Can we have an update on the situation.

[Anela]

No if this would have happened at any reactor that was up to the current legal standards this woudn't have happened. If you are operating a nuclear reactor saftey should be your number 1 concern, and it wasn't with them. They have a poor safety record and because no one shut them down sooner this is the result. All the signs were there.

Also, maybe i'm dumb, but if you live on a volcanic island in a part of world actually called the Ring of Fire due to all the volcanic activity, I don't think it's that unreasonable to think an earthquake and tsunami might just happen. In fact, common sense might would have told them it was likely to happen.

If you are going to build power plants near fault lines make sure they are earthquake proof, or just don't build them. Period.

And if you don't like the topic i'm talking about just don't respond to my post and let it die

Also, I'm not flaming anyone. Flaming is a forum term that used when you attack someone personally over a disagreement. I'm not calling Tepo names, i'm holding them responsible for what they did.

My bad,
As you can see from my posts #, I am new to the forums. Wrong use of terms.

[Dale]

My bad,
As you can see from my posts #, I am new to the forums. Wrong use of terms.

That is ok, look at the two earlier posts if you want direct quotes from online sources. I found you some

[Anela]

True, but the quake was not what took out the backup systems... it was the tsunami.

True.
Just a personal opinion here, but I would never build, nor allow to be built, a reactor facility anywhere on the shoreline of the east coast of Japan. Given the history of quakes and tsunamis for that region, I just cant justify the risk. The facility, and all its backups should have been at least 50 feet above mean sea level due to the risk of flooding.

[Dinh]

LIfe didn't find a way.

If the reactor had been maintained properly this woudn't have happened. It was a shoddy reactor that should have been shut down.

The life of the sea~ ...or something, t'was a joke.

I completely agree with you. Sticking a nuclear reactor in a place prone to numerous "Acts of god", as the insurance companies put it, is a horrible idea. Personally I think SE should move the servers to Wyoming... when was the last time you have ever heard of ANYTHING bad happening there? I forgot it was a state to be honest.

[Dubberrucky]

Just to clear up any misconception are you referring to the debate in this article? http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/19_23.html

If so the entire source of information is more useful than a quick quote in discussing such topics even though the entire political debate is off-topic.

[Anela]

I am really, really, really hoping that the next update we get from SE, is that they will be going back online at JP midnight on March 22nd. Just wishful thinking I know.. ; ;

[RAIST]

The nuclear disaster currently unfolding is a man-made disaster that could have been prevented. Talking heads for the nuclear industry appear on TV and imply that the nuclear meltdown is akin to aliens landing on planet earth, something that could not have been planned for. This is simply not the case. In 1923 Japan experienced an 8.3 earthquake that generated a 30 to 40 foot tsunami, yet the Fukushima plant was not built to withstand the effects of a similar earthquake and tsunami.

Listening carefully to the nuclear industry’s experts the reason is clear. As happens daily under capitalism, profits are put before people. Making nuclear plants designed to withstand a worst case scenario and protecting the surrounding population is deemed too costly by the profit driven system.

This profit driven decision making is rubber stamped by regulators that are closely tied with the industry they are supposed to regulate. Steff Yorek, a spokesperson for Freedom Road Socialist Organization said, “Allowing the nuclear industry to regulate itself is like letting the kids set the rules for the candy store. The same process that led to the BP oil spill a year ago is the cause of the disaster at Fukushima. We cannot allow the health of people and the safety of the environment to be discarded in favor of maximum profit for a handful of wealthy people.”

She added, “The natural disaster by itself would have been difficult enough to cope with, but in five years or so life could have returned to normal. Even in the best case scenario, the working people of Japan will now face radioactive seafood and soil and contaminated ground water for the next 300 years. Capitalism has doomed another Japanese generation to cancer and birth defects. The only question now is in how large of an area will be impacted and how high the dosage of radiation will go.”

Coudn't have said it better myself

Nice.. propogandists to combat propogandists... (spokesperson for Freedom Road Socialist Organization )--go figure.

