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Nuclear Fallout

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited March 2011 in Ten Forward
Is Japan going to kill the North American west coast? :eek: Discuss

And i don't some lame reply from a forum moderator that saying it has nothing to with the game because, hey, you live and work there.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    No. Just no.

    Compare to Chernobyl. It devastated Belarus and caused issues in the Ukraine involving contaminated food. The Ukraine recovered rapidly as the fallout dispersed, Belarus is in horrible shape in some spots, other spots are close to "normal" background radiation, aside from a few isolated pockets that would kill you in 30 seconds, namely near Pripyat in the shadow of the "Casket" as they call it, the giant concrete tomb around the reactor.

    Now those nations were close, and tiny and the wind carried it to the Ukraine. Again, small distance. Consider the size of the Pacific Ocean. It is absolutely massive, I mean HUGE. Only island archipelagos right near Japan need worry at all, and even then it is moderate. If I were in Korea or Eastern China and I had wind going my way, I would worry a little. Read an article in Popular Science years ago about what the effects of a Nuclear Bunker Buster on Pyong Yang would cause and it reflects what I just said, though there is a HUGE difference here. One is a brief moment of Fusion (a nuclear warhead) the other is fission, and considering it isn't designed to be a weapon the explosive yield is substantially less than one may think, still big, but not "glass everything to bedrock" big.

    More like a giant pressure cooker of steam, radiation and shattered/melted fuel rods. Those flying fuel rods being one of the biggest risks, little pieces can cause horrible nightmares wherever they come down, again... see Pripyat. Thousands of firemen died never knowing what they were fighting (the official report claims only 36 died, but uh... no. Just no).

    We have no danger here and will only see a negligible climb in our background radiation and will need to monitor inbound food and other resources like hawks. And now that the true severity of the situation has been revealed, the Japanese can take proper measures to preserve lives. Chernobyl taught many lessons, though unfortunate, that will serve in incidents like this to help save lives. We know what to expect, all they can do now is dig their heels in and pray..

    EDIT: Now that I think about it. Do you have any earthly conception to how many high-yield nuclear weapons we tested in this country alone between the 40's and 60's? Add to that China, Russia and even North Korea now.

    We're still alive, and all of those tests represent vastly larger amounts of radiation. Hell, by over-hyped Media representation the damn Tsar Bomba should have killed all life on the planet.

    No need to fear anything in the US, or need to spread fear.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Left out France, France loved to test Nukes in the Pacific.

    Not all nukes are thermo-nuclear/fusion devices, then even those require a fission reaction to set off the fusion reaction.

    Chernobyl was worse than the Japan situation, because they had graphite in the reactor which burned carrying radiation out with them as they combusted.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    No. Just no.

    Compare to Chernobyl. It devastated Belarus and caused issues in the Ukraine involving contaminated food. The Ukraine recovered rapidly as the fallout dispersed, Belarus is in horrible shape in some spots, other spots are close to "normal" background radiation, aside from a few isolated pockets that would kill you in 30 seconds, namely near Pripyat in the shadow of the "Casket" as they call it, the giant concrete tomb around the reactor.

    Now those nations were close, and tiny and the wind carried it to the Ukraine. Again, small distance. Consider the size of the Pacific Ocean. It is absolutely massive, I mean HUGE. Only island archipelagos right near Japan need worry at all, and even then it is moderate. If I were in Korea or Eastern China and I had wind going my way, I would worry a little. Read an article in Popular Science years ago about what the effects of a Nuclear Bunker Buster on Pyong Yang would cause and it reflects what I just said, though there is a HUGE difference here. One is a brief moment of Fusion (a nuclear warhead) the other is fission, and considering it isn't designed to be a weapon the explosive yield is substantially less than one may think, still big, but not "glass everything to bedrock" big.

