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Incidently my wife's mom lives in Chigasaki, not far from the beach. Her brother lives a few miles from her mom, with his family. She's calling them in a few hours, to see what's up.
Wish us luck. I'm hoping everyone is OK. You can walk from her mom's house to the beach in less than 1/2 a hour, at a leisurely stroll.
I think in the worst case scenario it would be like Chernobyl. From the lessons learned at Chernobyl, they should just evacuate that whole area. Damage to life and health would be minimal in that case. Damage to the local area economy would be absolute. Hope it doesn't get to that point though...
I think in the worst case scenario it would be like Chernobyl. From the lessons learned at Chernobyl, they should just evacuate that whole area. Damage to life and health would be minimal in that case. Damage to the local area economy would be absolute. Hope it doesn't get to that point though...
They have ordered evacuations from near 2 nuclear plants.
They are also releasing vapors into the air to relieve pressure from 2 different plants now.
But it's getting worse..the water is near boiling point. There is no electricity to cool the water and the backup generators died.
Speaking at the White House, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also said U.S. Air Force planes were carrying "some really important coolant" to the site, but administration officials later said she misspoke. The U.S. offered to send Japan coolant to help with the reactor but the Japanese declined, saying they already had the necessary supplies, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The "coolant" for a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) is...water. Considering Japan is an island, they have no shortage of that.
I think in the worst case scenario it would be like Chernobyl.
That, luckily, is unlikely. If the reports are anywhere near precise, the Japanese reactors are shut down by now. The plants are fighting decay heat - generated by leftover fission products - not the (many times higher) full energy output from an ongoing nuclear reaction, yet alone one running out of control - as was the case in Chernobyl.
Also, the Japanese plants were built with a concrete containment structure, something sorely lacking at Chernobyl.
Finally, Chernobyl used graphite as moderator. Superhot graphite, exposed to air, burns. And the smoke & soot carried the radioactive particles from the destroyed reactor core wide and far. Currently, the Japanese reactor cores are (supposedly) intact, and with water used as moderator/coolant, somewhat active steam may escape to the environment - but that's still much better than carbon particles with bits of reactor and semi-spent fuel stuck to it.
Not playing it down, but we're looking more at the "Three Miles Island" category.
Yikes. I've always been a huge proponent for more nuclear power in the US. I'm pretty stalwart in my beliefs, but I'm potentially rethinking that now :-/
Yikes. I've always been a huge proponent for more nuclear power in the US. I'm pretty stalwart in my beliefs, but I'm potentially rethinking that now :-/
Is there like a suit we can wear in the event of a complete meltdown?
Does boiling water get rid of radioactive material?
Last edited by Savoir Faire; 03-11-2011 at 10:05 PM..
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