Major Earthquake + Tsunami in Japan

[sigbowls]

they should all move out of there, rob everything... that would be fun

[nowaysj]

Very interesting debate on the future of nuclear energy:

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes ... 79826.html

The older man hyping his book gets owned pretty good, he seems rather prickish.

The old dood is actually quite a character. Rolling his eyes, one point, it looks like he is leaning back in his chair. What a salty dawg.

All these experts that are saying there is no harm here need to get their asses over to Japan and put their money where their mouth is.

[joeki]

Nuclear power is not safe,
but there are no viable alternatives at the moment IF we wish to maintain our current level of power usage. That's the sad fucking truth.

[Sheff]

they finally admitted they fucked up


feel sorry for this guy, he broke down crying after the press conference. he's had the whole world watching his every move over the last week. cant imagine the stress he must be going through

[AllNightDayDream]

It's true that going the alternative route isn't economically sound, and that's why people are hesitant to invest in those technologies. This is why china will come out on top, because really i think it's about who gets there first and develops it to the point that it's relatively cheap to produce.

[nowaysj]

Well, you've got to consider all these externalities with nuclear. Like the cost of melting every single reactor down. The total loss of the facility, the total loss of land for hundreds, if not thousands of years. When you start to factor that stuff in... nuclear doesn't seem so cheap anymore. Just because we haven't figured out how to produce cheap energy from renewable sources, doesn't mean that we won't. We have to be willing to do so. I remember a Chevron or some such company's advertisement. "We're the good guys, we spend nearly 30 million dollars a year on research into renewable energy sources." wow! that's a half a percent of your profits! hahaha. All the while, far more is actually spent just lobbying against renewable energy.

[pkay]

It's true that going the alternative route isn't economically sound, and that's why people are hesitant to invest in those technologies. This is why china will come out on top, because really i think it's about who gets there first and develops it to the point that it's relatively cheap to produce.

What you really mean is who represses their people and has a financial surplus based off of said repression.

[nowaysj]

China is spending billions annually on R&D. Billions more than we are. But really, that is our money, it's just a drop in the bucket of what they're receiving in interest from us.

[pkay]

China is spending billions annually on R&D. Billions more than we are. But really, that is our money, it's just a drop in the bucket of what they're receiving in interest from us.

China is a much larger country than the US with a fraction of our GDP per capita. We should stop trying to compare ourselves to China unless we're prepared to live like the Chinese, which no one in the US is.

[AxeD]

China is spending billions annually on R&D. Billions more than we are. But really, that is our money, it's just a drop in the bucket of what they're receiving in interest from us.

China is a much larger country than the US with a fraction of our GDP per capita. We should stop trying to compare ourselves to China unless we're prepared to live like the Chinese, which no one in the US is.

Except maybe someone who eats at Chang's every day.

[pkay]

China is spending billions annually on R&D. Billions more than we are. But really, that is our money, it's just a drop in the bucket of what they're receiving in interest from us.

China is a much larger country than the US with a fraction of our GDP per capita. We should stop trying to compare ourselves to China unless we're prepared to live like the Chinese, which no one in the US is.

Except maybe someone who eats at Chang's every day.

I can knock out some changs.

[nowaysj]

China is spending billions annually on R&D. Billions more than we are. But really, that is our money, it's just a drop in the bucket of what they're receiving in interest from us.

China is a much larger country than the US with a fraction of our GDP per capita. We should stop trying to compare ourselves to China unless we're prepared to live like the Chinese, which no one in the US is.

Whether we are prepared to or not, we are rapidly moving in that direction. Fuel, food, and healthcare are going to swallow the remaining middle class.

[pkay]

China is spending billions annually on R&D. Billions more than we are. But really, that is our money, it's just a drop in the bucket of what they're receiving in interest from us.

China is a much larger country than the US with a fraction of our GDP per capita. We should stop trying to compare ourselves to China unless we're prepared to live like the Chinese, which no one in the US is.

Whether we are prepared to or not, we are rapidly moving in that direction. Fuel, food, and healthcare are going to swallow the remaining middle class.

even so we'd be nowhere near living like them.

what classifies as poverty in the US is still 50% above their average GDP per person.

[nowaysj]

20% of US children are living below the poverty line. It is happening now.

[pkay]

20% of US children are living below the poverty line. It is happening now.

what classifies as poverty in the US is still 50% above their average GDP per person.

we don't want to be like china

[nowaysj]

Agreed, but that doesn't change much of anything.

[Sheff]

does anyone have any idea whats happening with the reactors? havent heard anything at all today

[pkay]

does anyone have any idea whats happening with the reactors? havent heard anything at all today

apparently looking a little better

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110319/wl_ ... apan_quake

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan saw some success in its race to avert disaster at a tsunami-damaged power plant, though minor radiation leaks underlined perils from the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl 25 years ago.

Three hundred engineers have been battling inside a danger zone to salvage the six-reactor Fukushima plant since it was hit by an earthquake and tsunami that also killed 7,653 people and left 11,746 more missing in northeast Japan.

The unprecedented multiple crisis will cost the world's third largest economy nearly $200 billion and require Japan's biggest reconstruction push since post-World War II.

It has also set back nuclear power plans the world over.

Encouragingly for Japanese transfixed on work at the Fukushima complex, the most critical reactor -- No. 3 which has highly toxic plutonium -- stabilized after fire trucks doused it for hours with hundreds of metric tons of water.

Work also advanced on bringing power back to water pumps used to cool overheating nuclear fuel.

"We are making progress ... (but) we shouldn't be too optimistic," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy-general at Japan's Nuclear Safety Agency.

Technicians attached a power cable to the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors, hoping to restore electricity later in the day prior to an attempt to switch the pumps on.

They aim to reach No. 3 and 4 soon after that.

If successful, that could be a turning point in a crisis classed as bad as America's 1979 Three Mile Island accident.

If not, drastic measures may be required such as burying the plant in sand and concrete as happened at Chernobyl after the world's worst nuclear reactor disaster in 1986.

Facing criticism of its early handling of the situation, plant operator TEPCO's president issued a public apology for "causing such great concern and nuisance".

Even after restoring power, the company faces a tricky task reactivating the cooling pumps, with parts of the system probably damaged from the quake or subsequent explosions.

"The workers need to go through the plant, figure out what survived and what didn't, what can be readily repaired and get the cooling systems back up and running to deal with the cores and the spent fuel pools," said David Lochbaum, of U.S. nuclear watchdog the Union of Concerned Scientists.

[ruckus49]

. I remember a Chevron or some such company's advertisement. "We're the good guys, we spend nearly 30 million dollars a year on research into renewable energy sources." wow! that's a half a percent of your profits! hahaha. All the while, far more is actually spent just lobbying against renewable energy.

yea renewable r&d is so weak, just a PR technique. i wish obama wasn't so spineless and would actually speak up for what he claims to believe in

[AllNightDayDream]

Obama is a fucking conservative. I can't express how deeply disappointed I am in him.