Spike ,'Get It Done'
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, nail polish, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Cash...
"If you look at Chernobyl, they did not have a containment [system]. So once they had an accident, they had massive releases of radioactive materials," Klein says. "In the case of Japan, as long as the containment and reactor vessel remain intact, it's not likely they will have massive radiation releases."
The containment vessel is what is at issue now. It's not secure.
They just had a press conference that indicated that some of the high radiation levels at the plant may be due to the fire in Unit 4, which may have exposed the spent fuel pool. That would mean high levels near that building, but possibly less radiation off site.
You know what I don't get? Maybe this is stupid but what about an earthquake/tsunami makes a nuclear reactor fail? Is it as simple as broken pipes? I'm sorry if I missed something (I probably did) but the problem seems systemic which makes me think that simple quake-induced pipe breaking isn't enough to have done all this.
We're still not talking anything like the radiation levels released from Chernobyl, because another difference is that the reaction was shut down when this started, and water-moderated reactors, by definition, can't support a nuclear reaction without water.
The terrible part is that Japan has so much to deal with that's going to kill people immediately.
I know it's bad, Hec. I'm not saying there isn't increasing danger. But as Ginger said, it's not Chernobyl levels of disaster. Yet.
And again, as Ginger points out--it's the other shit they're dealing with right now that makes this one so hard to get under control.
Nonian, are you still around? Could I e-mail you a quick question about the DUI probation violation?
Sure; I'm here
Eta: this is the part of DST I hate. I need to get up in the morning but I can't fall asleep. But it does give my sympathy for those with insomnia.
I'm so glad we have us.
Oh my god, thank you. Insending to your profile addy.
Nonian, the cooling system that keeps circulating water to cool the reactor operates on electricity. the earthquake did not damage the plant, but it did disrupt the power supply so the plant switched to its backup power supply diesel generators. The tsunami swamped the generators. Without the power the cooling system failed.