Explosion, Radiation Leak at Japanese Nuclear Plant Facing Possible Meltdown
- Posted on March 12, 2011 at 4:40am by
Meredith Jessup
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SENDAI, Japan (AP/The Blaze) – An explosion at a Japanese nuclear power station that tore down the walls of one building Saturday as smoke poured out and Japanese officials said they feared the reactor could melt down following the failure of its cooling system in a powerful earthquake and tsunami. The International Atomic Energy Agency is said to be “urgently” seeking information on the incident, fearing a potential nuclear catastrophe may be imminent.
It was not clear if the damaged building housed the plant’s nuclear reactor. Tokyo Power Electric Co., the utility that runs the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, said four workers were injured. Radiation has reportedly leaked from the explosion location. “We are looking into the cause and the situation and we’ll make that public when we have further information,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.
Residents in the surrounding areas have been ordered to stay indoors and the government is contemplating expanding its evacuation zone.
Footage on Japanese TV showed that the walls of one building had crumbled, leaving only a skeletal metal frame standing. Puffs of smoke were spewing out of the plant. Officials said they feared the reactor could melt down following the failure of its cooling system in a powerful earthquake and tsunami.
“We are now trying to analyze what is behind the explosion,” said government spokesman Yukio Edano, stressing that people should quickly evacuate a six-mile (10-kilometer) radius. “We ask everyone to take action to secure safety.”
The trouble began at the plant‘s Unit 1 after Friday’s massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami it spawned knocked out power there. Pressure has been building up in the reactor — it’s now twice the normal level — and Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told reporters Saturday that it was venting small amounts of “radioactive vapors” to relieve the pressure.
The reactor in trouble has also already leaked radiation: Operators at the Fukushima 1 plant detected eight times the normal radiation levels outside the facility and 1,000 times normal inside the plant’s control room.
Japan launched a massive military rescue operation Saturday after a giant, quake-fed tsunami killed hundreds of people and turned the northeastern coast into a swampy wasteland.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said 50,000 troops would join rescue and recovery efforts following Friday’s 8.9-magnitude quake that unleashed one of the greatest disasters Japan has witnessed — a 23-foot tsunami that washed far inland over fields, smashing towns, airports and highways in its way.
The official death toll stood at 413, while 784 people were missing and 1,128 injured. In addition, police said between 200 and 300 bodies were found along the coast in Sendai, the biggest city in the area near the quake’s epicenter. An untold number of bodies were also believed to be buried in the rubble and debris. Rescue workers had yet to reach the hardest-hit areas.
Adding to the worries was the damage at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, where two reactors had lost cooling ability. Because of the overheating, a meltdown was possible at one of the reactors, said Ryohei Shiomi, an official with Japan’s nuclear safety commission.
But even if there was a meltdown, it wouldn’t affect people outside a six-mile radius, he said. Most of the 51,000 residents living within the danger area had been evacuated, he said.
More than 215,000 people were living in 1,350 temporary shelters in five prefectures, or states, the national police agency said. Since the quake, more than 1 million households have not had water, mostly concentrated in northeast.
“Most of houses along the coastline were washed away, and fire broke out there,” he said after inspecting the quake area in a helicopter. “I realized the extremely serious damage the tsunami caused.”
The region continued to be jolted by tremors, even 24 hours later.
More than 125 aftershocks have occurred, many of them above magnitude 6.0, which even alone would be considered strong.
Technologically advanced Japan is well prepared for quakes and its buildings can withstand strong jolts, even a temblor like Friday’s, which was the strongest the country has experienced since official records started in the late 1800s. What was beyond human control was the killer tsunami that followed.
It swept inland about six miles in some areas, swallowing boats, homes, cars, trees and even small airplanes.
“The tsunami was unbelievably fast,” said Koichi Takairin, a 34-year-old truck driver who was inside his sturdy four-ton rig when the wave hit the port town of Sendai.
“Smaller cars were being swept around me,” he said. All I could do was sit in my truck.”
His rig ruined, he joined the steady flow of survivors who walked along the road away from the sea and back into the city on Saturday. Smoke from at least one large fire could be seen in the distance.
Smashed cars and small airplanes were jumbled up against buildings near the local airport, several miles from the shore. Felled trees and wooden debris lay everywhere as rescue workers coasted on boats through murky waters around flooded structures, nosing their way through a sea of debris.
