CNN An 8.8-magnitude earthquake has struck Japan

[Tender Branson]

I'm eagerly awaiting the left-wing propaganda about the earthquake risk in Central Europe making nuclear energy a ticking time bomb.

oh, brother.

You must not be familiar with the German Greens.

I´m also a Green voter, but even I think that it is unlikely that an earthquake will destroy a nuclear plant somewhere in Middle Europe. The 2 with a higher chance are the ones in Slovenia and Baden-Württemberg.

For this, compare with these maps:



and:

[patrick1]

I'm eagerly awaiting the left-wing propaganda about the earthquake risk in Central Europe making nuclear energy a ticking time bomb.

oh, brother.

You must not be familiar with the German Greens.

Franzl, most groups try to strike while the iron is hot to advance their agenda.  It is human nature and also very effective. In the emergency management field this is done all the time to try to secure funding. Most politicians and people choose not to think about these things. More to the point, I don't think you can dismiss their (the greens) concerns out of hand. Some are valid- others not so much. You are correct that Germany isn't really an earthquake hotbed, but there are other hazards that could negatively affect them.

[bullmoose88]

International Atomic Energy Agency update on Facebook

They are distributing iodine; it is very bad.

Does iodine really do anything? I know what it's supposed to do but this seems more like an anti-panic measure than anything.

It does help block radiation in the thyroid.  However, they are now reporting several hundred cases of "sickness" on Fox.

But does it do more for radiation than that?  It seems like radiation can damage more than the thyroid?

[Middle-aged Europe]

I'm eagerly awaiting the left-wing propaganda about the earthquake risk in Central Europe making nuclear energy a ticking time bomb.

oh, brother.

You must not be familiar with the German Greens.

Franzl, most groups try to strike while the iron is hot to advance their agenda.  It is human nature and also very effective. In the emergency management field this is done all the time to try to secure funding. Most politicians and people choose not to think about these things. More to the point, I don't think you can dismiss their (the greens) concerns out of hand. Some are valid- others not so much. You are correct that Germany isn't really an earthquake hotbed, but there are other hazards that could negatively affect them.

Yes, the Greens are going to have a lot of fun with the nuclear energy issue in the two weeks till the Baden-Württemberg/Rhineland-Palatinate elections. If anything, Fukushima is a "good" way to remind people that the CDU stands on the "wrong" side of an issue most people care passionately about. That's also the reason why Angela Merkel has announced today that the government is going to review security standards for German nuclear power plants.

Not that I'm trying to defend the Greens or anything. Politics are dirty and elections are often decided by emotion. For the CDU, it's immigrants. For the Greens, it's nuclear power.

[Sam Spade]

The key thing right now is to not believe what any of the official types are telling you.

Not that it really matters, since we're not in Japan (prayers for anyone who is), but that's the main fact to remember.

[bullmoose88]

The key thing right now is to not believe what any of the official types are telling you.

Not that it really matters, since we're not in Japan (prayers for anyone who is), but that's the main fact to remember.

A cnn or bbc article implied that the Japanese have a tendency to cover up issues with their nuclear power plants....I guess this is what you're getting at.

[J. J.]

But does it do more for radiation than that? 

No.

[Sam Spade]

The key thing right now is to not believe what any of the official types are telling you.

Not that it really matters, since we're not in Japan (prayers for anyone who is), but that's the main fact to remember.

A cnn or bbc article implied that the Japanese have a tendency to cover up issues with their nuclear power plants....I guess this is what you're getting at.

Most Asian countries have a tendency to do this on all issues (I think it's cultural, actually), but Japan has been, historically, one of the worst.

[bullmoose88]

R.E.M. said this would start with an earthquake.

And I feel fine.

[Sam Spade]

As usual, Franzl is way ahead of the curve...

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1625603.php/Germany-promises-inspection-of-German-nuclear-plants

[J. J.]

"Red alert" issued for second reactor at Fukushima I.

I'm not an engineer, but it sure sounds like they are screwed, big time.

[minionofmidas]

As usual, Franzl is way ahead of the curve...

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1625603.php/Germany-promises-inspection-of-German-nuclear-plants

Except it wasn't the people he was referring to who did that...

[Sam Spade]

As usual, Franzl is way ahead of the curve...

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1625603.php/Germany-promises-inspection-of-German-nuclear-plants

Except it wasn't the people he was referring to who did that...

Preemptive strategy, no doubt.  9.1 earthquakes are really a threat in Germany, after all...

[Sam Spade]

As usual, Franzl is way ahead of the curve...

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1625603.php/Germany-promises-inspection-of-German-nuclear-plants

Except it wasn't the people he was referring to who did that...

