Update: Radiation Around Japan Nuke Plant DECREASES After Explosion
- Posted on March 12, 2011 at 11:40am by
Scott Baker
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IWAKI, Japan (AP) – An explosion shattered a building housing a nuclear reactor Saturday, amid fears of a meltdown, while across wide swaths of northeastern Japan officials searched for thousands of people missing more than a day after a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Residents sleep in a community center after being evacuated from areas surrounding the Fukushima nuclear facilities following Friday's massive 8.9 earthquake, in Iwaki city, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, Saturday, March 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)
The confirmed death toll from Friday’s twin disasters was 574, but the government’s chief spokesman said it could exceed 1,000. Devastation stretched hundreds of miles (kilometers) along the coast, where thousands of hungry survivors huddled in darkened emergency centers cut off from rescuers and aid.
The scale of destruction was not yet known, but there were grim signs that the death toll could soar. One report said four whole trains had disappeared Friday and still not been located. Another said 9,500 people in one coastal town were unaccounted for and that at least 200 bodies had washed ashore elsewhere.
Atsushi Ito, an official in Miyagi prefecture, among the worst hit states, could not confirm those figures, noting that with so little access to the area, thousands of people in scores of town could not be contacted or accounted for.
“Our estimates based on reported cases alone suggest that more than 1,000 people have lost their lives in the disaster,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said. “Unfortunately, the actual damage could far exceed that number considering the difficulty assessing the full extent of damage.”
Among the most worrying developments was the possible meltdown of a nuclear reactor near the quake’s epicenter. Government spokesman Yukio Edano said an explosion caused by vented hydrogen gas destroyed the exterior walls of the building where the reactor is, but not the actual metal housing enveloping the reactor.
Edano said the radiation around the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant had not risen after the blast, but had in fact decreased. He did not say why that was so.
The explosion was caused by hydrogen interacting with oxygen outside the reactor. The hydrogen was formed when the superheated fuel rods came in contact with water being poured over it to prevent a meltdown.
“They are working furiously to find a solution to cool the core, and this afternoon in Europe we heard that they have begun to inject sea water into the core,” said Mark Hibbs, a senior associate at the Nuclear Policy Program for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “That is an indication of how serious the problem is and how the Japanese had to resort to unusual and improvised solutions to cool the reactor core.”
Officials have not given specific radiation readings for the area, though they said they were elevated before the blast: At one point, the plant was releasing each hour the amount of radiation a person normally absorbs from the environment each year.
Virtually any increase in ambient radiation can raise long-term cancer rates, and authorities were planning to distribute iodine to residents in the area, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iodine can be taken prevent the absorption of radiation by the thyroid.
The pressure in the reactor was also decreasing after the blast, according to Edano.
The explosion was preceded by puff of white smoke that gathered intensity until it became a huge cloud enveloping the entire facility, located in Fukushima, 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Iwaki. After the explosion, the walls of the building crumbled, leaving only a skeletal metal frame.
Tokyo Power Electric Co., the utility that runs the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, said four workers suffered fractures and bruises and were being treated at a hospital.
The trouble began at the plant’s Unit 1 after the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami it spawned knocked out power there, depriving it of its cooling system.
Power was knocked out by the quake in large areas of Japan, which gets about 30 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. In response, Japan has requested increased energy supplies from Russia, Russia’s RIA Novosti agency reported.
The concerns about a radiation leak at the nuclear power plant overshadowed the massive tragedy laid out along a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of the coastline where scores of villages, towns and cities were battered by the tsunami, packing 23-feet (7-meter) high waves.
It swept inland about six miles (10 kilometers) in some areas, swallowing boats, homes, cars, trees and everything else.
“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.
Smashed cars and small airplanes were jumbled up against buildings near the local airport, several miles (kilometers) 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.
According to official figures, 586 people are missing and 1,105 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.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said 50,000 troops joined rescue and recovery efforts, aided by boats and helicopters. Dozens of countries also offered help.
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.
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. Some 4 million buildings were without power.
About 24 percent of electricity in Japan is produced by 55 nuclear power units in 17 plants and some were in trouble after the quake.
