Nuclear Disaster in Japan

[False Mirror]

After the shocking images of the Tsunami I've been following the news very closely about updates on the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant and it looks as if just now the absolute worst case scenario has come true:

The containment on reactor 2 has been breached and radiation is leaking in much higher amounts than before
The  personnel is getting evacuated except for 50 people (poor guys!!)
More than 8000 mSv (deadly) have been measured at the power plant
Wind is coming from the north and will disperse the radioactive material over Tokyo

I had been rather hopeful during the last days and had hoped it would be possible to handle the decay heat, but all my hope has been vanished minutes ago..  :(

Hell.. this absolutely reminds me of Chernobyl.  :(
I still was a little child in 1986, but I remember that I mustn't play outside and entire Germany was panicking.


If you live in Tokyo I think you should leave the city as soon as you can...

[mgriffin]

This really is awful, completely distressing and only getting worse.

At lunch time today I heard a Japanese nuclear regulatory official on NPR saying the risk in all three reactors was abating. I guess not.

Not sure what to say, other than to watch and hope things come under some kind of control.

[False Mirror]

The information policy is really annoying. Japanese officials seem to contradict themselves with each piece of information, it almost looks as if they try to calm down the people trying to prevent mass-panicking.

[petekelly]

Yes, this is a massive disaster and the volatile nuclear situation is very concerning.
It's hard to imagine what it must be like for the Japanese people to have to endure this disaster.

[doombient]

One of my students is from Tokyo. His parents are alive and well but some of his relatives live near Fukushima so he´s quite concerned about that.

I remember Chernobyl very well, and I was in the process to stage a concert to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this accident, and now this... apparently Godzilla has been unleashed.

We´re witnessing history being made. It´s not a pleasant sight.

Stephen

[doombient]

[...]

it almost looks as if they try to calm down the people trying to prevent mass-panicking.

What would you do? Do some (not very clever) crisis PR, or take the risk of causing a riot? Either way the shit has hit the fan, and it will get even worse than we can imagine.

This is the beginning of the end of the world as we know it, and I don´t mean to cause major concern but we ought to get used to this thought.

Stephen

[sraymar]

It seems the world is learning some serious lessons in this new century.

We are learning to not drill for oil out in the ocean,  that nuclear energy plants are not the way to go, building homes along the coast can be a mistake - New Orleans, and now Japan, and trying to take over the Middle East is very expensive.

I hope we all can learn from these mistakes and make some changes for the better.

[False Mirror]

I hope we all can learn from these mistakes and make some changes for the better.

+1 for that

[zzzone.net]

It seems the world is learning some serious lessons in this new century.

We are learning to not drill for oil out in the ocean,  that nuclear energy plants are not the way to go, building homes along the coast can be a mistake - New Orleans, and now Japan, and trying to take over the Middle East is very expensive.

How about building cities on fault lines (San Francisco) or flood zones from rivers (midwest)?

How about feeding cows chicken manure and raising chickens in tiny little cages where they are covered with poop and not expecting foodborne illnesses?

How about increasing the production of carbon dioxide and not expecting the atmosphere to warm up?

How about defunding education and healthcare with the expectation that the U.S. will remain a competitive economic force in the world?

There are plenty of lessons but there are many reasons that we use to ignore them.

[doombient]

I hope we all can learn from these mistakes and make some changes for the better.

+1 for that

What´s the point of learning a lesson yourself if those in control refuse to learn anything and change direction accordingly? Chernobyl might have become too old a hat for many, I´m afraid, so it was about time to warm it all up again.

Man is an evolutionary dead-end street. To be discontinued.

Stephen

[SunDummy]

I hope we all can learn from these mistakes and make some changes for the better.

+1 for that

What´s the point of learning a lesson yourself if those in control refuse to learn anything and change direction accordingly? Chernobyl might have become too old a hat for many, I´m afraid, so it was about time to warm it all up again.

Man is an evolutionary dead-end street. To be discontinued.

Stephen

In the long run, we're all dead.  But that's no excuse for not trying to make things better in the time we have.  The alternative is curling up in a ball and crying, which is the coward's way out.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Teddy Roosevelt; Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

[sraymar]

How about feeding cows chicken manure and raising chickens in tiny little cages where they are covered with poop and not expecting foodborne illnesses?

How about increasing the production of carbon dioxide and not expecting the atmosphere to warm up?

How about defunding education and healthcare with the expectation that the U.S. will remain a competitive economic force in the world?

There are plenty of lessons but there are many reasons that we use to ignore them.

Three of our biggest mistakes; going to war, relying on oil and nuclear energy, and over spending have really flared up.

I guess hope springs eternal for a lot of us. The items you mentioned along with my points are very 20th Century and I hope in this century we wise up from our careless adolescence. We don't have to use old technologies, live in extreme hatred, or be collectively stupid beyond belief, and I hope we don't continue to choose to. 

[sraymar]

What´s the point of learning a lesson yourself if those in control refuse to learn anything and change direction accordingly? Chernobyl might have become too old a hat for many, I´m afraid, so it was about time to warm it all up again.

Man is an evolutionary dead-end street. To be discontinued.

Stephen

Oligarchies only have the power that we give them,  the people ultimately call the shots. I hope we collectively wake up and make some changes - but then again maybe we've become too big for our collective britches and are due for a serious crash that prunes down the human race or even annhilates it.

The question is - do we want the game to continue?

[hjalmer]

ginormous drone behemoth

ouch

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110318/ts_yblog_thelookout/listen-to-japans-massive-quake


h

[False Mirror]

ginormous drone behemoth

ouch

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110318/ts_yblog_thelookout/listen-to-japans-massive-quake

nice.. nature produces the darkest dark ambient...

[LNerell]

Here is one persons explanation of the Nuclear disaster in Japan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sakN2hSVxA

[sraymar]

I heard on the radio the other day that large fish like salmon and tuna migrate from Japan to the US, so I don't think I'll be eating either fish for a few decades. I'll stick to farmed salmon(once in a blue), and sardines. So much for Wahoo's fish tacos as well.  :o