Nuke Waste Drums Tipped in Japan Quake

[soothsayer]

Source: AP

KASHIWAZAKI, Japan (AP) - A powerful earthquake tipped over barrels of nuclear waste at a power plant and officials on Tuesday were investigating whether there were any radioactive leaks, a day after they said the quake had caused the reactor to spill radioactive water into the sea.

The death toll stood at nine a day after the 6.6-magnitude quake. One person was missing and another 13,000 were homeless, as rescue workers rushed to locate any survivors in the rubble amid fears of landslides.

A total of 50 cases of malfunctioning were discovered at the plant after the quake, Kyodo News agency reported Tuesday, including fires, water and oil leaks, and pipes knocked out of place. The report cited the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., but TEPCO officials could not immediately confirm it.

This is a breaking news update. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Read more: http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20070717/D8QEBGI00.html

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Ruh-roh! Godzilla is not going to be happy about this.

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. Someone else pointed out that the bad news will be released bit by bit

1. "There was no damange."

2. "There was some damage, but no radiation."

3. "A small amount of radioactive water was released, but it poses no environmental threat."

4. "Several drums filled with radioactive waste were knocked over, but nothing spilled."

What will be the next bit of news? That the drums were damaged and did leak? That the radioactive water also seeped into the watertable?

[thecrow]

2. They reported the meltdown at Three Miles Island

a year later.
I lived in PA at the time and I was pregnant, so my husband shipped me off to Florida (the plane was full of preggers!)
Anyway, when I landed I picked up a Miami Herald and it was incredible how much MORE they were telling,; how scientific the stories were, and the diagrams of what had happened.
The depth of reporting made the new from Philadelphia look like a second grade Weekly Reader.

[MidwestTransplant]

3. Well that'll teach them. Next time they will put lids on teh barrels!

[formercia]

4. I hope they berm the drums of waste

This is a no-brainer. I'm surprised the Japanese Nuclear Engineers would miss that.

It's seppiku time.

[Voltaire99]

5. If this won't lead to a PS3 price cut, nothing willl!

In the meantime, remember: nuclear power is perrrrrrfeckly safe.

[originalpckelly]

6. But I thought nuclear energy was environmentally friendly?

Aren't there a whole bunch of idiots around here who've been pushing nuclear energy as a solution to global warming? Yeah, you all forgot that whole nuclear waste thing.