Japan declared states of emergency at two power plants after their units lost cooling ability.
Although the government spokesman played down fears of radiation leak, the Japanese nuclear agency spokesman Shinji Kinjo acknowledged there were still fears of a meltdown.
A “meltdown” is not a technical term. Rather, it is an informal way of referring to a very serious collapse of a power plant’s systems and its ability to manage temperatures.
Yaroslov Shtrombakh, a Russian nuclear expert, said a Chernobyl-style meltdown was unlikely.
“It’s not a fast reaction like at Chernobyl,” he said. “I think that everything will be contained within the grounds, and there will be no big catastrophe.”
In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded and caught fire, sending a cloud of radiation over much of Europe. That reactor—unlike the Fukushima one—was not housed in a sealed container, so there was no way to contain the radiation once the reactor exploded.
The reactor in trouble has already leaked some radiation: Before the explosion, operators had detected eight times the normal radiation levels outside the facility and 1,000 times normal inside Unit 1′s control room.
An evacuation area around the plant was expanded to a radius of 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the six miles (10 kilometers) before. People in the expanded area were advised to leave quickly; 51,000 residents were previously evacuated.
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“Everyone wants to get out of the town. But the roads are terrible,” said Reiko Takagi, a middle-aged woman, standing outside a taxi company. “It is too dangerous to go anywhere. But we are afraid that winds may change and bring radiation toward us.”
The transport ministry said all highways from Tokyo leading to quake-hit areas were closed, except for emergency vehicles. Mobile communications were spotty and calls to the devastated areas were going unanswered.
Local TV stations broadcast footage of people lining up for water and food such as rice balls. In Fukushima, city officials were handing out bottled drinks, snacks and blankets. But there were large areas that were surrounded by water and were unreachable.
One hospital in Miyagi prefecture was seen surrounded by water. The staff had painted an SOS on its rooftop and were waving white flags.
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.
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 (102)
FEDupFRANK
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 3:14pmAdd your comments
Report Post »FEDupFRANK
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 3:05pmhow many dead from radiation?
Report Post »338lapua
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:47pmIf any people on earth are smart enough, motivated enough,and have the resources to contain and deal with this…it is the Japanese. Books will be written on 1)how these reactors were built and2) how these conditions are being dealt with. Nuke power is still the safest we know of, we should learn the lessons and move forward.
Report Post »Christian Kalgaard
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:42pmFor nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
Mark 13:8
Report Post »trueblueday
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:42pmTaken from a recent LA Times article via CNN:
Japan’s nuclear facilities have survived many earthquakes. But the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility, the world’s largest, was forced to close for two years in 2007 after being hit by an earthquake of greater force than the plant was designed to withstand. And Japan has a record of cover-ups when it comes to nuclear accidents. In 2007, the operators of the Shika plant acknowledged they had failed to report a 15-minute uncontrollable nuclear chain reaction eight years earlier. Another operator was forced to close 17 plants temporarily in 2003 after admitting it falsified safety inspection reports.
Only the Japan government knows the status. My relief will occur when all reactors in that area are stabilized and secured down.
Report Post »donh2
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:30pmThe expression on the gas mask face says it all…..Time to sing the MASURA song… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwFN6TRMTUk&feature=fvwrel
Report Post »glennisright.com
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:20pmI am very skeptical about thiis.
Report Post »Bushie
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:02pmIf they want to fix the problem all they need to do is, get wide eyed, ET looking Jessy Jackson to come there.
Report Post »countrygirl
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:58pmRadiation dropped? Sheer Providence.
Report Post »Bushie
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:52pmSheperd (the sarcastic idiot) Smith from Fox news stated yesterday that Japan has never seen devastation like this. Has he forgotten what we did to them during WW II
Report Post »Sharlene
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:28pmI hope this does not turn out to be anther Chernobyl. If my memory serves, the radiation from
Chernobyl covered a very large area. To this day, the area is uninhabitable and the people still suffer.
I live on the west coast, My worry is, the air currents from Japan carrying released radiation will make its way here. This is a real concern for all of us that live in Alaska, Canada, U.S., Mexico, Central and South America.
