Massive earthquake hits Japan

[Buffett and Colbert]

Reports are saying that a meltdown was avoided, although risk remains. Radiation levels have dropped of, and they are going to use sea water to cool the reactor.

Did I hear that Japan received technical assistance and supplies from both Russia and the US to contain this potential explosion?

One bright moment within this dark tragedy is seeing how people pull together, even enemies.

The US and Russia are not real enemies.

Then again, I grew up in a different era.

[Jari Head]

Here's some more on the explosion, http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/12/explosion-at-japan-nuclear-plant-disaster-death-toll-rises/?icid=main|netscape|dl1|sec1_lnk1|205811

[Pope Joan]

Did I hear that Japan received technical assistance and supplies from both Russia and the US to contain this potential explosion?

One bright moment within this dark tragedy is seeing how people pull together, even enemies.

The US and Russia are not real enemies.

Then again, I grew up in a different era.

Our National Security director just said this week that the biggest threats to the US (domestically, I presume) were Russia and China.

He was scathed for not saying Iran or whatever, but I think he's right.

[Buffett and Colbert]

The US and Russia are not real enemies.

Then again, I grew up in a different era.

Our National Security director just said this week that the biggest threats to the US (domestically, I presume) were Russia and China.

He was scathed for not saying Iran or whatever, but I think he's right.

China could be said to be a huge economic threat, but I don't see why we should be afraid of them as a matter of national security.

[Pope Joan]

Our National Security director just said this week that the biggest threats to the US (domestically, I presume) were Russia and China.

He was scathed for not saying Iran or whatever, but I think he's right.

China could be said to be a huge economic threat, but I don't see why we should be afraid of them as a matter of national security.

You'll have to bring it up with this guy
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/intel-direct ... ts-to-u-s/

Frankly I like him.

Hmm, would this make a good NS topic?

Because you and I have drifted far away from the current one.

Mercy on the Nipponese.

[Buffett and Colbert]

China could be said to be a huge economic threat, but I don't see why we should be afraid of them as a matter of national security.

You'll have to bring it up with this guy
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/intel-direct ... ts-to-u-s/

Frankly I like him.

Hmm, would this make a good NS topic?

Because you and I have drifted far away from the current one.

Mercy on the Nipponese.

It probably would make a good thread, but I'm too disinterested to participate much.

/threadjack

[Keronians]

Did I hear that Japan received technical assistance and supplies from both Russia and the US to contain this potential explosion?

One bright moment within this dark tragedy is seeing how people pull together, even enemies.

The US and Russia are not real enemies.

Then again, I grew up in a different era.

I think he means Russia and Japan...

[Alien Space Bats]

1975 photographic image of Fukishima I (Daiichi) nuclear plant, from Wikimedia Commons (courtesy National Land Image Information (Color Aerial Photographs), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism)



First, orientation: North is to the right of the map so, using clock orientation,the tsunami would have swept in from 4 o'clock or so.

Reactors 1-4 are the four tall buildings to the left; reactors 5 and 6 are the single tall building to the right and the unfinished building next to it. Reactor 1, the first and oldest core here, is slightly smaller than the others because it is, in fact, an older and lower-output design - a 460 MW BWR/3-class reactor first brought to criticality in October, 1970. The three other buildings on the left side are 784 MW BWR/4-class reactors, as is the single completed reactor on the right (first brought to criticality between July, 1974 and April, 1978; at the time of this photo, only #2 would have actually be online, although #3, #4, and #5 would have been (largely) physically constructed. The unfinished reactor in this photo, #6, is an 1100 MW BWR/5-class reactor first brought to criticality in October, 1979.

There are an number of reactors similar to these in the United States: Pilgrim #1 (Plymouth, MA), Monticello #1 (Monticello, MN), and Dresden #2 and #3 (Morris, IL) lead the list, although all are 50-75% larger in output (both thermal and electric); these reactors are near Boston, Minneapolis, and Chicago, respectively. The remaining nearby reactors at Daiichi (#2, #3, and #4) are similar to a host of American reactors, including Fermi #2 (Monroe, MI) outside Detroit, where John McCain paid a visit in the 2008 election campaign.

From this image (redirected from MSNBC, but originally aired by the BBC), you can clearly see that the damaged building was where the #1 reactor is housed:



From this angle (about 10 o'clock in the satellite photo; at this angle, the epicenter of the quake was basically in the direction the camera is looking, or perhaps a little to the left of center), you can see reactors #2, #3, and #4 to the right of the damaged reactor, while #5 and #6 stand off to the left (#6 is actually a slightly taller building, to the left of #5 at this angle), so the numbers in order from left to right would be:

#6#5#1#2#3#4

I hope that helps.

[Imsogone]

Waiting... waiting. To hear more news of my daughter. She emailed about 10 hours ago to say that the base was running on generators and they were on strict water rationing - no showers - water for drinking only. At least they have food - if you can call an mre food. At that, they're exponentially better off than the people in Sendai and other parts of Japan. I imagine that an mre would sound like a gourmet meal to most of them right now.

