'Crisis is still going on' at Japan nuclear plant—Workers flee after smoke billows from two units; …

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42188697/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

'Crisis is still going on' at Japan nuclear plant

Workers flee after smoke billows from two units; radiation taints vegetables, some water

msnbc.com news services


TEPCO / HANDOUT / EPA — Smoke rises Monday from reactor number three at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

FUKUSHIMA, Japan — Gray smoke rose from two reactor units Monday, temporarily stalling critical work to reconnect power lines and restore cooling systems to stabilize Japan's radiation-leaking nuclear complex.

Workers are racing to bring the nuclear plant under control, but the process is proceeding in fits and starts, stalled by incidents like the smoke and by the need to work methodically to make sure wiring, pumps and other machinery can be safely switched on.

"Our crisis is still going on. Our crisis is with the nuclear plants. We are doing everything we can to bring this to an end," Gov. Yuhei Sato of Fukushima prefecture, where the plant is located, told the more than 1,000 people moved away from the plant into a gymnasium. "Don't give up. We know you are suffering."

…

What caused the smoke to billow first from Unit 3 at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant and later from Unit 2 is under investigation, nuclear safety agency officials said. In the days since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami wrecked the plant's cooling systems, both reactors have overheated and seen explosions. Workers were evacuated from the area to buildings nearby, though radiation levels remained steady, the officials said.

…

[hlthe2b]

1. And yet, American politios, some DUers, and Obama supports

moving ahead with nuclear plants in the US. No delay to study the lessons learned... just plow ahead. :eyes:

Saddened, frustrated, devastated first and foremost for the people of Japan and for any impact, however small, that could extend throughout the world.

So, hoping for some unexpected GOOD news...

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

2. I can't believe this is coming from the same person who ridiculed me for worrying about this

[hlthe2b]

4. You stated the belief that the west coast should be evacuated Friday

I did not ridicule you for worrying about nuclear technology. You stated last Friday an intent to flee the West coast out of fears for the plume expected to arrive. So, are you on the East Coast now?

Irrational fears versus real concern for technology that does not have and is unlikely to ever have have sufficient protections to weigh against the magnitude of adverse consequences.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. I'm no nuclear fission advocate, but…

These reactors do not represent the state of the art by any means.

Some of what you perceive as "lessons learned" were already learned, that is, they were already documented hazards with this reactor design.

So, while I'm no fan of building “new nukes,” these are not the “new nukes” that would be built.

[hlthe2b]

5. Apparently you've missed some of the recently revealed

and previously undisclosed revelations about accidents covered up in this country, involving the very same GE-manufactured reactors.

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. Note that I said "Some of what you perceive as 'lessons learned' were already learned…"

(Emphasis on "Some" as opposed to "All.")

In any case, I don't think many of us here were surprised by the "undisclosed revelations." (A number of them, although perhaps not widely known, were previously disclosed.)

---

All too often, the press seems to "discover" things which they've previously covered. (It's more exciting that way!)

I remember all too well how at the time of the Challenger explosion, press coverage led the reader to believe that this was a totally unforeseen occurrence, yet I had read about previous incidents of "burn-throughs" in my local newspaper, and they were described as having had the potential to destroy the shuttle. So when someone told me of the explosion, my very immediate reaction was, “They must have had a burn-through.”

Then, I learned that astronauts had supposedly not been told of these problems…

[hlthe2b]

7. So then why would you be disagreeing with at least a pause

before pushing forward with new nuke plants? You seem to be agreeing with me?

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. Who said I disagreed with a pause?

It's simply that this particular incident hasn't changed my generally negative view of nuclear fission very much, and I'm frustrated that these problems are presented as something previously unknown/unanticipated.

…

"http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/17/attack/main509471.shtml">I don't think anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center, take another one and slam it into the Pentagon; that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile," national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Thursday.

…

The only real change here is that prediction has become reality.

[hlthe2b]

9. ditto