Japan Declares Nuclear Emergency, As Cooling System Fails At Nuclear Power Plant

[KittyWampus]

Japan Declares Nuclear Emergency, As Cooling System Fails At Power Plant
Joe Weisenthal | Mar. 11, 2011, 6:13 AM | 33,053 | 23

Update 3: 2000 residents near the Fukushima Nuclear Plant have been urged to evacuate.

Update 2: Japan has declared a nuclear emergency.

Update: There's no evidence of any radioactive leakage, but officials have confirmed that the cooling process for the nuclear plant has not yet gone according to plan.

Original post: Ominous flash from Kyodo Wire:
The operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant reported an abnormality Friday following a powerful earthquake which hit a wide area in northeastern Japan including Fukushima Prefecture, the industry ministry said.
The system to cool reactor cores in case of emergency stopped at the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors of the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., it said.
There are reports that the Japanese PM will declare a nuclear emergency.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-nuclear-plant-2011-3#ixzz1GIOuymiw

[madokie]

1. In my opinion only stupid people embrace nukes to provide our electrical power

stupid people and fools. IMHO

[kcks]

2. What

is your suggestion for providing electrical power?

[KittyWampus]

3. thermal depolymerization- turning garbage into energy. You bring your garbage to the plant and fill

the tank on the way out.

But a big reason this very plausible solution won't happen any time soon on a national level- it's done locally. Big cartels wouldn't be making profits.

[trotsky]

7. TDP is not yet economically feasible at any level.

It's sure worth exploring, but it's not going to satisfy our energy needs anytime soon.

[WatsonT]

20. The company that was trying to do that filed for bankruptcy

I guess it isn't economically feasible yet.

[KittyWampus]

35. You mean the turkey offal plant? It was doing fine until they refused to supply it with the offal>

Essentially sabotaging the plant.

[WatsonT]

40. They?

Who?

And OPEC screws around with the oil supply constantly, are they sabotaging big oil?

[madokie]

4. it gawd damn sure ain't nuclear energy

You can bet your ass on that

[WatsonT]

21. I would hope any energy policy we implement will be more technical than:

"Well not nuclear"

Ok, so we are not generating power from nuclear. What are we generating it from?

[WatsonT]

13. One incident caused by a massive earthquake

with no radiation leakage condemns the entire industry?

So what energy sources are there that can supply a nation like Japan that have never once failed?

[madokie]

17. You have no idea if there was no radiation leakage

and its not just one incidence either

[WatsonT]

19. From the article:

Update: There's no evidence of any radioactive leakage, but officials have confirmed that the cooling process for the nuclear plant has not yet gone according to plan.

I suppose they could be wrong. But as neither of us are officials on the ground I think we must take their word for now.

[madokie]

23. Did you miss the part where the nuclear industry can't be trusted to be honest

I thought so.

[WatsonT]

29. The japanese government was saying that by the looks of it

also if the dread "they" can't be trusted, who can?

[madokie]

37. Well don't be looking at the nuclear power industry or their apologist

none of them will shoot you a straight and honest answer.
Who can be trusted, who knows but I do know who can't.

[WatsonT]

39. I see.

Same logic as the autism/vaccinations crowd: you can't trust doctors or big pharma, or scientists, or the government. Trust your own feelings to guide you, not science.

[Wind Dancer]

41. Unfair comparison.

You might want to read a few of Helen Caldicott's articles and books. She co-founded Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization of 23,000 doctors that aims to educate the public about the dangers of nuclear power and nuclear weapons. The group is affiliated with International Physicians for Social Responsibility, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. Caldicott also founded Women’s Action for Nuclear Disarmament.

[NightWatcher]

22. :fist bumps: Did you hear about the horrible accident at the solar power plant?

people forced to seek shade



no casualties

[madokie]

24. That I would believe

[rdking647]

30. how many people has nuclear power killed in the US?

[madokie]

42. A better question would be

what percentage of the cancers we have today can be contributed to nuclear power

[originalpckelly]

5. "the cooling process for the nuclear plant has not yet gone according to plan"

Could there be any greater bureaucratic double talk going on here?