GOD HELP US ALL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chernobyl covered a very large area. To this day, the area and the people still suffer from that horrific disaster.
I live on the West Coast, I am concerned about the air currents coming from Japan.
Report Post »Non-sequitur
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:56pmFrom the current information given, this is far less catastrophic than Chernobyl was. Japanese workers are a lot more educated and able to deal with even this catastrophic problem. You shouldn’t worry. If you feel the need to pray, pray for the Japanese.
Report Post »staythecourse
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:28pmWatching the stories that come out of Japan…having seen the devastation in New Zealand … watching the floods through out the N.E. and the fires of Oklahoma… I was thinking —- How dare those union people compare themselves to people who suffer with inequalities and abuses throughout the world. How dare they compare themselves to the fights for liberty in dictatorships ! Just who the h*ll do they think they are. I am so tired of their whining. It is time they share the load with the rest of us. If they want a communist country, go down to south america or over to Russia….let them know what real suffering is all about.
My prayers go out to all in Japan, those still suffering in New Zealand, and to all those facing disaster, hunger and suffering around the world.
Report Post »EP46
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 5:14pm@STAYTHECOURSE
Report Post »Like you, my heart is broken for these people. The Japanese people are people of Honor. I could not help but think of the pictures of the protesters in Madison…or the riots where people here Steal and Loot. Compare the Character of the people and we see what is wrong with America.
nephewofdboone
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:07pmThis is a load of horse shtt. Reactor explosions DO NOT result in DECREASED radiation. BLAZE, stop lying.
Report Post »obama_binpharteen
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:16pmBlaze is not lying. radiation levels appeared to be falling after the explosion, the government nevertheless ordered an expanded evacuation of the area around the Daiichi plant, as well as a second facility where the cooling system had failed — BTW, I found this info on CNN.
Report Post »khandahar&jalalabad
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:21pmIt’s AP, but my gut tells me you’re right on th radiation.
Report Post »blackhawk56
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:58pmAmen DB. While probably not “Technically” lying, is at least very LAZY reporting. Just read this posting and then go read ANY other posting of Japan and you will see the same exact stock reporting about a 1/3 of the way down. And cesium does NOT drop off after a couple of hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has a half life of somewhere around 300 YEARS> PEople that lie like this should be publicly horse-whipped!!!!!!
Report Post »nephewofdboone
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:05pmHere’s the thing: Radiation doesn’t decrease after a plant explodes. This headline is a bald faced lie. Whoever put it out there is only trying to avoid widespread panic. There is a cloud of cesium and gamma radiation enshrouding this plant, and it‘s about to make it’s way across the Pacific. Watch the birds. When they start dropping out of the sky, it’s all over. It’s been nice being an American.
Report Post »We’ll all meet again
kafheytav
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:17pmWidespread bird (and fish) kills already noted, but I don‘t doubt for a moment we’re in for some shite. Will anyone dare to track the cloud as it travels the globe, if this is possible? BTW, what are your credentials regarding the functioning of a nuclear reactor? Just asking.
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 3:34pmI’m panicking. Thousands of dead birds fell from the sky in Arkansas, Louisiana and L.A. back in January.
All joking aside, I think you are right.
Report Post »obama_binpharteen
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:03pmIt’s sad, Japan is continually getting hit with after shocks and I mean bigguns. They just got hit
Report Post »by a 6.0 in the last few minutes, all the prayers of the World are needed.
southerngal
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:56pmdid that “author” “ expert” nitwit just say that the reactor released radioactive “iodine”. what the? maybe we need a better finger pointer to show us the way. oh yea, please buy his book as soon as the plant goes supernova
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:49pmThe whole thing is so apocalyptic. It‘s not like they didn’t prepare or had shotty construction like in Haitti. They really had done everything they could do and still got smashed. Still no reports of looting or violence. I hope Americans would act like the Japanese are in a similar situation but, I doubt it. My prayers are with you Japan.
Report Post »beckisnuts
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:02pmThe Japanese are civilized people, unlike certain elements of American society. In the USA, fights even break out at Hip Hop Award ceremonies. Can you imagine what would happen after a major quake?