[Milograd]

Waiting... waiting. To hear more news of my daughter. She emailed about 10 hours ago to say that the base was running on generators and they were on strict water rationing - no showers - water for drinking only. At least they have food - if you can call an mre food. At that, they're exponentially better off than the people in Sendai and other parts of Japan. I imagine that an mre would sound like a gourmet meal to most of them right now.

I wish you the best.

[Sibirsky]

Waiting... waiting. To hear more news of my daughter. She emailed about 10 hours ago to say that the base was running on generators and they were on strict water rationing - no showers - water for drinking only. At least they have food - if you can call an mre food. At that, they're exponentially better off than the people in Sendai and other parts of Japan. I imagine that an mre would sound like a gourmet meal to most of them right now.

Reports are coming in that almost nothing is open, and traffic jams are everywhere as people are out and about in search of food and water.

我々は日本を愛して

[Daistallia 2104]

Thanks to people who were updating early on. I've heard word from most of the people I know in the region - everyone I am close to in Iwate is okay, my family throughout Japan is okay, and family friends from inside Sendai are okay. I haven't heard from a close friend of mine from inside Sendai yet, but it looks like where he lives and works was not hit the hardest, so we're optimistic. Close friends of mine living in Ishinomaki haven't been able to send contact, but their neighborhood was shown several times on television, and it looks relatively undamaged, although it is uncomfortably close to an industrial fire.

That's (mostly) good to hear.

latest news -

The Australian Gold Coast surfing championship has just been won in controversial circumstances by a man called Akihito Fukukushi on a wardrobe.

A couple of links:
Translated tweets from a devistated town: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/03/1 ... um=twitter
Suggested places to donate: http://www.japansubculture.com/2011/03/ ... w-to-help/

[Jari Head]

Looking at the first pic I see the wave came from the exact wrong direction, it poured right through the gap in the breakwater and did all the damage to units one and two. If the wave had come from the 7 o' clock it would have plowed into the larger breakwater and gets undercut but 30 ft of water would still make a frackin' big splash.

[The Corparation]

There probably is. The big question is is how bad the leaks are.

Reports are saying that a meltdown was avoided, although risk remains. Radiation levels have dropped of, and they are going to use sea water to cool the reactor.

How? There are three main loops of water in the power plant. The inner one is around the reactor itself, the second flows though that boils turns to steam and cools back to water through a third loop that comes in from the ocean then goes back out.

Waiting... waiting. To hear more news of my daughter. She emailed about 10 hours ago to say that the base was running on generators and they were on strict water rationing - no showers - water for drinking only. At least they have food - if you can call an mre food. At that, they're exponentially better off than the people in Sendai and other parts of Japan. I imagine that an mre would sound like a gourmet meal to most of them right now.

MREs are food. Damn good food usually. It really depends on which type you get. Some are excellent other mediocre and a few are nearly unbearable.

[Sibirsky]

A couple of links:
Translated tweets from a devistated town: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/03/1 ... um=twitter
Suggested places to donate: http://www.japansubculture.com/2011/03/ ... w-to-help/

Sweet. Texting to donate actually hits the spot for a number of reasons. Mainly credit. Thank you.

我々は日本を愛して

[Sibirsky]

Reports are saying that a meltdown was avoided, although risk remains. Radiation levels have dropped of, and they are going to use sea water to cool the reactor.

How? There are three main loops of water in the power plant. The inner one is around the reactor itself, the second flows though that boils turns to steam and cools back to water through a third loop that comes in from the ocean then goes back out.

I have no idea. Just relaying the various reports.

[Imsogone]

Reports are saying that a meltdown was avoided, although risk remains. Radiation levels have dropped of, and they are going to use sea water to cool the reactor.

How? There are three main loops of water in the power plant. The inner one is around the reactor itself, the second flows though that boils turns to steam and cools back to water through a third loop that comes in from the ocean then goes back out.

Waiting... waiting. To hear more news of my daughter. She emailed about 10 hours ago to say that the base was running on generators and they were on strict water rationing - no showers - water for drinking only. At least they have food - if you can call an mre food. At that, they're exponentially better off than the people in Sendai and other parts of Japan. I imagine that an mre would sound like a gourmet meal to most of them right now.

MREs are food. Damn good food usually. It really depends on which type you get. Some are excellent other mediocre and a few are nearly unbearable.

The ones I had came under the unbearable category. MREs however are high in calories and nutrition as well as being light-weight and convenient to use. They'd be ideal for distribution to the populace. I'm just glad my daughter's military and in a somewhat better situation than others.

[Daistallia 2104]

FWIW, I missed it while I was asleep, but a poster on the FG boards said that the BBC had an expert on who was "...openly calling the japanese governement 'liars' aboot the current situation in nuclear powerplants accusing them of covering the extend of the situation and putting population at risk in order to avoid panic and keep control (!?) of the situation..."

The IAEA says the Japanese government is preparing to disstribute potassium iodide tablets.

