Jondaken Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 What Postman Pat said + a cat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Sky piss me off, the way they show the videos of the tragedy as they go to adverts, I am sure the next thing they will do is have that **** go compare man pop up singing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YLN Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 New explosion in Fukushima power plant and another big wave on the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
privateer Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 another big wave on the way. You're right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 New explosion in Fukushima power plant Reporting that it was a hydrogen explosion and reactor core is secure - was a big bugger though. On a seperate note I'm amazed by the compusure and dignity of the local civpop when they are interviewed about it all on TV. Imagine the hysterical flapping among the UK public and media if we'd had a massive earthquake, a tsunami and then Sellafield had blown up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieB Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Another thread lost to religious arguments. Add one to the death count, RIP this thread. I thought it was more a discussion about melting glaciers & climate change having something to do with the increased Earthquake, Volcanic activity we're seeing on the planet. From the link I posted earlier. "During the last few years, scientists around the world have been witnessing alarming changes in the environment; these changes are of global significance for the entire planet. Global changes can now be observed throughout all of the Earth, including its core, mantle, lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere. Based on data analysis for earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and other geological and geophysical processes, it demonstrates that the Earth’s geodynamical activity has been continuously increasing over the last 100 years; the tendency has even significantly intensified during the recent decades. This is reflected in the number of fatalities and extent of economic damage caused by natural disasters. A similar situation can be observed in the atmospheric processes, a fact that has been repeatedly indicated in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports. When combined, global environmental changes caused by anthropogenic and natural factors amplify the resulting negative effect on the progress of civilization." Of course anyone & everyone has the right to call it all bunkem & alarmist scientists desperate for funding. However there are a growing number of geologists & scientists throwing their names into the ring and I for one do not think this can all be brushed aside as untrue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 My girlfriend is booked up to go to Japan in 3 weeks. Cost her a fortune, now the foreign office are advising people to not travel. I hope the travel insurance covers it. ...though to add to my previous answer, if she still intends to go to Japan given what's happening with the nuclear reactors and the lies they have spun around them for the last 15 years, as well as the inevitability of more shocks doing more damage to weakened facilities, she may be better writing off the cost of the trip even if the insurance doesn't cover it. My mom just told me yesterday she has a relative who's yet to hear from his son in Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Also done a pressure release by venting gas to atmosphere from a third reactor. Going by the other two that seems to be a pre-cursor to a big bang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieB Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Also done a pressure release by venting gas to atmosphere from a third reactor. Going by the other two that seems to be a pre-cursor to a big bang. When they flood the chambers with sea water to cool the reactors down, CNN said this action makes steam which includes hydorgen gas. This "steam" is potentially combustible when it comes into contact with oxygen. I just wondered if this steam is radioactive that is exploding or being vented? Update: News channels now reporting that Nuclear Fuel rods are now exposed after a fall in water levels at Fukushima No 2 reactor. Surely it is just a little irresponsible to position ALL of these nuclear power plants in such a highly active earthquake zone, so near the coast, putting the plants at risk from Tsunami. Back up diesel generators to man the pumps to the reactors don't tend to work when they're filled with sea water. :idea: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 When they flood the chambers with sea water to cool the reactors down, CNN said this action makes steam which includes hydorgen gas. This "steam" is potentially combustible when it comes into contact with oxygen. I just wondered if this steam is radioactive that is exploding or being vented? Yes - something on it here. The steam contains radioactive caesium, and it can explode because when water is superheated the hydrogen can split. Presumably the risk from this is lower than the risk of not venting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted March 14, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted March 14, 2011 Sky piss me off, the way they show the videos of the tragedy as they go to adverts, I am sure the next thing they will do is have that **** go compare man pop up singing. I know exactly what you mean, it's what makes me love song so much... Hang the DJ... and the Sky Television producer 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieB Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 When they flood the chambers with sea water to cool the reactors down, CNN said this action makes steam which includes hydorgen gas. This "steam" is potentially combustible when it comes into contact with oxygen. I just wondered if this steam is radioactive that is exploding or being vented? Yes - something on it here. The steam contains radioactive caesium, and it can explode because when water is superheated the hydrogen can split. Presumably the risk from this is lower than the risk of not venting it. Cheers for this. Latest news now appears to be fuel rods melting in all 3 nuclear reactors at Fukushima. You simply could have nothing but admiration for the engineers & architects who constructed Japan's buildings to withstand an 9.0 megaquake on Friday... the artermath is turning into