Entire Pacific Basin put on alert after Japan earthquake.

Power line to Fukushima Daiichi in the process of being established

If they can get the water pumps of the spent fuel pond in reactor building 4 working and verify that the MOx in reactor 3 didn't escape, the worst may be over soon. Let's hope.

Also, if you're an American and/or living on the North American continent, no matter whether it's on the West Coast or even Hawaii, stop the hankering for potassium iodide. Not only are you wasting you money, you might make yourself sick if you take it wrongly or without reason. And really, particularly the Westcoastians HAVE no reason. Here's why (I did the math this morning when I first heard of this new form of brain death):

The distance between Germany and Chernobyl was 1720 km and it didn't kill thousands upon thousands of people in Germany (in fact, aside from a slightly higher incidence of certain cancers, which were, however, not statistically significant, the damage was primarily done in terms of contaminated livestock and environment). The distance between Fukushima and Oahu is 6127 km!!! Another distance comparison: Japan and Hawaii are about as far apart as Berlin and New York (the difference between the two is only about 300 km - a bit less than 200 miles). In short, if the East Coast didn't see anything of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, neither will the West Coast from this.

So even if this disaster widens to Chernobyl proportions (which it is nowhere NEAR, to repeat this again), and even IF the wind at the time carries stuff in our direction AND sustains that direction for the multiple days it would take for stuff to arrive here, America will be SAFE due to the dispersal of the radioactive material and rain-off over the Pacific (likely before it even reaches Hawaii). If anything at all, we might see our regular background radiation go up by maybe a few microsieverts, which is not even enough to give a baby a higher risk of cancer. The end.

Finally heard from Yukiko. Besides a few bumps and bruises, she's fine.

Anyone ever play SimCity? When you were bored, you just switched on every disaster you could? Floods, tornadoes, alien invasion, etc

I'm reminded of those days now.

So am I. The only part of the scenario Japan hasn't experienced so far is the alien invasion.

I_Lam_Edhellen wrote:

Finally heard from Yukiko. Besides a few bumps and bruises, she's fine.

the asylum wrote:

Anyone ever play SimCity? When you were bored, you just switched on every disaster you could? Floods, tornadoes, alien invasion, etc

I'm reminded of those days now.

I remember that nuclear meltdown was often a consequence of the alien invasion--for some reason, my aliens always went straight for the power plants.

Maybe they had a taste for plutonium.

the asylum wrote:

Anyone ever play SimCity? When you were bored, you just switched on every disaster you could? Floods, tornadoes, alien invasion, etc

I'm reminded of those days now.

So you think the next thing to happen is alien invasion?

It's not impossible.

Fukushima explained... with poops and farts.

An explanation so simple, even a 5 year old would get it.

The media is blowing this way out of proportion.

I bet the oil companies will use this event as an argument to not make more nuclear power stations and become more reliant on oil. It took an 8.9 earthquake with aftershocks of 5.3 (small earthquakes in their own rights) and a massive tsunami to put in this risk of failure.

And it probably won't even be a full meltdown like Chernobyl was - these plants were made with actual money, not grit, spit and duct tape. At the worst the plants may fail and shut down, leaving entire cities without power. Isn't that bad enough?

Harley Quinn hyenaholic wrote:

the asylum wrote:

Anyone ever play SimCity? When you were bored, you just switched on every disaster you could? Floods, tornadoes, alien invasion, etc

I'm reminded of those days now.

So you think the next thing to happen is alien invasion?

Let's face it, Japan is the place for it. An alien invasion is going to happen in either Washington DC or Japan, and that depends if they have tentacles or not.

This article explains what's going on on the West Coast in terms of radiation exposure. My mother, the charming optimist that she is, quipped today, "I didn't think the muties would come from Japan. But, that's just her vision of a dystopian future talking.

DailyMail link? ^^

Ozzy: Daily Fail. Please give a reputable source. Especially the second article sounds like a metric ton of bullshit. Unnamed sources state that "fallout" from something that even according to US recommendations should not be negatively influencing anyone further than 80 km away arrived 8629 km away? After only 7 days since the quake when particles with sustained brisk winds in the same direction should take at least 8 and the plant did not even start emitting major levels of elevated radiation until days afterwards? Come ON. Especially since I sincerely doubt these particles are stamped with a "made in Japan" label and natural background radiation varies, as well.

As for the "several deaths" line associated with the INES Level 5 classification... sadly, that's likely going to refer to the people still working at Fukushima. Even rotating shifts and pulling them out whenever the radiation spikes is likely going to raise their lifetime cancer risk by a ton.

InkWeaver wrote:

DailyMail link? ^^

I'm totally missing something, aren't I?

The Daily Mail's rep as a news source, particularly when it comes to scientific things, is, er... not good. They're also the rag in the UK with the most "THEM ISLAMS ARE GON' KILL US ALL" stories. I personally wouldn't trust so much as their weather forecast, even after looking outside.

Saleha wrote:

The Daily Mail's rep as a news source, particularly when it comes to scientific things, is, er... not good. They're also the rag in the UK with the most "THEM ISLAMS ARE GON' KILL US ALL" stories. I personally wouldn't trust so much as their weather forecast, even after looking outside.

Thank you. I had absolutely no idea. I'll appropriately edit my original post.

Here some info on the detection of nuclear particles; it seems that there isn't even enough info yet to conclusively say anything arrived, but even if it did, the amounts are so immensely tiny they're not gonna give a mouse cancer. CNN, in keeping in line with their reporting about this situation so far, seems more sensationalist than the LA Times, which has consistently been one of the more level-headed news sources in this.

