This just keeps getting worse and worse:

I just found out that Fukushima has TEN reactors total including some of the biggest output reactors in the world. Six to the south and four to the North.

At least SIX are out of control - cooling wise and have been declared in Emergency. Two have exploded: supposedly Hydrogen explosions, but on the Oil Drum an expert there says it was a rod explosion; so I'm not sure who we can trust to tell us just how bad this really is.

Group,

We may all get exposed to this.

This is going to circle the globe via the jetstream, of that I have no doubt. I used to make my living flying in that jetstream; so I know quite a bit about it. It's now just a question of how much radioactive dust is going to get sucked up into it. Right now, there's convective weather in the area: a low pressure system South of the meltdowns. While that is probably good for Japan it's probably bad for us.

Stagnate wind in an inversion like Three Mile Island would mean that the fallout would remain mostly local; probably confined mostly to a state-sized area. But the relatively low-altitude low pressure area South of Tokyo right now rotates counter-clockwise meaning that the radiation could get pushed across Japan and to Korea, then catch the 200 mph jetstream and then reverse to North America.

The fact that 55 other nuclear plants and facilities got rocked is a bad omen. Six are already out of control and declared an Emergency. Two have already exploded; meaning that they were all ready melting down producing Hydrogen gas. Explosions that size that have visible shock-waves like in the video of the Fukushima-1 containment building mean that the delicate cooling computers and pipes have probably been blown away. Pouring/pumping sea water and Boron is not likely to work since the hollow fuel rods already melted: that's what produced the hydrogen gas. Pouring sea water on it is analogous to sinking your boat on purpose to put out the fire inside. You are going to lose it no matter what do.

This may turn out to be way worse than Chernobyl. Chernobly was 1000 megawatts. Each of these plants is about half that. Yesterday Jap TV said that Fukushima number three reactor was all ready over 100 degrees Celsius. Sea water's not going to do the trick when the core temp soars out of control like this, imho. You need AC pumps on the hot leg pumping fresh water through the heat exchanger and then back to the hollow fuel rods. Either the AC pumps can't be started or the heat exchanger (outside the reactor) got destroyed by the thirty foot waves (Ten meter waves in Fukushima according to Chan 9 Newswatch).

Nuclear power is too dangerous. We are Fuku-ed because this scientific-illiterate world population does not realize that. If we had a free press, the world might know what I know: Millions have already been zapped with high energy Alpha particles when the containment building exploded. No containment building, means no cement between you and the microwave source. Sort of like running your microwave with no door on it. Not smart.

It was nice knowing all you before you mutated.

TJ

If you watched the morning news shows, you were told that none of these things could ever happen in the US because A: we have much better and safer nuclear plants and B: we could never have such a powerful earthquake in the US, especially not in California. Our earthquakes and tsunamis would never be as severe as they are in Japan and in any case, we are prepared for any eventuality in the US. Yeah right, when pigs fly.

Helen Caldicott wrote Nuclear Madness over 30 years ago. Everything she warned about is still true, all on display here. It's all about "calculated risk", "cost-benefit analysis", and "return on investment". Isn't it.

What does the nuke lobbing group have to say about this?

“When we fully understand the facts surrounding the event in Japan, we will use those insights to make nuclear energy even safer.”

What they are saying is they will make and unsafe reactor a little more safe at a huge expense passed on to customers & taxpayers.

"Fuel rods exposed", their worse fears realized. Meltdown!

My thoughts and prayers go out the people of Japan!

I was put off by the stockholder/market references in another article, plus the vaguery. I have been a bit disappointed lately in Alternet's material, so I come here to CD for better coverage, seems like AN is slipping into the huff groove...play nice too much stuff, and ads.
As for the market reference, I guess the corporate pigs are everywhere and just as insensitive and greedy everywhere. Gee, they could send those billions of market supporting money to the people instead. Ya like that'll happen. Avaricious bastards all.
I concur with TJ, been nice.

Well this is a new more or less unique situation in that the back up generators were designed to survive earthquakes as the reactors did. However it seems that no one thought that a tidal wave would destroy the backup generators.

THAT is the general problem with nuclear power, the string of related consequences that never are fully forseen. That is how systems work. All systems. People think hard about all that can go wrong, but something new always can happen. The Challenger loss was like this, the system failed because the O rings were too cold to expand properly on launch so there was a leak. Here the reactors survived fine and shut down as planned, but the generators were destroyed.

I know quite a bit about nuclear power, my father designed reactors. He was scared witless about accidents and got out of the business because he saw over and over and over accidents that had not happened before. You simply cannot plan for things that you don't think of. That is the problem and when you have a technology that is SOOoooo unforgiving as nuclear power, you are screwed if you don't think of everything...

Next time it might be a meteorite, or hawk shorting out some power line.

It is just too dangerous.

Things to consider, if you are living on the West Coast:

1) Supplement suggestion: Potassium Iodide
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/radiation.htm#iodide

2) Food suggestions:
http://www.helium.com/items/2114769-how-to-survive-nuclear-fallout-from-japans-reactor-meltdown

There may be better sources - I just found this doing a quick search.