    More like a giant pressure cooker of steam, radiation and shattered/melted fuel rods. Those flying fuel rods being one of the biggest risks, little pieces can cause horrible nightmares wherever they come down, again... see Pripyat. Thousands of firemen died never knowing what they were fighting (the official report claims only 36 died, but uh... no. Just no).

    We have no danger here and will only see a negligible climb in our background radiation and will need to monitor inbound food and other resources like hawks. And now that the true severity of the situation has been revealed, the Japanese can take proper measures to preserve lives. Chernobyl taught many lessons, though unfortunate, that will serve in incidents like this to help save lives. We know what to expect, all they can do now is dig their heels in and pray..

    EDIT: Now that I think about it. Do you have any earthly conception to how many high-yield nuclear weapons we tested in this country alone between the 40's and 60's? Add to that China, Russia and even North Korea now.

    We're still alive, and all of those tests represent vastly larger amounts of radiation. Hell, by over-hyped Media representation the damn Tsar Bomba should have killed all life on the planet.

    No need to fear anything in the US, or need to spread fear.

    um, I think you've got things a bit mixed up. I'm pretty sure Chernobyl was in the Ukraine
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    im not sure if this is a joke or if the op is being serious?

    what the heck has japan's reactor going to do to the american west coast? the radius of any fallout will be local to the reactor. if it had the power to reach the west coast of america then every person in japan, china, australia, new zealand, eastern russia would be in serious trouble.

    america will be quite safe.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    im not sure if this is a joke or if the op is being serious?

    what the heck has japan's reactor going to do to the american west coast? the radius of any fallout will be local to the reactor. if it had the power to reach the west coast of america then every person in japan, china, australia, new zealand, eastern russia would be in serious trouble.

    america will be quite safe.


    Actually that's not totally true even when your conclusion is right.

    It heavily depends on the wind and because of the wind at least australia and new zealand are much safer than america. If there is a radioactive cloud it will probably travel via North America to Scandinavia. But even if it reaches the US/Canadian coast it will no longer be dangerous for anyone. In the end as long as you are not in Japan or in the northern pacific close to Japan there is no need to panic even if there would be a major meltdown.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    No it won't.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Another Chernobyl comparison: Not all nuclear reactors are even capable of failing in the manner Chernobyl did. Most modern reactors use the same water as both coolant and moderator, meaning as they overheat, the reaction starts to break down. You get some tritiated water release, but no fallout and radiation release is quite localized, and it all dies down quickly. Chernobyl was an older style with a solid moderator - when it overheated, the coolant would boil off but the reaction kept going full speed.

    The Japan failure appears to have been less severe than Three Mile Island (all the results aren't in yet, so that may end up not being the case). Exposure to the release from Three Mile Island was significantly less radiation than you get eating a banana (less than 2% of a banana in fact). Even if it was capable of a Chernobyl style meltdown, except for the zone of alienation, radiation exposure wasn't particularly severe from Chernobyl. Chernobyl and Pripyat were completely uninhabitable, but cities within short drives from there were not evacuated and haven't had as large an upswing in cancer rates as was initially expected. Most of Europe got about 500 milirems, increasing their risk of cancer by the same amount as smoking seven or eight cigarettes and then quitting. That would add up to several thousand deaths in Japan, China, and Korea, and a few dozen in California over the next sixty years. Not statistically notable, since nearly a third of the world population would have been hit.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    ACES_HIGH wrote: »
    um, I think you've got things a bit mixed up. I'm pretty sure Chernobyl was in the Ukraine

    Chernobyl occurred in Ukraine the purpose behind the meltdown was due to alot of what was occurring in the former soviet union, now the Russian Federation.

    While much of our media has in fact downplayed alot of what has and hasn't occurred over there is completely not the case as many have died, deformed children with long term effects have indeed occurred in such areas and that of surrounding locations of Ukraine. At the moment the areas that are unhabitable still to this day, in fact there is a now fly zone over or around and people that wish to go into the area can only go in with government permission. The reactor in a sense is still providing power, not entire sure how that is the case when no one maintains what is or going on. Iam no expert but it remains a place that at the moment is starting to see wildlife return to the area, though not entirely sure the long term effects on the wildlife while others have returned to the area in very small numbers.