Report Post »APatriotFirst
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 3:53pmNo looting in Japan is because they have something lacking in most people here in US…….Honor
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:45pmAre they looking for people to go into the reactor room to check/fix the reactor, coolant, etc. Pay my wife enough and I’ll do it for you. I need the work. I’m not bad at basic plumbing either.
Report Post »UpstateNYConservative
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:26pmThank God for small mercies.
Now, about Obama’s birth certificate….
Report Post »staythecourse
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:23pmIt got destroyed in the tsunami that hit Hawaii…didn’t you hear?
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:46pmIt’s buried somewhere in his half-brother’s poverty-stricken village in Kenya. Call Indiana Jones.
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:16pmNo nukes, no coal, wind generators kill birds, solar panels infringe up on the rights of endangered newts. Lets all move back into caves…..oh, and stop breaking wind!
Report Post »POIPNE
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:23pmWhile we’re at it, let’s stop that “fire” stuff too. It makes smoke and that pollutes the air. Just shut up and eat your mammoth raw. WHAT? they’re extinct? Who to blame? Who to blame? Aw heck, just pass the twigs – the ones withOUT trans-fats, please. Sorry, I get caught up in the panic sometimes.
Report Post »338lapua
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:43pmtwist your hair into dreadlocks, pound on drums in “circles” and squat in state capitols……sorry I couldn’t resist{smirk}
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 3:07pmSteady, now. Drill, troglodytes, drill.
Report Post »watchmany2k
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:13pmGod-watch over the children !
That pic of the child getting scanned is haunting !
Regardless of the disaster, Nuke power is still the safest, cleanest, and most reliable power we have.
Report Post »The US needs 2 new plants in every state for the next few decades of reliable power.
Not to mention the Jobs they will bring.
UpstateNYConservative
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:35pmActually, I’d like seeing more investment in the possibilities of fusion. We know the math and physics, so all what’s needed is the technology to catch up (it’s hard to contain a reaction that runs at 100 million degrees). There is is enough potential energy in a glass of water to power NYC for a day.
We need better ideas that lead to real solutions. For now, though, we need to relax the laws so more nuclear reactors can be built. If I’m not mistaken, 70% of France’s electric power comes from reactors.
Too bad for us that Obama is just another insane liberal.
Report Post »Non-sequitur
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:06pmYa well but Fusion has been “right around the corner” for how long, 40, 50 years now? I’m not saying we should stop researching in that direction, quite the contrary, it‘s just that I’m not holding my breath.
Report Post »Marylou7
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:07pmI agree with both of you but there is no reason why we can’t drill our own oil until these alternatives are up and running.
Report Post »UpstateNYConservative
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:45pm@Non-sequitur
I’m not holding my breath either. I’m a huge fan of Ronald Reagan, but he messed up when he cut funding for fusion research back in the 80s. Hindsight is 20/20, I know. But I wonder where we might be had not those cuts been made.
Just my opinion, but we’re thirty years behind in what might have been the greatest solution since the invention of the wheel.
Report Post »Non-sequitur
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:53pm@UpstateNYConservative
“On January 28, 2010, the LLNL announced tests using all 192 laser beams, although with lower laser energies, smaller hohlraum targets, and substitutes for the fusion fuel capsules.[28][29] More than one megajoule of ultraviolet energy was fired into the hohlraum, besting the previous world record by a factor of more than 30. The results gave the scientists confidence that they will be able to achieve ignition in more realistic tests scheduled to begin in the summer of 2010.[30]”
[Source: Wikipedia]
Looks like we might actually be a little farther than I thought, at least a small reactor seems to be feasible.
Report Post »UpstateNYConservative
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:32pm@Non-sequitur
If we can make this happen, a truckload of problems can be solved.
Report Post »ThoreauHD
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:06pmAnd if the radiation drops, that means it’s in the atmosphere. Radiation doesn’t decay because of an explosion. This is not really a plus.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:15pmThat‘s what I’m afraid of. “Where did it go?!”
