Not the nuclear thing again...

[SpeleoTrog]

surely if there is no nuclear stuff spewing up into the atmosphere it would be perfectly safe for a pilot to fly over the site?

Firstly, it's never perfectly safe for any pilot to fly anywhere. There's always a risk of a crash or a mechanical failure. If you have the capability to send an unmanned drone, why not use it?

If there is massive radiation entering the atmosphere, then there must be core meltdown?

I'd love to see some scientific basis for that assumption! I'm sure it's possible to emit some quite dangerous levels of radiation with out the core being in meltdown. Have you considered the possibility that the reason "We have not been told that any of the four over heating reactors are melting down" is BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT?

As usual you seem to be cherry picking the bits you want to and ignoring all the others before making wild assumptions and accusations based on your chosen facts

 

[whitelackington]

Looks like they have had yet another earthquake near to Fukushima and again had to shut down the cooling and move nuclear staff off site.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13032122


Quote BBC
"It came as Japan said it was extending the evacuation zone around the nuclear plant because of radiation concerns."

So the real reason they are overflying the Fukushima Nuclear plant to photograph it with a pilotless drone is because of radiation spewing out into the atmosphere.

 

[whitelackington]

Quote Reuters
"Engineers are also pumping Nitrogen into reactors to counter a build up of hydrogen and prevent another explosion sending more radiation into the atmosphere."

 

[Les W]

As usual you seem to be cherry picking the bits you want to and ignoring all the others before making wild assumptions and accusations based on your chosen facts

A well known and often used tabloid newspaper scandal rag technique. 

 

[Roger W]

For all that, it's a pretty serious situation there in Japan, with an undoubted radiation hazard for anyone in quite a wide area.

Al Quaeda Jazeera say that the "nuclear power plant that was heavily damaged by the tsunami from the massive March 11 magnitude 9.0 earthquake continues to spread extremely high levels of radiation into the ocean, ground, and air," and that "Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), the company that operates the plant, said on April 5 that radioactive iodine-131 readings taken from seawater near the water intake of the No. 2 reactor reached 7.5 million times the legal limit. The sample that yielded this reading was taken just before Tepco began releasing more than 11,000 tonnes of radioactive water into the sea." (http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/04/20114812554680215.html)

Believe 'em or not, as you like...

The BBC News here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13017282) gives a nice unemotional explanation, but very carefully does not say how much radiation there is about, or how dangerous it is to people living in the area...

And there is undoubtedly a lot of radioactive water that is going to have to be dealt with somehow.  I suppose if it is all released into the sea, it will get sufficiently diluted for the radiation to be well below the danger level by the time it gets to Blackpool beach...

At least it takes people's minds off the plight of all those people left homeless by the earthquake and tsunami.

 

[graham]

I gather, from the Beeb, that they are evacuating everyone living up to 40 km away from the site and that this is not a short-term thing.

 

[AndyF]

I'd love to see some scientific basis for that assumption! I'm sure it's possible to emit some quite dangerous levels of radiation with out the core being in meltdown. Have you considered the possibility that the reason "We have not been told that any of the four over heating reactors are melting down" is BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT?

"Meltdown" is a vague term, like "car crash". It could apply to anything betweenserious damage to fuel rods to a big hole in the floor...

The correct analysis is whether there has been "containment failure", and whether of not it can be stopped.

The fact that there was iodine in the sea before the deliberate release would seem to indicate containment failure of one form or another probably in reactor 2 and possibly 3 as well.

But really its academic, time to learn the lessons:

1) Plan to phase out all reactors in tsunami zones    - obvious
2) Don't build any more in tsunami zone  - obvious except to indonesia, turkey, india and chile

Sadly these lessons will be ignored because money is more important than safety or common sense, so we'll just sit around on our hands and wait for the next one. Indonesia is going ahead to build a new station in a known zone. How fecking stupid is that?.....

 

[whitelackington]

Japan is thinking of upping the severity level again
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110411-709790.html

(Reuters) - Japan is weighing raising the severity level of its nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to a level 7 from level 5, putting it at par with the accident at the Chernobyl reactor in 1986, Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday.

 

[whitelackington]

Democracy still alive in Italy.   
Italians have strongly voted NOT to accept nuclear power, this follows from the
ongoing  nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima.

