinauralJam wrote:

Fuckin UnReal

oh its very real.


to allow a country in such a sensitive seismic location to build nuclear power stations is irresponsible.. not only to the locals but to the entire planet.

But i mean this is just a Nitemare on top of everything else.

i dont have nightmares.. tis why the horror genre doesnt do anything for me.

i see it more as mankinds arrogance.

dimitrispearljam

oh boy..

LikeAnOcean

catefrances wrote:

i see it more as mankinds arrogance.

From what I understand, the whole country is a hot spot for earthquakes. The big one they think will happen some day is located in the complete opposite side of where this one occurred.

They could substitute much dirtier energy production methods. Either way, they are damned if the do and damned if they don't. Disasters can happen anywhere, such as life. Earthquakes are very unpredictable.


With this thought, there's a supervolcano located in Yosemite national park in the US. It goes off every 600,000 to 800,000 years. Last time it went of was 640,000 years ago. It killed virtually all life in north America and sent the world into an ice age.. In the last five years, the land in Yosemite has risen a foot, which is unusual in the time of recorded history. Does this mean we should stop building in North America and evacuate? It could blow today, it could blow 160,000 years from now.


Point being, as much as I'd love to, you can't tell people to stop living. No one can predict a 8.9 earthquake, or an asteroid, or a supervolcano. It's in the top ten in recorded history. No one saw this coming.

SK84993

to allow a country in such a sensitive seismic location to build nuclear power stations is irresponsible.. not only to the locals but to the entire planet.

Well when they apply for there next nuclear building permits,The planet will have to take into consideration the location in which it is going to be built.No countries were an earthquake could happen no countries bent on mass destruction.What else should we tell people do?

Jeanwah

Living on coastlines isn't really a good idea either, but people do it anyway. Coastlines are shrinking, so why do we insist on living on them?

LikeAnOcean

SK84993 wrote:

to allow a country in such a sensitive seismic location to build nuclear power stations is irresponsible.. not only to the locals but to the entire planet.

Well when they apply for there next nuclear building permits,The planet will have to take into consideration the location in which it is going to be built.No countries were an earthquake could happen no countries bent on mass destruction.What else should we tell people do?

In recorded history, Japan has never experienced such a large quake. Natural disasters can happen anywhere there's a nuclear plant. It's going to happen. There's no way around it. They could resort to much dirtier methods and add to global warming, is that what you would suggest?

ed243421

LikeAnOcean wrote:

catefrances wrote:

i see it more as mankinds arrogance.

From what I understand, the whole country is a hot spot for earthquakes. The big one they think will happen some day is located in the complete opposite side of where this one occurred.

They could substitute much dirtier energy production methods. Either way, they are damned if the do and damned if they don't. Disasters can happen anywhere, such as life. Earthquakes are very unpredictable.


With this thought, there's a supervolcano located in Yosemite national park in the US. It goes off every 600,000 to 800,000 years. Last time it went of was 640,000 years ago. It killed virtually all life in north America and sent the world into an ice age.. In the last five years, the land in Yosemite has risen a foot, which is unusual in the time of recorded history. Does this mean we should stop building in North America and evacuate? It could blow today, it could blow 160,000 years from now.


Point being, as much as I'd love to, you can't tell people to stop living. No one can predict a 8.9 earthquake, or an asteroid, or a supervolcano. It's in the top ten in recorded history. No one saw this coming.

"Does this mean we should stop building in North America and evacuate?"

stop building nuclear power plants?
yes
we are supposed to learn from our mistakes

LikeAnOcean

Jeanwah wrote:

Living on coastlines isn't really a good idea either, but people do it anyway. Coastlines are shrinking, so why do we insist on living on them?

Because that is where life evolved from. We need the coasts.I forget the numbers, but something like 90% of the world has to live near a coast to survive. Not everyone has a crop supportive midwest to survive on.

The whole country of Japan is a coast. Where do you suggest they move?

ed243421

LikeAnOcean wrote:

SK84993 wrote:

to allow a country in such a sensitive seismic location to build nuclear power stations is irresponsible.. not only to the locals but to the entire planet.

Well when they apply for there next nuclear building permits,The planet will have to take into consideration the location in which it is going to be built.No countries were an earthquake could happen no countries bent on mass destruction.What else should we tell people do?

In recorded history, Japan has never experienced such a large quake. Natural disasters can happen anywhere there's a nuclear plant. It's going to happen. There's no way around it. They could resort to much dirtier methods and add to global warming, is that what you would suggest?

i think the sun and the wind contain enough clean energy to feed this planet

LikeAnOcean

ed243421 wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

catefrances wrote:

i see it more as mankinds arrogance.

From what I understand, the whole country is a hot spot for earthquakes. The big one they think will happen some day is located in the complete opposite side of where this one occurred.