Basic commodities were at a premium. Hundreds lined up outside of supermarkets, and gas stations were swamped with cars. The situation was similar in scores of other towns and cities along the 1,300-mile-long eastern coastline hit by the tsunami.
Also Saturday, operators at the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s Unit 1 tried had to tamp down heat and pressure inside one of the reactors after the quake cut off electricity to the site and disabled emergency generators, knocking out the main cooling system. Authorities detected eight times the normal radiation levels outside the facility and 1,000 times normal inside Unit 1′s control room.
The Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the six-reactor Daiichi site in northeastern Japan, said it had also lost cooling ability at a second reactor there and three units at its nearby Fukushima Daini site.
The government declared state of emergency at all those units.
Japan‘s nuclear safety agency said the situation was most dire at Fukushima Daiichi’s Unit 1, where pressure had risen to twice what is consider the normal level. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement that diesel generators that normally would have kept cooling systems running at Fukushima Daiichi had been disabled by tsunami flooding.
Japan gets about 30 percent of its electricity from nuclear power plants. Authorities warned citizens to be prepared for severe power cuts. More than 1 million households across Japan, mostly in the northeast, still didn’t have access to water.
In Sendai, as in many areas of the northeast, cell phone service was down, making it difficult for people to communicate with loved ones.
“I’m waiting for my son to come here. But I cannot tell him he should come over here because mobile phones aren’t working,” a woman in her 70s told Japanese TV at a shelter in the town of Rikuzentakada, which appeared to be largely destroyed by the tsunami.
“My husband is missing,” she said. “Tsunami water was rising to my knees, and I told him I would go first. He is not here yet.”
On Friday, the entire Pacific was put on alert — including coastal areas of South America, Canada and Alaska — but waves were not as bad as expected.
President Barack Obama pledged U.S. assistance following what he called a potentially “catastrophic” disaster. He said one U.S. aircraft carrier was already in Japan and a second was on its way. A U.S. ship was also heading to the Marianas Islands to assist as needed, he said.
Most trains in Tokyo started running again Saturday after the city had been brought to a near standstill the day before. Tens of thousands of people had been stranded with the rail network down, jamming the streets with cars, buses and trucks trying to get out of the city.
The city set up 33 shelters in city hall, on university campuses and in government offices, but many spent Friday night at 24-hour cafes, hotels and offices.
Japan’s worst previous quake was a magnitude 8.3 temblor in Kanto that killed 143,000 people in 1923, according to the USGS. A magnitude 7.2 quake in Kobe killed 6,400 people in 1995.
Japan lies on the “Ring of Fire” — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching around the Pacific where about 90 percent of the world’s quakes occur, including the one that triggered the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people in 12 countries. A magnitude-8.8 quake that shook central Chile in February 2010 also generated a tsunami and killed 524 people.
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Comments (131)
goldmankc
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:53amas a side note:
Report Post »the japanese tradegy bumps the shenanigans in wisconsin off the front burner
Homebrewer
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:01pmYou’re right, Goldmankc. These Leftist goons in Wisconsin and everywhere had better just STHU and be thankful they are safe and still have their jobs. Perhaps they’ll think of others for a change.
Report Post »TruthDarts
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:40pm@ GOLDMANKC…
You mean those self-absorbed-not-going-to-compromise-one-cent-even-if-state-is-bankrupt-because-I’m-in-a-union-&-leadership-is-paying-me-to-be-here-while-I-call-in-sick-@-work shee-ople???
never to be fired
no contributions to healthcare plan
guaranteed a position despite performance
sit & pick nose & still get paid
automatic salary increases (even if employer is broke)
….sheesh
these people can’t have any mirrors in their home….
UNIONS BREED MEDIOCRITY…more is the pity.
Report Post »goldmankc
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:51amfor those who get sickened by radiation, i pray to a merciful god, a swift end.
Report Post »and for those who survive, strength.
these are trying times for humans,
knowing the media and governments’ need to keep secrets, i’m sure the power plant issues are far worse than we know. good luck japan
poverty.sucks
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:49amWhat if a major earthquake hits Iran? What are the odds of that happening?
Report Post »BehindBlueEyes
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:47amI’m with GONZO. If anyone deserves to be radiated it would be the North Koreans.