    As for the fallout of Japan, in all possibilities it is unclear however i do know that EPA and DHS have sent teams to the West Coast to monitor any risk to the Western United States. As well, iam not entirely sure the US government would tell us otherwise to the point it would create panic in the Western US. Anything is possible at this point as there isn't alot of information in when and if it will effect the Western US though only time will tell.

    As for Japan itself, what the Lame Stream Media isn't telling us is it wasn't the earthquake that did the damage when it was the effects from the earthquake of the tsunami that created the issue. I dont have concerns in regards to Nuclear Energy and Japan is if not more engineering aware than that of the Western US in regards to Earthquakes as they experience them far more as the fault lines occur far more than in the Western US due to the fault lines. Heck, in essence Japan as it is an island was create through earthquakes.

    As for what will and could occur in Japan, it is unknown as to what will occur and if people will have to be evac to the South of Japan while the effected areas could be unlivable for some time which is certain at this point and it would also seem like there is a media black out as to what is really going on. Furthermore the devastation that has occurred and while the Japanese people are a strong people they will bounce back but at what cost is another question that cant be answered at this time. Ive read reports that we have two Aircraft Carrier Battle-groups in Japan at the moment helping the Japanese government in multiple means, though i wonder if that population of that of Northern Japan will be unlivable for some time, even though it only effected a certain area.

    As well, Japan has a population of 127Mil people and iam wondering if at some point those people will have to leave Japan for good as the South or surrounding areas will not be livable, though that is all speculation but should be a what if possibility.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    wrote:
    No. Just no.

    Compare to Chernobyl. It devastated Ukraine and caused issues in Belarus involving contaminated food. The Ukraine recovered rapidly as the fallout dispersed, the Ukraine is in horrible shape in some spots, other spots are close to "normal" background radiation, aside from a few isolated pockets that would kill you in 30 seconds, namely near Pripyat in the shadow of the "Casket" as they call it, the giant concrete tomb around the reactor.

    Now those nations were close, and tiny and the wind carried it to Belarus. Again, small distance. Consider the size of the Pacific Ocean. It is absolutely massive, I mean HUGE. Only island archipelagos right near Japan need worry at all, and even then it is moderate. If I were in Korea or Eastern China and I had wind going my way, I would worry a little. Read an article in Popular Science years ago about what the effects of a Nuclear Bunker Buster on Pyong Yang would cause and it reflects what I just said.

    More like a giant pressure cooker of steam, radiation and shattered/melted fuel rods. Those flying fuel rods being one of the biggest risks, little pieces can cause horrible nightmares wherever they come down, again... see Pripyat. Thousands of firemen died never knowing what they were fighting (the official report claims only 36 died, but uh... no. Just no).

    We have no danger here and will only see a negligible climb in our background radiation and will need to monitor inbound food and other resources like hawks. And now that the true severity of the situation has been revealed, the Japanese can take proper measures to preserve lives. Chernobyl taught many lessons, though unfortunate, that will serve in incidents like this to help save lives. We know what to expect, all they can do now is dig their heels in and pray..

    EDIT: Now that I think about it. Do you have any earthly conception to how many high-yield nuclear weapons we tested in this country alone between the 40's and 60's? Add to that China, Russia, France and even North Korea now.

    We're still alive, and all of those tests represent vastly larger amounts of radiation. Hell, by over-hyped Media representation the damn Tsar Bomba should have killed all life on the planet.

    No need to fear anything in the US, or need to spread fear.

    Fix'd. I tend to flip-flop those two and as for France... whatever. Good for them, I guess. As for nuclear warheads themselves I really only know four things and I am dreadfully sorry for the error in claiming them all fusion. But what I do know:
    They're freaking beautiful
    they make stuff die
    Close only counts in horseshoes and nuclear strikes
    When all else fails, laze the target.