Repost
From experiences that I had doing some independent contracting work at a nuclear power plant in Connecticut:
There is always a real danger of something going wrong fast. Operators are not infallible and plant structures wear out, especially if using high pressured steam. I have witnessed an operator being taken off duty for using illegal drugs. I have witnessed bolts eroding and pipe couplings about to fail. Everything is a 'teaching event'. These plants often pass their supposed 25 to 30 lifespans and for various reasons are given extended licenses to continue to produce energy for another 20 plus years. Whenever a near miss occurs, it is always congratulations to the team that solved the problem.
The pools of water covering the many containers of spent nuclear waste glow green and is quite eerie.
In training one hears that natural background radiation is much more concern than the nuclear plant radiation danger to surrounding populations. Such as radiation emitted from rocks, radon, flights in planes and so forth. It is common teaching that deaths in the coal industry have far outweighed the injuries and deaths in the nuclear industry. This is lesson number one in the training sessions.
Often the nuclear industry talks of million hours of no on the job work injuries and throw huge celebrations to acknowledge this. Hidden in all this is the fact that very injured workers are often brought in to the job site to sign in and then taken home again as to 'prevent loss time injuries on the job' and make the record look good.
Make no mistake about it, this is a dangerous business and both those inside and outside the industry know this.

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The Japanese 'officials' are notorious for sugar coating problems. They did it during the Kobe earthquake and this is being discussed all over the place. They have given no real information and they keep contradicting themselves.

Two explosions, this time in the plutonium-fueled unit. The show is over. Worst fears are pretty much realized. Maybe there might be a third explosion if unit 2 blows up, but it's not worth waiting for. Fence off the city for our grandchildren's lifetimes, please. We can always explore Fukushima on Google Earth.

Time to mourn. The time to move on shall come someday.

Actually, nirs.org has other ideas. "There is growing concern about the status of irradiated fuel pools at all of the Fukushima reactors. At these reactors, the pools are located inside the outer containment building above the core and, like the reactor cores, require constant cooling. Given that at least the top third of two containment buildings have been blown off, the integrity of the fuel pools is unclear." Hitting two fuel pools with building-blasting explosions is not what the architects had in mind.

Will Obama pull his attack helicopter pilots from Afghanistan and Iraq as Gorbachev did to bury Chernobyl or is he so obsessed with killing ten year olds gathering firewood in Afghanistan for live target practice that he would rather that 200 million die in the U.S.?

How many of our elected rats have made plans for "trade missions" to the southern hemisphere? They'll have nobody to rip-off when this is over.

The GOP already had a strategy in place. It is called "drill baby, drill", together with "clean coal" and an end to the EPA. They don't care about radiation poisoning so long at their tax havens have nice off shore breezes.

How insane is it that the Japanese who suffered our dropping atomic weapons
on them turned to nuclear power plants?

A world gone mad, indeed -- !!

And for a dollar bill -- !!

We need alternative energy -- GREEN energy -- exposed here are the
huge costs and risks of burning fossil fuels for the benefit of private
interests who control our natural resources -- and those who control
and profit from nuclear power - with the backing of taxpayers, only.

Our politicians aren't working in the interests of the public -- they are
working in their own interests. This is suicidal capitalism, producing
suicidal governing -- !!

maybe they need to mix some Corexit into the seawater they're washing over those exposed fuel rods...

they could rehire the local nuke boys now on hiatus at slave wages to do the work...

I wonder what I will be breathing here in Seattle in a few days?

does rain over the ocean help knock this shit out of the sky and into the water?

Ground control to Major Tom.

Diablo Canyon on the Pacific coast of Central California is stated to withstand an earthquake of 7.5 mag.

But, it is built on top of several fault lines. If an earthquake hits Diablo like hit Japan, the reactor will fail.

Seismic news
August 9, 2010

Earthquakes and Diablo Canyon: public workshop - Sept 8-9

http://www.nuclear.com/n-plants/index-seismic.html

The dollar may take a hit because of this disaster. The Japanese will need money, and they have one trillion in US Government bonds. If they cash them in, the dollar is toast.

Okay, this is why nuclear power isn't safe. If your nuclear power plant gets out of hand(fails), you can't stop it and it affects the whole world. Wonder when we're going to get the true story on radiation in the area and how many pant workers have really died so far. Wonder how many will die in 3 months. Yes I do know they are heros for staying and trying to make it less of a disaster.

Was watching French news coverage on tf1.fr last night (with my French wife who translated) about the nuclear plant meltdown and a couple of items stood out: one, a plant worker interviewed laughed at the disparity between what the Japanese government was reporting and what was actually happening at the plant, second, an interview with a Frenchman married to a Japanese women, whose brother works at the plant had begun sending out emails to relatives and friends saying "goodbye", because of the inevitability of his demise apparently. Chilling to say the least, and crazy that we don't get this depth of on the ground reporting here in America.

We do not want help of the American Department of Defense.
Only the disaster support by The Citizen of the World is necessary for us.
The American Department of Defense is acting for their advertisement and justification.

The Futenma base is the most dangerous base in the world.

An American government and the American Department of Defense are insulting me.

An American government and the American Department of Defense are cheating the earthquake victims.

"ともだち" is not necessary for us. It is not a friend.

We do not want help of the homicide group.

I am intensely angry.

Why do they make me angry?

CNN is now reporting that an explosion has been heard at Fukushima Rector No.2. This is/was the one with the exposed reactor core..

I think the fat lady just hit a high note.

Hey you guys! I already posted this on a couple of other threads, but apparently the news still hasn't reached the US or CNN:

There has been a 4th explosion! Yes, you heard that right, A FOURTH EXPLOSION in the area!

I've just been watching Czech TV, which has been translating directly from a Japanese station.