Report Post »endgamer
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:45amAny clamor over Haarp weapons or underground nukes triggering this earthquake? Are whirlpools any indication of underground explosions? Looks to me like the Nuke plants (explosions) were “targeted” to advance the Green Agenda. Another convenient “event”. It’s amazing how these “events” directly affect the advancement of the Green Globalist Agenda. Just a thought for investigation…
Report Post »emertz8413
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 7:01amI was thinking the same thing, “convenient” event, just as the oil spill was. I just don’t trust people anymore. Then again, it is Lent, and I should be focusing on trusting in the Lord more. Praying for the people of Japan.
Report Post »goldmankc
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 7:03amin light of conspiracy, if it were possible for harp to do this to japan, was it used on new zealand too? haiti? chile? are they practicing their aim?
Report Post »the patriot act allows the cancellation of elections in the case of a national emergency, 2012 is right around the corner. and “they” could blame it on the mayans.
( yeah i know, it‘s early and i’m doing the conspiracy math) heh heh
carbidetip
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 8:21amI’ve noticed whenever the sun burps a CME afterwards we get a big earthquake.
“March 9th ended with a powerful solar flare. Earth-orbiting satellites detected an X1.5-class explosion from behemoth sunspot 1166 around 2323 UT. A movie from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows a bright flash of UV radiation plus some material being hurled away from the blast site:”
http://www.spaceweather.com/
Report Post »dawg of gawd
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 9:07amYes, yes, of course! That must be it. And I suspect a cadre of black ops teachers from Wisconsin. They’ve proven themselves to be traitors already. Clearly they have the mindset of an energy terrorist. And I know, (don’t ask me how *wink*) that bypassing security mechanisms and gaining access to the core is eeeaaazzzy. and anyone with Google can learn how to disable and yes even destabilize the core, which leads to exactly this. Oh, if only had a chalkboard, I would show you, yes I would. But fear not, god will reveal his hand in this communist plot soon enough. In fact, I can hear the geese now.
Report Post »Hawke17
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 10:46amdo you really think that? cause to me it sounds like you have gone over the edge. wow
Report Post »islandlady
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:45amMy family is praying as well for Japan. Will it get to Hawaii?
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:42amAnyone want to tighten the buildging codes in U.S.? Maybe New Madrid, along the Mississippi River? And, maybe tighter standards for auxiliary power at nuclear plants? A good 48-hours of cooling water after a trip and continuation of cooling water circulation at waste pools sounds pretty important to me.
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:41ampraying for those involved in this..
that being said I would STILL have a nuke energy plant built in my back tard if it means cleaner safer energy.. I have NO problems with it at all
Report Post »NickDeringer
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:39amIt’s sad that the only country ever to suffer a nuclear attack in time of war is now the only country to experience a nuclear meltdown.
Report Post »POIPNE
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 9:09amThe former Soviet Union also had at least one nuclear accident (Chernoblyl-April 26, 1986) that we know of (there may have been more). The resultant cloud of radioactive dust drifted over a good share of northern Europe and the U.S.S.R. Those of us stationed in Berlin at the time were warned not to eat locally produced fruit, veggies and meat due to possible contamination. Milk was “reconstituted’ powdered stuff shipped in from the States. We even went so far as to remove sandboxes from playgrounds as it was felt the sand could hold contamination. It was recommended that babies and pregnant mothers stay indoors as much as possible. All in all, it was pretty scary. The fallout spread both east and west from the site regardless of prevailing winds.
It should be kept in mind that a good share of Japan’s electricity is nuclear and has been for many years. Since earthquakes are a common occurrence there, it says a lot about how well their nuclear plants are constructed as this is the first major problem they have experienced. 8.9 magnitude quakes are not the norm. As far as what the long-term results of this disaster will be, only time will tell. In the grand scheme of things, nuclear power has still proven to be one of the cleanest, safest alternatives throughout its history.
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:38amNevertheless, this is NOT a Chernobyl-type situation!
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:37amGonzo, your head thought one thing and your hands typed another? Did you mean northwest?
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:36amSure looks like a hydrogen explosion to me; caused by exposed core?