    Now then.
    wrote:
    Another Chernobyl comparison: Not all nuclear reactors are even capable of failing in the manner Chernobyl did. Most modern reactors use the same water as both coolant and moderator, meaning as they overheat, the reaction starts to break down. You get some tritiated water release, but no fallout and radiation release is quite localized, and it all dies down quickly. Chernobyl was an older style with a solid moderator - when it overheated, the coolant would boil off but the reaction kept going full speed.

    The Japan failure appears to have been less severe than Three Mile Island (all the results aren't in yet, so that may end up not being the case). Exposure to the release from Three Mile Island was significantly less radiation than you get eating a banana (less than 2% of a banana in fact). Even if it was capable of a Chernobyl style meltdown, except for the zone of alienation, radiation exposure wasn't particularly severe from Chernobyl. Chernobyl and Pripyat were completely uninhabitable, but cities within short drives from there were not evacuated and haven't had as large an upswing in cancer rates as was initially expected. Most of Europe got about 500 milirems, increasing their risk of cancer by the same amount as smoking seven or eight cigarettes and then quitting. That would add up to several thousand deaths in Japan, China, and Korea, and a few dozen in California over the next sixty years. Not statistically notable, since nearly a third of the world population would have been hit.

    I never once said it was going to be an exact replaying of Chernobyl, did I? Left my first post as was, only edited it today in this re-post. Using it as baseline for what we know as an example of a worst-case scenario as an example of how small a radius of release that even that created as a contrast to currently unfolding events. Chernobyl was a foul up caused by intentionally pressing a reactor to, then past a breaking point and then a further error of trying to play it down when it blew. Choosing to believe the story that only those two sites are still effected is just that, your choice. From another prospective you have orphanages all around that area for the children that are still born deformed, blind or with other debilitating conditions directly caused by radiation, most of which offer volunteer work to anyone interested and can easily be found online, hell I almost went myself two years back. I recall reading an article not all that long ago saying how thermo-imaging of the concrete shroud says it's actually getting hotter again. Really not sure how or why, but that's straight up freaky. Beyond even that you have people there that still need to carry dosimeters in addition to monitoring their food and water supplies. About cities a short drive not being evacuated, did you know that Pripyat itself was not immediately evac'd? That children woke up and went to school to return home to find numbers of the buses their parents took hung on bedsheets or on notes out of hope they'd find them? That REALLY inspires confidence.

    Japan is something of combination of Three Mile and Chernobyl. As of right now it's a cooling issue, like Three Mile. BUT according to external sources the situation is a great deal more serious than the Japanese claim, there's the Chernobyl connection. On the 1-7 scale they had been sitting at a 4, round about the same as a Three Mile style problem, that was until outside agencies got involved and suggested widening the evacuation zone from 20KM to 80KM and suggested that they were closer to a 6 on said scale, a step below a Chernobyl level of catastrophe. Their government is also banning flights over the plant. making it worse a good number of people are not evacuating as ordered, low-levels of iodine is being detected in ground water (CAN BE but is not necessarily an indication of a meltdown) and that all of the effected tanks are reading at much higher a temperature than normal and one isn't returning data at all. Considering population density in Japan, this would represent a tragic, if not unimaginable number of people effected. Also put into the discussion here that one of the reactors (3) that may have containment damage had both uranium and plutonium present. Any High School student knows what these two like to do when mutually angry with one another and not being properly stabilized and contained. It's neighbor, reactor 4 is the one causing all the problems because of it's cooling pool for spent rods. If that melted down it would create enough radiation that it could potentially keep workers from reaching the 3'rd reactor, the one with both Uranium and Plutonium present.

