I kind of missed the news as it broke, but sounds like things got really bad. #3 container might be damaged: http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/78466.html
Destroyed in the earthquake/tsunami? http://www.geeksugar.com/Japan-Gundam-Statue-Destroyed-14856044 (yes, that is fake) Or probably hanging out with the diesel tanks/generators. On a more serious note, I'm reading some conflicting information about the previous thing I posted (mostly the radiation levels and all workers evacuating).
axis shift- every 22,000 angle of tilt- 44,000 eccentricity- 90-100,000 yrs (ice ages/ periods of great heat) in regards to the axis shifting due to something else, that seems plausible, but like i said, its shifting on its own very slowly. there is some sort of correlation you could make but its not substantial. the ring of fire is name so because crust is constantly being destroyed, all those major cities pretty much sit at the boundaries.
some useful perspective here. a key graph: "...the absolute worst case has no more global effect than did an event that many weren't even aware of, and which didn't have any great global effect. The important lesson from Japan is that we took obsolete reactors with old designs and safety features, and subjected them to a 9.0 quake and a very large tsunami, and the damage to the planet is an unfortunate but hardly decisive event. It is now time to stop worrying about this mess until things settle and we can see precisely what we have learned, and factor that into the next generation designs. Note that almost everywhere in the world we are building reactors with much better design and far better safety features than those being destroyed now. Concentration on how awful is the nuclear mess takes our attention off the economic and human disasters from the earthquake and tsunami."
I was wondering that myself. Considering how many advances the Japanese have made in robots, robots that play violins, look after old people, receptionists and etc.., you would figure they would have a few that could work in a high radiation environment.
<!-- http://twitter.com/Reuters/statuses/48049156757000192 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox48049156757000190 {background:url(http://a0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/103673206/reuters_twitter_bg.jpg) #c2c2c2;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox48049156757000190'><p class='bbpTweet'>FLASH: IAEA head says core damage at units 1-3 of Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant confirmed, situation very serious<span class='timestamp'><a title='Wed Mar 16 15:53:06 +0000 2011' href='http://twitter.com/Reuters/statuses/48049156757000192'>less than a minute ago</a> via web</span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/Reuters'><img src='http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/918645374/reuters_twitter_avatar_normal.png' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/Reuters'>Reuters Top News</a></strong><br/>Reuters</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet -->
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Via twitter:Mail sent to NHK from daughter of man working at plant. The man was told together with colleges "be prepared to die"
I consider myself a smart person. It's pretty obvious the japanese government are downplaying everything. Countries are removing citizens from japan, the workers have been told prepare to die and there is a no fly zone for a 30 miles surrounding the plant. One minute the plants under control, the next reactor 1 has blown to fragments, again it's under control, the next second the workers have been pulled out of the facility. Dont believe the Japanese, they have the public on a yoyo and are severely downplaying.
The article you quoted wasn't from Japan, but from the World Health Organization. I think, while this nuclear plant is a big issue, and could end up being a bad industrial accident, it is taking a lot of the attention away from the actual much worse issue: the aftermath and human toll of the tsunami and quake itself.
I disagree. There hasn't even been full meltdown yet. There is a possibility that millions of people will die from radiation if these 6 reactors totally melt. There are 36 million people within 100 miles of 6 nuclear reactors that releasing nuclear radiation. That's the current issue because it can still be contained.
http://teddyhilton.com/2011-03-16-dog-wont-leave-his-friend-after-japanese-flood/?from=PH That is incredible and it made me to tear up. I love dogs.
Is that really the case? Every expert and scientist that I've seen hasn't said this. While there is the potential for big issues, I don't think what you are quoting is the actual worst case scenario.
Well you have countries asking their citizens to leave, the trains and planes in Tokyo are sold out. It's called being aware. Do you think the government is going to create mass hysteria in a city with a population over 35 million. It's called being aware of the situation. Chernobyl killed 70 people within hours, leading skeptics to believe it wasn't that bad, yet the population of Ukraine and Europe had a huge spike in cancer(predominantly thyroid and leukemia). It ultimately killed over a million people in some form. Losing thousands of people is tragic, but the big story is the possibility of losing millions more. I don't think any scientist is going to outright say millions of people will die if they stay in point A. That sounds outrageous, but I think it's important to look in the past and notice the government has downplayed many things before to prevent total hysteria which could lead to a total loss of control on the island of japan.
I wondered the same thing and I'm no expert but basically... The pumps aren't online to keep the water flowing to keep the fuel cool no matter what state the unit is in (online or offline). The bad thing is Unit 4 had their unspent fuel outside of the containment vessel for plant maintenance at the time of the earthquake. That means there is nothing to catch the meltdown - it's a ticking Chernobyl which had no containment vessel by design. I haven't heard where the fuel is in 5 and 6. The head guy from 3 Mile Island was on last night and if I remember right he said that rod meltdown began after just 2 hours of partial exposure on the 3 Mile accident. I don't think there any doubt on this one. I just hope the containment vessels work and that Unit 4 doesn't start a catastrophic domino effect on the other 5 units.
