Saturday, July 21, 2007

From Fox News regarding the earthquake in Japan and its impacts upon their largest Nuclear Reactor:
In following days, TEPCO — Japan's largest power company — released a list of 50 malfunctions, damages and mistakes, announced that radioactive materials had spewed from an exhaust vent, and had to acknowledge the water leak contained 50 percent more radioactivity than initially reported. The list was later updated to 63 cases.

The company was further embarrassed on Thursday when yet another leak was discovered from an exhaust vent, indicating leaks continued as late as Wednesday night, nearly three days after the quake.

OH MY. Does this mean that the Japanese are all going to die or start glowing a nice neon glow?? Does this mean that the nuclear power energy will have to shut down like what happened after 3 Mile Island??
TEPCO, regulators and even environmentalists agreed the amounts of radioactivity involved were minuscule and posed no threat.
Guess not. So, if the releases were "minuscule and posed no threat" then what is all the huge irate noise about??
But the most damaging result from the troubles was the realization that the world's largest nuclear power plant was not structurally equipped to withstand such a powerful earthquake — this despite Japan's long history as one of the most seismically active places on Earth.
WOW.. so, these reactors that were built on earthquake prone areas and were not built to withstand even the slightest earthquake?? Now, isnt' that the stupidest thing in the world?
Until last year, Japan had required plants to be built to withstand a 6.5-magnitude quake. In September, the government began implementing tougher guidelines, though they have not set a fresh magnitude level.
Oh wait!! You mean these reactors were built to withstand a 6.5 and that is they were built to? You mean they were built to withstand a 6.5 and then got hit with a 6.8 quake but yet only suffered minor damages and released only minuscule and non-life threatening releases?? So what the freak is all the hub-bub about? Why is everyone so upset?

Sure, the power company should have come out sooner and described what really happened and taken further steps to limit releases that occurred days after the quake. But it takes time to inspect and look over every nut and bolt on a reactor complex that is the largest in the world. Don't ya think???!?!?

So, after the plant survived a quake of 6.8, though built with proper code to withstand quakes of 6.5, what to the controllers think of the situation???
Regulators acknowledge they need to take a fresh look at the rules.

Wow. Pretty bold statement that flies in the face of reality. Now. Why do they need to take a look at the rules?? How about an expert opinion....
Katsuhiko Ishibashi, earthquake specialist at Kobe University's Research Center for Urban Safety and Security, said one problem is that scientists are unable to pinpoint fault lines with any accuracy.

"This situation clearly showed the insufficiency of the old guidelines for examining the seismic design of nuclear power plants," he said, arguing no plant could survive a direct hit from an earthquake.
HUH? Because no plant can survive a direct hit from an earthquake, then we should not be building nuclear plants? In that case, we should not build homes and cities cause they could be hit by a direct earthquake anywhere in the world. What a friggin idiot!!!

So, knowing that Japan IS ONE BIG HUGE EARTHQUAKE FAULT, this one nuclear complex that sustained "damage" shows that they should not build nuclear plants in Japan, right?
Japan has 55 reactors producing about 30 percent of its electricity, with plans to build another 11 reactors by 2017, eventually boosting nuclear power's share of electricity production to 40 percent.
Wait. Japan has 55 reactors and only this one plant suffered some form of "damage?" COME ON!!! Only one in the whole country had any form of damage. Ok, I guess then that they were all built with bad designs and Japan has no ambition to make adequate changes and modifications in the future, right?
Down the road, the government is pushing for development of next generation light water reactors around 2030, and so-called "fast-breeder" reactors that produce plutonium that can be reused as fuel, fulfilling a Japanese dream of energy self-sufficiency.

OK. Now that we see how safe these plants are, what does the reporter feel bout the future of nuclear plants in Japan??
The problems at Kashiwazaki could make that expansion even more difficult. While many Japanese understand the need for energy to power the world's second-largest economy, they are hesitant to trust operators.

"It is impossible to guarantee 100 percent safety," conceded Yumi Shimoda, a 40-year-old marketing consultant in Tokyo. "But what scares me is the fact that they tried to cover up the truth in order to claim safety."
What friggin IDIOTS.

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