tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post5126355472718894972..comments2024-03-29T00:39:31.629-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Philanthropy, transparency, science, politics -- huzzah!David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger250125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84055322282886447812011-03-13T23:58:42.656-07:002011-03-13T23:58:42.656-07:00New York Times has some before and after satellite...New York Times has some before and after satellite images of Japan.<br /><br />Drag the blue handles right to see the original pic, drag it left to see post-tsunami. Clever+horrifying.<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.htmlPaulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45314383083173771912011-03-13T22:54:05.850-07:002011-03-13T22:54:05.850-07:00"...from what we know, the reactor containmen..."...from what we know, the reactor containment appears to be intact."<br /><br />What's worrying me is reports that they're pumping sea-water into the reactor core to cool it but the water level isn't rising.<br /><br />That suggests there's a leak and quite possibly an unforeseen failure mode.Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-53831455562530859142011-03-13T20:09:42.823-07:002011-03-13T20:09:42.823-07:00Update. Two reactors in Japan appear to have exper...Update. Two reactors in Japan appear to have experienced a partial meltdown from the 5th largest quake in recorded history. Recently, a hydrogen explosion was reported at unit 3 (there was one at unit 1 earlier), and like before, from what we know, the reactor containment appears to be intact. As of now, it appears that there will still be no public health impact from these events. Let's keep hoping.<br /><br />Ian, in the short term, you are correct. Anything that uses existing light-water reactor technology scaled down is probably going to be first to market. I just wished we did not have such a paralytic regulatory system geared toward the behemoths that are standard today, where many things in the SMR designs do not apply.<br /><br />Eventually, we will need to move away from light-water technology if we want systems that are inherently safe. As of yet, I do not know of anyone who has proposed a meltdown proof version of one, except for low power, low temperature applications such as research reactors. Fortunately, there are designs like the ones you are less hopeful on that are better in this respect.BCRionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04955960949670858365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-67340083195866871422011-03-13T14:51:13.447-07:002011-03-13T14:51:13.447-07:00"Ian, complete agreement in this corner. I wo..."Ian, complete agreement in this corner. I would rather have small modular reactors, which should be easier to load follow, doing the backup electricity generation for wind and solar than natural gas."<br /><br />I actually have much more hope for the small, standardized 20-meg nuclear plants (I forget the company that makes them) than for breeders, Thorium reactors or travelling wave reactors.<br /><br />Apart from anything else, we're going to need hundreds of new reactors if we want to completely replace coal.<br /><br />No financial institution is going to kick in $5-10 billion per unit on an untested design.<br /><br />So allow a decade or more for the first operational plant to be built (most likely with government money) and tested; then allow another decade or so for the first wave of 5-10 reactors to come on line and then ANOTHER decade for widespread adoption. <br /><br />The small modularized plants are well into the field-testing phase.Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69542313433214306812011-03-13T09:06:06.446-07:002011-03-13T09:06:06.446-07:00Ian, complete agreement in this corner. I would ra...Ian, complete agreement in this corner. I would rather have small modular reactors, which should be easier to load follow, doing the backup electricity generation for wind and solar than natural gas.<br /><br />Here is <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-12/japan-nuclear-fallout-how-bad-could-it-get/" rel="nofollow">another article</a> explaining the partial meltdown and expected consequences. Pretty much everything I've read on what happens if a light-water reactor melts repeats the research in the 1960s and the last test at Three Mile Island in 1979. If nothing else dramatic happens, it looks like we will have more confirmation that the health impact of a properly managed reactor fuel melt is the negligible.BCRionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04955960949670858365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-68447417264038492272011-03-13T06:25:58.666-07:002011-03-13T06:25:58.666-07:00Prof. Brian Barry has a good assessment of the Fuk...Prof. Brian Barry has a good assessment of the Fukushima power plant <a href="http://t.co/HR2G7GW" rel="nofollow">here</a>. <br /><br />He might be a one-eyed nuclear proponent, but I regard him as a relatively honest one-eyed nuclear proponent.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-46367988320189773512011-03-12T21:49:02.148-08:002011-03-12T21:49:02.148-08:00"Why you can't go with both is a bit beyo..."Why you can't go with both is a bit beyond me..."<br />As I've noted before, portraying nuclear power as a panacea for the world's energy supply and global warming problems is just as unrealistic as claiming those problems can be fixed without using nuclear power.Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63894522850976089642011-03-12T21:10:58.294-08:002011-03-12T21:10:58.294-08:00Still not a lot of very good information on the ha...Still not a lot of very good information on the happenings in Japan. It is very frustrating with all the conflicting pieces of information, but I guess with the situation there, it's difficult to blame them too much.