    Also, consider this
    wrote:
    Tests in ***ushima city, 80 kilometers (50 miles) away, found radiation measuring 12.5 microsieverts per hour -- well above the average reading of 0.04, but still well below that considered harmful to humans.
    Given that is, as stated, below a danger zone, that is still happening 80 clicks out, that's pretty far. Also consider that the wind has been blowing out to see, and that this reading is still concerning. Some sauce on that.

    They need to be honest with their people and get them the hell out of there, and soon. They're playing a tug of war with a thermometer that they have done nothing but lose this whole time.

    @ Acidrain, huge respect gained from me. I know I mucked up a few facts but my base understanding of what happened was sound, I don't constantly recite and keep facts on everything I read in my mind so I flopped some of it around. But it seems you knew about the SSR cover up and actual factoids too.
    wrote:
    As well, Japan has a population of 127Mil people and iam wondering if at some point those people will have to leave Japan for good as the South or surrounding areas will not be livable, though that is all speculation but should be a what if possibility.
    If it really went as bad as it has potential to, it seems about right. Though getting those people to move given cultural stubbornness will be the challenge. (please, no one see this as an insult. Not at all what I mean by it).
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    I really wish radiation safety would be taught in high schools. Just a single 1 hour lecture on it would dispel so much hysteria among the general public. :rolleyes:

    Hort caused a bit of an incident once a few years back.... :( There was a high school student at a local science gathering who was handing around an unrefined piece of uranium ore. It had a relatively low radiation output, but he was still treating it too casually and was ignoring people who told him to show it more respect. He told me that he kept it in a cabinet in his kitchen by the food (he wasn't joking). O_o; He further told me that he wanted to buy more "just to have it".

    As annoying as the kid was, I didn't want him to die from cancer in a few years from being an idiot. Well... I emailed a physics teacher at his high school and recommended that he "pull him aside to discuss some basic radiation safety concepts with him." Long story short -- the kid ended up in the principal's office with all the teachers in a panic. Apparently the physics teacher at the school *also* thought of radiation as some big scary d
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    I agree, hort, sometimes radiation is taken way too seriously - or, as in the student's case, too lightly. Although being in possession of uranium and carrying it around with you has got to be a violation of some Federal code somewhere.

    But in any case, we are all exposed to radiation of some kind everyday. We've been exposed to it since long before modern technology. *points to sun*
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    When I was active duty US Navy, I operated the nuclear plant on board submarines. I can all of you from experience that the only peole truly in danger of life altering effects from this are gonna probably be the operators at the plant trying to keep this thing under control. While it has been noted that the US Navy stationed in Japan has detected increased radiation levels, that's a bit of a misnomer. There was several instances onboard my last submarine that while doing operations into and out of Port Canaveral Florida, our radiation contamination detectors would alarm from a high reading. Our investigation concluded that it was soot from the forest fires in Florida that year that was causing the false alarms. So in respect, the Navy's detectors are set to be way too sensitive. I believe the Japanese have engineered things as best they could, but you can only build so much to go against Mother Nature, otherwise your building project becomes uneconimcal (same reason a certain number of bugs and other bads things are allowed in your food). It's not like the old Soviet Union who not only had a bad reactor design to begin with ( A reactor with a positive coeffecient of reactivity scares the heck out me), but they also bypassed several safety design features to run tests on that plant, that weren't even authorized by their Nuke regulators. So in closing, you could be 10 miles from that plant and not having anything to fear from the radiation.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    So in closing, you could be 10 miles from that plant and not having anything to fear from the radiation.

    Godzilla!! :eek:
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Blotto_Max wrote: »
    Godzilla!! :eek:

    Well, ok! You should always worry about Godzilla, since he tends to show up after an Earthquake or some sort of Nuclear thing. :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    I think its funny...you get more radiation from eating a twinkie and lovin a big boned girl than what the jet stream would bring at present. personally im more afraid of MOX getting into the jet stream...that stuff is more worry some.

