Japan Earthquake

[Win2Win]

:ermmm This is really bad.

For those of you who want to check out earthquakes use the Google Earth plugin http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kml.php

[bigcumba]

Been watching it on the news most of this morning, huge quake and massive tsunami... just horrendous to see the devastation, and no doubt more to come as the wave hits around the Pacific.

[Laf]

As if things weren't bad enough, radiation levels at the Fukushima nuclear plant are now reported to be 1000 times the normal level. I'm no scientist but this sounds very bad.

[Win2Win]

Looking at NHK tv it's a lot worse than the Western news is showing.

[Mattw07]

citizentube.com

seems to be the best for getting a real picture of the damage.

we are lucky people living here.

[Win2Win]

The reactor buildings blown up :yikes:

[scoobydoo]

Absolutely terrible....dread to think what the final death toll will be.

[Win2Win]

I'm still not against nuclear power. Seems the reactor is knackered but no leaks, and the rods are out so won't be a meltdown, and Japan will learn from this and make them even safer. So we'll then have magnitude 9.0 and tsunami proof..... that'll do me :thumbs

[Godspot]

Some good links for anyone wanting to follow the situation on this:

Deadly Silence On Fukushima
By Vivian Norris

http://www.countercurrents.org/norris100511.htm

People need answers, data and honest information to help them deal with what is going on. Media blackouts, propaganda and greedy self-interested industries, of any kind, who allow human beings' health to be affected, and deaths to occur, must be stopped now. That senior TEPCO man and the leading nuclear academic in Japan did not break down crying and resign their positions because all was well at Fukushima. Think about it world, and act now before it is too late.....

[kinda reminds me of that WW1 general who broke down when he visited the front to realise just how deep the mud was...

[Godspot]

There's more:

Nuclear collapse looms? Fukushima No. 4 reactor 'leaning' --Visually, Reactor No. 4 'leaning to the right' --4 reactors all still emitting 'significant amounts of radiation into the environment' --Radioactive sludge in sewage system in nearby city 10 May 2011 In a release of information tonight, the Japanese government has confirmed that work was started yesterday to 'shore up the structure of the building,' and 'specifically the upper floor.' Spent fuel pool is kept in Reactor No. 4. Fuel rods from three to four reactors are stored in No. 4, and 'this part of the building is beginning to lean.' Because of the explosion of Reactor No. 3, there are some questions about the structural integrity of the building of Reactor No. 4. (Video, RT interview with Dr. Robert Jacobs, Hiroshima Peace Institute)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxbm7iJTT8U

Japan to scrap plan to boost nuke energy to 50 pct 10 May 2011 Japan will scrap a plan to increase nuclear power from 30 percent to half of the nation's energy source by 2030 and will promote renewable energy as a result of its ongoing nuclear crisis, the prime minister said Tuesday. Naoto Kan told a news conference that Japan needs to "start from scratch" on its long-term energy policy after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was heavily damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and has been leaking radiation ever since. Kan said nuclear and fossil fuel used to be the pillars of Japanese energy policy but now it will add two more -- renewable
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h6Hi7xdZgQL9EXKLpZmsHHpSaMOQ

[Win2Win]

Japan doesn't really have the option to scrap nuclear power, they just need to be built with more safety in mind, and remember, those reactors are 30-40 years old, the new ones wouldn't suffer the same problems. Nuclear is the safest power on the planet, with the bonus of it also being the cleanest.

The problems with the reactors is now sorted, as the initial issue was the heat. That has now gone, and the rods can't boil water so no escaping gas. It's just more a cleanup now than any chance of a nuclear problem.

[Godspot]

How far away is your nearest nuclear reactor Keith? I live within 30miles of Hinkley Point - I'd scrap it myself & go renewable. We're about to be swamped by EDF building a new reactor any time soon...

Greenpeace applauds Prime Minister Kan’s ambitious proposal to scrap the construction of 14 new nuclear reactors,” said Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan Executive Director. “This announcement could put Japan’s energy policy on a new path of clean, renewable technologies, what we need now is the will and commitment to see it through To ensure that the health and safety of the Japanese people is put first, and strong action on countering climate change is taken, the Japanese government must now phase out all existing nuclear plants and pursue Prime Minister Kan’s promise of a clean, renewable, and energy efficient future for Japan.” Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International Executive Director, commenting ! on the international effect of Japan’s decision, said: “Instead of waiting for disaster to strike, governments around the world should now follow Japan’s lead, and adopt energy policies based on clean and renewable energy sources”.