Report Post »veryconservative
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:34amI know this is a bad time to say this but we are in the beginnings of birth pains. Please if you dont know the LORD ask him in your heart today. Read the bible it is being fulfilled as we speak. What are people going to do when is rains hail from heaven that weighs 100 lbs or when demons and beasts are released from hell larger than humans and they attack you and when one third of all trees and grass are burnt up and when all water will be wormwood and blood . These are just a few of GODS judgements he will not be mocked. Also to answer my own question the people will curse him thats what they will do.Well how much more does he have to show people before they wake up? !!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!
ChellesVikes82
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 7:27amI think now was the perfect time to bring up the Lord. I agree w/you. My husband & I talk about this on a daily basis sometimes multiple times day. I’m glad you said what you felt you needed and I hope you reached someone. Just glad to see PC hasn’t silenced everyone!
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 9:26amI could not agree more. We have long entered into the time of Sorrows. This is getting worse. Look at graphs at USGS for quakes since 2001-2009, they are off the charts and climbing. 2010 is not graphed yet. You see a basic flat line from the 70′s to 2000. Then all hell breaks loose. You can feel it internally.
Before the big quake in 2004 and I a very bad premonition that something really big was going to happen in the world. On the tuesday of that week I told my wife somethings not right, somethings going to happen. By that weekend Christmas day I had been relieved of the distress and heard the news as we all did. I had my answer.
Same with this thing here, bad vibes for the past two weeks this time.
A friend told me yesterday outloud before I had even mentioned this story to him, that “YOU can feel it” and he is not religious.
Jesus said that these things will cause men great distress and they will loose heart and some will fall over dead.
We are constantly being sent messages in this form some are hearing loud and clear. Some are still going whatever.
I heard an interview on our local Socal news of some stupid giggly woman and her family were going down to see the waves from this disaster. Seemed that she didn’t even realize the Horror those very waves inflicted on an entire nation. Where is peoples humanity? Another sign of the times indeed.
Get ready folks because this is getting worse. 2010 was the worst on record for disasters and 2011 is just getting started. Australia, flooded, New Zealand destroyed city of Christchurch…(meaning), Mideast in turmoil, Europe in distress, America on the brink of financial shutdown and collapse. These are not normal times that have in previous years been unreported. I actually heard that from someone.
Report Post »Rich HOffman
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:18amI feel incredibly bad for Japan and it’s people. A tragedy like this puts things in perspective. I hope they do not have to endure a nuclear tragedy on top of everything else.
Report Post »OhSuzieQ
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 8:58amAmen!!
Report Post »veryconservative
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:16amMy family is praying for Japan !!!! !!!!!!
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:16amSo the Canadians get radiated? How about praying for it to head Northeast and landing in North Korea.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:14amSo much fro expanding nuclear energy in the U.S. Even though this reactor is running on 40 year old technology and the new stuff is much safer, this will keep the greenies pushing for ineffective wind farms instead of nuclear energy. Pray for Japan.
Report Post »dawg of gawd
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 9:14amGosh, so sorry, Gonzo. I guess you gotta take what you get. You get to strip hardworking middle class workers of their rights in Wisconsin, and we get to put an end to the nuclear power industry in America.
What’s that line from the old Dave Mason song? “You shoudn’t have took more than you gave.”
heh heh heh
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 4:36pmI’ve got a Capitol Idea–why not install a wind farm on The Mall, just outside the Capitol? And, maybe an offspring wind farm outside the White House? Voila, NO MORE ENERGY PROBLEMS! With all the hot air Fancy Nancy expelled last year, the energy produced should pay for FREE HEALTH CARE for EONS!
Report Post »WestOfThePecos
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:08amI don’t how we can help them very much with this issue. We haven’t built a plant in 40 years. They have much more experience than we do. The French are the next most experience in nuclear plants.
Report Post »TulsaYeeHaw
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:00amI trust the Lord to lead them thru this. I hope he ain’t teaching us a lesson right now.
Report Post »Dianne93101
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 5:55amleaders of countries almost always downplay disasters but I hope this one is being truthful in his assessment in that it won’t spread further than the 6 mi radius.
Praying for Japan
Report Post »Hammer Inc.
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 5:34amI pray everything will be ok for them, this was one epic quake, and surely don’t need this on top of it. Well, i guess left will use this as ammunition for more “ green energy ” crap , just wait and see…..never let a good crisis go to waste. Pray for the people who have lost family members, jobs, homes etc….What a horrible situation they have.
