Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: NWR_pap64 on March 11, 2011, 03:33:29 AM
I sent messages to the staff members in Japan. Still waiting for their response.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: SupaKirb on March 11, 2011, 03:41:04 AM
Words can not explain my feelings toward what has happened in Japan. I have never been there, but I do watch Japanese youtubers. Amazing and lovely people. I am thankful to them for showing me how beautiful the culture in Japan is. I will be praying for them most definitely. It just sucks feeling so powerless when there are people out there need your help. (Looking to donate to relief efforts as soon as I can.)
God Bless You Japan.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Kytim89 on March 11, 2011, 04:21:18 AM
There seems to be a lot of strange weather phenomina going on here lately and especially a lot of eathquakes. Of course these things have went on as normal, but so many things in such proxitmaty to each other seems coincidental to me.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Silenced on March 11, 2011, 06:17:21 AM
I've seen some photos of it. I hope everyone there is alright, it looks pretty damn deadly
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Toruresu on March 11, 2011, 06:58:18 AM
My prayers to Japan and to the NWR Correspondents.
Possible tsunami to hit hawaii in the next hour or so, may He have mercy.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Stogi on March 11, 2011, 07:52:20 AM
I've been watching this for quite sometime and it looks devastating. I hope looks are deceiving.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: MegaByte on March 11, 2011, 10:38:42 AM
All of our Japan crew has checked in, and thankfully, they are safe.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Toruresu on March 11, 2011, 11:24:17 AM
That is great to hear! Thank you!
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: apdude on March 11, 2011, 11:55:19 AM
The worst I've experienced was a 6.9 and this was an 8.9 which as I understand it is 100X bigger. I can't even immagine that.
Edit: It's actually 1000x bigger.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Kytim89 on March 11, 2011, 11:57:28 AM
It appears to me that the ring of fire fault line in the pacific is becoming active. We just had an earthquake in New Zealand and Chile. Let's also not forget the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: KisakiProject on March 11, 2011, 01:46:28 PM
Glad all the NWR people are okay. I'm trying to get a hold of all my friends and make sure they are okay.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on March 11, 2011, 02:25:02 PM
I've just seen pictures http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/03/massive_earthquake_hits_japan.html (http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/03/massive_earthquake_hits_japan.html)
and video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kc-KvQ-XUQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kc-KvQ-XUQ)
of what happened in Japan. That's horrible, but then I heard about the possible/potential radioactive leak at one of the Nuclear plants, and that just made a very bad situation 1000x worse.
FoxNews is confirming a leak, other sources are saying there is no leak. 1 source claims radio active mist was released to relieve pressure, others say that alternate power sources have been activated to aid in cooling of the plants. Another source says that the U.S. is sending coolant to Japan to avoid a nuclear incident of any kind, other sources say that coolant is only water and that the alternate energy sources have already restored power to those pumps.
So regardless of what is happening out there, I hope everyone is OK and takes all the precautionary measures to stay that way.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Stogi on March 11, 2011, 02:44:45 PM
Wow those pictures look horrific!
I've talked to my ex who has family in the southern end of the country and she said the quake didn't affect them significantly. Her mother though, was in Tokyo visiting a friend and she can't get ahold of her :(. I hope she is ok. I can't imagine losing a family member to a disaster.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: MegaByte on March 11, 2011, 02:48:45 PM
I think most of the game developers were out of harms way from this one, but there's a chronicle of their tweets here (http://ca.kotaku.com/5780916/).
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on March 11, 2011, 02:59:06 PM
Also according to those pictures, Japan has paper streets.
I knew they had paper walls in their old style traditional housing, but paper streets seems a little unsafe. It's also kinda weird how that one street "tore" right along the center dividing line, as if that was where it was scored liked ripping lined paper out of a book.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: TJ Spyke on March 11, 2011, 03:20:00 PM
That pretty much confirms that there isn't a leak.
Luckily the death toll has been really low so far (151 confirmed deaths), although a lot of damage has been done. CNN was showing a video where cars were being swept along like little toys.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Stogi on March 11, 2011, 03:50:53 PM
Talked with my friend in Hawaii and he was thinking about surfing the tsnunami (not really). Though he heard that some people were, idiotically, going to try. I'm not a scientist, but I'm pretty sure surfing a wall of water going 500 mph isn't possible.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on March 11, 2011, 03:52:43 PM
Talked with my friend in Hawaii and he was thinking about surfing the tsnunami (not really). Though he heard that some people were, idiotically, going to try.
Some people always do..... and we'll be able to watch them on Youtube doing it. Maybe even LiveStream if we're lucky.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: apdude on March 11, 2011, 04:49:33 PM
Talked with my friend in Hawaii and he was thinking about surfing the tsnunami (not really). Though he heard that some people were, idiotically, going to try. I'm not a scientist, but I'm pretty sure surfing a wall of water going 500 mph isn't possible.
They slow down closer to land, but I don't think tsunami waves break so I'm pretty sure you can't ride them.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Kytim89 on March 11, 2011, 08:08:30 PM
Here are a few articles I found on the Japanese tsunami:
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: oohhboy on March 12, 2011, 05:40:27 AM
One of he nuclear reactor buildings has lost it's roof (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12720219). Meltdown improbable, most likely due to a hydrogen or steam explosion. Reactor vessel expected to be intact and radiation release minimal.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: MegaByte on March 12, 2011, 11:37:44 AM
The International Atomic Energy Agency is using Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/iaeaorg) to post updates because their servers couldn't handle it. (Plant updates (http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/index-e.html))
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: RagnaBlade on March 12, 2011, 12:21:06 PM
News says it was so bad it actually shifted Japan over 8 feet and altered the tilt of the Earth's axis. Crazy stuff. It was 1,000 times more potent than the quake which hit Haiti. http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.earthquake.tsunami.earth/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.earthquake.tsunami.earth/index.html)
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: ShyGuy on March 12, 2011, 12:23:20 PM
holy crap. Time to start redrawing the maps. With the axis shift, are we going to have longer days?