CNN Article

LA Times Article

ETA: Here also an article in the LA times about the risk to the West Coast. The term "downplayed" in the headline is sadly misleading, as most experts interviewed agree that the risk, especially at this point in time, is non-existent.

Quote :

"If we had multiple Chernobyl-type failures and it did go five to eight miles into the atmosphere and get into the jet stream, it could definitely impact the West Coast of the United States and Canada," Patzert said. "But we're not there yet."

Chernobyl-type failures are still highly unlikely; I highly recommend the very well-documented article on the Chernobyl accident on wiki. You will find that during an experiment that simulated coolant failure, the Chernobyl reactor went into SCRAM mode with faulty control rods which actually accelerated the reaction and led to the explosion. The reactor was completely exposed since it had nothing nearly as thick as the containment vessels in the Fukushima plant and BURNED OPENLY FOR THREE DAYS, releasing approx. 26 TONS of radioactive material extremely high into the atmosphere.

On the other hand, the Fukushima reactors HAVE been appropriately SCRAMed and the reaction has been mitigated, although it does, of course, not stop immediately (the reactor-internal problems are due to residual decay heat without a functioning cooling source). Furthermore, a lot of the deaths due to Chernobyl have been attributed to a) people in Pripyat and Chernobyl proper not having been evacuated until 36 hours after the disaster and b) people continuing to consume irradiated vegetables and animal products from livestock exposed either directly or indirectly through their feed source after the disaster.

The tl;dr version: Multiple Chernobyl-type failures are so highly unlikely as to be equivalent to winning the shit lottery 1000 times in a row.

Don't get me wrong, I am anything BUT a friend of nuclear power and have walked in several protest marches as early as middle school, but this situation is bad enough without some news sources deliberately engaging in hyperbole and driving people to panic who really have no bloody reason to be panicked.

This warrants a fresh post, methinks: BREAKING NEWS: Power line to Fukushima plant connected

They will now be able to run tests on the plant's machinery and see whether the on-site cooling systems are not too damaged; if they're not, the situation can finally be stabilized.

ETA: And an interesting aside: Yakuza groups among those working to provide relief

I wouldn't exactly recommend donating to these fine folks... but this is commendable.

Saleha wrote:

I personally wouldn't trust so much as their weather forecast, even after looking outside.

Hahaha I love you.

Just when we all thought things couldn't get any worse...

RSOE - Emergency and Disaster Information Service reports that Mt. Fuji, which had last erupted in 1707 could be showing signs of life.

Quote :

apan that has not managed to recover after the first blow of natural disasters ( earthquakes and tsunamis) is risking to be overtaken by a new misery resulting from these disasters. Japanese Seismic Service has reported of a threat of its symbol, Fujiyama volcano’s eruption. The reasons for these assessments are recent 5-6 magnitude earthquakes on the volcano. The last time the volcano erupted was in 1707 when a new crater appeared on it and Tokyo streets ( named do at the time) were covered with 15 sm ash. Eruption of the national symbol will completely " smash" Japan which has just 2 days to stave off nuclear explosion at APS Fukushima affected by tsunami. So far Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) has increased the danger degree at wrecking Automatic power station Fukushima -1 till the 5th level out of 7 possible ones. International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) already considers wreckage at Japanese APS Fukushima-Daiichi the most serious one since Chernobyl catastrophe of 1986. Japanese government has already asked the USA for technical assistance to push aside wreckage on APS built under General Electric technology. At present it has been officially affirmed that another 6.200 people have become victims of Japanese earthquake on 11 March. Nearly 10.200 people are considered missing.

Braigwen wrote:

Just when we all thought things couldn't get any worse...

RSOE - Emergency and Disaster Information Service reports that Mt. Fuji, which had last erupted in 1707 could be showing signs of life.

Aw Jesus FUCK... the alien invasion scenario is starting to become likely, as much shit as is happening over there.

More info on Mt. Fuji

Seems there was a 6.2 magnitude earthquake right underneath this Wednesday, with the epicenter only about 4.5 miles away from the summit. Furthermore, the quake was shallow, which can indeed indicate volcanic activity... let's hope the damn thing keeps from spitting up at least until the current issues are mitigated.

Braigwen wrote:

Just when we all thought things couldn't get any worse...

Quote :

apan that has not managed to recover after the first blow of natural disasters ( earthquakes and tsunamis) is risking to be overtaken by a new misery resulting from these disasters. Japanese Seismic Service has reported of a threat of its symbol, Fujiyama volcano’s eruption. The reasons for these assessments are recent 5-6 magnitude earthquakes on the volcano. The last time the volcano erupted was in 1707 when a new crater appeared on it and Tokyo streets ( named do at the time) were covered with 15 sm ash. Eruption of the national symbol will completely " smash" Japan which has just 2 days to stave off nuclear explosion at APS Fukushima affected by tsunami. So far Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) has increased the danger degree at wrecking Automatic power station Fukushima -1 till the 5th level out of 7 possible ones. International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) already considers wreckage at Japanese APS Fukushima-Daiichi the most serious one since Chernobyl catastrophe of 1986. Japanese government has already asked the USA for technical assistance to push aside wreckage on APS built under General Electric technology. At present it has been officially affirmed that another 6.200 people have become victims of Japanese earthquake on 11 March. Nearly 10.200 people are considered missing.

How come no one remembers the Mayak/Khystym accident? That was worse than either Three Mile Island or the current situation at Fukushima. Both dwarfed byt the tsunami.

You know, I was right about people using this to bash nuclear energy. I was listening to such shows on the radio. And amazingly they're busily using it to bash 'noisy' wind farms too.