[creepy coupe]

Makes me feel glad I don't live there..

http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

[kdiz]

jeez yea it's really bad there

[Mani59]

Was just watching this vid of the Tsunami:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709850

Unbelievably powerful; the water just keeps coming and coming!

[Tee212]

my god..its like watching everything happen in slow motion soo sad. Whats the death count?

[Em135eye]

Originally Posted by Raj59

Was just watching this vid of the Tsunami:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709850

Unbelievably powerful; the water just keeps coming and coming!

Holy sh1t!!

[E92Fan]

Fortunately the death count isn't so high at the moment - think 19 as of an hour ago.

Horrifying scenes - have lots of friends in Japan and thankfully they are all ok at the moment.

[Dave_3]

Originally Posted by E92Fan

have lots of friends in Japan and thankfully they are all ok at the moment.

Me too. Stayed in Sendai for few days too.

Know a lot of guys that work in that region.

Luckily I have a lot of friends that travel very frequently to japan for work who are back home at the moment - just had a drink with a friend who returned on Monday and we discussed how the Tokyo area was due a big quake (the guys are experts in the geology).

D.

[Ham09]

Latest footage looks horrific. Must have been like end of the world for those in the path of the tsunami.

Thoughts and prayers go to those there in Japan.

[F31-340i]

this looks ominous....

[peterg1965]

It doesn't look good for that reactor. It is a BWR - Boiling Water Reactor, am unsure how they actually work in detail, but it looks as though they actually boil the water off into steam inside the reactor pressure vessel, and they only have one circuit, (this differs markedly to the PWR and AGR) this must be at enormous pressure. The fact that the reactor hall has blown up is not good. At Chernobyl the hall remained largely intact (except for the roof) and provided a semblance of shielding, which was useful in the aftermath of sealing off the reactor.

Queue the sandal wearing, lefty, Greenpeace bunch to tell us how unsafe nuclear power is and the evils of building more in the UK.

[Snooky]

The whole thing has been dreadful and terrifying. Earthquake, then tsunami and now radioactive leak. Thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected.

[F31-340i]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

It doesn't look good for that reactor. It is a BWR - Boiling Water Reactor, am unsure how they actually work in detail, but it looks as though they actually boil the water off into steam inside the reactor pressure vessel, and they only have one circuit, (this differs markedly to the PWR and AGR) this must be at enormous pressure. The fact that the reactor hall has blown up is not good. At Chernobyl the hall remained largely intact (except for the roof) and provided a semblance of shielding, which was useful in the aftermath of sealing off the reactor.

Queue the sandal wearing, lefty, Greenpeace bunch to tell us how unsafe nuclear power is and the evils of building more in the UK.

Its worrying what went bang. I assume the containment building is not pressurized - hence either e.g. the coolant circuit or other pressurized vessels within the building went pop. Not good. Sadly it feels like this could be worse than 3 mile island. Lets just hope its 'only' coolant that has escaped and not bits of the reactor core & fuel.

Seems very worrying given all the obvious signs that it is designed for such events (tsunami breakwaters etc.). No doubt lessons will be learnt.

[peterg1965]

Originally Posted by ///ajd

Its worrying what went bang. I assume the containment building is not pressurized - hence either e.g. the coolant circuit or other pressurized vessels within the building went pop. Not good. Sadly it feels like this could be worse than 3 mile island. Lets just hope its 'only' coolant that has escaped and not bits of the reactor core & fuel.

Seems very worrying given all the obvious signs that it is designed for such events (tsunami breakwaters etc.). No doubt lessons will be learnt.

I guess the containment building is build to withstand a certain pressure, the pressure clearly exceeded that and it went pop. From what I can see there is only one circuit, the primary circuit, if this leaks it will be a radioactive hazard (Alpha and Beta contamination), however if the nuclear fuel becomes uncovered, therefore with no heat sink, it will probably rupture and release of fissile material, including Gamma radiation, this is not good. It could be a Chernobyl Mk2, Three Mile Island didn't lead to the release of radioactive products into the atmosphere (I don't think). Windscale in 1957 was the previous worse nuclear accident after Chernobyl.

[Dr Dave]

I'm certain we have one or two nuclear engineers here on the board..............

[TMP]

That footage of the tsnumami coming in, sweeping over roads and fields as a car is trying to drive away then getting trapped made me feel sick. Puts it all into perspective....

As for the reactor, surely the backup generators should have been designed with this in mind?

Usually with this amount of destruction in Japan, Godzilla is stoping around...

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

Queue the sandal wearing, lefty, Greenpeace bunch to tell us how unsafe nuclear power is and the evils of building more in the UK.

I know, whining Lefties! This is an example of exactly why we *should* build more nuclear power stations. Preferably in coastal areas and/or on fault lines.

Plus, *they* will say that this is an example of the kind of freak weather conditions brought on by global warrming. But scientists are divided as to whether so-called 'global warming' even exists or is man-made.

[Dave_3]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

Plus, *they* will say that this is an example of the kind of freak weather conditions brought on by global warrming. But scientists are divided as to whether so-called 'global warming' even exists or is man-made.

*they" would simply be idiots as even my 5 year old neice knows that earthquakes, and subsequent tsunamis, are caused by tectonic plate shift. Bringing in your opinions on global warming is utterly irrelevant.

The Japanese do not build their Nuclear plants on fault lines. Fact.

So ... both statements you made are nonsense.

I am still waiting to hear from some of my Japanese friends who work on the east coast in the same large area as some of the Nuclear facilities. In an establishment right on the coast. They do have a lot of complex structures in the water offshore to try and dissipate any effects from tsunamis ... but this was exceptional. My thoughts are with them.

D.

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by Dave_3

So ... both statements you made are nonsense.

Is there an icon for 'missing the point'?

I wasn't making any 'statements'. I was merley responding to the comment someone else made, about silly old Greenpeace and their tree-hugguing friends.

Meanwhile:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12720219

[Dave_3]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

Is there an icon for 'missing the point'?

Comes as no surprise you can't find it ...

Greenpeace are not entirely unbiased. Some of their methods are hardly scientific, but they have a clear agenda.

D.

[FieldingMellish]

Originally Posted by Dave_3

Comes as no surprise you can't find it ...

D.

I honestly have no idea what you are talking about. And I don't understand, or appreciate, your aggrression.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Dave_3

The Japanese do not build their Nuclear plants on fault lines. Fact.

Without splitting hairs. Japan suffers from very regular earthquakes because it lies at the junction of several tectonic plates.

This reactor has been critically damaged as a result of a incredibly severe earthquake and it looks like the outcome is not going to be good.

I am afraid that this does very clearly illustrate the risks of nuclear power.

[peterg1965]

Originally Posted by NFS

I am afraid that this does very clearly illustrate the risks of nuclear power.

However, it doesn't undermine the risks of nuclear power in areas where there are no such earthquake risks, such as the UK/Europe. I suspect there were many safeguards in place in that Japanese reactor plant, regrettably they seem not to have been up to the job.

What annoys me is the scare mongering about nuclear power that is perpetuated by Green lobby groups, it is generally unfounded and plays into the uninformed fears of the general public. I could go on, but I will refrain.