I have to agree. This one was my histrionics..

Apparently now news reports say this a 6 out of 7 in nuclear disaster scale now. Things got much worse in another explosion this morning.

yeah, thats what i heard.

Just remember, the media likes to scare you. So it's probably not as bad as they say.

If I could have it my way, I'd double the amount of nuke plants in the US. The technology of nuclear power has advanced, it's just that too many people think atomic bombs when they hear "nuclear." Hell, nuclear energy is a helluva lot safer than most people think, if not one of the most safe energy sources you can draw power from.

I guess I was thinking about the nuke tests done on bikini atoll back in 1940's and 1950's. While there's no radiation (as in, nothing about background levels) on the sunk ships anymore, the vegetation on the island still has very high levels, which are, naturally, transmitted to the fruits and other edible materials (which is why the native inhabitants still can't go back there and subsist on local vegetation). I think some of the stones and buildings also have radiation levels. I had watched a documentary about it on some channel or other (Discovery HD or Nat Geo Wild, or Discovery Channel, one of those). So, I know that much of the mess gets "cleaned up" by nature anyway, and I remember reading about how there have been a lot of tech advances in cleaning up radiation (such as from "dirty bombs") quickly . But some stuff lasts longer than others and in particular places, with varying effects (from none to detrimental) depending on the organism. :unsure:

I was also thinking about wind-blown particles - isotopes, like Cesium and Strontium. The Wall Street Journal and other news outlets mention those isotopes as the kind that could get picked up and spread in air currents. The article I read talked about how those isotopes in particular mimic some of the elements our own body uses (like calcium) and thus gets incorporated into the body (as the particles travel up the food chain), and cause detrimental effects. But, the articles did say that those radioactive isotopes get released when there is a total melt-down.

Nuclear power is always a "not in my back yard" thing. And the aging infrastructure of current plants (and the periodic "oops" leaks; there was one last year in vermont or new hampshire, I forget which) don't really help its reputation.

But, yeah, I know that granite emits a lot, more sometimes than whatever the nuclear plant workers are exposed to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_atoll#History

Local news is talking about what would happen to the nuclear power plant a few miles from here in the event of a 9.0 earthquake. I believe they had computer simulations and what not, didn't bother watching. -_-

just heard right now that a fire has been seen at one of the plants.

I actually read somewhere that the radiation would be even lower than getting an x-ray. Yet again, the Media comes up with something so stupid to think about that I am ashamed right now because of the large number of people believing the Media.

My opposing of nuclear power is not from the safety of the plants, but the waste. Burying something underground that is still radioactive half an eternity after were gone is not a good idea. But lack of foresight is nothing new to humanity.

As opposed to apparently the rest of the world, news around here have been convincing people that this is not a threath around here. How it could be, we're on the opposite side of the planet? Also experts have been convincing that our plants are foolproof and then some. I also learned that the most powerful earthquake that could happen here is a 5.0, which i believe isn't too big.

Still political parties are taking this event as an opportunity to try and prevent the construction of the planned new nuclear reactors, which i approve of for the aforementioned reasons. (I hope that wasn't too political :blush:).

There would have to be not just a melt down, but a significant explosion (bigger than the hydrogen explosions that they have had in Japan) to propel radioactive materials into the jet-stream for us here in the US to worry.
Chernobyl had that huge explosion which is why it was as bad as it was. Everything that I have heard has pointed to that not being the case with Japan.

Oi!

An' why's that?

I've always looked at it this way. There are so many things that can happen between us and japan (as in the ocean)-

First the debris will have to survive the actual ocean as in not getting so damp that it will eventually sink to the bottom before it reaches us.

Then it will have to survive brutal storms on the ocean, such as wind and the waves, to reach us.

If it comes up on our shores, then thats were it will most likely stay until someone comes and cleans it up. Its not going to be inside our cities like it is in japan.

It is ok to be paranoid when a natural disaster happens, but don't worry! We will be fine.

Because everyone is completely paranoid about nuclear power, and because of all the disasters that lead to Chernobyl, plant nowadays have so many safely precautions that meltdowns and reactor explosions just wont happen, and even if they do, the dangerous material will be contained.

Its the media trying to make a story about of nothing again....just so you'll stay tuned and watch more.

http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov/

Radiation levels from nuke tests > radiation levels from your common meltdown by an insurmountable factor.


What gets released as radiation is completely dependent on the core. Any article that tells you that X will always be released in a meltdown is lying. No two power plants are identical (unless both of them are in France, which is the only country to have a complete bottom-up checklist for their power plants AFAIK). Also meltdowns do not release radiation high into the atmosphere, making them local issues only. The radation stays relatively put and does not travel far. Also the detrimental effects of certain radioactive isotopes can be significantly deterred by taking supplements to keep your body from absorbing them. It doesn't definitively stop radiation poisoning, but does go a long way.


Only becuase the media blows it totally out of porpotion. If you were to do a proportional comparison of deaths per X amount of population caused by conventional plants as compared to nuclear power, it would be so heavily skewed in the direction of conventional plants it would make you sick. But since there is no catch-word for those types of accidents, no one seems to consider them as bad a "meltdowns". Even with our aging infrastructure, the amount of accidents and the actual damage those accidents do proportional to the total number of plants is only a fraction of that as the proportional comparison for other conventional fuel plants.

I would laugh if all of the reactors started exploding and sent all kinds of toxic nuclear crap to the west coast and our faces started melting off, just to say to you naysayers it can happen.

Wait, I wouldn't laugh at that. :unsure:

http://englishrussia.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/live_in_russia.jpg

Well, if you fly over there with some explosives, it just might. Otherwise, exploding ain't gonna happen. Or, if it does, it will be very, very minor. On the scale of lighting a match when there's a gas leak, if that. Which is a long way off the power required to send material high enough into the atmosphere for it to be carried across the sea.

Haha! Actually, I live in a city that was in the first Fallout, or so I've heard. I have Fallout 1 and 2, but have never played them yet.

And @Sam, I was KIDDING! *pokes you in the eyball*

:P

This. There have been no deaths caused by nuclear energy outside of Chernobyl, yet every year dozens die in coal mining accidents.



Where do you think uranium and other radioactive minerals come from? Underground. From a long time ago.

This is the solution:

1. Store it underground for now

2. Build a space elevator or some other form of very safe spacelaunch

3. Take the radioactive waste up there

4. From there launch it at Mars

It's win-win. We get rid of the waste, and in the off-chance there are evil aliens on Mars we are doing the modern-day equivalent of catapulting a dead, disease-ridden cow over the city wall to slowly kill those inside.

I think the folks that are claiming that the media is over-exaggerating are being a little short-sighted. Has nobody considered the possibility of Japanese citizens developing mutant superpowers? We could end up with a mutant super-villain situation on our hands here, people. Even worse, anime super-villains...with...like...purple hair and big shoulder pads!!! :ahhh:


Perfect. Hey, we can even use my extra space elevator. It's in the trunk of my car. Lemme go get it...

I know/knew .

Yeah, but as we all know, the same accident that creates the mutant super-villain will also create a mutant superhero who will defend us from the mutant super-villian.

In the end: it'll be a good time to get into construction to profit off of all the buildings they destroy in their epic fights.

You fool, now we'll be overrun with Martian Godzillas!