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Japan’s finding it’s not so easy to go nuclear-free
washingtonpost ^ | 04/30/2012 | Brad Plumer

Posted on 04/30/2012 7:47:39 PM PDT by Rabin

On Saturday, Japan will turn off its last operational nuclear reactor, the Tomari plant on the island of Hokkaido. That means, since last year’s disaster in Fukushima, the country will have shut down all 54 of its nuclear power plants.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: fukushima; nuclear
Lost capacity, 48.9 GWe nuclear. That's about equivalent to three hundred and eleven gazillion windmills and nine Solyndra clean and eco solar panels, combined. Ifn one figures the German nukes are terminal, US pipes and offshore drilling are zip. Shucks folks we could have $36usd per L, by Christmas.

Rab.

Rab.

1 posted on 04/30/2012 7:47:50 PM PDT by Rabin
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To: Rabin

I wonder if someone has a lock on the candle market in Japan?


2 posted on 04/30/2012 7:52:42 PM PDT by RetiredTexasVet (There's a pill for just about everything ... except stupid!)
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To: Rabin

That enough energy to fuel more than 40 1.21 GW flux capacitors, which is needed for time travel.


3 posted on 04/30/2012 7:54:29 PM PDT by Tai_Chung
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To: Rabin

BETTER_WATCH_WHAT_YOU_WISH_FOR_PING!


4 posted on 04/30/2012 7:57:40 PM PDT by The Duke
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To: Rabin
My understanding is that the Japanese meltdown was the result of the reactor going too long without the electricity needed to power the cooling system.If that's correct then it seems possible that it's unwise to have nuke plants in areas where that can happen.The potential for major earthquakes and major tsunamis might be things to watch for in a particular area before placing a nuke plant there.
5 posted on 04/30/2012 8:00:38 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Unlike Mrs Obama,I've Been Proud Of This Country My *Entire* Life!)
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To: Gay State Conservative
My understanding is that the Japanese meltdown was the result of the reactor going too long without the electricity needed to power the cooling system.If that's correct then it seems possible that it's unwise to have nuke plants in areas where that can happen.

Right, it was hit with a giant earthquake and a giant tsunami and it was fine. The extended duration power outage was the issue. Think about that though. Everyone is getting rid of nuclear power because it so darn unsafe now. It got hit with an earthquake....and a tsunami... and was fine. Amazing.

6 posted on 04/30/2012 8:13:17 PM PDT by pepsi_junkie (Who is John Galt?)
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To: pepsi_junkie

One comment - Next time don’t place your nuclear reactor so close to a “MAJOR” Fault and if you do, plan on a Tsunami barrier PLUS a backup generator “Just In Case”!


7 posted on 04/30/2012 8:20:00 PM PDT by jongaltsr
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To: Rabin

Wow! That’s Freaking KuhRayZee!

Shut down 27% of your energy production and switch to coal(import 100%) and also oil(import 100%)??????????

Nuts.


8 posted on 04/30/2012 8:24:36 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: jongaltsr

jong, “One comment”

One comment more to the irresponsible pepsie radical>> Move Los Angeles now, we cant wait.

R.

Where you build dictstes how you design.


9 posted on 04/30/2012 8:41:27 PM PDT by Rabin
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To: Vendome

When Hussein bans coal and oil here, Japan will be our #1 customers.


10 posted on 04/30/2012 8:49:44 PM PDT by bgill
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To: pepsi_junkie

I think this is the instinctive fear of “nuclear” that the Japanese had since Hiroshima coming back to bite them. They only built the plants to avoid importing so much oil and gas to keep the factories burning. Now they shut down all the nuke plants for fear of the radiation, when Japan suffers earthquakes all the time and this is the first to go critical in 50 years.
They need the power for their nation. This rush to turn it off will cost them their manufacturing edge, the only thing that was propping them up through their demographic winter.


11 posted on 04/30/2012 9:30:49 PM PDT by tbw2
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To: Rabin

The earthquake knocked 14 Japanese nuclear power plants offline (no electricity) and sensors reported the Fukushima plant released some radiation before the tsunami arrived. The plant did not survive it. I don’t know if you know this but there are reactors with the containment dome blown to dust by explosions early on. I don’t understand how this adds up to the idea that the plants came through fine. The tsunami washed away back up power supplies. There are three, ongoing, uncontainable melt throughs in Japan as we speak, and a few spent fuel pools open to the environment which the Japanese struggle to power and maintain structurally.