They could substitute much dirtier energy production methods. Either way, they are damned if the do and damned if they don't. Disasters can happen anywhere, such as life. Earthquakes are very unpredictable.


With this thought, there's a supervolcano located in Yosemite national park in the US. It goes off every 600,000 to 800,000 years. Last time it went of was 640,000 years ago. It killed virtually all life in north America and sent the world into an ice age.. In the last five years, the land in Yosemite has risen a foot, which is unusual in the time of recorded history. Does this mean we should stop building in North America and evacuate? It could blow today, it could blow 160,000 years from now.


Point being, as much as I'd love to, you can't tell people to stop living. No one can predict a 8.9 earthquake, or an asteroid, or a supervolcano. It's in the top ten in recorded history. No one saw this coming.

"Does this mean we should stop building in North America and evacuate?"

stop building nuclear power plants?
yes
we are supposed to learn from our mistakes

And burn coal instead? Nuclear is much cleaner for the environment. Where will we get power from? This kind of thing is so rare, its worth the risk when you look at the other options.

LikeAnOcean

ed243421 wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

SK84993 wrote:

to allow a country in such a sensitive seismic location to build nuclear power stations is irresponsible.. not only to the locals but to the entire planet.

Well when they apply for there next nuclear building permits,The planet will have to take into consideration the location in which it is going to be built.No countries were an earthquake could happen no countries bent on mass destruction.What else should we tell people do?

In recorded history, Japan has never experienced such a large quake. Natural disasters can happen anywhere there's a nuclear plant. It's going to happen. There's no way around it. They could resort to much dirtier methods and add to global warming, is that what you would suggest?

i think the sun and the wind contain enough clean energy to feed this planet

I sure hope so. All of earths energy comes from the sun. The sun creates wind.. The trick is the methods to collect and distribute that energy.

SK84993

My point is one of sarcasm.This is a natural disaster unavoidable.

Jeanwah

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Jeanwah wrote:

Living on coastlines isn't really a good idea either, but people do it anyway. Coastlines are shrinking, so why do we insist on living on them?

Because that is where life evolved from. We need the coasts.I forget the numbers, but something like 90% of the world has to live near a coast to survive. Not everyone has a crop supportive midwest to survive on.

The whole country of Japan is a coast. Where do you suggest they move?

I'm talking literally living on the coast, i.e. coastal towns. Yes, we do need access to the coasts and live near them, but living directly on them can be disastrous with rising sea levels.

LikeAnOcean

Jeanwah wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Jeanwah wrote:

Living on coastlines isn't really a good idea either, but people do it anyway. Coastlines are shrinking, so why do we insist on living on them?

Because that is where life evolved from. We need the coasts.I forget the numbers, but something like 90% of the world has to live near a coast to survive. Not everyone has a crop supportive midwest to survive on.

The whole country of Japan is a coast. Where do you suggest they move?

I'm talking literally living on the coast, i.e. coastal towns. Yes, we do need access to the coasts and live near them, but living directly on them can be disastrous with rising sea levels.

Some places though don't have high ground. There are islands that can be completely submerged.

qontheboard

catefrances wrote:

BinauralJam wrote:

Fuckin UnReal

oh its very real.


to allow a country in such a sensitive seismic location to build nuclear power stations is irresponsible.. not only to the locals but to the entire planet.

Perhaps it was irresponsible for the U.S. to use the coastal waters of Japan as a nuclear testing ground
for years.

haffajappa

This whole situation is messed up.
I can't tell you how many times i've teared up thinking about it, or listening to the news on the way to work, when you're in a car all by yourself with nothing else to think of.

I heard that one town has 9500 people unaccounted for...

Idris

catefrances wrote:

BinauralJam wrote:

Fuckin UnReal

oh its very real.


to allow a country in such a sensitive seismic location to build nuclear power stations is irresponsible.. not only to the locals but to the entire planet.

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/03/us- ... japan.html

Very irresponsible and stupid. Chernobyl comes to mind. How sad this all is,

Idris

The Japanese government is getting ready to hand out iodine tablets,

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... cnn_latest

Spags

http://morgsatlarge.wordpress.com/2011/ ... -reactors/

Its been an absolutely devestating weekend with the tsunami, my thoughts are with the Japanese people. Going to be a lot of homes without power as they try to get the country's electricity back on track. Tokyo buildings are amazing to have managed to ride out the quake. Still, sad weekend for the planet. :(

BLACK35

UncleSpaggles wrote:

http://morgsatlarge.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/why-i-am-not-worried-about-japans-nuclear-reactors/

Its been an absolutely devestating weekend with the tsunami, my thoughts are with the Japanese people. Going to be a lot of homes without power as they try to get the country's electricity back on track. Tokyo buildings are amazing to have managed to ride out the quake. Still, sad weekend for the planet. :(

Yes a very sad time at the moment. I'm just waiting for 2 weeks to pass to see what has really unfolded over there in Japan and how its going to affect the rest of the world :(

satansbed

ed243421 wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

catefrances wrote:

i see it more as mankinds arrogance.

