Thursday, July 19 2007 @ 12:48 AM GMT+5 Contributed by: gfv
I don’t know.
The world’s largest nuclear reactor had a significant accident 3 days ago, and from the operators of that reactor now come SLOWLY half-truths about the extent of the damage.
I will post links here. I will not speak to the veracity of the sources as I volunteer my time on this issue.
It is possible that this is bigger than Three Mile Island-
The truth is not known here.
I do not claim to know what type of reactors these were, nor if we have that type in this country. ( I just learned it is an 1100 Mw Boiling Water Reactor. Vermont Yankee is also a BWR
The massive earthquake in Japan on Monday happened.
More nuclear reactors is not a wise idea. Perhaps this accident will be enough to teach the world and the US powers-that–be that the plans to restart nuclear should end now.
I don’t know.
( I will not be engaging with any pro nuclear responders on this post)
Authored by: darqmatr on Friday, July 20 2007 @ 05:28 PM GMT+5
Sorry brother, but you don't control the free exchange of ideas..., or who can respond to an article on iBrat. There are plenty of communes/churches that will protect one from hearing "other" ideas.
Reminds me of a Ray Bradbury story, about a woman who would not go out in the sunshine because her husband was killed in space. And so the Sun became a symbol of death.
Sad...
I suggest we forget about all this nuclear stuff. Man to man, eye to eye, let's have a beer together. I'm sure we have plenty in common. We both like iBrat. That's a damn good start!
Authored by: PutneyReject on Saturday, July 21 2007 @ 07:01 AM GMT+5
Sad? Yes. Expected? Yes.
No one should be suprised at Gary's tatics anymore. At least his headlines contain some truth now, i.e., "I Don't Know."
"Lack of transparency?" You've got to be kidding me. Show me another industry where they report issues within hours to a regulatory agency and said agency posts that report on the internet the next day. For this event, we are finding out information basically as it happens. You can even go to the company's website and see the seismic reports only a couple of days after the event.
Yes, the earthquake in Japan was quite serious and even though it's was almost twice as strong as they had predicted, the plant only sustained minor damage (no Three Mile Island event as Gary's links would have you believe.)
To put the radioactive release in perspective, assuming ~1,200 litres of water containing 90,000 Bq of radioactivity was released (per the lastest reports) and the fact that milk contains about 51 Bq/l, it would take ~1,700 litres of milk to equal the same amount of radioactivity, clearly this was an accident of biblical proportions.
Unlike Gary, I WILL respond to questions/challenges so fire away!
Am not trying to play down what happened in Japan. The important issue with Japan was did the radioactive water come from a break in the primary system, or was it from an associated storage tank. The industry standard is no release of radioactivity release to the public. But it's important to understand that the nuclear industry is one of few industries that actually has the equipment to monitor very minute amounts, things that are often not known, or ignored, by other human activities/industries.
On a macabre note, when you bury someone in a cemetary, you are adding minute amounts of radioactive material to the ground.
As far as the waste issue... yes--it needs to be controlled, or re-used, or certainly minimized. But the very reason some elements remain radioactive for thousands of years, is the same reason the Sun will sustain itself for millions of years. We certainly don't want the Sun to become organic and decompose in a short time...
It's all a matter of perspective. And risk versus benefit derived.
Jesus Christ, is that pathetic.
---
Power to the Sheeple!
The Fourth Horseman: Sent by Hell's Affirmative Action program.