There's been an explosion at the Fukushima nuclear plant...

[HeadphoneAddict]

The whole thing with Japan is terrifying. I saw videos of the tsunami waves overtaking fleeing cars, and later a photo of two parents looking at their deceased daughter in a driving school car that was caught by the waves. Very sad.

[blessingx]

Unit 3 containment shield goes up too. Let's hope Beefy's above link is correct.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL4bhit7Sc8&feature=player_embedded

Edited March 14, 2011 by blessingx

[blessingx]

Not to get all disaster porny, but damn...

Video.

Edited March 14, 2011 by blessingx

[Currawong]

Better the hydrogen be vented and go bang outside then build up and blow the lid.

[Eric5676]

Really scary and downright hard to believe. I don't think it's cliche in this case to start whipping out phrases like "epic and Biblical proportions" and so forth especially when you have 3 nuke plants on the fritz and they're talking about how this was really a 9.0 quake that moved the entire continent of Japan 8 feet and screwed up the Earth's axis by 10 inches. Those numbers are a big deal in a geographic context.

My heart just goes out to the people and I've been praying and...damn, I wish I could do something...

EDIT: Yup, it's official. Japanese officials are saying that they think that the nuclear rods are in the process of melting down at these plants.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Eric5676

[boomana]

My heart just goes out to the people and I've been praying and...damn, I wish I could do something...

That's where I'm at. Kinda puts my trivial day in perspective.

[n_maher]

I you Reks.

[Dreadhead]

I you Reks.

x2 Absolutely spot on commentary

[Eric5676]

it doesn't really matter all that much, the decision was going to be made to scrap the reactors anyway (that was the case as soon as they started pumping sea water in). coolant attempts will be maintained, and the containment vessels are unlikely to be breached as long as nothing really unlucky happens. the containment vessels are massively strong and very heat resistant. that's the point of them. in hindsight, they should have started drastic coolant efforts quicker. i wish the media would get their heads screwed on straight: a melt down doesn't mean that the plants are going to explode, it just means that fuel rods were undercooled for a while and literally melt. they are still going to be contained.

the reactors are toast, but they needed to be toast anyway, because they were old (Japan has the same problem the US does, with retards preventing modern reactors from being built and old reactors from being scrapped). of course, that's not what will happen (see said retards). if anything, the take away from this is that it's really fucking hard to have an environmentally damaging nuclear accident. of course, that won't be the takeaway. hopefully we all die in 2012 and the octopi who rise from the sea and take over the surface of the earth in 500 million years do a better job of not being dipshits than we have.

*nods* Spot on!

[Beefy]

(Japan has the same problem the US does, with retards preventing modern reactors from being built and old reactors from being scrapped). of course, that's not what will happen (see said retards).

Good call.

But it still really shits me that they aren't doing a better job of the cooling. At one point, reactor 2 ran dry because the generator ran out of fuel while unattended. They should have also popped open the buildings to prevent hydrogen buildup and not freak people out with the explosions. Tough circumstances, sure, but this is all VERY bad for PR.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Beefy

[bhjazz]

My heart just goes out to the people and I've been praying and...damn, I wish I could do something...

I'm with you and Boo. In my half-dreamy post-daylight-savings-time adjustment bus ride this morning I was contemplating how I could get myself on a plane and go help. I think I'd be better off just donating but I'd rather do more. On the other hand I just don't know how I'd react pulling bodies out of the surf.

[morphsci]

it doesn't really matter all that much, the decision was going to be made to scrap the reactors anyway (that was the case as soon as they started pumping sea water in). coolant attempts will be maintained, and the containment vessels are unlikely to be breached as long as nothing really unlucky happens. the containment vessels are massively strong and very heat resistant. that's the point of them. in hindsight, they should have started drastic coolant efforts quicker. i wish the media would get their heads screwed on straight: a melt down doesn't mean that the plants are going to explode, it just means that fuel rods were undercooled for a while and literally melt. they are still going to be contained.

the reactors are toast, but they needed to be toast anyway, because they were old (Japan has the same problem the US does, with retards preventing modern reactors from being built and old reactors from being scrapped). of course, that's not what will happen (see said retards). if anything, the take away from this is that it's really fucking hard to have an environmentally damaging nuclear accident. of course, that won't be the takeaway. hopefully we all die in 2012 and the octopi who rise from the sea and take over the surface of the earth in 500 million years do a better job of not being dipshits than we have.