[Dead Rubber Chickens]

I just hope that everyone is okay and they can repair the city. I just want to know when they continue playing baseball out in Japan.

[The Corparation]

FWIW, I missed it while I was asleep, but a poster on the FG boards said that the BBC had an expert on who was "...openly calling the japanese governement 'liars' aboot the current situation in nuclear powerplants accusing them of covering the extend of the situation and putting population at risk in order to avoid panic and keep control (!?) of the situation..."

The IAEA says the Japanese government is preparing to disstribute potassium iodide tablets.

Has this "expert" seen the damage at the plant first hand? Does he have any experience working at that kind of plant? Does he in fact have experience working at any plant or is he just a theoretical and laboratory expert? Not that he doesn't know his subject, but I don't think he knows the full situation. I doubt anyone outside the plant with the exception of some government officials knows the full scope of the problems.

[Sibirsky]

FWIW, I missed it while I was asleep, but a poster on the FG boards said that the BBC had an expert on who was "...openly calling the japanese governement 'liars' aboot the current situation in nuclear powerplants accusing them of covering the extend of the situation and putting population at risk in order to avoid panic and keep control (!?) of the situation..."

The IAEA says the Japanese government is preparing to disstribute potassium iodide tablets.

Or it could be fear mongering. Nuclear energy is hated by many.

[Reploid Productions]

FWIW, I missed it while I was asleep, but a poster on the FG boards said that the BBC had an expert on who was "...openly calling the japanese governement 'liars' aboot the current situation in nuclear powerplants accusing them of covering the extend of the situation and putting population at risk in order to avoid panic and keep control (!?) of the situation..."

The IAEA says the Japanese government is preparing to disstribute potassium iodide tablets.

If they are endangering people by trying to downplay how serious the problem is, I think it's likely a case of choosing the best out of a bad bunch of options. Let's say they fess up, tell everyone that there is a serious radiation danger. What happens then? You're dealing with a large number of people who's nerves are already frayed to the breaking point by the double-whammy of one of the largest earthquakes on record and what is probably one of the largest tsunamis on record; on top of a sort of cultural sensitivity held over from being nuked in WW2. Do you think people like that are going to respond at all rationally to being told that there's a potential nuclear disaster on top of everything they're already struggling with? A nuclear disaster would only be compounded worse by mass panic, and it's not like the government is keeping people completely in the dark and letting them stay anywhere near the reactors.

Sure, in an ideal world, they could tell everyone exactly how bad it is, and people would react in a calm, controlled manner and evacuate in an orderly fashion. But the situation right now is about as far from ideal as you can possibly get.

[Chrinthanium]

If they are endangering people by trying to downplay how serious the problem is, I think it's likely a case of choosing the best out of a bad bunch of options. Let's say they fess up, tell everyone that there is a serious radiation danger. What happens then? You're dealing with a large number of people who's nerves are already frayed to the breaking point by the double-whammy of one of the largest earthquakes on record and what is probably one of the largest tsunamis on record; on top of a sort of cultural sensitivity held over from being nuked in WW2. Do you think people like that are going to respond at all rationally to being told that there's a potential nuclear disaster on top of everything they're already struggling with? A nuclear disaster would only be compounded worse by mass panic, and it's not like the government is keeping people completely in the dark and letting them stay anywhere near the reactors.

Sure, in an ideal world, they could tell everyone exactly how bad it is, and people would react in a calm, controlled manner and evacuate in an orderly fashion. But the situation right now is about as far from ideal as you can possibly get.

I think that the problem is that not everyone is sure exactly how bad it is down there. Under the circumstances, the responses from the Japanese government have been very calculated to preserve civil peace while keeping the public alerted to the fact that there is a very real potential of a nuclear meltdown.

[The Black Forrest]

FWIW, I missed it while I was asleep, but a poster on the FG boards said that the BBC had an expert on who was "...openly calling the japanese governement 'liars' aboot the current situation in nuclear powerplants accusing them of covering the extend of the situation and putting population at risk in order to avoid panic and keep control (!?) of the situation..."

The IAEA says the Japanese government is preparing to disstribute potassium iodide tablets.

Or it could be fear mongering. Nuclear energy is hated by many.

Yea it's that pesky radiation thing when they leak. The rods that last what 10000 years.

Don't know why they would hate it.

[Dakini]

Waiting... waiting. To hear more news of my daughter. She emailed about 10 hours ago to say that the base was running on generators and they were on strict water rationing - no showers - water for drinking only. At least they have food - if you can call an mre food. At that, they're exponentially better off than the people in Sendai and other parts of Japan. I imagine that an mre would sound like a gourmet meal to most of them right now.

Reports are coming in that almost nothing is open, and traffic jams are everywhere as people are out and about in search of food and water.

我々は日本を愛して

Really? Maybe it's location dependent, my bf went grocery shopping yesterday after the aftershocks stopped being so bad and he said the place was empty and it was great. He did say that traffic was horrible and a lot of people were walking around though.