Once you censor comedy you may as well kill yourself.
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Once you censor comedy you may as well kill yourself.
Explanation as to why? What's the point? Seems like a waste of time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opaque
Some people just joke about bad shit. That is how they cope.
I made jokes within the hour of finding out about 9.11. Do you think I hated everyone in those buildings that died?
She called it performance art, maybe she just wanted to practice acting?Quote:
Originally Posted by Brisco Bold
Odds are it was for the lulz.
Eh. Either way, glad it's fake because now I don't feel so bad about finding her attractive in that one angle on that one video.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opaque
Basically, the government officials and my own firm are saying that we're safe but no one is believing them since TEPCO, who owns the plants, has covered up a number of nuclear plant incidents in the past. In my company, 33% of people have fled the city.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opaque
These are the notes from the MIT brief. Keep in mind, they're literally notes she was taking on a laptop, so things could potentially be missing or slightly inaccurate. That being said, it's still probably better than everything you've read in papers or seen on the news.
Quote:
BWR (Boiling Water Reactor) Description
* Boiling reactors in japan but 2/3 of ours in the US are pressure reactors so they are structurally and functionally different
* Fukushima daiichi has six reactors - from first vintage of reactors commercially available
* Mk1 500-800 megawatts in reactors 1-5, reactor 6 can go up to 1100 megawatts
* Was scheduled to be shut down this month
* 1/6 of water in core heated and converted to steam and then goes to power the turbine. Then condensed and returnee to upper portion joining the recirculating water.
* Secondary cooling structure can be powered by the grid or generators.
Timeline of Events
* Reactors 1-3 shut down automatically when earthquake hit, cut off from the grid. 4-6 down for routine maintenance.
* Tsunami hit and took out power from generators. Reactions not still occuring but remaining heat still needing to be dissipated.
* Reactor 2 generator kept working but 1 and 3 were not. Coolant boils away and uncovers fuel rods. Then produce hydrogen.
* Reactor pressure from 1 released on sat resulting in small radioactive emission.
* Sunday - unit 1 declared INES level 4 accident. Borated sea water eventually used to flood the containment. Explosion
* Mon- hydrogen explosion of unit3- fuel rods exposed in unit 2 and seawater injected. Faulty valves results in fuel rods being exposed again.
* Tues - reactor 2 explosion, this time with containment. Pressure suppression system damaged. Plant worker evacuations begin due to radiation levels.
* Reactor building 4 on fire (it's ok for water to boil as long as the rods aren't uncovered). Injecting water.
Situations and Surroundings
* Tsunami taking out power but also flooding switchgear connections - means can't just hook up new generators that are brougt in. The key is restoring power.
* Mountains behind coastal plains at site, westerly blowing winds are good to carry the radiation out to sea rather than into population centers.
* Evacuation policy in effect: People between 20-30km are free to leave but have been encouraged to just stay home and indoors, keeping air from outside out (AC instead of windows). Inside 20km radius evacuated.
* Barriers to protect against waves were 2m high, topped by tsunami.
* Number 2 site (this is all at Fukushima 1) - we've been told there is some damage but haven't heard anything about the four reactors there specifically.
Q&A
Some sort of a steam-driven core coolant process that exists but
didn't kick in?
It's possible that the connections that bring the steam
to the turbine may have been disrupted by quake or tsunami but hasn't
been explained. Aldo only 2 of he 6 reactors have it. 3rd back up exists-
batteries- only last a few hours.
In 24 hrs after shutdown how long was the power out?
We don't know.
Off grid since quake but local power and ability to connect to it
probably since tsunami hit. Within about an hour of quake, then
initial cooling wasn't from inflow, it was from existing water boiling
off.
What is the 'primary containment' they are pumping water into?
In the
vessel as well as in the containment. If can bring down boiling, steam
will condense and reduce the pressure.
Salt water damage to primary cooling system?
They are gone, completely
written off. Will definitely create a degradation environmnent and
will probably last only a few weeks before more damage to the strucure.
Worst case scenario?
Already have damaged fuel in reactors, there is a
possibility of release if the system isn't cooled. Loss of water for
long period of time instead of short could result in melting of core.
Not likely we will see explosion that in any way compares to the
Russian reactor explosion. But release of significant radiation is
possible iodine and other chemicals.
Contamination levels are actually very low - no evidence of any health
impacts. Dose rates they were experiencing in Tokyo would have to be
endured for a few days would equal a simple chest x Ray.