At the time, the Kanto earthquake was the worst recorded one to date I think...and they hadn't seen an event parallel to it since. 8.3 earthquake and the waves were recorded at 10 meters (about 32 feet) And Kanto wasn't just the earthquake/tsunami--it also had aTYPHOON in the area at the same time--people were literally burned to death while fleeing because of whirlwinds of fire racing through the streets. This one was still considerably worse and 88 years later. There have only been 4 or 5 other incidents world wide that are on par with or worse than this incident.. and they weren't in the Japan region. So, if anything, they would have made things to withstand (as mentioned earlier) around an 8.0 level event. Again, this wasn't the fault of the quake. The shutdown rods were injected automatically when the quake hit, so they were already going into standby. Backup systems DID engage (granted, one stalled at first, but then kicked in). It was when the deluge of multiple tsunami pounded the shoreline that the support systems were taken out completely.

Have to remember, Japan has some of the best (if not THE best) engineering for designing things to withstand this kind of stuff. The fact that they have lost entire cities should be enough to support that this was just an unforseeable event fror which no one could have been fully prepared.

Raist

[Dale]

The life of the sea~ ...or something

Dinh, this has nothing to do with life finding a way.

It had to do with a misguided corporation that put profit before safety. We had the technology to easily prevent this from happening. The company just chose not to do it because it would have cut into their bottom line, and when you are dealing with something as dangerous as nuclear power that's just not acceptable.

In Jurassic Park that quote is talking about when life finds a way despite science's best efforts to control it. Well, this was not one of those cases - cause this was hardly one of science's best efforts. This could have been easily prevented, and the fact they have some heroic workers who are now risking their lives to control a crisis their bosses made doesn't change this.

Again, i'm not trying to take away from the courage their workers they are showing. But let's not let the heroics cloud the fact this corporation needs to be held responsible for what they did, because this is serious business.

[RAIST]

True.
Just a personal opinion here, but I would never build, nor allow to be built, a reactor facility anywhere on the shoreline of the east coast of Japan. Given the history of quakes and tsunamis for that region, I just cant justify the risk. The facility, and all its backups should have been at least 50 feet above mean sea level due to the risk of flooding.

Unfortunately, these things have to be built near large bodies of water, as that water is used as a cooling medium. Look up the history of Nuclear reactors, and you will see the pattern. Granted, their may have been better sites and what not, but that is kind of mute when you are talking about Japan...topography and industry may not have allowed a viable site on the western side.

Raist

[Dale]

Nice.. propogandists to combat propogandists... (spokesperson for Freedom Road Socialist Organization )--go figure.

At the time, the Kanto earthquake was the worst recorded one to date I think...and they hadn't seen an event parallel to it since. 8.3 earthquake and the waves were recorded at 10 meters (about 32 feet) And Kanto wasn't just the earthquake/tsunami--it also had aTYPHOON in the area at the same time--people were literally burned to death while fleeing because of whirlwinds of fire racing through the streets. This one was still considerably worse and 88 years later. There have only been 4 or 5 other incidents world wide that are on par with or worse than this incident.. and they weren't in the Japan region. So, if anything, they would have made things to withstand (as mentioned earlier) around an 8.0 level event. Again, this wasn't the fault of the quake. The shutdown rods were injected automatically when the quake hit, so they were already going into standby. Backup systems DID engage (granted, one stalled at first, but then kicked in). It was when the deluge of multiple tsunami pounded the shoreline that the support systems were taken out completely.

Have to remember, Japan has some of the best (if not THE best) engineering for designing things to withstand this kind of stuff. The fact that they have lost entire cities should be enough to support that this was just an unforseeable event fror which no one could have been fully prepared.

Raist

Raist, you should really find something better to be an apologist for.

This was not unforeseeable. It was - in fact - predictable.

And they could have easily been prepared for it. In fact, all competent reactors are prepared for it. They even had people resigning from the project before this even happened because they said the reactor design was not safe. Just go check the facts.

If you are going to build a nuclear reactor on the coast in a volcanic area known for huge earthquakes and tsunamis, anyone remotely intelligent would know to put their emergency back up systems high enough to where flood waters can't wash it away, and certainly "the best engineers and designers" as you claim we are dealing with here would. In fact, even the regulations required them to do so.

This is just another typical example of corporations putting greed for profit above public safety, and this time it just about cost Japan their entire country. So you better take this crap serious and fix it and stop making excuses for them, or next time it may be your country that gets hit next.