Report Post »RCScrolls
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:27pmIts wind pressure from Japan has a West easterly direction, meaning that it if any Radiation leaks reaaly bad will fly over California, if your here CA, get atleast info on Nuc Radiation structures, Libraries etc, just in case know where they are.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:29pmIF the radioactive material is a small enough quantity; atmospheric dilution is going to be satisfactory. Remember these Elements are NATURALLY occurring. Mankind has simply concentrated them so as to produce usable energy.
Report Post »I am NOT discounting the tragedy in japan; but let us not get hysterical here.
Stoic one
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:34pmFor crying OUT LOUD, have you forgotten the USA exploded nuclear and thermonuclear devices on our own continent above ground and big secret so did the USSR. by the time ‘cloud’ get to the west coast it will be a measurable bump in the background radiation.
Report Post »AnOregonian
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:35pmA reduction of radiation might imply that some percentage of the control rods are functioning and perhaps the core can be shut down.
Report Post »912828Buckeye
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 11:59amOn T.V. as we type…Libs want to shut down nuke plants.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:13pmOlbermann was talking about that yesterday. The Progressives are trying to dry us up as far as our energy is concerned. When the Exxon Valdez spill happened, they pushed for off-shore drilling. When the Gulf spill happened, they pushed for no off-shore drilling. We have oil in our own country. We need to build NEW nuclear plants and oil refineries, so we can supply our own fuel needs and stop being held hostage to the Middle East. New nuclear plants and drilling and refining our own oil would create jobs, lower energy costs, and boost the economy! That’s too complicated for the Obama regime to understand.
Report Post »absolutely
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:26pmShowtime, got an idea on how to create jobs. We build stationary bikes with car alternators on them and we put two in every home, more if they have kids. We all get exercise, we get all the power we need and we quit using corn for ethanol and eat it instead. I want stock in that company. Absolutely
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:30pm@Absolutely `
Report Post »Brilliant! Me, too!
absolutely
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:35pmLOL Absolutely
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:53pmAbsolutely
Report Post »You know, it worked on Gilligan’s Island! I think the professor is still around, track him down!
kryptonite
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:13pmAfter Chernobyl, I learned that there is no such thing as a safe nuclear reactor, and this is another clear example. I don’t want nuclear plants here, esp. with Hussein and Holder giving off my-country-tis-FOR-thee vibs to every effing jihadist out there.
Report Post »walkwithme1966
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 11:57amUnbelievable that so much has happened to Japan at the same time – earthquake, waves and nuke plant meltdown – it is amazing the power that our earth has. It puts our small problems in a different perspective – doesn’t it! http://wp.me/pYLB7-JM
Report Post »Non-sequitur
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:04pm“earthquake, waves and nuke plant meltdown”
These 3 disasters are related, so it isn’t really that unbelievable. The quake caused both the wave and the meltdown.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:24pmThree disasters hitting in one time frame of about 48 hours is immense; yet look at the way they are already talking about rebuilding, and many have headed back to rebuild their lives now. Human spirit and resiliancy is demonstrated here to the fullest.
Report Post »WHITE LOTUS2x
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 3:34pmWalkwithme1966 : Japans catastrophy was unavoidable and most countries will help them get their lives back. There will stiil be the loss of life which is the biggest loss. Our catastrophy is still in motion and getting stronger. God Bless the burdened people in this world and help them to prevail whatever their burden may be. It makes people think about their own probems and compared to Japan, most are smaller than we thought. Please dont diminish the real danger our country is facing today.
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 3:50pmMy admiration goes to the Japanese people , so civil & so disciplined .
Report Post »Enuff Zenuff
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:45pm.
Report Post »Yes, I agree. If there is climate change happening, it is solar-cycle-related. Why else would Mars be warming simultaneously if ‘global warming’ were man-made? Man’s effects on this planet are miniscule compared with natural effects. The idea of man-made global warming has not been proven despite many (now-discredited) scientists having sold their souls for leftist funding. There are hundreds of legitimate scientists who deny that climate changes are man-made but you seldom hear from or about them because their views do not support the MSM’s leftist agenda to grab power by scaring people.
GONESURFING
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 7:37pmIt sure does put things in perspective, for most of us our problems pale by comparison. The Japanese people are generally very good , I doubt we will see any looting or riots. May God help them.
Report Post »TruthTalker
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 11:55amMay the Lord watch over them.