 

[whitelackington]

French not quite so keen on Nuclear Power since the Fukushima Triple Melt Through
a recent survey has shown.
Only 24 percent of French people poled think their country could handle a major incident.
If the French are no longer keen on Nuclear Power, perhaps we should not have it foisted on us?
http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/French-Nuclear-Anxieties-Soar-After-Fukushima.html
The French were poled before Tepco had found that reactor two is starting to overheat, even though it has been claimed, everything is in "Cold Shutdown"?

Thermometer readings at the bottom of the No. 2 reactor at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant rose further to exceed 90' C for the first time since it attained a cold shutdown in December2011.

The readings had reached a new high of 93.7 C., Kyodo quoted a Tokyo Electric Power Co. statement, as saying.

TEPCO,(Tokyo Electric Power Co) added that it was likely that the thermometer was malfunctioning because the temperature had fluctuated between 75 C and 90 C within a short time, while readings from two other thermometers also at the bottom of the reactor vessel have remained around 35 C.

''The device's movements are perplexing. At this stage, however, it is not necessary to change the judgment that (the reactor is) in a state of cold shutdown.'' Goshi Hosono, Japan?s Nuclear Disaster Minister said.

 

[Bob Smith]

If the French are no longer keen on Nuclear Power, perhaps we should not have it foisted on us?

why should we give a toss what the French (or you for that matter) think.

 

[ChrisB]

Cold shutdown is defined as less than 100?C - so it's still in cold shutdown. There are a number of reasons why there could appear to be a temperature rise; it's unlikely to be anything serious.

Remember that the natural disaster (Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami) killed over 15 000 people and destroyed 125 000 buildings, it's indirect effects (via the Fukushima nuclear plant) have not killed anybody. That was despite a number of errors, on top of the natural disaster. The resulting hysteria (as repeated in Whitelackington's post) will almost certainly result in burning of additional fossil fuels, more global warming and probably resultant deaths.

Personally, I would much rather have a mix of nuclear and renewables than have more fossil fuel burning "foisted on us".

 

[Bob Smith]

 

[owd git]

there are plenty of old fossils in government I'd burn if they had a better calorific rating
O.G.

 

[Laurie]

there are plenty of old fossils in government I'd burn if they had a better calorific rating
O.G.

Thought they generated more hot air than anything.

 

[graham]

Remember that the natural disaster (Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami) killed over 15 000 people and destroyed 125 000 buildings, it's indirect effects (via the Fukushima nuclear plant) have not killed anybody. That was despite a number of errors, on top of the natural disaster. The resulting hysteria (as repeated in Whitelackington's post) will almost certainly result in burning of additional fossil fuels, more global warming and probably resultant deaths.

It is worth remembering, however, that a disaster of a similar magnitude at Hinckley Point would lead to a complete cessation of caving on Mendip, as it would be wholly out of bounds. There are a number of other scenarios, as well as tsunami that can lead to this.

Personally, I would much rather have a mix of nuclear and renewables than have more fossil fuel burning "foisted on us".

Indeed so, but, again, it is important to note that utilising any energy source has an environmental cost assosciated with it.

 

[Roger W]

Get the prison population back on the treadmill.

(You could do the same with the unemployed (make 'em work for their handouts), the asylum-seekers, and those layabouts currently cluttering up the House of Commons...    :-[)

 

[paull]

Get the prison population back on the treadmill.

(You could do the same with the unemployed (make 'em work for their handouts), the asylum-seekers, and those layabouts currently cluttering up the House of Commons...    :-[)

not everyone that is unemployed should be put into this category  ive been unemployed since january after a constant 15 years of work   

 

[Roger W]

Paull - you do have my sympathy.  Hope you manage to find another job.

 

[whitelackington]

Two Belgium Nuclear Reactors have recently been turned off because of CRACKS in the Reactor Pressure Vessels.

"I would find it surprising, if in Tihange nothing going on." Willy De Roovere, CEO of atomic watchdog FANC, fears cracks in half Belgian reactor and maybe 350 other nuclear plants. "We are a global problem."
http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/6779/Kernenergie/article/detail/1487685/2012/08/18/Meer-dan-50-procent-kans-op-scheurtjes-in-Tihange-2.dhtml

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://www.demorgen.be/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DDe%2BMorgen%2Bnewspaper%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D6WE%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-USfficial%26biw%3D1608%26bih%3D846%26prmd%3Dimvns&sa=X&ei=_aM4UJTjA-ih0QW56YFY&ved=0CCMQ7gEwAA

Well if "many" other reactors also have cracks does "New Nuclear" really have a safe future?