So uh...Japan...

Just saw that from all my friends who live in japan. So far everyone I know is ok. Word is all cell coverage is down so they only can use landlines and internet phones. No idea how that works, but yeah.

It looks pretty bad. Here is hoping that people were able to stay safe, and that recovery happens quickly. 

One of my childhood friends just got back to his home in Yokosuka two days ago...

Leaking Nuclear Reactor? It just gets worst.

Cow and chicken?!?!?!

Yowch. Looks like a new Chernobyl in the works as well, minus the whole burning graphite thing.

What did the Japanese do to piss off fate?

agentwhale007 wrote: Also, I'll refrain at least a few weeks before making a Godzilla joke.

Enos Shenk wrote: Yowch. Looks like a new Chernobyl in the works as well, minus the whole burning graphite thing.

Actually, it's a lot more like Three Mile Island than Chernobyl #4. We're talking core cooling failure (which is what happened at 3 Mile) combined with venting (also 3 Mile) with an intact containment vessel (again, 3 Mile)

To get Chernobyl you have to have a steam explosion inside the core which destroys the biological containment vessel and sends fuel, moderator material, and all other manner of highly radioactive stuff all over the place.

Without a positive void coefficient, a Chernobyl-style accident is far less likely.

"At some point in the process, the walls of the reactor vessel — 15 centimetres of stainless steel — would melt into a lava-like pile, slump into any remaining water on the floor, and potentially cause an explosion much bigger than the one caused by the hydrogen. Such an explosion would enhance the spread of radioactive contaminants.

If the reactor core became exposed to the external environment, officials would likely began pouring cement and sand over the entire facility, as was done at the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident in the Ukraine, Peter Bradford, a former commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in a briefing for reporters.

At that point, Bradford added, "many first responders would die."



God damn...

You know, I really hate that media reports are messing up two very important things with this.

1) As experienced with TIME

TIME wrote: Radiation levels are measured in units called rems — for "Roentgen equivalent man."

No, no they aren't. They haven't been for nearly two decades. Radiation levels are measured as Becquerels, Grays, and Sieverts. Even then, REMs are only for whole body irradiation. When dealing with products like Sr-90, Cs-137 , and especially I-131, you have to go with the absorbed dose for the affected biological region (in the case of I-131, that's the thyroid). This lack of explanation, or even an attempt at making things "easier" to digest is what leads to so much misinformation concerning all things nuclear.

2) Post some goddamned figures! Sure, radiation that is higher than background levels has been detected, but what kind of readings are we talking about here. How many becquerels, grays, or sieverts?

Now, having actually found the numbers on my own. 1,015 mSv/hr is what the highest level of radiation detected outside of the plant. That's about what the average person would take on in a year of limited exposure (we're not even talking about health care workers, frequent flyers, etc) that's 0.001015 Sv. Now, at 1.0 Sv, you don't even have any major issues. A little fatigue, and lowered white blood cell production for a short time. So, in short, there would have to be a thousand-fold increase in the amount of radiation released from the Fukushima plant to even come close to causing some sort of worry.

It's Three Mile Island all over again. Unfounded worries due to lack of understanding.