Japan Faces Prospect of Nuclear Catastrophe as Workers Leave Plant

[Dave Caputo]

Source: New York Times

TOKYO — Japan faced the likelihood of a catastrophic nuclear accident Tuesday morning, as an explosion at the most crippled of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station damaged its crucial steel containment structure, emergency workers were withdrawn from the plant, and much larger emissions of radioactive materials appeared immiment, according to official statements and industry executives informed about the developments.

Japanese Prime Minsiter Naoto Kan made a televised address to the nation at 11 a.m. Tokyo time to discuss the latest developments in the crisis.

The sharp deterioration came after government officials said the containment structure of the No. 2 reactor, the most seriously damaged of three reactors at the Daichi plant, had suffered damage during an explosion shortly after 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

They initially suggested that the damage was limited and that emergency operations aimed at cooling the nuclear fuel at three stricken reactors with seawater would continue. But industry executives said that in fact the situation had spiraled out of control and that all plant workers needed to leave the plant to avoid excessive exposure to radioactive leaks.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/asia/15nuclear.html?_r=1&hp

---

The nuclear chickens are coming home to roost. Human activity + dependence on good luck = Recipe for disaster

God help us all.

[Taverner]

1. Fuck

I doubt most here know the gravity of this situation

This. Is. Not. Good.

[Dave Caputo]

9. I agree, totally...

We got big big problems, and Japan itself got even bigger bigger problems. I've been arguing against nukes since I was 12 years old and the Peabody Municipal Utility was planning on buying into Seabrook back in the seventies.

Things always go wrong, eventually, in complex systems.

Acceptance of risk is only useful if the downside isn't global catastrophe.

This! Is! Not! Good!

[fishwax]

15. indeed n/t

[hedgehog]

2. Oh, shit.

[Demeter]

3. They Already Have the Catastrophe

What they are looking at is losing the island, and perhaps all of the nation.

[tinymontgomery]

5. I asked a friend

a former navy nuke and he said it was the media blowing it out of portion, makes me wonder how much he knows or is following this being that it doesn't look good.

[jwirr]

23. I kind of ignore the so called "experts" setting over hear safe but when

they give me updates from the people in Japan overseeing this event I listen. LO said tonight that the officials over there said it is critical. I believe that.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

13. BINGO///they know that this is the end of Japan the whole island could be uninhabitable

[CLANG]

17. And probably seriously fuck up other parts of the planet

[Tx4obama]

4. Then Edano spoke - transcript summary on link below

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x646801

Transcript is also here in the comments: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x646623

[kestrel91316]

6. Jumping off the Titanic, it sounds like. This isn't going to end well

for an awful lot of people. I am thinking it's time to get some potassium iodide just to keep on hand. Diablo Canyon is to the NW of me, and prevailing winds would carry that crap right here if we had a big quake near it, or a big quake up at the Cascadia Subduction Zone that send us a tsunami.

[calimary]

11. Hey we're about 50 miles or so north of San Onofre. Diablo Canyon is northwest of us too.

Hung between two thieves (of life, health, and safety that is).

My husband just turned to me and said - "well, there goes sushi." So much is imported from Japan, I guess. No way to know what kind of contamination is getting into the water.

[shanti]

22. rancho seco is about 20 miles away from me.

out of commission, but who knows? :shrug:

[calimary]

44. I certainly don't. Funny - I have this feeling of resignation at the moment.

"... just break out the booze and have a ball ..." as Miss Peggy Lee sang in "Is That All There Is?"

On overwhelm. The republi-CONS, muammar walker, unions getting screwed, GOP governors running amok, the koch brothers, teabaggers gaining the upper hand, Pox Noise, corporations buying everything, and all the media, and every politician within reach, and now all this in Japan (and the promised cutbacks on the agencies that would be on top of similar catastrophes here). And it's only Monday.

[Auntie Bush]

49. And at all costs...don't raise taxes on the poor little rich people. sarcasm.

[lark]

51. I read yesterday that potassium iodide is only good

at blocking the effects of inhaled radiation but that most of the poison comes into the human body thru ingestion of dairy products, so don't drink milk or eat cheese afterwards either.

[MadMaddie]

7. Read about Chernobyl that's all we really need to refer to

Parts of Japan could be "Chernobilized", in other words uninhabitable due to radiation. They are saying that these reactors are reaching that level

[KamaAina]

10. And that's in the middle of some of their best rice land

in a land-poor country. :cry:

[jwirr]

24. The ash from the volcano is not going to help the farmers any either. nt

[WheelWalker]

27. Deja vu all over again.

[brentspeak]

8. The "everything is under control" reassurances from various 'experts' are sounding thinner n/t

[Frisbee]

12. I'm reading that reactor #2...

the one with the possibly cracked containment sturture is a plutonium reactor, unlike the other two. If so, I fear we are well on our way to worst-case scenario.

[snagglepuss]

14. Reactor 2 does not have plutonium. If you are reading that in the Telegraph

they are wrong. Unit 3 is the MOX reactor.

[Frisbee]

20. Thanks for the correction... n/t

[Blue State Bandit]

25. It's a LWR with Mixed OXide fuel. Uranium and Plutonium.

It's recycled fuel rods mixed with uranium. They have been using this new mix in light water reactors over there for a short time now.

[snagglepuss]

46. That is unit 3 not unit 2.

[CLANG]

16. Lot of Chicken Little's on this thread

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :popcorn:

[Dave Caputo]

19. Yea, well when the reports on the news say that the sky IS falling...

Then it's chicken little with his head cut off...