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: MegaByte on March 12, 2011, 12:41:29 PM
This is common with big quakes. For instance, the Chile quake shifted land up to 10 feet and the axis by 8 cm. The Chile and Indonesia quakes made days shorter by 1.26 microseconds and 6.8 microseconds respectively. Even humans can make large enough changes to make a difference. Filling the Three Gorges Dam in China would lengthen days by 0.06 microseconds. (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/02/chile.quake/?hpt=Sbin)
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: KDR_11k on March 12, 2011, 03:52:22 PM
Also according to those pictures, Japan has paper streets.
I knew they had paper walls in their old style traditional housing, but paper streets seems a little unsafe. It's also kinda weird how that one street "tore" right along the center dividing line, as if that was where it was scored liked ripping lined paper out of a book.
Major streets are often renovated one lane at a time so the center line is often where two tarrings meet. No surprise that the asphalt is weaker there.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: stevey on March 12, 2011, 06:07:45 PM
Holy crap, the nuclear plant maybe already melting down. This is really bad.
"As the image above illustrates, the prevailing jet stream (http://geography.about.com/od/climate/a/jetstream.htm) moves from Japan to the United States across the Pacific Ocean. Airborne radiation would work its way into the jet stream and reach the United States in less than 36 hours. Jet streams flow from west to east in the upper portion of the troposphere."
I meant to say jet stream and not trade winds, Aaron.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: RABicle on March 12, 2011, 11:45:44 PM
It appears to me that the ring of fire fault line in the pacific is becoming active. We just had an earthquake in New Zealand and Chile. Let's also not forget the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.
Earthquake off Tonga YESTERDAY (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=1071194). LA, prepare you're anus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Andreas_Fault#The_University_of_California_study_on_.22the_next_big_one.22).
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Kytim89 on March 13, 2011, 12:23:07 AM
It appears to me that the ring of fire fault line in the pacific is becoming active. We just had an earthquake in New Zealand and Chile. Let's also not forget the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.
Earthquake off Tonga YESTERDAY (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=1071194). LA, prepare you're anus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Andreas_Fault#The_University_of_California_study_on_.22the_next_big_one.22).
Kentucky should watch out because of the new Madrid fault line.
I hate to sound like a doom sayer, but I believe that this planet might be entering the era of earth changing calamities that will lead up to 2012. Look at all the strange weather and earth quake that we have been having in such proximity to each other.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: oohhboy on March 13, 2011, 12:47:41 AM
Infowars is full of alarmist Bullshit. Chernobyl my arse. At best it is conjecture, worst, outright lies.
The radiation release was from the initial explosion coming from the "hot' steam. The second reactor had a controlled vent to release building pressure due to lost of normal/emergency cooling system. Sea water is now being used which will ruin the reactor, but will cool it (Nuclear subs use sea water to crash shutdown reactors). Radiation over the last two days has remained steady beyond the perimeter and had fallen down wind of unit one. This means that there is no exposed fuel to the outside and the any "melt" (Imagine something really hot normally cooled by water like an engine suddenly cooled by air only, there is going to be some damage) is contained within the primary vessel as designed. The primary vessel is like wrapping a battleship to protect something and actually uses similar techs. The secondary vessel which is made of concrete is expected to had been destroyed in Unit one.
Quote
MP4(Moitoring car data at the site boundary, North-west of Unit1): 1015microSv/h (15:29, March12)
MP4(Moitoring car data at the site boundary, North-west of Unit1): 40microSv/h(03:08, March13)
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: TJ Spyke on March 13, 2011, 01:38:42 PM
There hasn't been any unusual weather Kytim.
And despite some sites trying to use scare tactics to get hits, the United Nations (and other organizations) have said that other nations will not be at risk from radiation. Also, both the UN and the World Health Organization have said the public health risks in Japan from this are quite low. They also said that the situation is not as serious as Three Mile Island was.
So basically there was a bit of a scare when the situation was first reported (including a lot of people speculating on what happened), but it's not expected to be a problem health-wise.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: oohhboy on March 15, 2011, 11:33:58 AM
The following is copied as is from Somethingaweful (http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3396817) by a user named Heresiarch. It is extremely informative and a must read for anybody who is shitting themselves in fear. I will do my best to update this post if sigificant new development arises. To summarise the FAQ, No deaths from the plant, It is physically impossible to have a catastrophic meltdown. If you mention Chernobyl after this and start screaming about ATOMZ, don't.
---------------
This link (http://www.ustwrap.info/multi/nhk-gtv::yokosonews::tbstv) is the best way to stay on top of things as they happen. On the left is a Japanese NHK stream, on the right is the Japanese TBS stream, and in the middle is Katz, who does real-time translation and some analysis. NHK World and the Western media are all "breaking" stories that are hours out of date.
UPDATE: 5AM GMT, March 17th: a recent summary from this forum post (http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3396817&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=172#post389337954) by forum moderator Inspector 71: quote:
JSDF choppers dumped water on the #3 and 4 buildings, water cannon trucks are being moved into position at the plant, TEPCO hopes to get power hooked back up by this evening.
Spent fuel pool water temp in Reactors #5 and 6 has risen, but only by 4 degrees C in one and by about 20C in the other. Those buildings are totally intact, so once power is restored it should become a total non-issue, and even now it ranks very low on the priority list.
Steam/smoke has stopped rising from #3 (at least to the extent it was previously) but there has been no new info about water levels.
There are 180 people at the site now working on reactor control and debris removal.
From everything that has been discussed in press conferences, the issue right now is with the spent fuel pools, not the reactors themselves.
Later in the day it was reported that a JSDF chopper crew visually checked the water level in the #4 spent fuel pool and said the level was very high. This means that either the earlier reports of low levels were incorrect or the water dumping worked, which would be nigh-miraculous. Either way, it's fantastic news.
Please continue to consider all this information to be extremely tentative.
