Japan's Nuclear Disaster

[FORTRANS]

Hi Dave,

   Well at least they state their credentials.  And yes an article
described how the Earth's spin changed, rotation speeded up,
and how far Japan moved.  That was not Science Friday though
IIRC.  Some other news show.

   The news now says that the water spraying is causing clouds
of steam, so some think it may be working...

Cheers,

Steve

   Oops, the spin thing is in this weeks show.
SRN

[zemtex]

our hearts go out to those in Japan, to be sure
while this disaster may not pose a huge threat to the US (at least, short-term),
it brings to mind the nuclear plants in California - i guess they have a half-dozen or so
i am wondering what the effects will be after the "big one" hits CA

Most nuclear plants are located in eastern u.s

[oex]

I dont know much about nuclear power.... How are nuclear weapons any different from nuclear power plants though?.... I think there are some hundreds of nuclear power stations but some thousands of warheads.... Obviously both have some transportation issues also where materials could be in transit during this kind of disaster....

I know nuclear weapons may be more secure however they also contain far higher concentrations of radioactive materials (isnt it 95% instead of 20% refined or somesuch?)....

I read that Chernobel isnt habitable for some 50,000 years.... That's a lot of the planet we have to write off if we only have one similar disaster every 100 years....

[zemtex]

the chernobyl reactor could have ended up with a huge hydrogen explosion if it were not for the suicidal brave people who dug a hole to extract water from beneath the reactor core. If that happened it would be a much worse situation.

Nuclear power plants are much more secure than chernobyl but we still have some plants that are in even worse condition compared to chernobyl (russian plants). These plants are very dangerous and should be shut down, unfortunately they extended the life cycle of one of them to 2018

Btw, european nations have together come up with a much safer nuclear design, look it up and read about it.

[redskull]

I dont know much about nuclear power.... How are nuclear weapons any different from nuclear power plants though?.... I think there are some hundreds of nuclear power stations but some thousands of warheads.... Obviously both have some transportation issues also where materials could be in transit during this kind of disaster....

Weapons have a more 'pure' form of fuel in them; that's why reactors just melt and bombs explode.

[FORTRANS]

I dont know much about nuclear power.... How are nuclear weapons any different from nuclear power plants though?

Hi,

   In a (properly) working nuclear reactor, the nuclear reaction
is moderated.  Which means it is slowed down so it does not
go exponential.  In a nuclear bomb, that is what is wanted.
In that you get a very large amount of energy released in a
very short time.  A bomb uses a large amount of rich fuel
confined to enhance the reaction and delay the time when
the fuel is dispersed so it stops reacting.

HTH,

Steve N.

[vanjast]

... but probably wouldn't end up over in the US....

You are aware of the jet stream in the upper atmosphere that extends eastwards, in the latitude of japan, all the way around the world.
12 hours max and USA west coast will have the first signs of radiation pollution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_stream
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon

[Magnum]

After reading this, I have reassessed my opinion about how safe nuclear power is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Nuclear_Event_Scale#Level_5:_Accident_with_wider_consequences

[hutch--]

For what its worth apparently a plate movement on the scale that happened off the coast of Japan did tweak the earth's axis but I would not bother to rewire you GPS any time soon. If you want to know what is happening in Japan look at the NHK web site in English, spare yourself the bullsh*t gabfest going on elsewhere.

[Magnum]

The earthquake of that magnitude could not have been reasonably forecasted.

I am confident that they will get it contained safely.

I doubt that plant will be ever be up and running again.

The next plant will probably be wind,solar, or wave powered. (no pun intended.)

[hutch--]

Its my view that most nuclear plants around the world would not remain safe or functional if they had been swamped by a tsunami like the plant in Fukushima. They shut it down straight after the quake but then got hit with a massive tsumani that damaged the backup power supply. Now short of it being hit by a meteor out of the sky, little else worse could have happened and they more or less have it under control. The radiation level inside the plant are not that high yet and outside the levels are basically trivial.

Japan is a technologically sophisticated country and they are not short on safety measures and backup technology, it just happens that the combined quake and tsunami have done so much damage that it is stretching even their technical capacity.

[Magnum]

You are right.

I have always been impressed at Japan's willingness to spend whatever it takes to strengthen buildings, bridges, etc.

Whenever I see those homeowners in California who continue to build in flash fire zones and unstable areas,
I chuckle.

They are definitely Darwin Award candidates.

[Magnum]

Addendum to previous post

In Friendswood, Texas if your house is flooded twice you have 2 options.

Build a new house at least 10 ft. above grade or move.

---------------

They also have an ordinance for those flooding situations.

We have a very large share of morons in Texas.

They will do the speed limit when streets have water up past the curb.

It doesn't bother me except when their "wake" floods out my car.

The fine is $250 for doing that.

[Bill Cravener]

I do not believe the governments nor the media. You can bet on one sure thing, this disaster is way worse then anyone is telling the public.

Radiation leak is serious enough to kill people

First Japanese radioactive particles reach U.S. West Coast

Nuclear workers accept their fate like a death sentence

[anunitu]

Bad as the Quake and Flooding were(are) and then the Reactors problems..If you look to the long term it acts like dominos..Lack of power from the effected reactors means less production in parts. Already they are pradicting slowdowns in production here in the U.S., because of lack of parts from Japan. This at a time when our economy is weak. add to that  the  disorder in the middle east.. these types of stresses May? be the straw that breaks the Camels back. Think "Perfect Storm"