Japanese Nuclear Plant May Have Suffered "Melt Through"

"Yes, most of the nuclear waste went into the ocean.
No, no. Not all Japanese movie monsters came from the sea. Most, not all."
Image from source, Guardian UK

Isn't that what you call a China Syndrome? Except in Japan, you'd probably have to call it something else. Anyway, wasn't this supposed to be a little more. . .I don't know. . .dramatic? Jack Lemmon and Jane Fonda were so animated about it in the movie. And this is more like, "Yeah, oopsie, we had a couple of melt downs. Maybe melt-throughs. So sorry. No, no, we don't know what we're going to do about it." And hey! That wonderful conservative Governor Chris Christie wants a nuclear plant for New Jersey! What the hell, he already looks like Godzilla.

[Excerpt]

Fukushima nuclear plant may have suffered 'melt-through', Japan admits

Molten nuclear fuel in three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant is likely to have burned through pressure vessels, not just the cores, Japan has said in a report in which it also acknowledges it was unprepared for an accident of the severity of Fukushima. . .

Read more at: Guardian UK

The Japanese China Syndrome Gets Worse

Back in the 70s, I remember the Three Mile Island incident dominating the news. It was during the Carter Administration, and I was barely a teenager. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the news then, and we only really had Walter Cronkite and two other networks for half an hour per night. But it was significant enough to make a very large impact. But I'd wager not many people who remember it remember the details. No, we remember The China Syndrome.

The movie about a nuclear meltdown opened just before the incident about a nuclear meltdown. The Jane Fonda thriller seemed a lot more urgent than what's going on in Japan. I don't mean that to sound like the nuclear catastrophe in Japan isn't serious. It's just that The China Syndrome made it all seem like a ticking time bomb. A race against time, or BOOOOMMMM!!!! This has been going on for a month now. And they just raised the threat level two notches, above Three Mile Island and up to Chernobyl. There is no higher step. Eeep.

[Excerpt]

Japan raises nuclear crisis alert level



The Japanese government's nuclear safety agency raised the crisis level of the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant accident from 5 to 7, the worst on the international scale and on par with the Chernobyl accident 25 years ago. . .
 
Read more at: MSNBC

Radiation from Japanese Nuclear Plant Detected in United States

So, are we all gonna die? Will select individuals become super heroes? Ooooo. . .big, giant reptile creatures? I always liked Gamera. Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.


Source:LiveScience

FacePalm!: California Nuclear Reactor Has No Plan for Earthquakes

How could it. . .I mean. . .what were they. . .how could they possibly. . .facepalm. . .

[Excerpt]

Why, there are never earthquakes in California!
Right? Image from source, Huffington Post

At California Nuclear Plant, Emergency Response Plans Don't Include Earthquakes



As the world's attention remains focused on the nuclear calamity unfolding in Japan, American nuclear regulators and industry lobbyists have been offering assurances that plants in the United States are designed to withstand major earthquakes. . .
 
Read more at: Huffington Post

Workers Abandon Nuclear Reactor Site in Japan

Image from source, MSNBC

That can't be good. They've been talking about ways to get water or other coolants into the one building with the crack in the roof and the holes in the sides. And if they don't get something in there, it's going to be very bad. Now, there are no workers there? Yikes.

[Excerpt]

Workers evacuate stricken nuclear plant



Workers at a quake-damaged atomic power plant suspended operations and evacuated Wednesday after a surge in radiation made it too dangerous to remain there, dealing a setback to Japan’s frantic efforts to stem a nuclear crisis. . .
 
Read more at: MSNBC

What is Dangerous About Spent Nuclear Fuel? Explained.

