-
“If bullshit was currency, Joe Biden would be a billionaire.” - George W. Bush -
Like anyone cares what she thinks...Comment
-
The opinions of various physicists have been all over the map regarding the nuclear disaster in Japan. One Los Alamos physicist said workers could be siting on the vent stack at the site and increase their life span by quitting smoking. Now Dr. Kaku is saying bury those dam reactors because the power plant is now a piece of radiation spewing junk.
No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
-
Contrast the above with this. Apparently the pro nuclear Obama Administration will fire your ass from the Department of Energy if you don't praise the safety of nuclear power.
Now, where does that leave us? My assessment:
* The plant is safe now and will stay safe.
* Japan is looking at an INES Level 4 Accident: Nuclear accident with local consequences. That is bad for the company that owns the plant, but not for anyone else.
* Some radiation was released when the pressure vessel was vented. All radioactive isotopes from the activated steam have gone (decayed). A very small amount of Cesium was released, as well as Iodine. If you were sitting on top of the plants' chimney when they were venting, you should probably give up smoking to return to your former life expectancy. The Cesium and Iodine isotopes were carried out to the sea and will never be seen again.
* There was some limited damage to the first containment. That means that some amounts of radioactive Cesium and Iodine will also be released into the cooling water, but no Uranium or other nasty stuff (the Uranium oxide does not "dissolve" in the water). There are facilities for treating the cooling water inside the third containment. The radioactive Cesium and Iodine will be removed there and eventually stored as radioactive waste in terminal storage.
* The seawater used as cooling water will be activated to some degree. Because the control rods are fully inserted, the Uranium chain reaction is not happening. That means the "main" nuclear reaction is not happening, thus not contributing to the activation. The intermediate radioactive materials (Cesium and Iodine) are also almost gone at this stage, because the Uranium decay was stopped a long time ago. This further reduces the activation. The bottom line is that there will be some low level of activation of the seawater, which will also be removed by the treatment facilities.
* The seawater will then be replaced over time with the "normal" cooling water.
* The reactor core will then be dismantled and transported to a processing facility, just like during a regular fuel change.
* Fuel rods and the entire plant will be checked for potential damage. This will take about 4-5 years.
* The safety systems on all Japanese plants will be upgraded to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami (or worse).
* (Updated) I believe the most significant problem will be a prolonged power shortage. 11 of Japan's 55 nuclear reactors in different plants were shut down and will have to be inspected, directly reducing the nation's nuclear power generating capacity by 20%, with nuclear power accounting for about 30% of the national total power generation capacity. I have not looked into possible consequences for other nuclear plants not directly affected. This will probably be covered by running gas power plants that are usually only used for peak loads to cover some of the base load as well. I am not familiar with Japan's energy supply chain for oil, gas and coal, and what damage the harbors, refinery, storage and transportation networks have suffered, as well as damage to the national distribution grid. All of that will increase your electricity bill, as well as lead to power shortages during peak demand and reconstruction efforts, in Japan.
* This all is only part of a much bigger picture. Emergency response has to deal with shelter, drinking water, food and medical care, transportation and communication infrastructure, as well as electricity supply. In a world of lean supply chains, we are looking at some major challenges in all of these areas.
--
Dr. Steven J. Greene, Physics Division, Subatomic Physics Group, P-25
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mail Stop H846, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545
voice: (505) 667-5607, e-mail: sjgreene@lanl.govNo! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
-
All the new high end homes around here have geothermal heating and cooling right in thier back yard, its pretty cool. a big ass truck comes in and drills a deep ass hole in the ground and viola, free heat and cooling for the next 30 years. not really free but it does pay for its self after about 10 years.
I seen a documentary on pbs or somewhere like that and they were looking at those big windmill type generators that are springing up all over the country. they said there is 6 times the area needed in arizona alone to place those things to power the entire north american continent. they also said the only thing holding it back is that our grid system is fucked.Last edited by vh rides again; 03-20-2011, 08:43 AM.Comment
-
Eat Us And Smile
Cenk For America 2024!!
Justice Democrats
"If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992Comment
-
Well, this certainly is disturbing news......
Thousands Of U.S. Personnel Evacuated To Puget Sound From Japan
Posted: 9:42 am PDT March 19, 2011Updated: 8:18 am PDT March 20, 2011
SEATTLE, Wash. -- Thousands of U.S. military and Department of Defense personnel are being voluntarily evacuated from Japan to Seattle and Joint Base Lewis-McChord following last week’s earthquake and tsunami.
The USO confirmed Friday that 15,000 U.S. personnel and their dependents will be hosted at USO centers at SeaTac and JBLM in the coming days. The evacuation is part of the U.S. State Department's voluntary evacuation of U.S. personnel following growing concerns at nuclear plants in Japan.
About 6,700 people are expected to arrive at SeaTac and 8,000 at Lewis-McChord, the USO said. The USO centers will act as a hub for military support.
The News Tribune reported that about 240 military members and their families evacuated from Japan arrived at Sea-Tac Saturday morning, the first of a wave of several thousand expected to arrive in the Puget Sound area this week.
"There’s about 190 children and 50 adults who just passed through customs," said Don Leingang, executive director of the local USO, which is helping feed the arrivals and help the to connecting flights. "It's pretty eye watering, if you really want to know."
Leingang told The News Tribune that the next flight is due Monday.
The USO is seeking donations as they plan to support an influx of people in the coming days. Donations can be made online at www.usopsa.org.
The USO said about 200,000 U.S. personnel are being evacuated from Japan to U.S. West Coast cities including San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle/JBLM.
Eat Us And Smile
Cenk For America 2024!!
Justice Democrats
"If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992Comment
-
It's mind boggling that the US has 200 000 personnel in Japan.
What an insane waste of money.Comment
-
True, but that's what makes this news more disturbing....
The war being over 60 fucking years ago isn't enough to bring troops home from there. Japan clearly being an economic powerhouse capable of defending itself certainly wasn't enough to end the occupation. But now, when Japan actually might need some help, for the first time in half a century, it's time to come home.
Which makes me think this nuclear disaster is far worse than what we are being told.Eat Us And Smile
Cenk For America 2024!!
Justice Democrats
"If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992Comment
-
That would be the unfortunate downside of cutting the "defense" budget to something realistic to actually defend the US.
But that's where the wisdom of FDR comes in, and you put together a massive Public Works program to repair and modernize the infrastructure of this nation.Eat Us And Smile
Cenk For America 2024!!
Justice Democrats
"If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992Comment
-
Theres an old section of Boise, Idaho that has big victorian homes and they all have geothermal heat because there are hot springs in that area of town. One guy even cultures reef coral in green houses and sells them to the home aquarium hobby. I used to have a 100 gallon reef aquarium when I lived there.No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
-
I'm not sold on wind farms. We have them around here and nothing is uglier than seeing a bunch of windmills along a mountain ridge. They seem to breakdown a lot and are expensive. Plus, if the wind is blowing below 30 knots they are inefficient. The small ones home owners can buy are noisey and your neighbors will hate you.No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
Tweet
Comment