Report Post »realindependent
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:16amGreen energy crap? really? How many nuclear plants do we have in earth quake ares in the U.S.?
Drill here drill now? Do you know we have 3 % of the worlds oil supply and use 35% of it?
So our options are, Have a nuclear plant meltdown one day? plus we still dont have a proper way to get rid of waste from these plants.
Or keep buying oil from these Arab countries and be at the begging call of the saudi princes. BTW do you think that if BP and Exxon Mobil drill more oil here that the new oil they drill stays here? or does it go on the international markets to the highest bidder? Yeah i thought so.
So our only option i see is too spend some money on getting off these silly 20th century power supplies. If we had been putting enough money towards this problem in the 20th century we might be closer today. instead you let oil companies tell you the lie that oil should cost this much. speculators.
Its time to get off oil and get green. not for “green” climate change which obviuosly everyone on this site doesnt believe exists, but for our own independence and safety…
Of course this is my opinion and you know what they say about those. :}>
Report Post »gulfstream41
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 7:46amHammer: Everything is open to discussion. Our President was talking two days ago about “ the biggest ecological disaster ever in the Gulf ” but if you go to “ Bon Appetit ” magazine ( February 2011 ) they comment about the new golden age of oysters in this country as independent growers are raising varities in the east coast,western coast and the gulf coast ( and yes, they are safe to eat ).
Report Post »So, what are the consequences of “ the disaster ”.. I do not know..
t00nces2
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 8:00amRealIndependent… The facts don’t seem to support your claim http://www.heatingoil.com/blog/report-of-24-trillion-worth-of-us-oil-gas-reserves-deserves-closer-scrutiny217/ . The US has some of the most massive deposits of oil on the face of the Earth (that we know of so far). As I understand it, we have enough oil to power our country for over 2,000 years.
Drill here, drill now!
Report Post »dawg of gawd
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 9:17amrealindependent . . .don’t go on an on with your facts and common sense. Folks ’round here don’t cotton to that sort of stuff.
You see, just yesterday, as the reactors burned and hissed inside, this here board was awash in experts touting the safety of containment technology. “See! It proves that nuclear tech is safe! Japan’s worst earthquake and look! No leaks!”
Heck, even the all-knowing overlords at Fox were there to set our minds at ease:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201103110043
Thank god for the experts.
Report Post »Enuff Zenuff
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:19pm.
@realindependent
Ten years before “Green Energy” makes financial sense, the market will already be investing in it – hoping to reap huge rewards. If it made any sense at all without taxpayer subsidies, then the government wouldn’t need to steal my tax dollars to “invest” in it because you – with your strong belief in it (and others like you) – would have already invested in it.
The free market will make whatever the people need if we would just allow it to operate free from manipulators like AlGore and other leftist scaremongers. As the scarcity of oil drives the price up, no doubt that wind and even solar energy might someday make sense, but they do not yet without the artificiality of gov’t subsidies. I object to my dollars being stolen to “invest” in something that the free market doesn’t consider worthy of investing in. There’s no way that I will ever trust some faceless bureaucrats in Washington DC to know better how to spend MY money than the free market – which is composed of millions of intelligent, productive people making risky decisions with THEIR OWN MONEY!
Report Post »justice
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 5:02amPray for all of the Country. And our Service men and women over there too!
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 4:58amThe video doesn’t match with the story, but maybe there isn’t any video of the crumbled wall and smoke. This is all quite unnerving, but I hope that this accident doesn’t stop the building of nuclear power plants in the USA. We really need them and I would think that they wouldn’t be built on known fault lines.
Report Post »lillianrose
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 7:01amI don’t like the idea of nuclear power plants here, this is a good example why, in addition, the possibility that the plants here could come under ememy attack. I would rather support dams on rivers, the use of coal and drilling here for oil.
Report Post »Uncle Crusty
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 9:37amCold Fusion is the answer – but it has not been perfected yet. There would be no possibility of a meltdown with that technology, nor could it be used as a weapon.