As promised, here is the video from Tuesday night's The Rachel Maddow Show, with an in-depth explanation of what is going on in Japan with their nuclear emergency, what "spent" nuclear fuel is, what the cooling ponds are, and more. As before, stow your partisan negative reaction to Maddow if you have one, and just watch this. You'll have a whole new understanding of what is going on if--like me--you were a little sketchy on some of the details.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Nuclear Meltdown: Explained

Rachel Maddow is really good at explaining things. Right now, with the multiple events going on in Japan's nuclear reactors, we need things explained.  And before you get all finger-waggy, telling me she's a biased, granola-eating, nuclear hating, liberal lesbian (which also somehow makes her the opposite of Glenn Beck), just stop for a second. Stop and watch. This--in addition to a segment on spent fuel ponds, which I'll post when it is available--is probable the most informative, and interesting segments you've seen on cable tv this week, this month, maybe ever.  I'm not kidding. (UPDATE: Tuesday's TRMS explanation on the spent fuel and cooling pools is posted now, and it's worth watching)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Japan's Nuclear Problem and the GE Ecomagination Ad

I've pondered the GE "Ecomagination" ad series here in the blog space before, and mused that the "line dance" ad was cute. Particularly the bio-suited boogiers. But since the Japanese nuclear meltdown situation started--at a GE-built reactor--it's not quite so cute anymore. After seeing so many images of workers in similar bio suits, and in much less "good time" environs, it sort of gives me a wiggins now. I keep cringing, and thinking "Silkwood shower. . ." Ugh.

New Harry Reid Ad: Sharron Angle Wants to Nuke Us!

Heh. Okay, not really. . .but kinda.  It used to be that Yucca Mountain--the facility in Nevada intended to be a nuclear waste repository--was a pretty popular thing to be against in the state, regardless of party.  After all, Nevada doesn't produce any nuclear waste, and all of that stuff would have to be trucked in. Much of it through the Las Vegas valley.  With all the worries about "soft targets" for terrorists, many people worried about those trucks, and the facility itself.  But recently, Republicans seem to have lined up behind the facility, with Sharron Angle taking the lead.  I'd say this ad is more likely to sway undecideds to Harry's side than many of his other ones. Though exactly who could still be undecided is anyone's guess.

Nuclear Water: You're Drinking it! (in New Jersey)

We're all screwed, right? Bring on the Yucca Mountain, I can take it!

[Excerpt]

Tainted nuke plant water reaches major NJ aquifer

Radioactive water that leaked from the nation’s oldest nuclear power plant has now reached a major underground aquifer that supplies drinking water to much of southern New Jersey, the state’s environmental chief said Friday. . .

Read more at: The Political Carnival

Hat-tip to Lizz Winstead via Twitter for the tip.

Nevada Fighting Yucca Mountain Nuclear Dump

Image from Atomic Archive

George Bush is still trying to dump the nation's nuclear waste in Nevada's back yard, even though our state doesn't produce any. But thankfully, Nevada is fighting back. So there, Mr. Bush!

[Excerpt]

Nevada files challenge against federal nuclear dump license

Nevada officials say they've filed the first challenge against a Bush administration bid to win Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval for a national nuclear waste dump outside Las Vegas.

State Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto calls the massive 8,646-page license request submitted Tuesday for the Yucca Mountain project "legally deficient" and incomplete. . .

Read more at: MSNBC

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.

Nevada: America's Nuclear Toilet (Yucca Mountain)

Image from Atomic Archive

Here it comes again. There have been a lot of efforts to stop Yucca Mountain--a nuclear waste repository a little over an hour's drive out of Las Vegas. One of the big reasons there has been so much opposition is that 1) It's too close to a large metropolitan city, and 2) Nevada produces no nuclear waste itself.

But the government owns most of the land in Nevada, so they think the site is just peachy. Great. Thanks, President Bush! Oh, well, maybe I can get a tan without even going outside. . .

[Excerpt]

Bush administration files nuclear dump application

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Tuesday he's confident the government's license application to build a nuclear waste dump in Nevada will "stand up to any challenge anywhere." [snip]

Responding to the filing, Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons reiterated his promise to fight the waste dump which he said "threatens the life and safety of the people of Nevada. . ."

I hold out little hope, as the governor is a boob.

Read more at: Raw Story