Special Message from the mods: The same dumbass pokemon/anime/Godzilla jokes that are bannable/probatable in the other thread are bannable/probatable here, too. Come the hell on, people.
This FAQ is not going to be updated by the original author due to personal events, but forum mods will hopefully continue to post updates here at the top. The original FAQ (as last updated at 8:00AM GMT, March 15th) will remain for historical reasons, and because sections relating to scientific facts should remain useful regardless.
--
This thread is intended to move the various discussions about nuclear power, the safety of Japan's nuclear reactors, and related issues out of the general thread about the disaster in Japan. Nuclear talk has overwhelmed the discussion in that thread, along with people coming in asking for information about whether it's going to be another Chernobyl.
But first, a FAQ (updated at 8:00AM GMT, March 15th):
What in the hell is going on here?
In the aftermath of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, two nuclear power stations on the east coast of Japan have been experiencing problems. They are the Fukushima Daiichi ("daiichi" means "number one") and Fukushima Daini ("number two") sites, operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (or TEPCO). Site one has six reactors, and site two has four. The problematic reactors are #1, #2, #3 and (in a different way) #4 at site one. Reactors one through three are the oldest of the ten and were due to be decommissioned this year.
In short, the earthquake combined with the tsunami have impaired the cooling systems at these reactors, which has made it difficult for TEPCO to shut them down completely. Reactors #1 and #3 are now considered safe after crew flooded the reactors with sea water. Reactor #2 is undergoing the sea water injection process but has experienced multiple complications. Reactors four through six were shut down for inspection before the earthquake occurred and are all in cold shutdown; however, the building that houses #4 experienced a fire unrelated to the reactor core.
The four reactors at site two did not have their systems impaired and have shut down normally.
There has been an evacuation in a radius of 20km around site one, and 10km around site two. Due to recent events, the Prime Minister of Japan has asked people between 20km and 30km of site one to remain indoors for the time being.
Where are you getting this information?
This FAQ is based on information taken from primary sources: press conferences by the Japanese government (http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/topics/2011/earthquake2011tohoku.html) and TEPCO as shown on Japanese television, TEPCO press releases (http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/), independent documentation about the type of reactor, and statements by the Japanese Nuclear Safety Commission (http://www.nsc.go.jp/index.htm), the Japanese Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency (http://www.nisa.meti.go.jp/english/index.html), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (http://www.iaea.org/).
Can this cause a nuclear explosion?
No. It is physically impossible for a nuclear power station to explode like a nuclear weapon.
Nuclear bombs work by causing a supercritical fission reaction in a very small space in an unbelievably small amount of time. They do this by using precisely-designed explosive charges to combine multiple subcritical masses of nuclear material so quickly that they bypass the critical stage and go directly to supercritical, and with enough force that the resulting supercritical mass cannot melt or blow itself apart before all of the material is fissioned. This requires extremely precise engineering, which is why building nuclear bombs is not a simple process regardless of how simple the basic idea is.
Current nuclear power plants are designed around subcritical masses of radioactive material, which are manipulated into achieving limited supercriticality for sustained fission through the use of neutron moderators. The heat from this fission is used to convert water to steam, which drives electric generator turbines. (This is a drastic simplification.) They are not capable of exploding like a bomb; if a reactor's nuclear core underwent an uncontrolled supercritical reaction, the energy produced would melt the nuclear fuel instead of exploding, which is what the makers of nuclear bombs have to try very hard to prevent.
Making a nuclear bomb is very difficult, and it is completely impossible for a nuclear reactor to accidentally become a bomb. Secondary systems, like cooling or turbines, can explode due to pressure and stress problems, but these are not nuclear explosions.
Is this a meltdown?
Technically, yes, but not in the way that most people think.
The term "meltdown" is not used within the nuclear industry, because it is insufficiently specific. The popular image of a meltdown is when a nuclear reactor's fuel core goes out of control and melts its way out of the containment facility. This has not happened, although the likelihood of his happening in the future is difficult to determine at this time.
What has happened in reactor #1 and #3 is a "partial fuel melt". This means that the fuel core has suffered damage from heat but the containment vessels are intact and no fuel has escaped containment. Core #2 is suspected to have experienced minor damage. Confinement on reactor #2 is holding but still at risk, although water levels are rising and pumping is continuing.
How did this happen? Aren't there safety systems?
When the earthquakes in Japan occurred on March 11th, all ten reactor cores "scrammed", which means that their control rods were inserted automatically. This shut down the active fission process, and the cores have remained shut down since then.
The problem is that even a scrammed reactor core generates "decay heat", which requires cooling. Under normal conditions, the cores require active cooling for a few days to over a week before they enter a "cold shutdown" state. When the tsunami arrived shortly after the earthquake, it damaged the external power generators that the sites used to power their cooling systems. This meant that while the cores were shut down, they were still boiling off the water used as coolant because they had not yet achieved cold shutdown.
This caused two further problems. First, the steam caused pressure to build up within the containment vessel. Second, once the water level subsided, parts of the fuel rods were exposed to the air inside the containment vessel, causing the heat to build up more quickly, leading to core damage from the heat.
What's this about fuel rods being exposed to the air?
When the coolant levels inside the reactor get low enough, the tops of the fuel rods will be exposed to the air inside the containment vessel. They have not been exposed to the external atmosphere and the containment vessels are all currently intact. When news reports describe "fuel rods exposed to air", this is what they mean.
What are they doing about it? What was this about explosions?
From the very beginning, TEPCO has had the option to flood the reactor chambers with boron-enriched sea water, which would replace the normal cooling systems and allow the reactors to perform their normal cooldown. Unfortunately, this also destroys the reactors permanently due to the corrosive nature of sea water and other factors. Doing so would cost TEPCO and Japanese taxpayers billions of dollars, even though these reactors were due to be decommissioned shortly. More importantly, it would make those reactors unavailable for generating electricity during a nationwide disaster. The sea water method is a "last resort" in this sense, but it has always been an option.