    And potassium Iodide was 9.95 last week, this week its 385.- per pack.......WOW........
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    castogere wrote: »
    And potassium Iodide was 9.95 last week, this week its 385.- per pack.......WOW........

    I feel bad for people with thyroid problems who have to take that as a supplement right now. :rolleyes:
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    SupAJ1M wrote: »
    Is Japan going to kill the North American west coast? :eek: Discuss

    And i don't some lame reply from a forum moderator that saying it has nothing to with the game because, hey, you live and work there.

    How many paint chips did you eat as a child? discuss.

    We detonated nukes on our own soil a with no ill effect. I think new mexico is a hell of a lot closer than Japan. If the plant explodes the evacuation area is 50 miles. Fifty doesn't even encompass japan let alone the pacific ocean.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Also be mindful that the way the Japanese core is designed, and Nuke Weapon type explosion is simply just NOT POSSIBLE. Nuclear Fuel (depending on the isotope) needs a specific amount of material at a specfic density before it'll create a Fission event (BIG BOOM). Nuclear cores just simply have too much other stuff in them, used to control the reaction to allow that much material to get to that density. Now unfortunately due to the nature of nuclear reactors and the Chemistry controls used to minimize corrosion, alot of Hydrogen is produced, and well... That reacts poorly with spark sources, as residents of Lakehurts New Jersey can tell you.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    hort_wort wrote: »
    I feel bad for people with thyroid problems who have to take that as a supplement right now. :rolleyes:

    Especially considering it doesn't do what people think it does regarding radiation exposure.
    As well, Japan has a population of 127Mil people and iam wondering if at some point those people will have to leave Japan for good as the South or surrounding areas will not be livable, though that is all speculation but should be a what if possibility.

    The worst possible case scenario, that all the reactors at both damaged sites melt down (One site is not going to melt down, the other site may not be able to stop one indefinitely, but if that happens not all the reactors will melt down and it's more likely than not that none of them will), an area smaller than the zone of alienation in the Ukraine will be unlivable for perhaps fifty years. Much of Pripyat is already safe, you can actually get tours through there and camp out in front of the creepy abandoned amusment park, and again, the worst case scenario here is still not as bad as Chernobyl by a long shot. Within ten years, it would be theoretically safe to begin rebuilding Pripyat, though plans are to leave it a permanent ghost town until it eventually goes back to nature.

    Chernobyl was over in a matter of hours. Most of the people in the building received lethal doses of radiation in the first five minutes, some of them many times over in the first ten seconds. The reactors in Japan have remained stable for days, and the people who stayed in the building, some of whom haven't left since before the earthquake, have still not received lethal doses of radiation, the civilians in areas where radiation has been detected have received less radiation than eating a banana. The civilians in the worst parts of the evacuated area are estimated to have received a maximum of 50 banana equivalent doses. Most of Europe got four times that from Chernobyl, parts of North America got more than that.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Read. 10char
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Capulet wrote: »
    We detonated nukes on our own soil a with no ill effect.

    Shhhh you're not supposed to say that! People will panic. Don't tell them about their dinnerware, either. ;)
    hevach wrote: »
    The civilians in the worst parts of the evacuated area are estimated to have received a maximum of 50 banana equivalent doses.

    Heh, hadn't heard of banana equivalent doses before. Nice! :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011

    They need to be honest with their people and get them the hell out of there, and soon. They're playing a tug of war with a thermometer that they have done nothing but lose this whole time.

    @ Acidrain, huge respect gained from me. I know I mucked up a few facts but my base understanding of what happened was sound, I don't constantly recite and keep facts on everything I read in my mind so I flopped some of it around. But it seems you knew about the SSR cover up and actual factoids too.

    If it really went as bad as it has potential to, it seems about right. Though getting those people to move given cultural stubbornness will be the challenge. (please, no one see this as an insult. Not at all what I mean by it).