Report Post »AzDebi
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:04pmOh my God…that lil’ fella being checked for radiation exposure…breaking my heart…Please help them get it cooled soon!
broker0101
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:07pmObama will now declare moratorium on nuclear power facilities in America.
Report Post »USAqh
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:09pmInteresting how Obama was so quick to react to the catastrope in Japan… but the catastrophe in the Gulf here at home… yawn … Is he running for king of the world or what?
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:17pmWoohoo, an excuse to ban nuclear plants, yeah, we get higher light bills, higher gas prices, less smelly middle class, more dirt poor, it’s a very good day for the evil liberal billionaires that run the green movement and the democratic party.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:24pm@USAqh
Report Post »Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:09pm
Interesting how Obama was so quick to react to the catastrope in Japan… but the catastrophe in the Gulf here at home… yawn … Is he running for king of the world or what?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m afraid to ask! However, I don’t feel that George Soros is going to put a big-eared egghead, who cannot put two words together for a sensible thought without a teleprompter, in charge of the world.
beckisnuts
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:51pmBroker, send me an email @ beckisnuts77@yahoo.com.
Report Post »beckisnuts
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:54pmThis reactor will melt down unless they can get some sea water in there within the next few hours.
Report Post »ginsberg
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:06pmactually there is no significant opposition to nuclear power by either party, if any of you have facts to the contrary im all ears.
Report Post »Edward
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:11pmBroker101 you beat me to the punch. Obozo will use this as an excuse to kill nuclear energy here in America.
Report Post »Templar Knight
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:16pm@Edward
No, what Obama should ban is GE. But we all know he is so far in bed with them that it would never happen. Face it, if GE had built that Nuclear Power plant right this would of never happened.
Still feel terrible for the families and workers living there. I hope they are all safe and the radiation recedes in short period of time.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:19pmBroker 0101 has it right in the case of Mr Obama will declare a complete moretorium upon the idea of any more nuclear power plants; also do not be suprised if he also orders the complete shut down of all current ones in service here in the country shortly.
As Obama and the administration do, never waste a good emergency.
Report Post »Templar Knight
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:33pm@Snow
I am surprised to hear the words of “Broker0101 is right” anywhere in the history of mankind. While I don’t disagree I think that he probably sees this as a good thing. But you are right the progressive left never lets a good catastrophe go to waste.
Still I don‘t believe it was nuclear energy’s fault, it was those who built it with poor fail safes. That is why just like the oil spill what BP had to pay for, GE should be paying the citizens for all the homes lost due to radiation poisoning.
Though from what it sounds the radiation won’t be as bad as Chernobyl which was built in an absolute terrible way miles from water with no fail safes. Can’t expect less from Russian constructors.
Report Post »jds7171
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 1:46pmthey blame global warming (or change,) in 5, 4, 3,2,1……
Report Post »CultureWarriors
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:07pmEditors of the Blaze, you could do a great service by looking for above-board, legitimate ways to send money or supplies so we can help. If a charity is vetted independently it sets one’s mind at ease that their donation is getting to those who need it.
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:20pm==>”Government spokesman Yukio Edano said the radiation around the…plant…had in fact decreased. He did not say why that was so.”
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Do tell us, please. Gone with the wind?
@AzDebi
Report Post »Ditto.
Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:25pm@broker0101It’s too bad out Comrade In Chief will use this to create more power for himself and the federal government. We can’t just help and learn from this disaster, our leaders have to politicize it. Also, just waiting to them to somehow blame Beck, Limbaugh and probably throw George W in there as well.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:50pm@Templar Knight
Normally I do not agree with Broker 0101 on most, if not all things, yet even a troll can be right in some occasions. Chernoble was a disaster waiting to happen, and thankfully indeed this disaster has not turned into one of that scale, between the reactor and the quake with a tsumani, the potential of loss lives and property could easily have been much worse…especially if say, the epicenter was right under tokyo itself.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 2:53pm@Templar Knight
One other part occured to me as well in regards to the reactor, I wonder just what safeguards were set up, for they did mention about having auxillery generators for the circulatory systems and others for the valve control systems…I hope when they get to the bottom of exactly HOW it failed it will be made public, for something tells me we had a cascade of “unlikely failures” in the safeguards and any redundant systems as well.