To avoid this, TEPCO first took steps to bring the cooling systems back online and to reduce the pressure on the inside of the containment vessel. This involved bringing in external portable generators, repairing damaged systems, venting steam and gases from inside the containment vessel, and other tasks. These methods worked for reactor #2 at site one, prior to complications; reactors four through six were shut down before for inspection before the earthquake hit. However, reactors #1 and #3 did not respond properly to these attempts, and it was decided to flood reactor #1 and later #3 with sea water.
One of the byproducts of reactors like the ones at Fukushima is hydrogen. Normally this gas is vented and burned slowly. More hydrogen gas than usual may have been generated due to damage to the fuel cores in reactors #1 and #3. Due to the nature of the accident, the vented hydrogen gas was not properly burned as it was released. This led to a build up of hydrogen gas inside the reactor #1 building, but outside the containment vessel.
During the flooding of reactor #1 with sea water, this gas ignited, causing the top of the largely cosmetic external shell to be blown off. This shell was made of sheet metal on a steel frame and did not require a great deal of force to be destroyed. The reactor itself was not damaged in this explosion, and there were only four minor injuries. This was a conventional chemical reaction and not a nuclear explosion.
You see what happened in this photo. Note that other than losing the sheet metal covering on the top, the reactor building is intact. No containment breach occurred, and eventually the water level in reactor #1 was declared "stable", with the fuel rods not exposed to air, and it continued towards cold shutdown.
(http://i.imgur.com/rCSr2.jpg)
At about 2:30AM GMT on March 14th, a similar explosion occurred at the reactor #3 building. This explosion was not unexpected, as TEPCO had warned that one might occur. It was been announced that the containment vessel was not breached and that the sea water process was continuing. Eventually it was declared "stable" like reactor #1 was.
Around 7:30AM GMT on March 14th, it was announced that the explosion at reactor #3 had damaged the already limping cooling systems of reactor #2. The sea water treatment given to reactors #1 and #1 began to be applied to #2.
At around 9PM GMT on March 15th, something unknown happened inside the suppression pool in reactor #2, causing a loud noise and the pressure levels within the pool to drop. Exactly what happened is unknown, but the water levels and pressure within the containment vessel itself are unchanged. Unnecessary crew have been evacuated as a precaution, according to official procedures. They are continuing to pump sea water into reactor #2, reportedly with some success. Reports have described the fuel rods as being partially exposed to air (see above) but with a rising water level. It is unknown what the long-term effect of the suppression pool event will be, as its primary use is during power generation through the turbines.
What about the fire?
Reactor #4 was in cold shutdown and was not originally considered at risk. However, shortly after the suppression pool incident at #2, it was revealed that reactor #4's building had caught fire some time previously. The exact cause of this is unknown, but the primary suspect is the explosion at the building of reactor #3. This fire has since been extinguished.
Reports indicate that the fire in reactor #4's building may have affected the storage pool containing spent fuel rods. This may be related to a sudden spike in radioactivity about the site (see below).
Is there radiation leakage?
That is a question with a complicated answer. To cover this properly we need to talk about how radiation is measured.
There are several ways of measuring radiation exposure. In this case, we are going to be using the "Gray" (or Gy) and the "Sievert" (or Sv). For the purposes of this article, they are equivalent. The radiation outside the problematic Fukushima reactors is currently being measured in micro-Svs per hour; the "μ" prefix in "μSv" is "micro", or one-millionth of an Sv.
Here is a chart showing the effects of various radiation poisoning levels (http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/sec21/ch317/ch317a.html#sec21-ch317-ch317a-610). For comparison, there is also a chart of normal radiation exposure levels (http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/sec21/ch317/ch317a.html#sec21-ch317-ch317a-605) from things like medical x-rays and airline flights. Radiation exposure does not become an immediate health risk until around 1Sv. Radiation exposure is cumulative, if there is not a substantial period of time between exposures.
Containment on the live reactors has not, at this time, been breached. There is, as far as we know, no leaks of live reactor fuel or anything similar. This does not mean that there is not high-than-normal raditation levels around Fukushima site one, for several reasons.
One reason that the radiation levels immediately outside the plant are higher than usual was due to the deliberate release of radioactive steam. These levels go up during venting, into the 700 to 1500 microSv per hour range and then very quickly decrease to almost normal background levels, as the radioactive material in this steam has a very short half-life. This venting is done to reduce pressure inside the reactor containment vessels.
There have also been very minor releases of radioactive reactor byproducts like iodine and cesium along with the steam. This material is less radioactive than the typical output of coal power plants (http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html) and has very short half-lives. It is significant mainly as an indicator of the state of the reactor cores, as radioactive iodine and cesium are a sign that there there has been core damage.
However, roughly simultaneously with the suppression pool event at reactor #2 and the fire at reactor #4's building, an alarming spike in radiation measurements occurred. This has since decreased, but for a short period of time the radiation levels at site one were dangerously high, in the 400 milli-seivert per hour range close to the reactor #4 building.
These levels did not last for more than a few minutes, and they have since dropped down to less dangerous levels. The last available reading (http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/betu11_j/images/110315e.pdf&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhhWZPBU9qhnk-ooQZdEa4s7I0GeQg) at the site gate shows 489.8μSv/hr and dropping at 7:30PM GMT on the 15th. It is not currently known precisely what caused this spike, although the fire at the spent fuel rod pool at reactor #4's building is a strong suspect.
Is Tokyo in danger?
Currently, measured radiation levels are slightly higher than normal in many areas of Japan at the moment, including parts of Tokyo. However, they are still down in single- or double-digit microSv per hour levels, far below any danger.
This does not mean that future events might not change this. Events such as a spent fuel rod fire (see below) could cause more widespread problems, depending on the severity of the incident.
Is a "China Syndrome" meltdown possible?
Strictly speaking, no, any fuel melt situation at Fukushima will be limited, because the fuel is physically incapable of having a runaway fission reaction. This is due to their light water reactor design.
