Japan

[robynfali]

First NZ, now JP, mother nature is kinda angry at the human race at the moment.

Thoughts and prayers to all those affected by this

[hills]

You're not wrong, an absolute tragedy, but from what I've been watching on TV it sounds like they're almost used to them up there and know exactly what to do. Hopefully this means the loss of life will be minimal, well at least compared to Xmas 2004. Fingers crossed that is the case!!

[daj]

According to the news tonight it is the worst earthquake Japan has ever experienced since records began.

[nitrx]

It was the number 7 on the top ten list with 8,9 Richter ever recorded the heaviest quake recorded was in Chili may 1960 force 9,5 was the heaviest quake(2200 killings) , second was the horrible quake and Tsunami on dec 26th 2004 force 9,3 (about 250.000 deaths..)

[Charlie]

To put things in perspective, I found this in a news item today:

Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said the earth's axis shifted 25 cm as a result of the quake and the U.S. Geological Survey said the main island of Japan had shifted 2.4 metres.

[robynfali]

pardon my french but holy S**T

thats a lot really isn't it

[wd40]

I was following the nuclear plant incident very closely. The reactor design is the one I was involved with in this country. I can tell you they were in a situation planed for but considered unthinkable. The impact on future and current nuclear design will be very much the same as the impact of Three Mile Island.

My heart goes out to all of Japan.

Randy

[robynfali]

Maybe you could answer a question for me then...

Comparing this to Chernobyl, if it indeed does go into meltdown, what could happen in comparison with Chernobyl? just as widespread affects?

Reason I am asking, is my son's girlfriend's family lives in South Korea, on the eastern coast, closest to Japan, her father is a fisherman in those waters. What danger is there for them?

[wd40]

Rob I wish I could give you a good answer but the problem is they have exceeded planed and designed for scenarios best I can figure. Losing all the diesels and all feeds from off site power is unthinkable. It would be like a plane flying and the wings come off. It is unthinkable and therefore not part of the design to deal with wings falling off. What you do of course is design so the wings don't come off.

I guessed they had attempted but failed to poison the reactor when the news reported our Air Force was flying in coolant which was really boron i would think. This is the very last thing to try since you are saying you will most likely never use the reactor again.

Stay informed would be my best advice.

The question that is unanswered is have they stopped the nuclear reaction and can they remove the residual heat from the nuclear core. Then is the core damaged and how bad.

Randy

[fractonimbus]

Comparing this to Chernobyl, if it indeed does go into meltdown, what could happen in comparison with Chernobyl? just as widespread affects??

FWIW, the reactor(s) in trouble at Fukushima are a different design, and much smaller than the monster at Chernobyl. So while I'd not like to be too close, Korea should be reasonably safe, as is most of Japan.

DN

[robynfali]

ok thanks guys, don't get me wrong, not panicking, I think S Korea has greater concerns, but it's nice to know that they are not in much danger!

[nitrx]

Impact of the eartquake in Japan before and after.... http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan ... eafter.htm

[RayProudfoot]

A couple of staggering facts from today's Telegraph...

The Earth's axis shifted by 9.8 inches (25 cm).
The main island of Japan moved 7.8 feet (2.4m).

The energy required for those is incomprehensible. And whilst Japan has admirably designed buildings that can withstand enormous earthquakes there's no defence at all against tsunami.

[Gina]

I watched the TV news report from Japan and the incoming giant wave, tossing and engulfing everything in it's path Absolutely horrendous!!

[wd40]

Rob I don't blame you a bit for asking.
This situation has a long way to go before it is stable.
If I remember right Chernobyl explosion blew fuel material into the air. The BWR vessel is so robust with a large number of relief valves, failure of the vessel is low from blowing up stand point but that still does not mean there will no release since the containment building is open.

When the top blew off the reactor building, that exposed the fuel pool. BWR's (Boiling water reactors) are particularly rough on fuels so I would guess they have some old leaky bundles. If it comes a heavy rain who knows what would happen.

The impact of this on our and everyone else nuclear programs is yet to be told.