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While TEPCO's handling of the situation was atrocious, I would also
like to point out that the Fukushima Daichi plant withstood a 9.0
earthquake followed by 40ft waves, which were more than twice as
high as their sea wall was built to withstand. It was an act of God
(don't mean that literally) that was far on the outside of what they
even thought was possible in terms of likely occurrences.<br>
<br>
I've only been able to find references to three deaths directly
attributed to the Fukushima disaster. Two of them occurred during
the earthquake and tsunami, and one worker who was in his 60's died
of a sudden illness when cleaning around the reactors, but they are
unsure if it's radiation-related because he was exposed to about as
much radiation as a chest x-ray.<br>
<br>
Anyway, compare and contrast to the coal mine fire that has been
burning underground for 50 years under Centralia, Pennsylvania.
That wasn't caused by a natural disaster of epic proportions, it was
caused by someone throwing some hot ash in a landfill that didn't
have a fire-resistant clay barrier that was up-to-date. The fire is
still burning today.<br>
<br>
I just hate to see this incident used as the poster boy for the
anti-nuclear crowd. Sure, if they'd doubled the height of the sea
wall, or had moved the emergency generator to higher ground instead
of trusting the sea walls to hold, the disaster might have been
mostly diverted. This wasn't a Chernobyl, where human error was the
main cause of the disaster.<br>
<br>
That having been said, there are newer designs out there that they
need to expedite testing on to ensure that even this level of a
disaster won't cause a containment breach.<br>
<br>
If we want to get off of oil and coal any time soon, nuclear is the
only real way to go. Eventually, they'll solve the energy storage
problems and make intermittent alternative energy sources more
viable. In the meantime, though, nuclear is the only way to go for
alternative base-load generation. Well, and hydro, but there are
only so many rivers we can dam up.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
On 03/27/2012 08:37 AM, Art Deco wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAB8VJX4_5g46gQ-8YXygQDvfnnDBd0RTcG4z8LshcVO+oGhbqQ@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite"><br clear="all">
<img moz-do-not-send="true" class="logo"
src="http://www.fncstatic.com/static/fn2/ws/img/print-logo.gif"
alt="">
<h1>Probe at Japan's crippled nuke plant finds fatal radiation
levels </h1>
<p class="author"> </p>
<p class="dateline">Published March 27, 2012 | Associated Press</p>
<div class="ad-300x250">
<p class="ad-context">advertisement</p>
</div>
<p>A new probe at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant has found
fatal radiation levels and hardly any cooling water inside one
of the reactors, renewing concerns about the plant's stability.</p>
<p>The operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant says an
endoscopic examination Tuesday detected radiation levels up to
10 times the fatal dose inside the No. 2 reactor's contain
chamber, suggesting challenges ahead in shutting down the
facility.</p>
<p>The probe also found the containment vessel had cooling water
up to only about 2 feet from the bottom, far below the yards
estimated when the government declared the plant's stability in
December.</p>
<p>Plant workers also reported fresh leaks of contaminated water
from a water treatment unit, some flowing into the ocean.</p>
<br>
<p class="url-address"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/03/27/probe-at-japans-crippled-nuke-plant-finds-fatal-radiation-levels/">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/03/27/probe-at-japans-crippled-nuke-plant-finds-fatal-radiation-levels/</a></p>
<br>
-- <br>
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com"
target="_blank">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</a><br>
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