In a light water reactor, water is used as both a coolant for the fuel core and as a "neutron moderator". What a neutron moderator does is very technical (you can watch a lecture which includes this information here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BHdsjo-NR4)), but in short, when the neutron moderator is removed, the fission reaction will stop.
An LWR design limits the damage caused by a meltdown, because if all of the coolant is boiled away, the fission reaction will not keep going, because the coolant is also the moderator. The core will then only generate decay heat, which while dangerous and strong enough to melt the core, is not nearly as dangerous as an active fission reaction.
The containment vessel at Fukushima should be strong enough to resist breaching even during a decay heat meltdown. The amount of energy that could be produced by decay heat is easily calculated, and it is possible to design a container that will resist it. If it is not, and the core melts its way through the bottom of the vessel, it will end up in a large concrete barrier below the reactor. It is nearly impossible that a fuel melt caused by decay heat would penetrate this barrier. A containment vessel failure like this would result in a massive cleanup job but no leakage of nuclear material into the outside environment.
A worst case scenario regarding the cores is a containment vessel failure combined with an uncontrolled release of radioactive steam. This would cause a localized and temporary increase in radioactivity similar to what is already present (see below) but would not result in actual nuclear fuel leakage or widespread contamination. It is this possibility that lead to the evacuations.
It appeas that the fuel rod cooling problem has been largely but not completely solved through the flooding of the chambers with boron-enriched sea water. Reactors #1 and #3 have stable water levels and are therefore considered a low risk for further core melting. Reactor #2 continued to have problems, and it has only been announced recently that water flow has been re-restablished and that the fuel core is being covered again.
I read that there's a plume of radioactive material heading across the Pacific.
In its current state, the steam blowing east from Japan across the pacific is less dangerous than living in Denver for a year (http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ehs/osradtraining/backgroundradiation/background.htm#cr). If it makes it across the ocean, it will be almost undetectable by the time it arrives, and completely harmless as the dangerous material in the steam will have decayed by then.
The United States aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan passed through this plume and suffered no long-term effects. The material was removed with soap and water and the ship is now considered contamination-free.
Future incidents may generate more dangerous plumes, but it remains unlikely that anything dangerous could cross the Pacific and remain so. The accident at Chernobyl generated tremendous amounts of airborne radioactive material, and it was unable to travel more than 1500 miles, less than half the distance to the United States.
Do we need to worry about site two?
The four reactors at site two did not have their external power damaged by the tsunami, and are therefore operating normally, albeit in a post-scram shutdown state. They have not required any venting, and reactors #1, #2, and #3 are already in full cold shutdown.
Can this end up like Chernobyl?
No, it cannot. for several reasons.
Chernobyl used graphite as a neutron moderator and water as a coolant. For complicated reasons, this meant that as the coolant heated up and converted to steam, the fission reaction intensified, converting even more water to steam, leading to a feedback effect. The Fukushima reactors use water as both the coolant and the neutron moderator, which means that as the water heats up and converts to steam, the reaction slows down instead. (The effect of the conversion of water coolant to steam on the performance of a nuclear reactor is known as the "void coefficient", and can be either positive or negative.)
Chernobyl was designed so that as the nuclear fuel heated up, the fission reaction intensified, heating the core even further, causing another feedback effect. In the Fukushima reactors, the fission reaction slows down as the fuel heats up. (The effect of heating of the nuclear fuel on the performance of a nuclear reactor is known as the "temperature coefficient", and can also be positive or negative.)
Chernobyl's graphite moderator was flammable, and when the reactor exploded, the radioactive graphite burned and ended up in the atmosphere. The Fukushima reactors use water as a neutron moderator, which is obviously not flammable.
Note that while Chernobyl used light water as a coolant (as distinct from heavy water (http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/heavy.htm)), it was not a "light water reactor". The term LWR refers strictly to reactors that use light water for both cooling and neutron moderation.
The closest thing that could happen to a Chernobyl-like incident is if the spent fuel rods at the site caught fire and continued to burn. This could create large amounts of radioactive smoke, which would be more dangerous that the vented steam because it would contain nuclear material with much longer lives. So far, this appears to have been averted, but the possibility remains.
The news said this was the worst nuclear power accident since Chernobyl, though.
That's not saying much, considering the competition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_and_radiation_accidents#List_of_accidents_at_nuclear_power_plants). The IAEA rates nuclear events on a scale (http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Factsheets/English/ines.pdf) where level four is "Accident with Local Consequences"; the Fukushima situation is the only class five event involving an actual power station since Chernobyl in 1986, which makes it easy to be the "worst".
This is a serious accident, but so far it is no Chernobyl. There have been no deaths, no loss of reactor containment, and no release of long-lived radioactive material.
Is this like Three Mile Island?
There are similarities. So far, the radiactive material released into the environment is greater than that at TMI, but like TMI there have been no deaths. Also like TMI, regardless of the final result of this incident, the PR damage to the nuclear power industry will have been tremendous.
How do we know the Japanese government and TEPCO aren't lying?
When Chernobyl occurred, the Soviet government attempted to keep it quiet. They failed, in part because the nuclear material and radiation detection equipment at reactors adn universtities in other countries detected it. It is extremely difficult to keep these sort of accidents a secret.
The United States aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan is nuclear-powered, and therefore has all of the same detection equipment that a land-based reactor would have. It is currently offshore of Japan, and it has detected nothing to contradict the official statements from the Japanese government and TEPCO.
However, the fire at reactor #4's building was not reported for several hours. This has led many people both in Japan and abroad to question the accuracy of TEPCO's reporting to the government and news. In addition, the presence of spent fuel rods in reactor #4's building after a major disaster is disquieting, as one would normally expect that dangerous material would have been moved to safe storage at the first opportunity.
Faith in TEPCO's ability to handle the situation has been shaken, but they would be unable to hide any events resulting in the release of radioactive material. They know this and it seems unlikely that they would try.