[Eric5676]

http://gizmodo.com/#!5781566/this-is-the-scariest-first+persog-video-of-the-japan-tsunami-yet

This is quite unsettling to watch and listen to, to say the least.

[Voltron]

Not to get all disaster porny, but damn...

Video.

http://gizmodo.com/#!5781566/this-is-the-scariest-first+persog-video-of-the-japan-tsunami-yet

This is quite unsettling to watch and listen to, to say the least.

It was even scarier when Ric posted it yesterday.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Voltron

[Eric5676]

It was even scarier when Ric posted it yesterday.

D'oh. Sorry. It just blew me away enough that I wasn't really looking too carefully.

[Knuckledragger]

it doesn't really matter all that much, the decision was going to be made to scrap the reactors anyway (that was the case as soon as they started pumping sea water in). coolant attempts will be maintained, and the containment vessels are unlikely to be breached as long as nothing really unlucky happens. the containment vessels are massively strong and very heat resistant. that's the point of them. in hindsight, they should have started drastic coolant efforts quicker. i wish the media would get their heads screwed on straight: a melt down doesn't mean that the plants are going to explode, it just means that fuel rods were undercooled for a while and literally melt. they are still going to be contained.

the reactors are toast, but they needed to be toast anyway, because they were old (Japan has the same problem the US does, with retards preventing modern reactors from being built and old reactors from being scrapped). of course, that's not what will happen (see said retards). if anything, the take away from this is that it's really fucking hard to have an environmentally damaging nuclear accident. of course, that won't be the takeaway. hopefully we all die in 2012 and the octopi who rise from the sea and take over the surface of the earth in 500 million years do a better job of not being dipshits than we have.

QFMFT. The anti-nuclear spin in the media (ALL of it, I swear) has made me want to harm baby animals. I'm a dirty tree-hugging hippie, and the bad rap nuclear energy gets is mind boggling to me. It's all the fault of the coal and oil lobbies. </tinfoil_hat>

[digger945]

It's all the fault of the coal and oil lobbies. </tinfoil_hat>

I would have to agree. As long as there is money to be made, things won't change much. With all the coal/oil reserves, it's doubtful we will see a significant change in our lifetime.

It would be something to see us move beyond using fire.

Some interesting facts about the economics of nuclear power. It's kinda retarded how cheap nuclear is.

Edited March 15, 2011 by digger945

[mikeymad]

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk-world-tv

[archosman]

Overhead shot of reactors 1 & 3...

Current photos...

F*ck me... is that a current shot of Mikhail or an old one? Don't tell me he's resurfaced!!

Edited March 15, 2011 by archosman

[Knuckledragger]

There is a really good reddit thread with a lot of pertinent info. The Reddit servers are actually working well at the moment, which is a minor miracle.

[blessingx]

link

[Currawong]

There was a guy in Portland posting radiation readings he was taking, saying that they were all from Japan. Was pretty funny. Some minuscule amount of Cesium-137 was detected on plants here. I wonder what results we'd get if the government carefully measured the effects of such things as the oil refinery fire and whatnot on the environment in as much detail. I think a lot of companies would be in a lot of trouble in that case.

[blessingx]

First 24 Hours at Fukushima http://ow.ly/1zBmNG 

[blessingx]

Miyazaki to make Film about Nuclear Power http://rant.to/rEmr1k

[manaox2]

Miyazaki to make Film about Nuclear Power http://rant.to/rEmr1k

Thats kind of disheartening. I'm personally in favor of Nuclear power in the short term and really love Miyazaki's works.