There have been ongoing rumors that a second Fukushima Power Plant has been battling severe problems that the Japanese won’t admit to.
Japan has the largest nuclear power plant in the world and it was knocked offline a few years ago by an earthquake - they built on top of a seismic fault without knowing it.

According to the Japanese government, the ‘mainland’ of Japan is contaminated with radiation lost through the Fukushima power plant melt-throughs which are still ongoing. METI (arm of Japanese gov) release a contamination map showing the various measurements of contamination that was naturally highest in Fukushima and then a few regions surrounding Fukushima and lowest out on the edges of the island. They are realizing that it is not feasible to decontaminate homes, schools, vast regions of land, and they are shipping contaminated (cesium) beef and produce from Fukushima to other areas of Japan saying ‘everyone has to share the pain’. There are supposedly no plans to relocate people ($$$) and farmers are asked by the government to voluntarily pull their crops (contaminated Tea from certain regions, beef and rice from some regions, mushrooms etc.) and if a farmer ‘voluntarily’ pulls their crop from market and doesn’t sell it, the government doesn’t ‘have’ to pay the farmers. So instead of the gov forbidding farmers to sell contaminated feed and produce, milk etc. which would require the government to pay the producer, the government asks the produce to volunteer not to sell it. So the producers are frequently selling crops known to be contaminated with radioactive isotopes.

Three reactors have had melt-throughs and they don’t know how to stop them from releasing radioactive material into the environment (water and air 24/7) and one of the reactors increased the amount of cesium released in March (by 700%). Spent Fuel Pool #4 holds many times the amount of fuel that Chernobyl reactor held and it is open to the environment after the explosions of the domes, it’s reinforced following the earthquake but there continue to be problems keeping the fuel covered with water and continued earthquakes in the area are a threat to its stability. So with everything going on I can see how the Japanese already have more than they know what to do with (problems with nuclear reactors) and ongoing contamination issues etc. - it’s really not strange to me that they may not be able to afford to restart some of their plants.


12 posted on 04/30/2012 9:50:18 PM PDT by ransomnote
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To: All
This rush to turn it off will cost them their manufacturing edge....

Obama is attempting to do the same thing by stopping the generation of electricity by using coal. Americans whether they read DU or FREEREPUBLIC believe Obama is doing this because of manmade global climate change.

Of course, that is obviously BS.

Obama shutting down coal is just a part of his plan to cripple America. WHY? It's not CO2. It's Obama's agenda to destroy the country. WHY AGAIN? Does the name Hussein give you enough of a hint or do you have to wait for his POTUS inspired race riots? Martial Law? How about suspended elections this November? Eventually America will figure it out.

13 posted on 04/30/2012 9:57:23 PM PDT by politicianslie (Obama: America's first Muslim PRESIDENT, It's past time for America to take out the trash in DC.)
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To: Rabin

Based on what I know about Japan, it has no intention of moving away from nuclear. Each reactor there operates on a 13-month duty cycle. Normally, there is a brief shutdown for refueling and maintenance at the end of each cycle. Because of the Fukushima meltdown, the downtimes are being extended for a series of stress tests, now mostly completed, and a sort of comment period for local municipal officials, who have felt shut out of the process for reviewing and approving plants. As Japan goes through a nuclear-free, job-free summer, everyone will get an object lesson on the importance of nuclear in an industrial country that has no other choice.

By fall, all those hot and sweaty people will want to turn the nukes back on and go back to work. After all, all the money has already been spent. Cranking up a whole new energy infrastructure for begging Russia for enough natural gas to keep the economy going would take another ten years.


14 posted on 04/30/2012 10:26:48 PM PDT by BlazingArizona
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To: Rabin

Not easy to go nuclear free?
Boulder, Colorado declaired itself a nuclear-free zone years ago. No power plants, and you are not allowed to drop a bomb on thim.

They decided all of that in a city council meeting.
What else could it take?


15 posted on 05/01/2012 7:22:33 AM PDT by Verbosus (/* No Comment */)
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To: Verbosus

thim=them.


16 posted on 05/01/2012 7:23:36 AM PDT by Verbosus (/* No Comment */)
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