Given the candor of the Japanese government given these events so far, including the Prime Minister's open admission of severe problems at Fukushima site one in conjunction with a plea to keep calm, it seems unlikely that they would deliberately lie about any future developments. Time will tell.
How can I keep up with developments?
Some outlets in the western media have been very bad about reporting this event, due to a combination of sensationalist reporting, ignorance, speculation, and the use of inexact or unexplained terminology. In many cases, the same network or newspaper will carry both solid reporting and sensationalism. There is no single reliable source.
Much of the information in this FAQ was taken from live press conferences and news reports, but the live translations provided by the western networks are not very reliable and unless you speak Japanese they are probably not going to he helpful.
The press releases at the TEPCO site (http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html) were previously considered to be trustworthy, but recent events have added a level of doubt. In addition, this site is often unresponsive due to the immense traffic it is receiving.
Other organizations providing accurate news in English, although not necessarily in a timely manner, include the International Atomic Energy Agency (http://www.iaea.org/), the The Japanese Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency (http://www.nisa.meti.go.jp/english/index.html), and the Japanese Prime Minister's office (http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/topics/2011/earthquake2011tohoku.html).
A twitter account (http://twitter.com/W7VOA) run by the NE Asia Bureau Chief for Voice of America has proven to be useful.
For those who like watching words scroll by very fast, there is now an IRC channel vaguely attached to this thread: #dai-ichi on synirc.net.
Where can I find more information about these issues?
Reading:
The Japanese Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency (http://www.nisa.meti.go.jp/english/index.html)
the Japanese Nuclear Safety Commission (http://www.nsc.go.jp/index.htm) - nothing useful in English, sadly
Tokyo Electric Power Company (http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/) site with some press releases in English - currently hard to reach due to traffic
Press conferences from Prime Minister's office (http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/topics/2011/earthquake2011tohoku.html) - not all have been translated
The International Atomic Energy Agency (http://www.iaea.org/) is providing regular announcements
Timeline and data sheets for the incident by the Nuclear Energy Institute (http://www.nei.org/newsandevents/information-on-the-japanese-earthquake-and-reactors-in-that-region/) - the NEI is a policy organization for the American nuclear industry so their analyses may be biased
Wikipedia on light water reactors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_water_reactor) and nuclear weapon design (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_design)
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Systems manual (http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/teachers/03.pdf) - the Fukushima reactors are BWRs, a subset of LWRs
More about BWRs (http://www.ansn-jp.org/jneslibrary/npp2.pdf)
Video:
"Physics for Future Presidents" lecture ten, on nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BHdsjo-NR4) - if you watch anything related to this event, watch this one
Footage of the hydrogen explosion at reactor #1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg4uogOEUrU#t=43s)
Photos:
before (https://picasaweb.google.com/118079222830783600944/Japan#5583300976630848578) and after (https://picasaweb.google.com/118079222830783600944/Japan#5583300988368599938) satellite photos of Fukushima site one
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: apdude on March 15, 2011, 12:31:49 PM
I just heard on NPR that the fire in reactor 4 was from lubricating oil for the cooling system pumps and not the spent fuel rods.
Edit: Another good report on what is happening can be found here http://mitnse.com/ (http://mitnse.com/)
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: stevey on March 15, 2011, 08:05:29 PM
I'll stop call this Chernobyl 2.0 when japan's nuclear reactors can go a day or two without exploding. No one expects them not to have problems after an event like this, but not be able to put the situation under control and a long history of dishonest practices, safety and maintenance negligence, and the fact of the constant double talk for the company running it gives no conference that this situation can't or wont get worst.
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The IAEA rates nuclear events on a scale where level four is "Accident with Local Consequences"; the Fukushima situation is the only class five event involving an actual power station since Chernobyl in 1986, which makes it easy to be the "worst".
No, as of now it rate as a 6 above TMI by most nuclear authorities . And reactor 4 is on fire again and could lead to a Chernobyl event if something isn't done fast in about 24 hours since there's NOTHING stopping material from leaking out like reactors 1, 2, & 3. Not to mention reactors 5 & 6 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_I_nuclear_accidents#Reactor_units_5_and_6) are having problems as well and could lead to EVEN more explosions.
edit: All the workers are abandoning the plant. (http://www.alternet.org/story/150254/japan_nuclear_disaster_last_workers_evacuated_from_plant_white_steam_seen_over_reactor_situation_upgraded_to_a_6_on_7point_nuclear_event_scale) The only sane reason I can think of is the spent fuel rods are on fire and releasing dangerous levels of radiation.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: King of Twitch on March 16, 2011, 12:16:41 AM
edit: All the workers are abandoning the planet. (http://www.alternet.org/story/150254/japan_nuclear_disaster_last_workers_evacuated_from_plant_white_steam_seen_over_reactor_situation_upgraded_to_a_6_on_7point_nuclear_event_scale) The only sane reason I can think of is the spent fuel rods are on fire and releasing dangerous levels of radiation.
Holy crap it's worse than I thought
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: apdude on March 16, 2011, 12:53:44 AM
I'm pretty sure stevey ment to put "plant", but it is getting that bad. Supposedly another earthquake just hit.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: ThePerm on March 16, 2011, 02:36:48 AM
A volcano now?
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: oohhboy on March 16, 2011, 03:24:57 AM
Yeah I am sure that he mean the spent fuel pool. Those two reactors have been cold shut down for ages. The degraded integrity rating most likely due to the evacuation. If you can't monitor it, you reduce it's integrity. It doesn't mean there is any damage.
The reactors have not exploded. All the blasts so far have been outside the containment vessels caused by hydrogen which in this design is produced and normally burned off safely. The roof of the building is a facade and is meant to blow away so not to collapse back on the reactor or strong enough to hold the explosion in. The steam and hydrogen was released to relieve pressure inside the vessel both to enable continued pumping of coolant and to prevent rupture. The reason they had released the "Hot" steam into the building in the first place was so that they can wait a hour for the radiation to decay away before re-releasing it out into the environment. The "Hot" steam contained very short half life radioactives. It was a step they didn't need to do. There was some damage with the fuel itself when Cesium and Iodine was detected. It was unfortunate that the hydrogen ignited, but not unforeseen and was engineered for.