<br /><br />Mainly why I say it's a good day for King Coal (and more so its hip cousin natural gas) is from a public perception standpoint. Historically and almost without exception, shutting down or not building nuclear power plants has been replaced by fossil fuels. Even if no one outside the plant is hurt by the partial meltdown(s) in Japan, I would bet that it will slow the deployment of additional nuclear assets worldwide.<br /><br />This is rather sad because the problems we see at the Fukushima reactors have largely been solved by passive safety measures in any design that would be built today. Unlike what we see here where offsite or backup power is necessary to run emergency safety systems, passive safety mechanisms work on natural forces such as gravity and pressure gradients. I cannot say with 100% certainty they would have worked in this extreme event, but having some chance of not needing backup power is better than none at all.BCRionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04955960949670858365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59149513456037837222011-03-12T20:25:24.600-08:002011-03-12T20:25:24.600-08:00Given that the annual amount of radioactive fallou...Given that the annual amount of radioactive fallout from fly ash is comparable to Chernobyl (and continuous), I don't think any day is a good day for King Coal.<br /><br />In Australia, at least, the nuclear lobby is pitching its darts rather vehemently at the renewable sector. Can't provide baseload power, or so they say (incorrectly, as it happens)<br /><br />Why you can't go with both is a bit beyond me...<br /><br />wrt Japan: death tolls after earthquakes *always* rise dramatically after a day or two. Initial reports for the 2003 tsunami were a couple of hundred...Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36027400809533137492011-03-12T17:21:06.857-08:002011-03-12T17:21:06.857-08:00Around 10,000 people from a single Japanese port (...Around 10,000 people from a single Japanese port (Minamisanriku) are unaccounted for. Pre-quake population 17000, 7000 made it to known shelters (which even helicopters can't reach because of debris.)<br /><br />Also, <i>"Separately to the official death toll, police in Sendai, also in Miyagi prefecture, said that at least 200 and up to 300 bodies had been found on the shore.<br /><br />Japan's military says troops have also found 300 to 400 bodies in the tsunami-hit coastal city of Rikuzentakata in Iwate prefecture."</i><br /><br />Expect the official death toll to rise rapidly.<br /><br />http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/13/3162576.htm<br /><br />(fushe: I don't feel like making a Japanese pun.)Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90837038326981649232011-03-12T16:44:45.168-08:002011-03-12T16:44:45.168-08:00Sometimes I just don't like people.
http://i....Sometimes I just don't like people.<br /><br />http://i.imgur.com/uZbK6.jpgPaulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59502467022519801372011-03-12T16:23:38.642-08:002011-03-12T16:23:38.642-08:00First of all...yes, this might turn out to be a GO...First of all...yes, this might turn out to be a GOOD advertisement for nuclear power. Some bad publicity, sure, but look at how LITTLE fallout (litaral or figurative) there was from just about the worst nature could dish out.<br /><br />Now, I don't want to seem as if I believe what I'm about to insinuate, but when I FIRST heard about the quake Friday morning, my initial thought was "How did the Koch brothers engineer this so that Wisconsin would be pushed off the front pages?" Now, two posters here say the nuclear problem is "A good day for King Coal." Could it be? No, I don't believe it for real, but only because I don't think the <i>opportunity</i> for that sort of fakery is there.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-67341442266394760162011-03-12T10:02:27.326-08:002011-03-12T10:02:27.326-08:00Actually, one other thing to consider is this: thi...Actually, one other thing to consider is this: this nuclear reactor just suffered from an 8.9 Earthquake and then being flooded by a tsunami. And all that happened was a relatively minor meltdown that was mostly contained. <br /><br />Oh, I can hear the complaints. But imagine if an 8.9 happened near one of the coal plants with those huge pools of ash waste. We'd have had a tsunami of waste flooding the region, the coal plant destroyed, and a massive coverup by the coal industry.<br /><br />Rob H.<br /><br />bigness: the subjective size of a catastropheAcacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39094554553341080182011-03-12T09:29:06.743-08:002011-03-12T09:29:06.743-08:00Further news reports indicate that radioactive ces...Further news reports indicate that radioactive cesium was detected, which would indicate that the fuel did partially melt, releasing some fission products. I would speculate this accident was very similar to that of Three Mile Island. From what I've read, the radiation release at the plant boundaries has been very small compared to routine medical uses from chest X-rays.<br /><br />On the international scale of nuclear incidents they are rated 0-7. As of right now, the rating is "4" which is an "accident with local consequences". For perspective, Three Mile Island was a 5 and Chernobyl was a 7. So yes, like Three Mile Island, now 40-year old engineering appeared to work and contain most of the radioactive material.BCRionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04955960949670858365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40438219536674097612011-03-12T08:06:43.476-08:002011-03-12T08:06:43.476-08:00According to everything I've seen so far, what...According to everything I've seen so far, what we're watching is a nuclear power plant whose catastrophic safety features are working. You'll get more radiation exposure from your next CT Scan or airplane flight than you would standing next to the outside of the containment vessel wall for the same amount of time.