Report Post »NukeHaze
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 3:20pmFusion, not cold fusion (theoretical and so far a hoax…we have more potential of creating a true Philadelphia Experiment than cold fusion), is the answer. Unfortunately, there are no fusion reactors since the science is not there to be able to control a sustained fusion reaction. With the worst case catastrophe regarding fusion, you end up with a dissipating event instead of a meltdown that has radiation lasting hundreds of thousands of years afterwards. Fusion would, theoretically have no such lingering after effects.
Report Post »Roozter
Posted on March 13, 2011 at 12:27am@Diane “…I hope that this accident doesn’t stop the building of nuclear power plants in the USA. We really need them and I would think that they wouldn’t be built on known fault lines.”
Too late! We already have numerous nuclear plants on fault lines…think San Andreas fault in CA & New Madrid fault near NY. Thirteen known fault lines in the Puget Sound area of WA state did not stop construction or operation of Satsop in Longview. The Hanford plant in Eastern WA, now storing radioactive material, is not far from the location of a prior 7.0 quake.
Report Post »U.S plants are over 40 years old, many not well maintained, & regulation is a joke. Most are not retrofitted or even have fire regulations inforced. So far, we have been lucky.
GONESURFING
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 4:53amThis doesn’t look good at all
Report Post »Pray
goatkid
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 8:31am@ gone surfing
Report Post »No it doesn’t.I can’t believe that only people within 6 miles of the nuclear plant are the only ones in danger. What about the wind? I imagine that depending on how bad it really is, Hawaii, and even the west coast of the U.S. could get the radiation from this. Our best bet, is to pray. God is the only one who can help with this.
kryptonite
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 9:05amGoatkid,
Report Post »You are absolutely right. The Chernobyl effect was huge, and I fear this one is too close to home.
Jack007
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 9:14amYes indeed do pray but first Run Forest Run!
Report Post »UPSETVET
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:27pmThe Japanese people are resilient and auto-reliant. Remember, these are the same people that survived two atomic bombs and a devastated infrastucture and economy during WWII . They didn’t sit around and wait for others to help but pulled themselves up and became one of the top manufacturers and exporters in the world.
Japan has always been one of the first countries to come to the aid of others who have suffered from natural or man made desasters. Hopefully the world will respond accordingly and help Japan get back on it’s feet as soon as possible.My heart goes out to the Japanese people and I wish them the best in the recovery of their country.God bless Japan in it’s moment of great need.
Report Post »1TrueOne55
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:51pmAny wind born effects will be minor compared to being close to the plants themselves, even Three Mile Island was not that bad. But because of the “abundance of caution” mentallity to get people out of the area they had to exaggerate the possibilities.
Report Post »thegrassroots
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 4:51amGod Have Mercy …….
Report Post »felina g
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:02amWake-up call. What is important ?
Report Post »NickDeringer
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:37amRIP American Nuclear Power Industry.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 7:01amChernoble may have just occured once again, and for God sake I pray to the Almighty that it has not and will not if there is still time…if so, then may mercy be shown unto the people there; it still is amazing how the UN in a time of crisis via the IAEA wants information on things instead of helping deal with the matter.
Report Post »Uncle Crusty
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 7:22amDear God in Heaven, I pray for the Jananese and their safety. I sure hope we don’t get a massive radiation cloud from all of this. But it is your will as to what happens to the world, we are not very good stewards these days, please forgive us for turning our backs on you. Amen.
Report Post »Enuff Zenuff
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 8:07am.
Report Post »@NickDeringer
My thoughts exactly – we were on the verge of re-awakening the possibility of nuclear energy for the US, and then this happens. God help us if we‘re stuck with ’solar and wind’ power as the only ones Obama wil approve investing in. My heart goes out to the Japanese for all the challenges they are having to face at once, but I am confident their society has the strength and skills to handle this (unlike the government of Haiti or the City government of New Orleans).
foxfires
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 8:50amGlenn Beck has discovered that if you take celebrity gossip, adorable kitten videos, posts from unpaid bloggers and news reports from other publications, array them on your website and add a right-wing soundtrack, a handful of people will come.
What is aggregation? Aggregation amounts to taking words written by other people, packaging them on your own website and harvesting revenue that might otherwise be directed to the originators of the material.
Glenn is pirating everyone else’s work, which is basically stealing. That makes Glenn a thief and a hypocrite for his holier than thou attitude.
