Japans earth quake 20110311

[mvsgas]

Massive earth quake, I hope the best for everyone there.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709598

[Kuky]

wow... qute a few earthquakes in pacific region... first NZ and now Japan...

[MoGas]

with nuclear plans on it.....:ermm:

[mvsgas]

A lot of earthquakes, I guess chile had one recently also

 

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/

[topol-m]

More footage of the tsunami and the devastation the earthquake caused:

 

Live BBC coverage: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

 

Photos: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709791

[Napa]

Hopefully there won't be any radiation leak from the nuclear plants, 4 have been shut down and fire has been reported in one. Also, 32 people reported dead and thousands missing. oh dear sigh.

Edited March 11, 2011 by Innerloop

[Sticky]

Japanese fascination with Godzilla totally makes sense now.

 

The devastation seems more material than number of lost lives according to the reports sofar, lets hope that doesnt change.

Edited March 11, 2011 by Sticky

[Namenlos Ein]

with nuclear plans on it.....:ermm:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/03/11/japan-earthquake-leads-to-state-of-emergency-at-fukushima-nuclear-power-plant-115875-22982285/

 

Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant under state of emergency after quake

The Japanese government has declared a state of emergency at a nuclear power station after its cooling system failed in Friday's devastating earthquake. The prime minister, Naoto Kan, said that there had been no reports of radiation leaks at any of the country's nuclear facilities.

 

The chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano, said the measure was a precaution and the Fukushima No 1 power plant was not in immediate danger.

 

The plant had shut down but there was a mechanical failure in the reactor cooling system after a power failure. The reactor core remains hot and still needs cooling even after it is shut down.

[hassata]

Hope the Japanese members are safe and sound :(.

[Majesco]

i heard people said there're few earthquakes in Japan some days ago and today is the biggest (M 8.9)

 

China also got earthquake yesterday (in Yunnan, 22 dead reported), Japan today

[Pilotasso]

JAPAN STRONG!!!!! :weight_lift_2:

 

 

The buildings took the blast and endured it. Its too bad about the tsunami, I watched in horror as the waves swept the people driving in highways and towns miles inland without signs of stopping.

 

 

Keep on fighting!!!

[topol-m]

I wish the people of Japan fast recovery in these harsh moments.

[Succellus]

They will.

Japan is " Used" to this kind of disaster, and other kind WW2.

Anyway if a people want to live it have to.

 

Really the last string of Earthquake is impressive, but when you llok at the techtonic plaques involved they more or less all make sense.

A part of the earth adjusting to the inner pressure it suffer daily.

 

We re nothing but ants floating on cushions and thinking we are kings.

If the cities wouldn t block the night sky and star lights so much, maybe many would be more humble.

[mvsgas]

So crazy, the USGS shows over 50 quakes in the last two days in that area.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_big.php

[Pilotasso]

yikes... :(

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-nuclear-plant-2011-3

[topol-m]

^^^ That`s pretty disturbing, they`ve got to get it under control and fast.

[hassata]

Wow. If anybody can deal with this type of situation, it's the Japanese. I how they can avert disaster here.

[RIPTIDE]

^^^ That`s pretty disturbing, they`ve got to get it under control and fast.

They sure do. I just heard on local news here that a 2nd plant has reported cooling failure at one of its reactors. This is fast becoming serious business.

 

EDIT: That 2nd plant is a sister plant and 3 of its reactors are in trouble. Not one. "'equipment failures are making it impossible' to cool three of the four nuclear reactors (reactors 1,2 & 4) at the second Fukushima nuclear plant (Fukushima No 2)."

Edited March 12, 2011 by RIPTIDE

[Speed]

I will be surprised if this doesn't surpass that Kobe quake in lives lost. It looks absolutely aweful. Seeing scenes of destruction like that is enough to make anyone feel a great sadness. Japan IS strong though, and I'm sure they will overcome, but damn... let's keep hoping that death toll stays low compared to the scale of destruction.

 

At the nuclear plant... it sounds like they have several backups still. Doesn't sound dangerous, just as long as they don't f*ck around and get that thing under control. Why can't they just scram it?

[RIPTIDE]

Why can't they just scram it?

They are scrammed. Scrammed reactors of this design (and most designs actually) need cooling for a very long time regardless of scrammed or not.

[Speed]

They are scrammed. Scrammed reactors of this design (and most designs actually) need cooling for a very long time regardless of scrammed or not.

 

So it's just residual heat? Almost all heat generation (except for slow decay) should be gone after the reactor is scrammed right? So what, is cooling necessary to keep the vessel the core is contained in cool, even after it's shut down, because the core retains alot of heat, an amount of heat sufficient to melt the containment vessel or whatever it's called?

 

Thanks for the info.

[RIPTIDE]

So it's just residual heat? Almost all heat generation should be gone after the reactor is scrammed right? So what, is cooling necessary to keep the vessel the core is contained in cool, even after it's shut down, because the core retains alot of heat, an amount of heat sufficient to melt the containment vessel or whatever it's called?

 

Thanks for the info.

No not residual. The various isotopes and by products still produce heat through fission. The main show (ie the uranium fission) is mostly stopped, but the myriad of other daughter isotopes and their associate reactions can continue at varying rates.

 

Reactors are extremely complex. And as they 'burn' through their uranium fuel they get even more complex. Maybe a dozen or more of various elements and isotopes are produced, and because of this the reactors characteristics change over the fuel cycle. Moderating neutrons to stop one reaction might have a side effect of increasing the radiative decay (and heat) of another. And it all depends on the stage at which a reactor is at. Like women, they get complicated after time. lol :D

 

I remember years ago reading about some laid up Russian nuclear subs that nearly went ciritcal because someone didn't pay the power bill. And they were tied up for months or more on the pier and reactors were "off". You can't 100% turn them off. ;) Diff. design of reactor though, but the principle is similar.

 

Anyway, if there's anyone that can fix this up, the Japanese can. Here's hoping. S!

Edited March 12, 2011 by RIPTIDE

[Napa]

You can't 100% turn them off

 

True

[bumfire]

One of the buildings at one of the nuke power plants just blew up in a huge explosion :|

 

This is getting worse by the hour, a huge part of the country now lies in ruins.

 

Shame, as Japan is such a great country.

 

But if any country can get down and rebuild quickly, its japan, I wouldnt be surprised if they recover more quickly than the US did with Katrina.

Edited March 12, 2011 by bumfire

[MoGas]

One of the buildings at one of the nuke power plants just blew up in a huge explosion :|

 

This is getting worse by the hour, a huge part of the country now lies in ruins.

 

Shame, as Japan is such a great country.

 

But if any country can get down and rebuild quickly, its japan, I wouldnt be surprised if they recover more quickly than the US did with Katrina.

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12720219