A fire was at building 4, not the reactor. It was suspected to be near the spent fuel pool which would explain the evacuation because of the lastest radiation spike. As I type this is now falling again (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12755739).
Have you studied the the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Nuclear_Event_Scale)?
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No, as of now it rate as a 6 above TMI by most nuclear authorities . And reactor 4 is on fire again and could lead to a Chernobyl event if something isn't done fast in about 24 hours since there's NOTHING stopping material from leaking out like reactors 1, 2, & 3.
This is bullshit and your link is broken. It is and I would still consider it a level 4 as any significant activity has be confined within the complex. For a level 6 it would require containment failure of the fuel, ie a meltdown that results in breach of the containment vessel and embedding of fuel in to the foundation. For a 7 it would require airborne distribution of the core. Do you even know what cause the Chernobyl? Do you realise what kind of fuckery it took to cause that accident? If my most you mean some random french org that the article you link calls an unrelated French group (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorit%C3%A9_de_s%C3%BBret%C3%A9_nucl%C3%A9aire)? The containment vessels are still intact. The foundation that is built to catch a complete meltdown is still intact. None of the reactors are on fire due to the use of using graphite as a moderator as these are light water moderated reactors. Even after multiple coolant failures where the core had been left uncooled, there still hasn't been a meltdown.
The complex was designed to take a direct hit from a 7.5 quake which instead took a 9.0 and then a Tsunami that took out both the diesel back up and it's back up which then fell back on the batteries. Even when complete coolant failure occured no meltdown happened. Because of decay heat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decay_heat), spent fuel or SCRAMed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scram) reactor has to be at first activity cooled and then passively. Even at less than 1% of rated power, the heat produced to substantial which is where it is now.
You cannot cover up or hide this. The Iron curtin failed. They have no reason to lie as they can't. There is a US Nuclear Carrier (http://laist.com/2011/03/14/us_aircraft_carrier_ordered_away_fr.php) parked off the coast that would detect anything of concern. In fact they did pick something up which prompted this casual response"
Quote
Although the amount of exposure was minimal, and the equivalent of "that which someone might be exposed to during a month by natural sources," the ship will relocate. 17 crew members who were bringing supplies to the shore were found with contamination, which the Navy says was "easily removed by washing with soap and water."
Universities and other nuclear plants from rivial companies monitor any spread. China which hates Japan has no reason to lie, neither does Russia. The IAEA (http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html) (under 15 March 2011, 20:35 UTC) due to be on the ground at anytime to offer additional advice and monitoring. If you can't trust them, who the hell can you trust.
Quite frankly, this is a side show compared the industrial (http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/japanquake/pia13914.html) fires (http://beforeitsnews.com/story/480/151/Satellite_Images_of_Effects_of_Earthquake_on_Japan_From_NASA.html) that are/were raging and the direct damage done by the tsunami.
Enjoy your coal power plants (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste) since hey expose you to more radioactivity than nuclear power, even with the accidents factored in. Even then the dose received to dwarf by natural sources.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: TJ Spyke on March 16, 2011, 11:49:36 AM
Thank you for posting that oohhboy, you get applauded. I don't want to downplay the situation, but you pretty much summed up why the situation is nowhere near as bad as some people (not just here on the forums) have been saying.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: the_dan_x on March 20, 2011, 06:21:04 AM
Oohhboy, seriously, great posts. There are far too many media sources out there sensationalizing this event.Of course, it's definitely not good, but there are no mushroom clouds, melting people, or any other ridiculous things occurring. I've read some pretty stupid stuff over the past few days. It's nice to see posts like yours.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: oohhboy on March 20, 2011, 10:15:23 PM
Just doing what I can. I hate that the media has cart blanche to effectively troll the world and make ratings hay without the burden of responsibility that real journalism entails. It's irresponsible and beyond harmful. The coverage on this event has been universally atrocious outside of Japan and actual directly relevant government/NGO information releases. Even the NRC in the US had fallen prey to fear mongering.
The only reason why almost power plants use uranium and plutonium is because they paralleled nuclear weapons research and bomb making hence received funding when instead we should have used Thorium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium_fuel_cycle) or reactors like Candu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor). Candu burn just about any fuel you put in it making it extremely useful for reducing not only long term nuclear waste, but burn up excess bomb material. Assuming your country allows for reprocessing (The US does not and uses a wasteful once through cycle which generates the greatest amount of waste and has nowhere to store it except on site all over the country!!!) it is an semi-ideal stop gap until we have Fusion.
Here is a nice infographic (http://xkcd.com/radiation/) on levels of radiation exposure. It is for general education use only, not to be used as a guide for exposing yourself. That said, it's quite accurate and explains it's limitations clearly.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: BeautifulShy on April 02, 2011, 11:18:45 PM
Just going to bump this because there will be a special called Gamers Heart Japan airing on many channels here is a list.
Citytv April 3rd in Canada 4PM All markets G4 in Canada-6PM ET/PM and 9PM ET/PT G4 in the US April 4th 2AM ET/PT Sci Fi in Australia April 3rd 7PM ET SPACE in Canada April 3rd at 7Pm ET
Also if you don't get the above stations you can watch it in 2 places online.
http://www.Hulu.com/gamers-heart-japan and http://www.youtube.com/gamersheartjapan
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on April 07, 2011, 02:33:50 PM
Japan just had another Eathquake. This time a 7.4 off the coast http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/74-earthquake-hits-off-japan/ (http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/74-earthquake-hits-off-japan/)
Tsunami warnings have been issued. Hope everything is ok out there.
edit: I just checked the calendar and realized that this earthquake was 4 weeks to the day (28 Days) later if my Japan Time clock is right.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: oohhboy on April 07, 2011, 05:32:27 PM
Japan just can't catch a break can they?
