Printable View
meanwhile back in japan.......
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42301452...ws-asiapacificQuote:
Radiation spreads to Japan's soil, seawater
Experts warned that Japan faced a long fight to contain the world's most dangerous atomic crisis in 25 years.
"This is far beyond what one nation can handle — it needs to be bumped up to the U.N. Security Council," said Najmedin Meshkati, of the University of Southern California. "In my humble opinion, this is more important than the Libya no-fly zone."
What does the UN have to do with it? You think the Japanese government isn't already pouring all the possible resources and expertise possible into it? :rolleyes:
he may have a point, that maybe more needs to be done with more resources.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
After all, Japan has other issues of an emergency nature, such that even if there were no radiation leaks, the overwhelming nature of the results of this earthquake elsewhere through out the country would still be there.
I doubt the problem is a lack of resources here. Sure, Japan needs help and a lot of it, but in clearing up the mess of the earthquake, extra people fussing over the nuclear situation would only get in the way. What's needed is diggers and earth movers and people with shovels.
If every home had;Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
solar panels for heat and electricity production, plus a supplemental wind turbine, you'd only need a few power plants to make up for the regional differences in weather.........
I think the Japanese government, in the pockets of the power industry for quite some years (along with the Japanese press I might add) is being a little economical with the truth.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
Are we expected to believe that a nuclear plant, 40+ years old, survives an unprecedented 8.9 quake which it was never designed to cope with, has it's backup systems anhialated by an unprecedented etc Tsunami, is left to cook on full micro power for a few hours, and not suffer multiple core meltdowns?
Plus, there is clear reason to suspect the used rods pools are overloaded beyond safe limits....
Tepco are proven liars, and that is being nice about them.......
Tepco and its past and current roles has largely been ignored in these discussions.
When people think of these power plants, it is natural to think of them as part of the government, when it in fact, many plants are not. Indee, they are simply subject to 'tight regulation" whatever that is.
I'm sorry, but in the UK that's a pipedream. In the UK on short days when energy use will be high there will be no power from solar at all during the evenings and even in the summer solar isn't going to give that much power in the UK. For solar you need somewhere which is sunny for a good part of the year and with generally clear skies. Wind turbines are a good idea but by nature the wind is unpredictable and you'd still need reliable power for the times when it's not windy.Quote:
Originally Posted by SGWilko
I love renewable energy and in the right place it's great. If we were ever building a new house I'd certainly look at having a heat pump installation, I think it's a really good idea :up:
Japan already had one of the highest uptakes of domestic solar power in the world, and relies a lot on hydroelectric power as part of its policy to not rely on imported energy. They still needed nuclear and gas powered power stations to 'top up' power. If you have a manufacturing industrial base (which admittedly Britain doesn't have much of any more) solar power is unfortunately not sufficient, especially since most industrial nations do not lie on the equator.Quote:
Originally Posted by SGWilko
TEPCO does indeed have a chequered past. My feeling is that they have skimped on some safety checks as well as taking the General Electric nuclear reactors beyond their projected lifetimes. I also feel that their response early on in the crisis was slow or delayed and cost-savings were almost certainly a large factor.Quote:
Originally Posted by SGWilko
However their handling once the magnitude of the crisis became clear has been pretty good and certainly they cannot be accused of being opaque with data. Few if any crises have had such well documented press updates as this one. Also the workers currently sorting out the mess cannot be faulted except perhaps for mistakes induced by fatigue and fear. I suspect that in similar conditions I wouldn't be able to do any better though.
Haig once commented about the British army that it was a case of lions being lead by donkeys. I feel that description wouldn't be inaccurate when used to describe the Japanese nuclear power industry either.