a unmitigated nuclear disaster. Just awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggyrichard Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Latest news now appears to be fuel rods melting in all 3 nuclear reactors at Fukushima. I dont know much about nuclear reactors, but i can work out that this is a very very bad thing, right? What happens once the fuel rods melt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevMur Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Before & after Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDon Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Latest news now appears to be fuel rods melting in all 3 nuclear reactors at Fukushima. I dont know much about nuclear reactors, but i can work out that this is a very very bad thing, right? What happens once the fuel rods melt? There should still be no risk as long as the integrity of the containment vessels is intact. There's multiple levels of failure in nuclear plants, what should happen is the core will melt through into a containment vessel, which is designed to contain the radioactive material. As long as that's not damaged there's really no problem, and it should have been designed to withstand more than the earthquake threw at it. Honestly, the risk of outside contamination is still minimal. Nuclear reactors are designed with exactly this scenario in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDon Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Just to add something as well, a lot of people are getting the wrong idea by what scientists mean when they say the core has been exposed, it doesn't mean there's a big gaping hole in the building and the nuclear material is out in the open, it means the water level in the reactor has dropped to below the top of the nuclear rods. This is why it can melt down, because there is no water there to take away the heat. As long as the rods are underwater it was relatively fine, but because they are no longer covered by it there is nothing to take the heat away, so it can go into meltdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted March 14, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted March 14, 2011 Honestly, the risk of outside contamination is still minimal. Nuclear reactors are designed with exactly this scenario in mind. Not that I doubt you for one minute (you are, after all, The Don) but this from the beeb seems on the face of it to be worrying: Japanese engineer Masashi Goto, who helped design the containment vessel for Fukushima's reactor core, says the design was not enough to withstand earthquakes or tsunamis and the plant's builders, Toshiba, knew this. Mr Goto says his greatest fear is that blasts at number 3 and number 1 reactors may have damaged the steel casing of the containment vessel designed to stop radioactive material escaping into the atmosphere. He say that as the reactor uses mox (mixed oxide) fuel, the melting point is lower than that of conventional fuel. Should a meltdown and an explosion occur, he says, plutonium could be spread over an area up to twice as far as estimated for a conventional nuclear fuel explosion. The next 24 hours are critical, he says. Then again, I guess it's entirely possible that this is being somewhat sensationalised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 14, 2011 Moderator Share Posted March 14, 2011 I don't mind the government erring on the side of caution when announcing how many people may or may not be missing/dead. Afterall, it serves no purpose only to unnecessarily panic a population with more immediate things on their mind. But I very much mind when a government tries to play down something like what may or may not be happening at a nuclear plant. If you're not sure then you must assume the worst or assume the worst could happen any minute. They need to be telling people that the safest thing is to get the hell away from the area. Way more than the few miles they've asked for. That to me is very much a necessary life or death announcement and it just smacks of them trying to save face and play down something and putting lives in danger in the meantime. Afterall, if it turns out to be OK, people can always move back with their head of hair still intact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDon Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 I don't mind the government erring on the side of caution when announcing how many people may or may not be missing/dead. Afterall, it serves no purpose only to unnecessarily panic a population with more immediate things on their mind. But I very much mind when a government tries to play down something like what may or may not be happening at a nuclear plant. If you're not sure then you must assume the worst or assume the worst could happen any minute. They need to be telling people that the safest thing is to get the hell away from the area. Way more than the few miles they've asked for. That to me is very much a necessary life or death announcement and it just smacks of them trying to save face and play down something and putting lives in danger in the meantime. Afterall, if it turns out to be OK, people can always move back with their head of hair still intact. They have erred on the side of caution though. Right from the start there was a huge evacuation area, that they've already extended. 12miles is extreme overkill for the actual risks here. There's really not much chance of significant nuclear material being spread in any significant quantities outside the evacuated area. There's nothing that can blow up and spread it. The explosions that have occurred are entirely expected really due to the build up of hydrogen, and nothing for them to worry about in terms of widespread radiation leakage. They've been pretty frank with the information tbh, they've stated the cores were fully exposed at least twice, and they've stated that the containment vessels are undamaged. Unless they're lying about that, which would be extremely bad, they've done everything above and beyond what would be expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 14, 2011 Moderator Share Posted March 14, 2011 Honest question here TheDon. Given that Chernobyl gave a lot of Europe acid rain and to this day contaminates a huge area around the plant with untold suffering, what's to say that the whole of Japan won't be geiger-central for the next 50 years and that we haven't seen anything like the worst of it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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