Preemptive strategy, no doubt.  9.1 earthquakes are really a threat in Germany, after all...

Correction - and likely it was made in response to this:

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE72B08H20110312

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

International Atomic Energy Agency update on Facebook

They are distributing iodine; it is very bad.

Does iodine really do anything? I know what it's supposed to do but this seems more like an anti-panic measure than anything.

It does help block radiation in the thyroid.  However, they are now reporting several hundred cases of "sickness" on Fox.

But does it do more for radiation than that?  It seems like radiation can damage more than the thyroid?

One of the more serious consequences of a reactor breach is the release of radioactive iodine 129 which is a fission byproduct.  Iodine is absorbed and stored in the thyroid which needs it.  (Iodine deficiency leads to goiters, which is why table salt usually has a small amount of iodine in it.)  The reason for issuing and taking iodine pills in this situation is to reduce the amount of radioactive iodine the body absorbs and stores.

[patrick1]

As usual, Franzl is way ahead of the curve...

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1625603.php/Germany-promises-inspection-of-German-nuclear-plants

Except it wasn't the people he was referring to who did that...

Preemptive strategy, no doubt.  9.1 earthquakes are really a threat in Germany, after all...

Correction - and likely it was made in response to this:

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE72B08H20110312

Yeah, they are taking some perfunctory measures to protect themselves politically. The risks are known.

[minionofmidas]

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE72B08H20110312

Yeah, more like it. Still includes your usual bizarre errors, just like just about any story about another country's convoluted interior politics of course, and leaves out the whole issue of questionable (to put it mildly) constitutionality, not that that'll get decided before the elections of course.

And that "securtiy check" is still a weird little stunt that noone in the opposition asked for or is giving any credence to... it's probably tailored to a very specific subset. Uninformed CDU-leaning anti-nuclear-leaning people (since pro vs anti nuclear is pretty much frozen at round about 43-57 for twenty years - facts ceased to matter, on either side, a long long time ago - such people must obviously exist.)

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

is this melts down through the containment building foundation, it will be magnitudes worse than Chernobyl

Hardly.  If that happens it'll be worse than TMI and a lot worse than I thought it would be from the original reports, but it still won't be anywhere near as bad Chernobyl was.

how so? Did Chernobyl melt through the bottom of the containment building?  I don't think it did, rather I think there was an explosion that penetrated the top of the reactor.  That's why they were able to pour cement on top of it.

But if a reactor melts down through the bottom and penetrates the base of the containment building, it is hot enough to burn through solid rock all the way down to the water table, which then creates a radioactive steam cloud until enough radioactive material has been belched off into the air that it starts to cool.  Once it breaches the bottom of containment building, it can no longer be contained no matter how much cement you put on top of the building.  If such an event were to occur in Japan, much of the Western states of the  US would have to be evacuated, because the jet stream runs from Japan to the West Coast.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Chernobyl was so bad precisely because it blew the top off and released a lot of radioactive dust into the air,  The most damaging isotopes aren't going to be carried off into the atmosphere for quick dispersal in the event of a China syndrome.  They would have to abandon using underground water supplies in the immediate area, but global effects would not reach to the level of having to evacuate the U.S. West Coast (Even if they did, evacuate to where?)

[patrick1]

Chernobyl was so bad precisely because it blew the top off and released a lot of radioactive dust into the air,  The most damaging isotopes aren't going to be carried off into the atmosphere for quick dispersal in the event of a China syndrome.  They would have to abandon using underground water supplies in the immediate area, but global effects would not reach to the level of having to evacuate the U.S. West Coast (Even if they did, evacuate to where?)

There wouldn't be an evacuation. If anything you would call on people to shelter in place for a while.

[J. J.]

Three people diagnosed with radiation contamination.

[Beet]

Reactor 3 coolant has stopped working.

[J. J.]

Reactor 3 coolant has stopped working.

We might be talking meltdown.

[Beet]

Reactor 3 coolant has stopped working.

We might be talking meltdown.

We're now over 36 hours from the tsunami, so if the coolant just stopped working now, presumably it was working for most of the previous 36? Is there some point where the thing is cooled and we don't have to worry about the cooling system?

Also, if I were the Japanese I'd just start dumping seawater and boron into all of the cores now, there's no point in risking more failures.

[J. J.]

Reactor 3 coolant has stopped working.

We might be talking meltdown.

We're now over 36 hours from the tsunami, so if the coolant just stopped working now, presumably it was working for most of the previous 36? Is there some point where the thing is cooled and we don't have to worry about the cooling system?

My guess is it was backup system that has failed.

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Most were shut down; they have been dumping seawater into the first reactor for most of the day.