Earthquake & Tsunami in Japan Thread

[BlackBart]

Quote:

All types of people are racists or stereotype countries. Some don't even know they do it. Some feel, for whatever reason, they are entitled to do it. Maybe they think their country is beyond reproach?

My heart goes out to all of those who are suffering and will suffer for years.
A friend lost his whole family in the Samoan disaster a few years back. His entire family.

I thought this article about the threat of the Tsunami hitting my local area was amusing.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/twilight-s...r-evacuate-vancouver-20110310-160000-812.html

 

[welsummerchicks]

Too Japan isn't the only country killing whales, it's a huge international business and it is an international problem with an international, world wide solution. It's ALSO a problem that is under some very good control and good effects are starting to be seen in populations of a number of species.

It has nothing to do with anything that has happened in the last 2 days anyway. There is no divine retribution raining down from the heavens in the form of earthquakes, for killing whales.

If there was, it would be hard to explain why there are earth quakes in so many countries that have nothing to do with the whale trade - harvesting or consuming, for example.

If there was some sort of divine retribution, YOUR friend would have divine retribution raining down on her head for all the battery chickens and eggs she eats, all the veal calves her dairy addiction is associated with, all the non-dolfin free tuna she ate, all the slaves that planted the cotton fields that she now gets her organic towels from, and all the inhumane slaughter houses where cattle are killed to make her Kalso earth shoes, PLUS she'd be getting hail and brimstone in her morning bowl of oatmeal for saying that about the JAPANESE!

'Cause that just ain't nice, and whoever is in charge of any divine retribution, they got a naughty and nice list!

And that's your wels rant for the day.

LOL!

 

[Patchesnposies]

Quote:
Well said, Welsummerchicks!

Why is it always the haters who go about letting everyone know who is being "punished" divinely and what for???

I always get too mad to post anything reasonable in a response to a situation like this....glad you were able to articulate it so well.

Meanwhile I am going to keep on praying for the folks in Japan......there is going to be plenty more for them to face in the days, weeks, months and even years to come.....

 

[Ec_Prokta]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-12/japan-reactor-fuel-rods-may-have-begun-to-melt-atomic-safety-agency-says.html

....Oh...

 

[San]

The newspaper overhere is telling that the radioactive cloud that got free is heading towards Russia within 24 hours....

 

[Ec_Prokta]

Quote:
I doubt that will be be anything serious. The radiation will dissipate and will not be much of a threat by the time it hits Russia.

 

[San]

Quote:
I doubt that will be be anything serious. The radiation will dissipate and will not be much of a threat by the time it hits Russia.

I don't know but I don't always trust the news. If it's radioactive then it is no matter where it goes too.

 

[Ec_Prokta]

Quote:
I doubt that will be be anything serious. The radiation will dissipate and will not be much of a threat by the time it hits Russia.

I don't know but I don't always trust the news. If it's radioactive then it is no matter where it goes too.

But at what level of radioactivity? That's the important thing, I believe.

 

[welsummerchicks]

There are some very serious and deep issues of human suffering that people have pondered in religion and philosophy - for thousands of years. No one has ever really 'explained' suffering - and especially why good people suffer.

I'd prefer people ponder and think instead of blurting things out like the Japanese deserve this.

There are a good many books out that treat the issue of suffering from different angles.

Erhman's book, titled God's Problem, examines very carefully each approach to suffering in the Bible. It's really an in depth analysis, but he does it from a very unusual angle - as an extremely educated Biblical scholar who devoted his life to the study of Christianity, and then gradually became agnostic.

From a non-agnostic, Christian position, Stump's book Wandering in Darkness is interesting. Swinburn's Providence and the Problem of Suffering is, I think, a classic on the subject, but is a much older book and a tougher read. C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Problem of Pain.

Actually there are many books discussing evil but far fewer authors have been able to attack the problem of suffering.

 

[welsummerchicks]

About that 'radioactive cloud'


My SO has a degree in nuclear engineering. He is explaining to me the issue with the nuclear reactor problem.

First, the core of the reactor is intact. This is encased in six inches of steel and is fine.

However what happened is that one of the pumps in the cooling system broke. This causes tons of steam and gunk to fly up in the air.

What appears to have happened, is a tritium release - this is not unusual considering what happened. The whole nuclear plant is on a platform so the core is not harmed by the earthquake.

In some (older?) power plants, the rods are suspended at the top, and are allowed to shake when there's an earthquake. The amount of power that they generate can fluctuate a little, but this is one approach to keeping the core safe. Each plant has a way to deal with geo-stresses and changes. The focus there, is preserving the core - that's the most important thing to do.

And that worked, in Japan.

BUT....What happens is that there are trace amounts of tritium in the hydrogen gas and water used in the plant. There are always trace amounts of tritium in any water.

When there is a failure in the coolant system, this titrium, which is (already) an isotope (a compound with 1+ extra neutron/different molecular weight), this tritium gets excited by the energy near it, in the core. Tritium has two extra neutrons. So when it gets close to other energy, its neutrons and then everything in that atom, get to rattling around very excitedly.

And then, it gets UN-excited, when it lets off its energy. It lets off its energy in the form of gamma radiation.

My SO thinks that after the de-energization(release of energy), that the danger from tritium is over. The key is, that you don't want that release to damage anything in the core of the plant. So it's important to release it, in a controlled way. You don't want to make any drastic sudden changes but you do want to gently reduce pressure.

In other words, these trace amounts of tritium in the water and gas, pick up energy, and then it release it.

For example, at Three Mile Island, there was a tritium release when they had their coolant system fail, but they managed it very carefully by slowly venting it and that protected the core. I don't know if the amount in the Japan plant is similar to the amount in the TMI plant release - probably that won't be reported for a while because they have to do a lot of eval first.

Radiation is a bad word, but in this case, the danger is very limited. The plant workers are in danger, certainly. Burns can be very serious. Neutron type damage tends to not go deep but it really burns.

And when this happens sea water is very good for cooling the system. Most plants are built near a water source so they can suck up a lot of water if they have to.

This sort of radiation is a threat to people in the plant who could take in a great deal of it right up close.

This is NOT a long term threat or a danger as it dissipates. The half life on tritium is very short.

Don't tell me I'm pro-nuclear - I'm not. I'm just giving facts. This sort of release is not of widespread danger.