Reports coming out are inconsistent about what the levels are -
offsite in populated areas it's very safe. One worker recieved about
10 rem which is twice the annual permissible for work. That amount
would raise a normal persons risk for cancer from 25% to about 25.3
over course of his life and that is much more exposure than civilians have
reported.
Depends on some chemicals are volatile and some are not - volatile
ones can be carried in the air while the others cannot.
Status of numerical simulation tools to replicate connection issues,
etc in Japan?
Have increased with use and become more acchrate but not
very useful in this case bc we don't know the right input to the tools
to use them - acceleration of quake etc. Output is good IF confident
in input. Risk assessment models have been used but some earthquakes
are so strong you can't really defend against them. Like this one.
It's a very rare event - last one his big in japan was about 1200
years ago. But remember tsunami was he bigger damager than quake - a
vulnerability that us recognized.
So why built by ocean?
Thy were built by the sea with tsunami walls
instead of up a hill - not sure why.
Spent fuel pools?
All 6 reactors have some fuel in their pools with a
significant amount of fuel (this is the leftovers of already burned fuel).
The release of these fuels would seriously
increase the severity of the disaster. But not contained within the
contaiment chamber. 2 things make it easier to deal with1 harder. Fuel
pools have a lot of fuel maybe even up to 10yrs worth but produce a
lot less energy -an order of magnitude less than the cores (1 megawatt
vs 10). Can run water via a pipe directly into pools unlike core.
Public communication?
Written communications in English by Tokyo electric power are few and
sporadic. We hear that info IN Japanese might be somewhat
parsimonious. But likely that people on the ground in the plants don't
quite know what's going on yet.
If tsunami had been half an hour earlier would it be much worse
because of decay function?
Probably not because it's the integral of
the volume decay that matters
Would be surprised if it takes longer than a week or two to restore
electric power.
Advances in decay heat management?
Difficult when situation doesn't
give a continuous path for the heat to flow. If air can circulate
around the vessel then the decay heat can be removed naturally.
Hydrogen concern like at 3mi island?
Was a big concern with TMI,
venting meant pressure buildup leading to explosion. Pressurized water
reactors on 3mi island are structurally different such that venting
that was done could have led to explosion but different design means
goal of keeping containment area intact. Same amount of hydrogen would
be vastly diluted compared to pressurized reactors.
Prospects for long term contamination in the area?
Very little released
and dispersed beyond containment but if here is a larger release,
could mean permanent relocation for surrounding residents. 30 year
half life (time to decay or dissipate). If that happens, wont be able
to return until dose rates are about 2 rem per year. High levels means
it gets into water table --> food, agriculture, etc. But - we have very
little information about radiation we can live with. Existing research
generally considers dose rates given within a few minutes rather than
over time. Has not been a careful study of how much is too much to
live with.
MIT NSE website has link to blog started by nuclear science students.
I did some googling for you: http://mitnse.com. Seems like it's in a lot greater detail (and a lot longer to read and sort through) than what's here, but for those of you with some time on your hands is probably more informative.
-------------------
A summary of comments from a Japanese friend of mine:
* This nuclear power plant is managed by a private company. They are regulated by the information discovery law, but are hesitant to make decisions that will end the company. As the MIT talk explained, letting seawater in to cool the structures means it renders them unusable in the future, and they are very prone to further damage as oxidation begins to occur. Delaying the decision to inject seawater made the problem more serious than it otherwise would have been, but was likely a risk-hedging business decision.
* Second, actually checking and measuring the plant has been a challenge since they have to select a person to physically go and do it - without being able to guarantee their health or safety. Additionally, employees are not soldiers or government officials.
* Third, the relationship between the government and the company would have worsened after the problem, and that is something they were likely trying to prevent.
My friend wanted me to emphasize that he is not a trained nuclear scientist but is rather sharing more information that is a combination of local news and his experience. He says he has management experience in his company, and the general consensus among management communities is that the management of the power plant is poor, but nobody knew just how poor it was.
As you posted that, Opaque. Japan's PM pulled out the remaining workers. The radiation got so high they had to evacuate. Meltdown imminent.
Where are you getting that information from? I'm not seeing anything about another evacuation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Advocate
Are you behind on your news? There was a temporary evacuation earlier today when radiation levels went up a bit, but they dropped again and workers are back in there now.
As for meltdown imminent. Meltdown doesn't seem to mean what you think it does. There has already been a partial meltdown it is believed.