Topic: Japan, Radiation, & Reality

[radioman]

Oy!  Radioman!

They do.

They don't.

That's what I was trying to point out.

*Note to self:  less cryptic irony

Oh no, I know how you think, I was just using your irony to bounce off of.

[Pandora]

Oy!  Radioman!

They do.

They don't.

That's what I was trying to point out.

*Note to self:  less cryptic irony

Oh no, I know how you think, I was just using your irony to bounce off of.

Ah.     Started to feel like we were bouncing in different directions, there.

To put it another way:  I believe the Regime wants to damage us in any way possible, using every avenue possible, and that they don't believe they'll suffer from any of the fallout.

[Libertas]

Oy!  Radioman!

They do.

They don't.

That's what I was trying to point out.

*Note to self:  less cryptic irony

Oh no, I know how you think, I was just using your irony to bounce off of.

Ah.     Started to feel like we were bouncing in different directions, there.

To put it another way:  I believe the Regime wants to damage us in any way possible, using every avenue possible, and that they don't believe they'll suffer from any of the fallout.

That latter part outta turn everyone's poop white!   

Can people this delusional be expected to act reasonably in any situation?   

[IronDioPriest]

Does anyone think that maybe, just maybe, if one of the world's most technologically advanced, responsible and peaceful countries is having a wee bit of trouble with their nuclear energy program that there might be a very real problem with allowing Iran into this fraternity?

Because that's the argument posed by Iran's enablers, Russia and China, that Iran needs a nuke program for the peaceful production of energy for its people. Certainly we know that the real reason is that Iran wants to possess nuclear weapons. Or at least the more intellectually honest among us can say that. Our spineless diplomatic corps has, though, allowed this argument to be used by Iran's enablers. And now that just about the worst thing imaginable is occurring in Japan can the world allow anyone in the middle east to pursue a nuclear energy program? Time will tell but my money would be on the stupid choice.

How can you possibly allow an Iranian nuclear power program after this situation in Japan? How can you make the argument that the Iranians can trusted with the safe operation of a nuclear reactor?

If only we were a world leader. If only we had an even average president and an even average secretary of state. The world is in crisis. Our nation is in crisis. And we long for the B team.

Good point. IIRC Iran had an earthquake just a few years back that killed something like 75,000 people. It wasn't so much that the quake was bad, but that their cesspool 3rd world construction infrastructure was incapable of dealing with the quake. Even IF they only had peaceful nuclear power ambitions, their joke of a culture has not demonstrated the ability to begin dealing with the responsibility.

[Libertas]

Giving nuke tech to 7th century clowns?  What could go wrong? /

[IronDioPriest]

...IIRC Iran had an earthquake just a few years back that killed something like 75,000 people. It wasn't so much that the quake was bad, but that their cesspool 3rd world construction infrastructure was incapable of dealing with the quake. Even IF they only had peaceful nuclear power ambitions, their joke of a culture has not demonstrated the ability to begin dealing with the responsibility.

So my casualty number recollection was off a bit. But the magnitude of the quake was even less than I had remembered...

The 2003 Bam earthquake was a major earthquake that struck Bam and the surrounding Kerman province of southeastern Iran at 1:56 AM UTC (5:26 AM Iran Standard Time) on Friday, December 26, 2003. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude (Mw) of 6.6; estimated by the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake was particularly destructive, with the death toll amounting to 26,271 people and injuring an additional 30,000. The effects of the earthquake were exacerbated by the use of mud brick as the standard construction medium; many of the area's structures did not comply with earthquake regulations set in 1989.

[Pandora]

Middle Eastern culture is not so big on maintenance either.

[IronDioPriest]

Middle Eastern culture is not so big on maintenance either.

They're SUPER good at evil though.

[Pandora]

Middle Eastern culture is not so big on maintenance either.

They're SUPER good at evil though.

Everybody's gotta be good at somethin'.

.

I guess.

[Predator Don]

Saw this earlier, considering Trap's and preceding comments the following post is appropriate.

