Fire break out at nuclear power plant after Japanese quake (Declares nuclear emergency)

The National ^ | Mar 11, 2011 | The National

[de.rm]

Beginning to vent.” . .just now breaking on Alex Jones

[driftdiver]

Well you can go back to the dark ages, the rest of us are ok.

[Hoodat]

NRC doesn’t cover Japan. I was guessing that they had a Yokogawa Centum system, but wasn’t sure of it.

[Ditto]

Yeah, you can’t yank out those fuel rods into the air.

Not if you want to live very long. Spent fuel throws off some real nasties. ;~))

Typically, when a reactor is shut down for refueling or other maintenance, it takes several days for the core to lose enough decay heat so that the vessel can be openned. But the fuel assemblies themselves must remain submerged in water for several years before the remaining decay heat dissipates. They can then be moved into a dry storage environment.

Either way, shielding must be used, either water or heavy dry storage containers.

Spend Fuel Pool

Dry Storage Casks

[dfwgator]

I still get nightmares after watching videos of the Chernobyl aftermath, nothing more eerie than to see a literal ghost town.

[Lessthantolerant]

Well the scare tactics have begin. Let’s see, how many deaths are truely attributed to Chynoble?

I heard this morning on the news of the 10’s of thousands of cancer deaths world wide caused by that reactor disaster.

Yet the news did not ask this individual how many of thise were actually confirmed.

Nuclear Power is a viable option for power generation if we manage it. otherwise let’s just go back to candles and walking.

[at bay]

“Nuclear Power is a viable option for power generation”

You want your viability, cap’n? There’s your viability!

[Lessthantolerant]

So an accident evey twent-five years makes it impossible to utilize?

What do you suggest?

Windmills and solar?

Man can overcome problems if we do not panic and become silly little women.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

I tend believe the opposite of what the press says.

Me too. I remember the demagoguery after Three Mile Island. The American media set a new world record.

You've seen how they can make a hash of conservative thought; imagine what a bunch of j-school grads can do with nuclear power.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

So an accident evey twent-five years makes it impossible to utilize?

Compare the deaths due to gas, oil, coal and nuclear power. I'm sure the death rate (deaths/unit of energy produced) is the lowest for nuclear power.

[Lessthantolerant]

I am more concerned that we will let the naysayers use this incident to kill nuclear power development again.

Three Mile Island was a joke, yet it stopped technology development in the US and the world move in front of us.

Liberals are dangerous chicken littles!

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

I am more concerned that we will let the naysayers use this incident to kill nuclear power development again. Three Mile Island was a joke, yet it stopped technology development in the US and the world move in front of us.

Yup. I remember TMI well. As far as the media was concerned, it was equivalent to Chernobyl. I figured it would stop the construction of nuclear plants for about 30 years. It was a pretty good guess. Fortunately, we don't have a Jane Fonda film to contend with this time around.

But when you combine the technological ignorance (and general irrationality) of a bunch of j-school grads with dogmatic liberalism, you have all the elements for a perfect storm of anti-nuclear propaganda.

All we can do now is pray for a miracle.

_________________________________________________________________

This morning my wife said to me, "the radiation could come here, like those '50s atomic tests!"

"Yeah, and what happened here?"

"But this is going to be worse!"

"Is it? Worse than a nuclear explosion?"

Oy.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Human frailty and totally unacceptable leakages will result, ultimately, in disaster every time.

Like gasoline. And natural gas. And...