Fukushima
Fukushima Update
by Matthew Payne on March 21, 2011
UPDATE (3/21): Well, so much for good news. A cloud of smoke rose from reactor 3 at Fukushima yesterday and caused a temporary evacuation from the site. Why so edgy? That’s the plant with the MOx pox–the one with the plutonium. Somehow that little development convinced the PM, Naota Kan, that discretion trumped valor and he cancelled his photo-op.
Meanwhile, the radioactivity in diary products and vegetables clearly exceed …
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Payne On Fukushima
by Nick Glossop on March 18, 2011
Our very own Professor Payne dropped in on Good Day Atlanta to place the Fukushima crisis in historical context – and they actually let him talk.
Emory Professor Discusses Japan Nuclear Crisis: MyFoxATLANTA.com…
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Fukushima and a voice from Chernobyl’
by Matthew Payne on March 17, 2011
UPDATE 3 (3/17): It seems like we reached a tipping point in the last 24 hours. Now the regular media is taking very seriously the “C” word and voices like Michio Kaku on ABC (h/t Crooks and Liars) is giving very blunt assessments of how badly things could go and emphasizing the dangers of the spent fuel ponds. While it is completely wrong to equate this disaster with …
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Potty Training Reactor Boy
by Nick Glossop on March 17, 2011
And then there’s little Chernobyl, whom you hear about sometimes.
That was a really serious incident!
He pooped all over – and it was diarrhea!
And he was running around when it happened!
So, what’s the half-life of trauma-induced anal retention? Do we have a Freudian physicist who can speak to the issue?…
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Fukushima–New Bad News
by Matthew Payne on March 13, 2011
UPDATE 3: The spent fuel rods have burned, though reports are the fire has now been extinguished. There is no upside to this–massive amounts of radiation have been released. I’m not preparted to say we’re in Chernobyl’ territory yet, but with three possible meltdowns and a burning spent fuel pool, this is pretty much the nightmare scenario. Beware all happy talk coming from TEPCO and various governments over the …
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Japan’s Nuclear Crisis and The Spectre of Chernobyl
by Matthew Payne on March 12, 2011
UPDATE 3: Here is a great summary of the situation for now from the Guardian. Some germane points, Fukushima 3 almost certainly is in partial meltdown or pre-meltdown. The only reason you undertake the hideously dangerous venting of gas from the core is if you fear the steam pressure is going to expose your core and you only get such excess steam if you can’t cool the core. Venting, …
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