[CLANG]

21. It doesn't look so good, does it?

This world is going to hell in a hand basket.

[WheelWalker]

26. Sky is blowing westward at the moment.

[Incitatus]

18. I guess that extremely unlikely event occured. nt

[WheelWalker]

28. Worse than a bad acid trip, for sure.

[Zoeisright]

29. Japan Steps Closer to a Full-Blown Nuclear Catastrophe

Source: Washington Post

Japan stepped closer to a full blown nuclear catastrophe Tuesday after the third explosion in four days appeared to have damaged equipment inside the reactor, apparently creating a path for the escape of radioactive materials, and a fire broke out at a separate reactor where spent fuel and hydrogen ignited. Tokyo Electric Power Co., owner of the seaside nuclear complex, ordered the evacuation of all but the 50 most essential workers and the Japanese prime minister addressed the nation urging people within 19 miles to stay indoors and remain calm.

More at link

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/japan-stepped-closer-to-a-full-blown-nuclear-catastrophe/2011/03/14/ABamS8V_story.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert

[Demeter]

30. Please Explain Why These Pollyannas Think This Problem Will

be confined to Japan?

[snagglepuss]

31. That was earlier. NYT reports that all workers are being pulled.

Its seems hard to believe.:(

[Zoeisright]

32. Breaking news from Washington Post 6 minutes ago.

[snagglepuss]

33. That is great. This has become so difficult to follow. Below is the piece I referred to.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x647367

[Zoeisright]

35. It really has become difficult, hasn't it?

I don't know if events are happening so fast, or it they can't get their story straight. I searched DU for this headline before I posted it and it wasn't here.

[defendandprotect]

39. Because we trust the people we elect to do the right thing? ... ?

Rather than going for the $$$ .. . . ???

[tularetom]

34. This is more confusing than the BP blowout

In terms of conflicting reports and confusing stories this is worse than BP, 9/11 and Katrina put together.

The Japanese government, like any other, is avoiding any negative reporting on the situation so we have to depend on the ability of news organizations to get the truth out.

Which means we may as well forget about hearing anything worthwhile from the liberal US media.

I'll wait until somebody orders me to evacuate my home before I get excited about it.

[defendandprotect]

41. Interesting that in both BP and Nuclear Plants we're assured that people know what

they're doing -- and suddenly -- "but this is unknown territory" --

Even BP had blowouts before -- however, the damage done in these catastrophe's

negates any benefit we may find in either oil or nuclear --

Plus, in the case of nuclear -- it's insane on every level --

and after BP, I'd say the same thing for DRILLING into the ocean floor for oil -- !!

And, we might also keep in mind, FRACKING for gas underground in rocks which is another

high level insanity by capitalism!!

[SOS]

50. Between the BP Gulf disaster and this nuclear nightmare,

the energy "experts" are going to have about as much credibility as a Wall Street bank hustler.

[defendandprotect]

52. Agreed -- we have to remember that we are all human -- and humans make errors ... in fact,

it seems there was yesterday another human error at the Japanese #2 reactor --

a valve that was supposed to be open to release pressure was unopened or had

been closed in error!

We aren't infallible people -- that's for sure!!



:)

[rocktivity]

36. Consider the source

and to save time, assume that Japan is in the midst of a nuclear catastrophe.

:(
rocktivity

[sce56]

37. Here is how smart people react in the USA

http://www.krcrtv.com/news/27196315/detail.html
Whitney's Vitamin and Herb Shop on Hilltop Drive does not have potassium iodide, but does sell natural iodine, which is supposed to protect the thyroid gland much like potassium iodide.

Jan Gertner says in the past two days they've received non-stop calls and visitors looking for potassium iodide from people who fear that radiation may spread from Japan to California.

“As soon as we found out people were calling and coming in and emptying our shelves this morning, I called my boss and she told me to go ahead and order a bunch,” says Gertner

Shauna Frank was in the store buying the last of the natural iodine. Frank says her family and friends are stocking up to protect themselves from any radiation that could make its way to the states.

“Definitely heard it’s going to protect our thyroid from radiation and with all the trade winds coming in they could be here in five to seven days,” says Frank.

Greg Compomizzo works at Nutrishop on Hilltop and says they don't even sell potassium iodide, but that's not stopping the calls.

“We’ve received a significant increase in our call volume of calls related to potassium iodide and if we had it or where they could get it,” says Compomizzo.


I did some searching and can not even find them online!

[eowyn_of_rohan]

38. I bought some after 9/11 online

feel kind of silly about it now. But it hasnt been opened, and I think it has a long shelf life... will have to check.

[snagglepuss]

42. Are you saying it's smart people are buying iodine? Just to clarify iodine

doesn't work. If someone isnt taking potassium iodine, they might else well suck mud.

[sce56]

43. No the Article says people are looking for Potasium Iodine and they are sold out !

And you can't find it readily available online either! All sold out!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

48. Potassium IodiDe.

:thumbsup:

[Viva_La_Revolution]

47. lots online and at the pharmacy.. some on the shelf

It's sold as an expectorant.

If you can find any left..
Potassium Iodide Runs Low as Americans Seek It Out
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703363904576201013720213564.html

[golfguru]

40. But there is NO LOOTING anywhere in Japan!

Their culture is superior to ours.

[Arugula Latte]

45. I wouldn't be able to hold it together if I were in Japan.

It's all too much. The anxiety and terror must be so overwhelming.

[defendandprotect]

53. They have to hold it together for the sake of their families and loved ones ....

you'd be doing the same if you were there --

many I think are trying to leave -- in fact, seemed to be being encouraged

to leave.