Japan earthquake.... tsunami

[Hilary B]

Not good At All!!!!

That's if it actually does 'meltdown'. Last I heard it was still unclear exactly how drastic the damage to the installation was likely to be.

[selfraising]

Its all so awful and what about the people still in the power stations? Presumably they have some sort of protective suits on but I do wonder if that's enough.

[HotStuff]

Not good At All!!!!

C'mon, anyone with half a brain cell can see that map is a hoax.

[starloc]

Serious risk of explosion at another reactor `reactor in partial meltdown....`.....they still say the reactor vessels arent going to blow up though

If every time the pressure rises they let the presure out to stop it blowing up ( along with a great dollop of radiation ) then there not likely to blow up just nuke everyone anyway , if all the reactors do this and they let a bit out of each then radiation levels are going to rise quite a bit

[Bigmallly]

C'mon, anyone with half a brain cell can see that map is a hoax.

It may be a hoax but it's still scary.

NY Pop Culture & Politics: Japan nuclear fallout map - HOAX

[Hilary B]

Releasing pressure to prevent an explosion would produce a much lower 'dose' of radiation than allowing the explosion to happen, and may reduce the distance it can travel. Think of the steam escaping from a pressure-cooker while it is working properly, and compare with the effects if ALL the water inside blew out as steam if it broke open while under full pressure! Even having the safety-valve 'blow' is a lot more spectacular than a steady escape, but not a patch on an actual explosion!

[snohare]

Even having the safety-valve 'blow' is a lot more spectacular than a steady escape, but not a patch on an actual explosion!

It seems to me, if it looks like an explosion, sounds like an explosion, and acts like an explosion... To call it otherwise is to say that because the airbags deployed and the passengers survived, a written-off car did not crash.
The only difference between this and Chernobyl (so far) I think has been that the primary containment vessel that contains the reactor core has been much stronger than the notoriously dodgy Russian design, and so although there seem to have been fuel rods exposed to air - which is what you'd expect when old, brittle stainless steel coolant pipes fracture in an earthquake - the lid of the reactor has not actually blown off and exposed the whole fuel inventory to the sky, with convection from the fire causing widespread emissions of beta and gamma emitters. But it's worth noting that the Japanese have form for pretending all is all right with nuclear power plants when in fact their workers are wading through coolant leaks in the corridors, and after the Kobe earthquake and fire they were so determined to seem on top of things that they turned down offers of US help; so despite their own government trying to train them differently, the cultural imperative of the power company executives is still likely to be to pretend all is okay right until the worst possible scenario happens. If they are evacuating tens of thousands of people when resources are this scarce, you can bet your life they think there is a real risk of something awful happening.
In this case, the whole reactor core could meltdown and pollute the local aquifer (the "China Syndrome"), and leave an unholy mess, not to mention long term, unavoidable pollution by radioisotopes. (We are still restricting sheep movements in the UK due to caesium fallout from the Windscale fire in 1957, and we didn't even have the problem of wildlife and groundwater spreading uranium particles etc.) Caesium and Iodine might sound innocuous, but they still have halflives with nasty effects on anything they encounter.
Still, at least it wasn't a liquid sodium reactor that went boom...
What with all the different forms of pollution, I'd guess the Japanese are about to stop eating fish in such a big way...and the bottom is going to fall out of the Asian tuna market. (Not that it will make much difference to the Nikkei.)

[binley100]

I'd guess the Japanese are about to stop eating fish in such a big way...and the bottom is going to fall out of the Asian tuna market. (Not that it will make much difference to the Nikkei.)

Well if there are any sharks left after all this disaster , I'm sure they'll be grateful .......

What a horrendous thing to happen .....It's like mother nature has had a hissy fit just recently ........Icelan, australia , New Zealand and now this.

[snohare]

I do wonder if any of this is related to tectonic rebound.

[binley100]

..........

[snohare]

Ice sheets are heavy, and affect how the tectonic plates move and are stressed. Move large quantities of ice off land onto water, and it is like moving stress to a different area. The land will rise, the sea bed will depress - this is tectonic rebound. It is still happening to the UK even now, after the last ice age.
It has been discovered recently that even things like heavy rain, weather systems and changes in air pressure make a difference to stress on tectonic fault lines, so ice sheets and glaciers moving might be a major player.

[Claire72]

Sorry to sound a little dim, but I couldnt see that the map was a hoax, I was perplexed about the 'teardrop' shape of the reaction, presuming it would have spread in a circular 'mushroom'. Does anyone a bit more versed in such things know how far North, south, east and west the radiation spread is likely to be?
I hope this is the end of the massive disasters for at least the next 5 years now, it feels like there has been such a lot recently, our little planet can only take so much....

[Chef_uk]

I hope this is the end of the massive disasters for at least the next 5 years now, it feels like there has been such a lot recently, our little planet can only take so much....

Volcano in the south island of Japan has kicked in to life smashing windows 4 miles away with its explosion

Also, coincidence or not?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...arth-week.html

I take daily mail news with a large pinch of salt but to predict all that 48 hours before the 6th largest earthquake ever recorded is quite scary to me.

[buzzingtalk]

It is truly awful, I'm greatful that I have contacted all freinds in Japan and they are all safe, but what of their freinds and families?

Awful.

[Rabidbun]

There's an interesting article here for those wondering about the risks of a meltdown.

Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors. | Morgsatlarge – blogorific.

There is a containment chamber which means that in theory any meltdown should be contained, thus preventing the molten radioactive metals from moving beyond that. Hopefully. The reactors themselves are also not of the same design as the Soviet one that failed.

Horrifyingly awful disaster, power plant aside though.

I believe the Red Cross and a few other charities are doing online donations targeted to the area if anyone wishes.