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07541997928359883625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43455170325570835492011-03-12T07:59:31.269-08:002011-03-12T07:59:31.269-08:00From what is currently available, the reactor buil...From what is currently available, the reactor building was destroyed by a hydrogen explosion. Hydrogen buildup results from a high-temperature chemical reaction of steam with the zirconium tubes surrounding the fuel.<br /><br />Good news is that there are several layers keeping radioactive byproducts from the environment. It seems the "bottle" holding the reactor remains intact and radiation levels from the gaseous fission byproducts is dropping, and appears to be no public health threat judging by readings at the plant boundary. Seawater is being pumped in to keep the fuel cool to prevent further damage.<br /><br />If the information we have is accurate (a big "if" in such an event), there will be zero adverse health impacts outside the plant, similar to Three Mile Island. Of course, this is only a slight ray of hope when there will likely be thousands of deaths from collapsed buildings, fires, etc.<br /><br />Sadly, the nuclear industry is so financially entrenched with designs based upon a fundamental concept ideal for naval applications, when ones less susceptible to these sorts of things have been known for about half a century. Even worse, all of this is probably irrelevant when it comes to policy. As Tim H. said, this is a good day for king coal.BCRionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04955960949670858365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79752379493203827182011-03-12T06:38:48.438-08:002011-03-12T06:38:48.438-08:00http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/world/asia/13nuc...http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/world/asia/13nuclear.html?hp<br /><br />Not as bad as Chernobyl, but any bad day for nuclear is a good day for King coal.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69666593451668667362011-03-12T04:11:53.969-08:002011-03-12T04:11:53.969-08:00One of Japan's nuclear plants (Fukushima No 1)...One of Japan's nuclear plants (Fukushima No 1) <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/12/3162554.htm?section=justin" rel="nofollow">may have just gone pop</a>.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-62319396082569623822011-03-11T18:14:33.736-08:002011-03-11T18:14:33.736-08:00ell,
"David might want to comment on how ham ...ell,<br /><i>"David might want to comment on how ham radio operators helped out in the tsunami"</i><br /><br />And plans in the US to sell off the bulk of the amateur ham radio bands in order to fund a new First Responders network. The irony.<br /><br />http://www.arrl.org/hr-607Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39582623169016963152011-03-11T13:00:21.822-08:002011-03-11T13:00:21.822-08:00David might want to comment on how ham radio opera...David might want to comment on how ham radio operators helped out in the tsunami (before some of them were evacuated to higher ground).ellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-24144271370174165372011-03-11T09:18:00.494-08:002011-03-11T09:18:00.494-08:00Just found this in an article I'm abstracting ...Just found this in an article I'm abstracting (found the online version so people don't have to rush out and buy the magazine):<br /><br />http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_11/b4219010769063.htm<br /><br />http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_11/<br />b4219010769063.htm<br /><br />So. Due to the shortage of qualified and trained employees in India, companies are offering significant benefits to women, including childcare and the like. But in the United States, women who have children often see their careers come to an end and there is little effort to work with employees. In fact, American employees are often treated like cattle ready for the slaughter.<br /><br />What gives? Seriously. What the frak?<br /><br />Rob H.<br /><br />torop: a news article painting matadors in a good lightAcacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17317584009361153542011-03-11T08:36:32.036-08:002011-03-11T08:36:32.036-08:00Utah Republicans pass their own state-based immigr...Utah Republicans pass their own state-based immigration policy, and it is actually very pragmatic.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/10/AR2011031005032.html?hpid=opinionsbox1" rel="nofollow">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/10/AR2011031005032.html?hpid=opinionsbox1</a>sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32994730137550395872011-03-11T07:38:11.546-08:002011-03-11T07:38:11.546-08:00Here's a video (in Japanese) of a massive whir...Here's a video (in Japanese) of a massive whirlpool that formed after the earthquake. Please note the good-sized boat that is caught up in the swirl - while I doubt it could pull the boat under... that is still something spectacular and scary to behold.<br /><br />http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/03/11/vo.whirlpool.earthquake.nhk<br /><br />http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/03/11/<br />vo.whirlpool.earthquake.nhk<br /><br />Rob H.<br /><br />minds: something more Tea Party activists need to use when considering who benefits from their anti-regulation and anti-government rhetoricAcacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11435198756825433722011-03-11T05:32:57.954-08:002011-03-11T05:32:57.954-08:00I would hate to think of just how devastating the ...I would hate to think of just how devastating the tsunamis from that earthquake would be if sea levels were one foot higher thanks to the melting of arctic ice.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-62331886579048488712011-03-11T04:38:39.271-08:002011-03-11T04:38:39.271-08:00Carbon tax revolutions, State legislature sit-ins,...Carbon tax revolutions, State legislature sit-ins, Middle East uprisings.<br /><br />Nothing like an 8.4-9 earthquake to put things in perspective.<br /><br />Tsunami warning for North Pacific rim, but I don't think this is the place to be learning about that.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.com