    It is all good man, no big deal as some of those facts at time can and will be messed up by so many. Much appreciated, it is nice to have a conversation with someone that understands the FACTS. As for the what is occurring and the challenge of it that is the big question of the entire situation.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Read. 10char

    If you are going to quote or link anything to support a position use something credible please. This mindless blogger can't even write straight. One such example taken from his blog,

    "Japan is the sole place atomic weapons have been used: to see the Japanese suffer, again, from fear of the atom is heartrending."

    The accurate statement should have read:

    "Japan is the sole place nuclear weapons have been used as weapons in a populated area: to see the Japanese suffer, again, from fear of the atom is heartrending."

    The worry of fallout in the US is the product of complete laziness. We have the tools to be informed yet many would rush out and buy up pills, Geiger counters, and respirators they don't need and don't know how to use properly out of ignorant fear. If you were dumb enough to buy these pills and live more than 100 miles from the reactor, redeem yourself. Take the damn pills back or send them to the red cross. Give them to somebody who has the possibility of being exposed.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Let's be honest, Cap. How many people in the United States are educated enough to make an informed decision? For the most part, these people who are buying radiation meds and geiger counters are little more than impulse-guided automatons who receive information solely from talking heads in a box.

    Not exactly operating on a rational level if you ask me.

    Combine that with the fact that said talking heads are contradicting the experts who say, nearly unanimously, "It isn't that bad" in order to maintain ratings and you have a recipe for fear-based pharmaceutical marketing.

    Hooray, economic stimulation!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    no, america is paranoid like it always was >.> you didn't freak out when chernobyl went up even though it's geographicly closer to you

    if anything china and korea would be affected first, and if your LUCKY (or unlucky) maybe midway and a tiny bit of hawaii...... seriously you'r worrying about a nuclear fallout on the other side of the planet affecting you>.>;

    -points to nevada nuclear testing grounds- THAT will give you more radation fallout then japan will =/ and it's been safe for AGES!!!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    The situation with the media coverage of the reactors in Japan has made me so angry I can't even watch the news anymore. Aside from the blatant misrepresentation of nuclear power, there are so many larger problems over there that have a much greater impact on the people and environment that they should be focusing on. The sheer damage to Japan's infrastructure, the thousands of people still missing, sewage, chemicals, decomposing corpses still trapped in the rubble, the burning oil refinery that no one's talking about... all of these pose a larger risk than the reactors.

    What's even worse are some of the "professionals" that the networks bring on to discuss this and propagate the scare... I'm starting to think that they draw these guys from the same pool of "professionals" that hollywood does... You know, the ones that they bring on to get the clouds of Titan 'just right', but then totally ignore the galaxy-destroying supernova that can get sucked up by a black hole? Or the ones that were brought on to figure out what class of stars the worlds of the 12 colonies in the new BSG would orbit, but then ok multiple binary planetary systems that are in turn, orbiting binary stars? There was an Associated press report that got the entire units of radiation off by a factor of 1000! I guess we can't expect reporters to know the difference between between a 'm' for 'millisievert' and a lower-case greek letter 'Mu' for 'microsievert'. And before that, there was a Reuters report that the tsnuami in Japan was revealing the lost city of Atlantis in Spain!!! I have no idea what the press is doing these days, but factual reporting is clearly not on their list of priorities.

    Any radioactive particulates that manage to make it all the way across the ocean (not bloody likely), would pose no threat to anything living here, and the only significance would be that it would be measurable at all
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    -points to nevada nuclear testing grounds- THAT will give you more radation fallout then japan will =/ and it's been safe for AGES!!!

    I have friends who have seen where those things went off. There's glass around where the sand had melted. They filled in the crater and opened it up for tourists now. I think you can pick up glass for a memento if you want.

    edit:
    The situation with the media coverage of the reactors in Japan has made me so angry I can't even watch the news anymore.
    On the bright side, it's doing wonders for my solar stock I bought last week. ;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    An interesting link for guys.

    http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html

    Move the slider's left and right to show the before and after pics.
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