A meditation on Friendship
Posted by Ann Barnhardt - March 15, AD 2011 11:53 AM MST

What is a friend? There are many, many ways to define friendship. One universally applicable definition leaps into my mind today, March 15th. A friend could be defined as someone who will help you when you are in need of help. Furthermore, a friend is someone who not only WILL help, but WANTS to help. A friend WANTS to be burdened. A friend WANTS to be inconvenienced. A friend WANTS to be bothered and put-upon. Not only that, but if a suffering person does NOT reveal their suffering to their friend, the friend will actually feel rejected and hurt for not being entrusted, nay GIFTED, with the opportunity to share in the suffering. This is where we get the word "compassion". "Com" means "with". "Passion" means "suffer". Friends want to suffer with their friends. As we go through life and we choose our friends, are we not subconsciously saying to ourselves, "Yes, THIS is a person whom I would want to share my sufferings with - and I would want to share in theirs." We make this determination based upon our perception of the moral character and interior goodness of the individual. The finer the character of the person, the deeper their goodness and the stronger their faith, the more "co-suffering" they will be able to bear with us, and thus the less likely they will be to abandon us in our times of need. And selfish though it may seem, every human being is, at the end of it all, trying desperately to avoid finding themselves abandoned.

Japan has formally asked for the help of the United States. The fact is, the request should never have needed to be made. Japan is our friend. Something horrible happened to them. We should have immediately presented ourselves and all of our tactical assets to them within a matter of minutes. "What do you need? What can we do? YOU ARE NOT ALONE. WE ARE GOING TO STAY WITH YOU AND HELP YOU THROUGH THIS - NO MATTER WHAT." Really, the most important point is not the actual, tactical assistance in and of itself - although in this case that is certainly important. The main point is just making sure that they know that we are there with them - making our real presence known to them, so to speak. Because sometimes that is the only thing of comfort that can be given - presence.

Is Japan perfect? No. 66 years ago Japan was in the grips and clutches of a truly evil spirit. They killed many of our people, and in trying to liberate them from the evil spirit that had infected them, we killed a lot of their people too. And when that mess was finally over and resolved, we picked them up, we dusted them off, showed them how to make cars and TVs, and welcomed them back in friendship. And we have both been the better for it.

Barack Obama, and apparently the people surrounding and advising him, are malignant narcissists and sociopaths. They are completely and totally self-absorbed (that's the narcissism) and also incapable of feeling any sort of empathy or compassion for other human beings (that is the sociopathy). While our friend Japan is undergoing a monumental catastrophe, Obama golfed and frolicked at a comedy dinner party. He stood by and coldly WATCHED - what they call "closely monitoring" - the situation. Nothing but the most trifling efforts were made to assist. The justification for this was that the Japanese had not ASKED for help. Now that they have asked, the regime response is one of eyerolling. Yes, we're helping, but we really don't WANT to be helping. We're just doing this because we HAVE to. Obama continues to give speeches about utter trivia, such as increasing funding to afterschool programs and anti-bullying initiatives and, even more insultingly, is giddily recording an entire ESPN special dedicated to the unveiling of his NCAA tournament bracket today. The level of emotional disconnect and black-hole proportioned self-absorption is beyond description or quantification. And one more thing: it is terrifying. This quality of total emotional disconnect and utter self-absorption has been universally observed in all of the tyrants, dictators and despots of history. They surround themselves not with friends, but with enablers, enforcers and hangers-on.

The true test of the mettle of a man, or a nation, is how he treats his friends.

God help us all.

"A faithful friend is a strong defence, and he that hath found him hath found a treasure." Ecclesiasticus 6:14 

http://www.barnhardt.biz/

 I gotta laugh...This was the guy elected who was gonna change the worlds perception of the United States Of America.....

Well, I guess you could say he has been one gigantic success.....

[Glock32]

Which makes me wonder, "Do they really know who is currently running the show over here?" Maybe they are so overcome with stress and exhaustion that they think GWB is still in charge. They need to call France. The cheese eating surrender monkeys have a better chance of answering the call than Toonces.

And dead on about France being more helpful, I never thought I would see the day where the leader of the free world was based in Paris, but thanks to this Regime...our friends are largely abandoned and our enemies embraced.

Plus, the world's best and most experienced nuclear energy technicians and engineers are French. Yes, we invented the technology; but we have since then allowed the French to lap us because they had the will to embrace nuclear energy and we didn't. Their reactor designs are a generation or two ahead of ours. Thank the luddite enviro-marxists.

[Libertas]

Yeah, good point on the French designs.  Now with those thorium designs, looks like the ChiCom's will leap past us as well!

Damn Luddite enviro-Marxists!