Yes though, if GE or anyone who keeps and maintains the machinery is ultimatly at fault, they need to pay for it.
Report Post »LisaC49
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 3:06pmYes, we need to pray for them. I hate seeing the little children having to through that, but hopefully, they haven’t had any radiation exposure and that they will be able to leave the area, so that they can begin their lives over again.
Report Post »Enuff Zenuff
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:32pmRegarding Nuclear Power, I say Go for it! Not in spite of Japan, but BECAUSE of Japan! – Japan has taught us that most of our safety systems WORKED – just as Chernobyl taught us that it doesn’t pay to do nuclear power on the cheap and leave off containment vessels. Eventually we will know what failed in Japan and fix that too.
Yes there are risks involved. No worthwhile human endeavor has been without risks, but like all technologies that have come before, I trust that we humans have the capacity to solve the problems. Will some people die as a result of radiation exposure? Yes – but probably fewer than are currently dying of black lung, mining accidents, drilling rig explosions, and other energy-related industries.
Nuclear power currently only provides about 20% of our electricity in the US, (and about 8% of the total U.S. energy consumed from all sources according to http://www.eia.doe.gov/nuclear/).
Contrast that with France: Source = http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf40.html)
+ France derives over 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy!
+ France is the world’s largest net exporter of electricity due to its very low cost of generation, and gains over EUR 3 billion per year from this.
+ France has been very active in developing nuclear technology. Reactors and fuel products and services are a major export.
+ France is building its first Generation III reactor and planning a second.
+ About 17% of France’s electricity is from RECYCLED nuclear fuel.
Compared with France, our leftist politicians and Hollywood liberals have kept the US back in the bronze age of nuclear energy. I’ll bet if you asked most people on the street how many nuclear power plants are operating on the planet right now, most people’s guess would be far below the actual numbers: (ibid)
+ There are now over 440 commercial nuclear power reactors operating in 30 countries,
+They provide about 14% of the world’s electricity as continuous, reliable base-load power, and their efficiency is increasing,
+ 56 countries operate a total of about 250 research reactors and a further 180 nuclear reactors power some 140 ships and submarines.
That’s over 1,000 nuclear reactors in operation at this moment! To hear Hollywood talk about it, the world should be exploding and then melting down any minute now.
Naturally what happened in Japan will force all of the nuclear plant operators to re-evaluate their back-up systems, emergency procedures, and exposure to natural disasters…, which is a good thing that will come out of the disaster in Japan. But let’s not make what happened in Japan into an even bigger disaster by allowing the Luddites to prevent us from developing even more Nuclear power.
More than anything else, I would like to see us weaned from gasoline to prevent us from sending all our treasure to the Middle East. As an engineer, I believe that someday soon a breakthrough will come in batteries that will make electric vehicles more equivalent to our current vehicles – especially in range and recharging time (With gasoline, I can drive a 1200 mile trip in 24 hours with a co-driver. With an electric vehicle, we‘d be stopping every 200 miles to recharge for a couple of hours and that’s not as practical).
The point is that electric vehicles are bound to grow in usage and we are going to need to replace a lot of the gasoline we currently burn with electricity generated by burning something else. Nuclear power is much cleaner and cheaper than coal. Don’t let Hollywood or AlGorzilla mislead you for their own ignorant or malicious purposes.
Tell your congressperson that you want to see the US embrace nuclear technology and move forward with it – Now!
Report Post »sodizzy
Posted on March 13, 2011 at 1:20amThem? what about us? that stuff drifts.
Report Post »Templar Knight
Posted on March 13, 2011 at 5:20am@Snow
Indeed I believe there is more to this than meets the eye. From what I heard the fail safes were made to be electronically done whenever a disaster occurred. Now don’t quote me on that but if true, what moron makes a “fail safe” to be electronically done when there is expected to be no power during an emergency. That is why it is called an emergency fail safe. I will have to do more research on it as well and come back to you when the information becomes available, but I believe without question this problem could not be prevented due to poor construction.
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