Japan gets the biggest earthquake in its history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Senda ... nd_tsunami

Magnitude 8.9. Lots of destruction.

So glad I'm not there.

 

Yeah, saw that while reading the news last night. Crazy stuff, I hope everything goes as well as possible for everyone affected.

 

I saw at least 60 people died due to a tsunami sweeping the area, and there are tsunami warnings all across the pacific. Terrible stuff.

 

I was telling a friend of mine about the nuclear plant crisis last night. I said there was a chance of complete meltdown. We both agreed that, being Japan circa 2011, not Ukraine circa 1986, they would have the problem wrapped up in a few days like it had never happened. Clearly, we were wrong.

At least Japan already knows a thing or two about radiation cleanup...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_ ... ower_Plant

 

Really, I find it astonishing that nuclear plants can still melt down. Am I to believe that they just 'forgot' to waterproof the generators that would stop a nuclear disaster in case of an emergency? Am I wrong to find that just a little bit crazy?

The worst part of all is that it makes nuclear power look even worse, when it's one of the best power sources around.


/frown

 

It's called unforseen consequences. Apparently the structural damage was too great even for the modern "fool-proof" nuclear reactor. You can't just shake off an 8.9 earthquake.

 

You wouldn't expect an 8.9 earthquake to happen, no. But for a nuclear power plant I would expect it to keep functioning if the entire island fell into the sea.

The only issue (as far as anyone is saying) is that the backup generators were damaged by the tsunami, stopping the cooling systems. To me, that just beggars belief.

In Japan of all places.

 

Guy, we're talking buildings cracking in half and walls collapsing. There's only so much you deal with, and 8.9 earthquakes throw most preventative measures out the window. If this happened in America or Europe it could just as easily have taken out a reactor there...

 

Yeah, two weeks ago half of my city got destroyed by a smaller quake, I know how it is. Even so, the Japan one was 8.9 and 125km off the coast. Our most recent one was 6.4 and 5km directly below the city. We didn't have a tsunami, but more than a fifth of the population have left, with rebuilding not supposed to start for 12 months, so the city is practically doomed anyway.

My problem is that the earthquake didn't break the generators - they are claiming the tsunami did. I don't think that should be possible at a nuclear power plant. I'm no specialist in the field, but it strikes me as bemusing that for something that could endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of people if it turns off, every single backup was negated by one big wave.

As far as I know, in the USA all the reactor cooling systems are gravity-fed, so in a situation where all power fails they don't overheat.

 

Just goes to show you, the forces of nature can grind anything into dust in no time flat.

 

Up to 10,000 victims estimated in Miyagi prefecture alone

 

I amuse myself with the stupidity of the one who built nuclear power plants on shoreside...

 

Richter scale, my dear friend. An 8.9 earthquake is 250 times stronger than a 6.4 one.