 

[rickl]

This afternoon, Gregory Jaczko, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner, said that the spent fuel rod pool atop reactor 4 had run dry. 

That turned out not to be correct.  If it happened there would be a massive release of lethal radiation.

Now go to this Market Ticker thread and read the comments about Jaczko on pages 7 & 8.  They start with commenter Head4hills about 1/3 of the way down page 7.

[John Florida]

 Fox just reported that the Japanese power company has almost completed a power line to turn the pumps on at the generators to cool the rods.

[rickl]

Fox just reported that the Japanese power company has almost completed a power line to turn the pumps on at the generators to cool the rods.

Yeah, I saw that at Ace of Spades around noon.

And I left a comment about it on page 5 of the Market Ticker thread I just linked.

[Libertas]

This afternoon, Gregory Jaczko, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner, said that the spent fuel rod pool atop reactor 4 had run dry. 

That turned out not to be correct.  If it happened there would be a massive release of lethal radiation.

Now go to this Market Ticker thread and read the comments about Jaczko on pages 7 & 8.  They start with commenter Head4hills about 1/3 of the way down page 7.

So, US NRC clown, another typical Obama appointee with an anti-nuke agenda who never held a real job in his entire life is hyping the situation for political gain?!  No!  I don't believe it!  That is so out of character for this Admi...Obama would never do some...the American people wouldn't...How can...But...

 

[rickl]

The latest from World Nuclear News:

Attempts to refill fuel ponds
17 March 2011

A struggle is underway to maintain cooling of used nuclear fuel at Fukujima Daiichi 3 and 4. Helicopters have been making water drops and fire trucks are being prepared.
 
While unit 3 was in operation when the earthquake struck on 11 March, and has been in trouble since the tsunami took out emergency diesel generators, unit 4 was fully shut down at that time and had appeared to remain safe until 16 March when an explosion led to fires.
 
The explosion at unit 4 is thought to have been from a build-up of hydrogen in the area near the used nuclear fuel pond. It severely damaged the building, as well as that of adjacent unit 3, which which it shares a central control room.
 
Now the situation of the cooling ponds is the priority of authorities. Containing highly radioactive heat generating nuclear fuel, they require an adequate level of water to be maintained as well as  pumped circulation to control water temperature. The presence of hydrogen as well as high levels of radiation in unit 4 strongly indicate that fuel is uncovered and suffering damage in the pond.
 
Efforts to inject water to unit 4's pond were called off at 2pm on 16 March. In the previous two days the temperature of the pond had been 84ºC but no more recent data is available.
 
With such serious damage to the reactor buildings it is thought that radiation from further degradation of stored fuel at units 3 and 4 would be released to the environment unchecked.
 
Two army helicopters made four attempts to drop seawater on unit 3, but this did not appear accurate enough to be effective. Tepco said in a news conference that radiation readings had dropped from 3.780 millisieverts to 3.752 millisieverts, so the effect at present seems marginal at best.
 
Eleven high pressure fire trucks are being prepared, but their operation requires the removal of some heavy debris on the ground from the various explosions the plant has suffered during its degradation over the last six days.
 
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News

Before too long a book will be written about this.  It will be an epic saga of heroism and a nail-biting thriller.  It will undoubtedly be a best-seller.

[Glock32]

There was a lot of heroism at Chernobyl too. Lots of those soldiers, pilots, and firemen knew they were on a suicide mission. Still others were unknowingly exposed to radiation.

I can't imagine the mental process of willingly going into a high radiation zone like that. There's only so much protection afforded by suits.

[rickl]

I'm still confident that they can get this thing under control.  It's certainly worse than Three Mile Island, but it's an order of magnitude better than Chernobyl.

[rickl]

I'm about to go to bed, but if anyone wants to follow this, Ace of Spades continues to be an excellent source.

346 And another thing just dawned on me.  They aren't saying if the radiation is alpha, beta or gamma.  But there was a report that the helicopters that dropped the water had lead shielding on the decks to protect the crew.  That would imply gamma rays because the skin of the helicopter would shield against alpha and beta.

Giving a radiation level doesn't mean much by itself because if it is mostly alpha rays, a bunny suit will shield against it.  If it is gamma rays, then only lead is going to shield you (or a bunch of concrete).


Posted by: crosspatch at March 17, 2011 01:42 AM (ZbLJZ)