What I find bizarre is that no countries close to Japan have generators

[snagglepuss]

and pumps they could have given/sold/borrowed to Japan. I am clueless why countries close to Japan wouldn't have insisted on sending massive assistance to help with the reactors as soon as it was apparent Japan had problems cooling the reactors. The Japanese are using FIRE TRUCKS to cool nuclear reactors and China, Australia, Korea etc are simply spinning their wheels.


Anyone have a clue why Japan was left on its own when clearly their where overwhelmed at Fukushima right from the getgo?

[applegrove]

1. I heard they were going to use firetrucks because they had ladders

and that is how they had to get water to the top of the reactors.

[snagglepuss]

5. But it is primitive and obviously hasn't worked. I'm interested in knowing

why other countries havent offered to bring in generators and pumps. And do no countries have special fire equipment desined to fight fires at radioactive sites?

[JI7]

2. i don't know but there is some stuff about how the company was not being open

about what was going on.

[snagglepuss]

6. But it was clear to anyone following the story that Japan was overwelmed. It was

clear from the start that no power to work CRITICAL pumps was available. To my mind it like sitting on your porch watching your nieghbor fight a house fire with buckets of water and the house is just feet from your home. It makes no sense.

[Mimosa]

3. That's what a nuclear scientist on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 has been up in arms about

He's been virtually begging the international community and the Atomic Energy commission (forget the initials) to step in.

This is a WORLD issue.

[Hannah Bell]

15. sorry, misread. i thought anderson was begging.

but in fact, equipment has been sent & is being sent, & from other areas of japan as well.

[snagglepuss]

22. Why then only 50 workers to deal with six reactors? Where's all the

equipment?

[Hannah Bell]

26. there's more than 50 workers. they are just rotating them in & out so they don't

take too much dose.

various types of equipment have been reported as having been delivered. the area was hit by tsunami, where do you think they got a lot of what they're using? from outside the area. you're not hearing those kind of details because you're not following closely or following english media only.

[JVS]

4. These generators might be quite large and the transportation infrastructure could be damaged.

Also, I would guess that the generators for cooling system backups are made to order and aren't all that plentiful.

[snagglepuss]

7. Then send massive armies of hydro workers to restore electrical lines.

[catnhatnh]

8. OK...

...Generators require large amounts of hard to obtain fuel. Firetrucks called pumpers are in fact large capacity, mobile pumping machines which are normally fully fueled and stationed nearby. You might notice an ocean intervenes between Japan and those "spinning their wheels". You go to nuclear suppression with the equipment you have, not that you might want...

[snagglepuss]

12. Fair enough but then why didnt countries sent linemen to restore AC power

as soon as it was apparent the backup generators failed? Like I said this is like staring at a next door nieghbor fighting a house fire with buckets, waiting till the fire consumes the roof to lend a hand is sheer stupidity. Wouldn't sheer self interest be enough to get others actively involved? If ae nieghbors house was being consumed would you wait till asked before you stepped in?

[Prometheus Bound]

9. I'm sure there is no shortage of generators in Japan.

or pumps.

I'm also sure other countries would be willing to give anything Japan asks for.

[snagglepuss]

10. So why are they using fire trucks to cool reactors? Why aren't other

countries demanding access to help as they are next to this radioactive powder keg?

[Prometheus Bound]

14. I assume it is a matter of logistics, not availability.

Installing massive generators in burning and exploding nuclear plants with a tiny fraction of the regular crew would be a fair job. I would think impossible.

But I'm just making uninformed assumptions. It's a discussion board after all.

[snagglepuss]

25. Not now but as soon as it was clear that the generators flooded and therefore

useless. Why not send hundreds of lineman?

[flamingdem]

11. I wonder if the US ships were reluctant to get their crew radiated

.. can't really blame them.

[snagglepuss]

13. So they are not going to get radiated now along with the whole west coast?

[flamingdem]

18. We're only going to get semi-radiated apparently

I did eat some kelp today..

Hard to believe this nightmare won't culminate in a meltdown and massive plumes headed to CA.

What I read but can't link to, it was twitter, was that the US did not want the soldiers to get
radiation poisoning which is entirely possible offshore of that plant.

[Hannah Bell]

16. the earthquake was friday. other earthquakes, tsunami, and tsunami risk

followed.

airports and harbor facilities in the area knocked out.

communications knocked out.

this is the end of the 5th day since the quake (us time)

in fact, equipment has been sent & more is coming. from japan as well -- not all of japan is knocked out, turbines were sent up from production plants down south. foreign experts on the ground also.

i think the us media is not really on top of things.

[snagglepuss]

20. Although more pessimistic than you, I do take reassurance from your

posts and am more than willing to hope that my fears aren't realized. My question is how you assess what is and will happen with the MOX reactor.

[jannyk]

17. Saw one analysis that said they left it too late to request help

...that after the 1st or 2nd explosion (or even during the earthquake itself) the cooling 'system' was incapacitated - not just the source of powering it. That the powers that be thought they could control the situation and not have to admit the plants were not as 'earthquake proof' as they had claimed. That the following explosions FUBAR'd the whole system and it is now far too late for 'power' to be the solution.

[flamingdem]

19. It's stated clearly in Japanese media that they didn't want to give up on

the nukes too soon, didn't want to ruin them with seawater.

[snagglepuss]

21. Why would neighboring governments let Japan decide what it was going to

do when the whole region is in danger? Again I go back to the example of watching your next door nieghbor try to douse a serious fire with buckets of water when the fire is clearly going to consume not only his house but yours and everyone else's.

[jannyk]

24. The inference was more on not losing 'face' rather than the nukes

anyhow, seeing how the PM and Tepco have been so evasive and slow to volunteer critical information it very much made sense - from a screwed up, cultural pride sort of angle.

[snagglepuss]

23. But why the deference to what Japan wanted? Why wouldnt China and Korea have demanded

included in the decisions?