God save us from the nuclear bugs who think it's a green technology. The only thing green and environmentally friendly about nuclear is the green glow you'll get when there's some kind of accident.

How did this moronic notion start? How did people come to think one of the worst kind of environmental pollution is not some kind of pollution itself?

There will be new ways to stockpile the CO2 released from coal, and if there's an accident: ooops! We already release the shit into the atmosphere now, and no one died immediately from it. The failure mode for a coal CO2 plant losing containment of the CO2 in the newer model of clean coal wouldn't be as big of a deal.

Now, until there is some type of way to actually stockpile the shit, it's not environmentally friendly, but when there is, you better believe it. Dealing with coal waste is a far safer problem to deal with.

In the long run we'll have to pursue some type of a Dyson ring around the sun, but until then, we'll use good old coal.

[KittyWampus]

9. Coal- I know someone who closed the biggest financial deal ever made on the planet>

It was centered around coal. This was last year.

Weirdly, it was only reported on internets in very esoteric sites. We checked.

I guess the biggest financial deals fly under the public radar.

So yeah, Coal seems to be the answer in the near future even though we all know there's no such thing as "Clean Coal".

[originalpckelly]

15. I personally hate coal, but you could even theorectically scrub CO2 from...

the atmosphere if you really had to do that.

There are all kinds of solutions that haven't been proposed. But if they can completely sequester the exhaust gases from the reaction, then it would be clean coal. The only dirty part would be mining the shit. That has environmental effects, but you could envision entirely robotic mining processes to protect humans and exploit even deeper coal veins.

[SpiralHawk]

6. "What could possibly go wrong?" - Global RepubliCorp, Inc.

[jannyk]

8. Here are some of the threads from a few hours ago

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x612459

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4765273

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x612497

[meow mix]

10. to cheap to meter!

fucking bs, ty for the danger DU nukeapologists

[Esse Quam Videri]

11. 'China Syndrome'

If they are not able to deliver water for the cooling this could become a possibility. The core could penetrate the containment vessel.

[Cetacea]

12. Yup. Meanwhile, Charlie Sheen...

[originalpckelly]

16. Where are the control rods?

Maybe they were somehow damaged in the quake?

[Paradoxical]

26. Modern reactors have a negative temperature coefficient.

The core will halt fission reaction long before it melts down.

Technically speaking, it's physically impossible for these types of reactor cores to melt down.

[walldude]

36. Yeah... problem is these are not modern reactors..

the newest was built in 1978... Over 30 years ago.

[tekisui]

14. Update 4: According to reports, Japanese jets have been ordered to fly over the Fukushima Nuclear

plant.

[snagglepuss]

32. For what purpose?

[tavalon]

18. Oh, crap

[Paradoxical]

25. Modern reactors have a negative temperature coefficient.

Meaning an increase in temperature actually decreases the fission reaction.

These plants are perfectly safe so far.

[slackmaster]

33. I read that the one having problems was built in the early 1970s

:scared:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/11/AR2011031103673.html

[MadHound]

34. Trouble is, this isn't a modern reactor,

It is a forty year old reactor that was built using forty five year old tech.

[PA Democrat]

27. Japanese officials are saying a "radiation leak possible"

Update 6: The owner of the plant, TEPCO, says the reactor pressure is rising, and there are risks of a radiation leak, according to Reuters.

Update 7: Now the trade minister says a leak is possible.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-nuclear-plant-2011-3#ixzz1GJk6sWPK

[meow mix]

28. fucking CNN: reports reactor has been cooled,, right while the trailer underneath

says they are "struggling to cool it"


god i hate cnn

[babydollhead]

31. kick

[muriel_volestrangler]

38. TEPCO: loses control of pressure at 2nd nuclear plant

Tokyo Electric Power said it had lost its ability to control pressure in some of the reactors of a second nuclear power plant at its quake-hit Fukushima facility in northeastern Japan.

Pressure is stable inside the reactors but rising in the containment vessels, a spokesman said, although he did not know if there would be a need to release pressure at the plant at this point, which would involve a release of radiation.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/11/japan-quake-tepco-daini-idUSLHE7EB02320110311