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 9:00amThis is why I have always been against nuclear power. I cringed when I heard O’bum call the tragedy in Japan a “potentially catastrophic disaster”. Who writes that non-leader’s speeches, anyway? Can’t he stop reading like an automaton for once? My heart goes out to the Japanese people. They have showed great courage and calm in the midst of this tragic event.
P.S.: For those who don’t know, O’boom wants Chile, a seismic country, to implement a nuclear energy program. It’s the quid pro quo for his help during the mine explosion last year. Hussein is up to no good in that region.
BTW, Chile is on record for having the largest Palestinian community outside of Israel, and it has been providing safe-haven for Palestinian refugees (Sunni Muslims) for several years now. There’s an interesting connection for Christians to look into. http://runningfrombabylonll.blogspot.com/2010/03/chilean-earthquake-and-its-palestinian.html
Report Post »staggerlee32
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 9:25amBREAKING NEWS
Massive Explosion at Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, Core Meltdown Occurring: Scientists
The explosion tore down the walls of a unit within the Fukushima power plant Saturday as a large plume of smoke poured out. Several workers were reported injured, and Japanese officials said a reactor core meltdown was likely to occur.
Independent scientists have since confirmed that, based on the available evidence, reactor core meltdown must be occurring.
The pressure in the reactor had built up to more than twice the normal level, after the shutdown of cooling systems caused by the Sendai Mega Quake and its ensuing Tsunami. The Plant is now venting “radioactive vapors,” Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said in a statement. Radioactive iodine and caesium has been detected outside the No. 1 one reactor of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi No. 1 plant, the agency said, adding that the uranium fuel rods inside the reactor may have begun melting.
Radioactive steam has been allowed to escape from a number of the reactors at the two Fukushima plants in order to relieve the huge pressure that has built up inside the cores.
Tens of thousands of people living within the 20-km radius of the No. 1 plant and 10-km radius of No.2 plant have now been evacuated.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Prime Minister has declared a state of emergency at the two Fukushima nuclear power plants.
As many as 300 people have received varying degrees of radiation, including 60 students at high school in Fukushima located about 3.5km from Plant No. 1, who were waiting to be evacuated.
The reactor core meltdown is feared to be “much worse” than the Three-Mile Island incident.
http://feww.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/meltdown-confirmed-at-fukushima-nuke-power-reactors/
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 10:25amSend the super potus over there to stop it…just like he did with the gulf oil leak….
Reality…I’m praying for our alies in Japan.
Report Post »Caffeinated Texan
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 11:28amYou have it right, Nick. I am a big supporter of nuclear energy, but have always thought it was stupid to put the plants near active fault lines. It’s a problem of logistics, though. If you build them in the middle of the desert, where they are safe from most natural disasters, there isn’t enough water for cooling. If you build them near water sources, invariably, the potential for natural disasters increases.
Still, it is the cleanest source of power possible today and for the forseeable future. I don’t believe in man made climate change, but, unfortunately the idiots who will be deciding how and if we get our electricity in the future do. So, we need to find “cleaner” solutions, and, for the time being, nuclear is the best option.
Report Post »watchmany2k
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 11:30amOK, I give. 9-11, 7-11, 3-11. Enough with the elevens already !
I high hosey, that we enlist the Black Robe Regiment and on 4-11 next month we have a National Day of prayer and attonement !
It can’t hurt, and very well may help. I grant you that some of the 11 events are man created, however I do not find it a coincidence that this Japan disaster occured on the 11th. To me it reads, beware, be warned, and be ready.
I can think of no better way to be ready than the body of Christ on earth Unified in a day of prayer. 4-11 seems appropriate
Report Post »TruthDarts
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 11:53amIf I had money to invest it would be in Japanese YEN…it will rise quickly as they buy on money to rebuild (plus it will help them)
AND
invest in BLOOM BOX (as invented to augment power source).
Gotta love Obozo pledging (U.S.A. citizens’) money to help Japan….what money, Obozo?
You have spent all our money into perpetuity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5 billion a day JUST IN INTEREST ON THE DEBT!!!!!!!!!!!!
So he closes down exploration or drilling of oil for U.S.A. companies…great move doom-coff…or is it?
His plan MUST be destruction of U.S.A…NOTHING else fits.
Report Post »thepatriotdave
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 5:00pmPray hard for our Japanese friends.