It has been revised down to a 7.1 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13005110) according to the USGS and some people lost power, some roads messed up again, water pipes broken. Nuclear plants are secure. No reported new deaths so far.
This was an aftershock of March 11 and I can't say there is a better country in the world built to take this kind of beating. Any other country would have been flattened by a 9, a 7 would destroy most cities. Hopefully there are more smaller quakes to bleed off the energy in a more harmless manner.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Oblivion on April 12, 2011, 09:23:26 AM
Fukushima plant All the reactors are still at 5, the situation as a whole is officially a level 7 nuclear disaster. On the level of Chernobyl. Guess you naysayers were wrong.
I'm praying that Japan can get through this okay.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: oohhboy on April 12, 2011, 10:47:56 AM
Fukushima plant All the reactors are still at 5, the situation as a whole is officially a level 7 nuclear disaster. On the level of Chernobyl. Guess you naysayers optimists are were wrong still right.
I'm praying that Japan can get through this okay.
Let me fix that for you.
For a Nuclear incident to go up a level you only need to satisfy any one condition for any given level. This article (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13048916) explains it better than I why they upgraded. here is the original article (http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html) from the IAEA. INES a really broad scale that doesn't tell you anything regarding the impact to actual people. For example a Cat 5 Hurricane is still a Cat 5 whether it's in the ocean or directly hitting a city. Hitting a city is bad newstm, but whether it hits anything or not, it's still a Cat 5.
Basically, the solution to the initial incident caused this incident. They used a lot of water to cool the reactors, but all that water had to go somewhere. They had nowhere enough storage to put it all. The water got irradiated and carried a lot of water soluble Iodine 131 with it. This in turn got dumped into the ocean both by accident and intentionally. One good thing is that Iodine 131 only has a half life of 8 days, making it more radioactive for any given time, but also means it's effect of the environment is short lived. There is already a food ban in place, evidenced by a lot of pissed off fishermen and empty sushi go rounds. There is cesium-137 which is nastier in terms that it has a 30 year half life, but also makes it a lot less radioactive and it's all being collectively diluted by the Pacific ocean. I have no doubt there will be additional monitoring of sea food in the near future as cesium-137 does bio accumulate, and other heavier radioactives has been detected in trace amounts, but I wouldn't lose my lunch yet.
Nobody has died directly or indirectly from this and the general public continue to be advised well before hand to any risks. The general population remains safe and un-irradiated. Potential cancer risks has been raised for some plant workers like the ones who stepped in that puddle. While this incident is on going, there has been no need to call on any heros or liquidators.
They don't need your prays, they need your trust so they can get the job done. They need people to stop collectively shitting their bricks every time the word Nuclear is used in a sentence.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Stogi on April 12, 2011, 12:09:42 PM
It's really a shame that this Nuclear situation has become such an ordeal. As if leveling cities and killing 13,000+ wasn't enough.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: SixthAngel on April 13, 2011, 03:00:00 AM
The first week the plant started to melt down salt sold out in basically every single store in China. A bunch of crazy rumors spread saying everything from most of the salt being shipped to help stop radiation poisoning, to people believing they needed it in case of fallout, to salt in the ocean being irradiated. For whatever reason it sparked people to buy salt which sparked even more people to buy salt simply because they realized other people were buying it all for some reason and there might not be any left for them. The next week the government did something to allow people to return salt and get money back from being way overcharged.
It was pretty funny but the problem was I actually ran out of salt around the time and it was a pain in the ass to find a small bag that wasn't overpriced.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: ShyGuy on April 14, 2011, 12:46:06 AM
My cousins have been planning a trip to Japan for about year, it's scheduled in July. Should they cancel?
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Stogi on April 14, 2011, 12:52:12 AM
They should go to Thailand instead. That place is amazing.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: oohhboy on April 14, 2011, 01:11:07 AM
NO!
No need to cancel, unless they are going straight up to the devastated Tsunami hit coast or want to swim off the coast of Fukushima, otherwise it's business as usual everywhere else. Just use a little common sense and avoid the disaster zones.
However when they do go, with places like Tokyo, they should do their best to save power while they are there. With so many reactors knocked out, there is a large shortfall in power that isn't going to be recoverable anytime soon. Unless they want to contribute rolling black outs, they must help save power. It's going to be hard since July is pretty warm and using the AC would be start to look rather tempting.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Plugabugz on April 14, 2011, 03:34:35 AM
Come to London, the only place on the planet where you're likely to be needing an umbrella in July three years and counting!
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: oohhboy on April 14, 2011, 03:44:36 AM
Britain doesn't have weather, it has British misery.
Auckland on the other hand was four seasons in a day.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Stogi on April 14, 2011, 04:10:53 AM
I've been itching to go to New Zealand for a while now. It's just so damn far.
I was thinking about buying a one way ticket and becoming a bum, couchsurfing my way around till I found a girl who'd take me in. I'd be useless, but charming, and for a while, I'd get away with it. Eventually though, she'll get pissed enough to bitch about it. That's when I'd find a job, probably whoring myself out (since it's legal out there), making just enough money to buy a ticket to Australia and do it all over again.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Plugabugz on April 14, 2011, 05:00:58 AM
I've been itching to go to New Zealand for a while now. It's just so damn far.
I was thinking about buying a one way ticket and becoming a bum, couchsurfing my way around till I found a girl who'd take me in. I'd be useless, but charming, and for a while, I'd get away with it. Eventually though, she'll get pissed enough to bitch about it. That's when I'd find a job, probably whoring myself out (since it's legal out there), making just enough money to buy a ticket to Australia and do it all over again.
I have heard this sentiment before on this forum. *goes searching* I can't find it. It was when Rabicle, I believe, was coming over from the Land Down under.
Title: Re: Quake/Tsunami hit Japan
Post by: Stogi on April 14, 2011, 03:18:05 PM
I don't doubt it. Rabicle seems to have my world view.
