On the Brink of a Meltdown

[irishbobcat]

Dan...are nukes still safe......yes or no?


FUKUSHIMA, Japan -- Japan suspended operations to keep its stricken nuclear plant from melting down Wednesday after surging radiation made it too dangerous to stay.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the workers dousing the reactors in a frantic effort to cool them needed to withdraw.

"The workers cannot carry out even minimal work at the plant now," Edano said. "Because of the radiation risk we are on standby," he said.

The nuclear crisis has triggered international alarm and partly overshadowed the human tragedy caused by Friday's earthquake and tsunami, which pulverized Japan's northeastern coastline, killing an estimated 10,000 people and severely damaging the nuclear plant.

Since then authorities have tried frantically to avert an environmental catastrophe at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex in northeastern Japan, 170 miles north of Tokyo.

Edano said the government expects to ask the U.S. military for help. He did not elaborate. He said the government is still considering whether and how to take up the various offers of help from other countries.

[irishbobcat]

Again, Dan....you are one sick,misinformed puppy.....

you sir, are one misguided neo-con fascist.......

[Dan Moadus]

I know you very well Dennis, you're a "progressive" which is not substantially different than a socialist or communist. Your ideas are their ideas, fancied up with some hi tech windmill jargon.  You rail against the rich, and say your for the poor, and middle class, but have no ideas on how to help them other than to march the rest of us down the same path that has led to failure after failure for the last hundred years. You have no understanding of individual rights, free markets, and freedom. You are a Statist. Your motto is: "Communism only killed a hundred million people, let's give it another chance."

[irishbobcat]

Dan, you don't know me........

Quit spreading lies, you do yourself and your cause a disservice....

[Dan Moadus]

Yep, secretly, Dennis is rooting for a meltdown.

[irishbobcat]

Just presenting the facts and the truth.....

Looks like you can't handle the truth, Shrimpy.....

[Youngstownshrimp]

Dennis,

My mother lives in Asia, I went to school in Japan, have a little respect and please keep your thoughts to yourself out of respect for these people.  You don't have to keep bombarding us with "I told you so."   We all agree nukes are bad, but we all turn on the lights everyday, if you have no alternative ready to go NOW, please spare us and just say a prayer for these people.

[irishbobcat]

Yup Dan......Nuke Power is safe.....in your dreams.......


SOMA, Japan -- High levels of radiation leaked from a crippled nuclear plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan after a third reactor was rocked by an explosion Tuesday and a fourth caught fire in a dramatic escalation of the 4-day-old catastrophe. The government warned 140,000 people nearby to stay indoors to avoid exposure.

Tokyo also reported slightly elevated radiation levels, but officials said the increase was too small to threaten the 39 million people in and around the capital, about 170 miles away.

In a nationally televised statement, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation has spread from four reactors of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima state, one of the hardest-hit in Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that has killed more than 10,000 people, plunged millions into misery and pummeled the world's third-largest economy.

Officials just south of Fukushima reported up to 100 times the normal levels of radiation Tuesday morning, Kyodo News agency reported. While those figures are worrying if there is prolonged exposure, they are far from fatal.

Kan and other officials warned there is danger of more leaks and told people living within 19 miles of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex to stay indoors to avoid exposure that could make people sick.

[irishbobcat]

Only in your dreams, Dan....... Yup, we all want a meltdown to glow Green.......

You are one sick puppy.......



SOMA, Japan -- A third explosion in four days rocked the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan early Tuesday, the country's nuclear safety agency said.

The blast at Dai-ichi Unit 2 followed two hydrogen explosions at the plant - the latest on Monday - as authorities struggle to prevent the catastrophic release of radiation in the area devastated by a tsunami.

The troubles at the Dai-ichi complex began when Friday's massive quake and tsunami in Japan's northeast knocked out power, crippling cooling systems needed to keep nuclear fuel from melting down.


The latest explosion was heard at 6:10 a.m. Tuesday (2110 GMT Monday), a spokesman for the Nuclear Safety Agency said at a news conference. The plant's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said the explosion occurred near the suppression pool in the reactor's containment vessel. The pool was later found to have a defect.

[Dan Moadus]

Here's the worse thing. Dennis and people like Dennis are hoping the "meltdown" happens so they can drive a stake through nuclear power.

[jay]

I heard on the news that there was a third explosion at the power plant in Japan.

[irishbobcat]

From the New York Times......

Bipartisan support for nuclear power weakens in wake of Japan crisis. NYT: "...even staunch supporters of nuclear power are now advocating a pause in licensing and building new reactors in the United States to make sure that proper safety and evacuation measures are in place. Environmental groups are reassessing their willingness to see nuclear power as a linchpin of any future climate change legislation. Mr. Obama still sees nuclear power as a major element of future American energy policy, but he is injecting a new tone of caution into his endorsement."

U.S. nuclear plants face risks from natural events. NYT: "...most of the nuclear plants in the United States share some or all of the risk factors that played a role at Fukushima Daiichi: locations on tsunami-prone coastlines or near earthquake faults, aging plants and backup electrical systems that rely on diesel generators and batteries that could fail in extreme circumstances."

[irishbobcat]

SOMA, Japan - The second hydrogen explosion in three days rocked Japan's stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant Monday, sending a massive column of smoke into the air and wounding 6 workers. The plant's operator said radiation levels at the reactor were still within legal limits.


The explosion at the plant's Unit 3, which authorities have been frantically trying to cool following a system failure in the wake of a massive earthquake and tsunami, triggered an order for hundreds of people to stay indoors, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.

[sfc_oliver]

Dennis, we all can read. We really don't need you to cut and paste the news that you think is relevant.

Most of the people on this forum are even smart enough to understand that the situation in Japan is bad and could get worse.

Fortunately we also understand that we can learn from the accident in Japan and make things even better.

Do you expect that Ohio will have a 9.0 earthquake followed by a tsunami?

[irishbobcat]

Nuke Power is dangerous, and getting worse in japan.....

The nuclear crisis in Japan has taken a turn for the worse this afternoon, as Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) has reported that six to ten feet of the core of its Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 reactor has been uncovered for a considerable period of time despite efforts to pump seawater into the reactor. Moreover, Tepco says it believes water may be leaking and preventing the water from covering the core. According to a translation of a Tepco statement by our Japanese colleagues, "The fuel's integrity has been considerably compromised. We are assessing a considerably serious situation." This unit uses plutonium-based MOX (mixed-oxide) fuel; accident consequences from a reactor that uses MOX fuel are even higher than for a more traditional uranium-fueled reactor.

At this point it is clear there has been some fuel melting at Fukushima Daiichi, probably at both Units 1 and 3. What we don't know yet is whether that will continue or whether utility workers will be successful at preventing any further melting. We hope they are successful and wish them our best. They are working under intolerable conditions and getting exposed to high levels of radiation in their ongoing effort to prevent a broader disaster. We believe that a catastrophic accident still can be prevented.

In all, there remain six reactors in various stages of trouble at two sites in Fukushima. Another three reactors, further north at Onagawa, are in a low-level state of emergency, although the utility there says they are under control.