From what I understand, the whole country is a hot spot for earthquakes. The big one they think will happen some day is located in the complete opposite side of where this one occurred.

They could substitute much dirtier energy production methods. Either way, they are damned if the do and damned if they don't. Disasters can happen anywhere, such as life. Earthquakes are very unpredictable.


With this thought, there's a supervolcano located in Yosemite national park in the US. It goes off every 600,000 to 800,000 years. Last time it went of was 640,000 years ago. It killed virtually all life in north America and sent the world into an ice age.. In the last five years, the land in Yosemite has risen a foot, which is unusual in the time of recorded history. Does this mean we should stop building in North America and evacuate? It could blow today, it could blow 160,000 years from now.


Point being, as much as I'd love to, you can't tell people to stop living. No one can predict a 8.9 earthquake, or an asteroid, or a supervolcano. It's in the top ten in recorded history. No one saw this coming.

"Does this mean we should stop building in North America and evacuate?"

stop building nuclear power plants?
yes
we are supposed to learn from our mistakes

if that blows it doesn't matter what you build ye will all be dead

satansbed

MrAbraham wrote:

catefrances wrote:

BinauralJam wrote:

Fuckin UnReal

oh its very real.


to allow a country in such a sensitive seismic location to build nuclear power stations is irresponsible.. not only to the locals but to the entire planet.

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/03/us- ... japan.html

Very irresponsible and stupid. Chernobyl comes to mind. How sad this all is,

this will be nothing like chernobyl, chernobyl was the fault of mismanagement and they did not admit anything had happend and evacuation did not happen for a whole day afterwards

"The nearby city of Pripyat was not immediately evacuated after the incident, but after radiation levels set off alarms at the Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant in Sweden, over one thousand kilometers from the Chernobyl Plant, did the Soviet Union admit that an accident had occurred"
http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9604/26/ch ... ndex2.html

at least in japan, the reactors are up to date, and the personal competent

Kel Varnsen

MrAbraham wrote:

catefrances wrote:

BinauralJam wrote:

Fuckin UnReal

oh its very real.


to allow a country in such a sensitive seismic location to build nuclear power stations is irresponsible.. not only to the locals but to the entire planet.

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/03/us- ... japan.html

Very irresponsible and stupid. Chernobyl comes to mind. How sad this all is,

I don't know if I would call it stupid. I mean Japan is a bunch of very small islands that are very heavily populated. If they need electricity there aren't a lot of options. Shipping in coal or natural gas doesn't sound that great either. Sure there are risks with nuclear power, but there are risks with just about all kinds of large scale power generation. Plus this was one of the largest earthquakes ever, that pretty much happened right under these plants, which were then hit with a Tsunami. I would say the fact that they are still able to work on things means they are doing pretty good. Plus from what I heard on CNN and CBC yesterday at this point with the steam venting and such, the amount of radiation people are possibly being exposed to is the equivalent to if they had gone for a catscan.

I think the crazy thing is that since they are pumping in sea water to cool the reactors and hot sea water is very corrosive, they are pretty much writing off ever using those plants ever again. I am curious to see what happens in the near future now that Japan has 3 less power plants than they did last week. How are they going to deal with the decrease in electrical service, once things are rebuilt and demand for power goes back up.

MG79478

I'm a nuclear professional. I have multiple degrees in the subject, and over a decade in the industry.

satansbed wrote:

this will be nothing like chernobyl, chernobyl was the fault of mismanagement and they did not admit anything had happend and evacuation did not happen for a whole day afterwards

"The nearby city of Pripyat was not immediately evacuated after the incident, but after radiation levels set off alarms at the Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant in Sweden, over one thousand kilometers from the Chernobyl Plant, did the Soviet Union admit that an accident had occurred"
http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9604/26/ch ... ndex2.html

at least in japan, the reactors are up to date, and the personal competent

This is part of the story. The RBMK type of reactor used at Chernobyl is completely different from the LWRs used in the US. The physics of the RBMK are different and the plant is inherently unsafe. On top of that, the incident occurred during a low power test, where multiple safety systems were purposefully defeated. They were only concerned with finishing the test at all costs. Many other Russian plants had refused to do the test for safety reasons.

ed243421 wrote:

stop building nuclear power plants?
yes
we are supposed to learn from our mistakes

This is a very ignorant view.

arthurdent

"Reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."
--Richard P. Feynman

MG79478

Two very well written and entirely factual articles, as a Subject Matter Expert, I recommend everyone read.

Japan Does Not Face Another Chernobyl
The containment structures appear to be working, and the latest reactor designs aren't vulnerable to the coolant problem at issue here.

Nuclear Overreactions
Modern life requires learning from disasters, not fleeing all risk.