Greenpeace 10th May 2011
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/press/releases/Greenpeace-statement-on-Prime-Minister-Kans-scrapping-of-plans-for-new-nuclear-reactor-builds/

Kan also said that Japan’s basic energy plan to build new atomic reactors to increase the share of nuclear power in electricity supply in the future must be reviewed from scratch. Japan’s current energy policy “envisages that over 50 per cent of total electricity supply will come from nuclear power while more than 20 per cent will come from renewable power in 2030. But that basic plan needs to be reviewed now from scratch after this big incident,” Kan said.

Engineering & Technology Magazine 10th May 2011
http://eandt.theiet.org/news/2011/may/japan-renewables.cfm

Japan will scrap a plan to obtain half of its electricity from nuclear power and will instead promote renewable energy as a result of its nuclear crisis, the prime minister said Tuesday. Naoto Kan said Japan needs to "start from scratch" on its long-term energy policy after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was heavily damaged by a 11 March earthquake and tsunami and began leaking radiation.

Guardian 10th May 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/10/japan-nuclear-renewables

This guy does a pretty good newsletter:

Today's news and searchable archives going back to May 2006 available at http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.

[Win2Win]

I'm not that far from 2 nuclear plants, and I have complete faith in them safety wise and would be happy if the country went 100% nuclear.

Renewables are a joke, no wind or Sun and the lights go out :doh1: .... Hydro is actually one of the most dangerous when you take into account lives lost, coal is by bar the worst though, and nuclear the safest by miles.

[Godspot]

and nuclear the safest by miles.

Must be my turn::crazy::crazy::crazy:

[Win2Win]

Plenty of scientific eveidence, however, it is just basic maths:
http://alttransport.com/2011/03/coal-kills-more-people-than-nuclear-power/
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/03/deaths-per-twh-by-energy-source.html

...and those nuclear figures include Chernobyl

[Godspot]

Prefer the German approach:


'A Reliable Energy Supply' Without Nuclear Power

A draft report on the future of nuclear energy in Germany has come to the conclusion that all the country's reactors should be shut down by 2021. But while setting a deadline might be a political necessity, German commentators argue that Chancellor Angela Merkel's government should focus on the changeover to renewables.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,762150,00.html#ref=nlint

[Win2Win]

Until we have mass storage devices for renewables which is more than 10 years off, we need other power supplies, and to reduce 1000's of worldwide deaths each year, nuclear is the answer, and the only answer.

[Godspot]

I don't see how Germany can do without & we must have, seems we're just lagging behind:

New Nukes

Letter Stefan Schurig: I wonder why Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger ignored the long list of problems of nuclear power. The deadly risk of nuclear radiation would be reason enough to quickly abandon this type of electricity production. But the unsolved question of nuclear waste, the threat of a global spread of highly radioactive material and the tremendous costs compared with the same amount of renewable energy makes it simply a non-option. When it comes to Germany, Messrs Nordhaus and Shellenberger miss the point. The reason why Germany can actually afford to shut down nuclear power plants as a consequence of the Fukushima disaster is mainly because it has developed its renewable energy from a 3 per cent to a 15 per ce! nt share within the past decade. Renewable energy (mainly wind and small hydro) are currently contributing a larger part to the total energy demand than nuclear. Also it bears mentioning that various studies have proven evidence that the accessible renewable energy potential could easily cover the world’s future demand for energy at lower costs.

FT 13th May 2011
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bc41c2c8-7cef-11e0-a7c7-00144feabdc0.html

What's a decade in the grand scheme of things?

[Win2Win]

I'll stick to burning tyres in my garden to keep warm :laughitupsmilie:

[Godspot]

& now Japan:

A ceremony to mark the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing was Saturday dominated by national soul-searching on atomic power as Japan’s prime minister pledged a nuclear-free future. Marking the 66th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing at a yearly event usually devoted to opposing nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the ongoing Fukushima crisis meant Japan must turn to other energy sources.

Japan Today 6th Aug 2011
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/kan-vows-nuclear-free-future-for-japan-on-66th-anniv-of-hiroshima-atomic-bombing