A contributor sent this to me earlier today and it makes you sit back and say “yeah, I was thinking the same thing”. Here it is…
“There is something creepy about the Unions holding their largest protest in Madison while our Japanese friends are going through hell on earth”.
http://tinyurl.com/4rv8xsm
Report Post »Enuff Zenuff
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 5:15pm.
@FOXFIRES
You’re not only a troll; you’re a despicable troll for plagiarizing almost word-for-word someone else’s article in which the New York Times accused the Huffington Post of “aggregation”.
What? You think we don‘t read your leftwing sites just to know what you’re up to?
You are damned by your own words! You quoted their definition of aggregation as, “Aggregation amounts to taking words written by other people, packaging them on your own website and harvesting revenue that might otherwise be directed to the originators of the material.”
Isn’t that exactly what YOU just did?
You then went on to accuse, “Glenn is pirating everyone else’s work, which is basically stealing. That makes Glenn a thief and a hypocrite for his holier than thou attitude.”
Isn’t that exactly what YOU just did?
WAKE UP man! You aren’t describing Glenn; you are describing YOURSELF!
The only people I know who do that sort of thing are three-year olds and leftists. I know, I’m being redundant. Only an immature three-year-old wouldn’t be able to see that you were accusing others of the very thing you were doing…
That’s how we recognize you trolls – You all do it. It’s so easily recognizable that there is a name for your pattern of behavior called “Projection”. Look it up. Learning to recognize when you are doing it is the first step in your recovery.
You wonder why conservatives hold liberals in such contempt? – Easy – It‘s because you hold yourselves in such contempt that you cannot even come up with an original thought that would actually ’progress’ mankind. You try to make everyone else miserable rather than deal with your own faults.
No man-made document in history has done more to actually “progress” mankind than the founding documents of the United States of America, yet you trash those while promoting your so-called “Progressive” agenda that is truly “Regressive” in every sense. Your parasitic ideas are as old as mankind and represent everything we need to grow out of… Progressives’ only contribution to the conversation is to steal words like “Progressive” to re-package their old ideas in a lame attempt to make them appear new… exactly the way you re-packaged the NYT/HuffPo article.
Why do you refuse to use your God-given talents to better the world – preferring instead to be a leech on the rest of us? What you consider to be “thoughts” in your head are not thoughts. They are “feelings”. Until you learn to distinguish the difference, you will remain a prisoner of your feelings – blaming others for your mental laziness (thoughts take work, feelings are just there). There’s nothing wrong with feelings, they can serve us well when we want to build relationships, but they steer us wrong when there is tough work to be done.
Everyone reading this will now remember the name “FOXFIRES” as someone completely without honor and unworthy of attention. No doubt your feelings are telling you to change your name and return to play your childish games because at the moment you’re still a mental baby – no matter what age your body may be, but resist that thought. If you want to have a chance at making a difference in the world, your next posting here will be to apologize to TheBlaze community for plagiarizing and for accusing Beck of something that you were in fact guilty of.
Really, if you cannot apologize, then you do not yet belong here with the grown-ups who are seeking to make a positive difference in the world. Run along now and go play with the other children your own mental age at HuffPo, NYT, MSNBC, etc. but at the same time, just start noticing how every time you feel defensive, you automatically want to blame others rather than deal with your own faults.
Begin to take responsibility for your own faults and pretty soon you too will grow sick & tired of the left’s whining, lying, mooching and pirating. When you’re ready to be responsible for yourself, you’ll be welcomed back to TheBlaze.
I’m going to say something here that you will not be able to understand because your feelings will tell you in every fiber of your being that I am lying… but the truth is that I love you. I love you more than you love yourself because I am being more of a stand for your integrity than you have ever been. I’m unwilling to let you keep lying without calling you out for it because I know you are better than that.
Go on now. I know you’re tempted to leave one last posting to burn me even though in your heart of hearts you know that apologizing would actually help you more than burning me ever could. Just notice how your ‘feelings’ want to blame me for YOUR plagiarism. If you’re any kind of a man, you’ll be apologize and then be silent and give some serious thought to what I’ve said… or you can keep plagiarizing others, leaving hateful posts, and avoiding the experience of having an original thought that wasn’t given to you by your “feelings”. I know that your deepest feeling is that you’d like to help others, but just notice that you cannot help others until you’ve first learned how to help yourself – so start there.
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