I just read and they said the longer they can hold out, the longer the reactors will cool on their own. Is this true? Are things getting better as time goes on or worst?

In relation to cooling the longer they are left un-cooled the more certain melt down becomes. This why they are doing anything they can to keep the reactor cores immersed or sprayed with water

You can't simply seal it since heat would increase to the point where it would melt anything surrounding it. Then you'd have an explosion which would send radioactive fragments and debris all over the place. You have to find a way to neutralize the radioactive process completely, then seal it.

Shelf life
 

Everything to do with nuclear power generation has a shelf life so to speak. Plutonium/uranium once put into reactive mode will generate heat for a certain amount of time. That length of time will depend on the demands placed on it throughout its useful life. Even after the rods are no longer useful for generating heat for steam power systems they still have a reactive state for many many years, and are quite capable of generating significant amounts of heat. these rods can create enough heat to be a problem for a very very long time. The spent rods now in these storage ponds around the world will last longer than you or I will live on this Earth.

So in a sense yes they will cool down, but not in our lifetime. Reading up on Nuclear energy can be quite interesting and informitive. One of the major problems with using nuclear fuel is that our civilization does know how to get rid of the spent fuel rods. They are piling up very quickly and are being stored in storage ponds much like the one at this reactor site, which is now one of the serious concerns for leakage into the soil and seawater there. So no they will not just coold down on there own where we will not have to worry about them. How long ago was the Chernobyl disaster, and that meltdown is still pumping out contamination. That is why there is a huge dead zone around the area(10 sq miles or something like that). This problem in Japan has to be dealt with by man now, one way or another. There is no easy out in this situation, and we cannot just ignore it either or the damage will spread into a mcuh larger area.

Absolutely. Nuclear situations need to be priority number 1 & shouldn't be considered the country of origin problem. If the situation deteriorates & contamination is widespread, it then affects a significant number of countries & their populations

It will also be interesting to see how this 'event' will influence the global power strategies & local economies

Did you see
 

Did you see the whistle blowers report from the nuclear design specialist guys who quit during the construction of these plants in the 70's? He was hired as kind of a QA inspector to advise Japan on the construction. He tried to tell them about flaws in the designs when it was being built, and no one would listen to him, because it would have cost GE too much for them to fix the problems. One of them was where these storage ponds weregoing to be built. I did not realize it until today that these spent nuclear rods were being stored in a swiming pool size pond on the 5th floor above the reactor. It was designed this way for ease of moving the rods in and out of the reactor. Makes sense right? Except that if there was a problem with the ponds cooling system that it would escalate into a smaller meltdown that would inevitably involve the reactor itself. How stupid was that. Now they have spent rods in a meltdown condition hanging over the already crippled reactor cores. What a bunch of morons.

I also just saw an interview with Hilery Cliton regarding evacuation of Americans from Japan. She was asked directly three times if it was going to happen. She would only say that the situation was being watched very closely and if our professionals on the ground advised to do so that it will be done, but NOT YET. We have litterally thousands of Americans working and living in Japan with their families like Lito. US Navy, US Airforce, US Marines, US Army, Gov contractors, Department of State, and over a dozen other Gov agencies. This is going to be interesting.

The plant here in Cincinnati was the same deal,it was supposed to be nuclear but GE's major design flaws kept it from being approved so it was converted to coal.
As for the rods,why,why,why would someone put a storage pond for rods that have enough heat to light CONCRETE on fire above a reactor? Like,really?
As for American citizens,they should have been our first priority,my guess is that it's PR, like "see,we don't think it's too bad japan! We haven't even pulled out our OWN people yet" like if we pull our people out its a sign of abandonment.
I'm just waiting for the massive fireball that was the plant to appear on the news as the rods hit 3000 degrees f and begin burning everything within a 100yrd radius.

very interesting info... please keep us updated.

Here's a graphic. Not certain it's 100% accurate but it explains a few things

http://images.smh.com.au/2011/03/17/...ar-reactor.jpg

thanks... easy read

Good news
 

Here is a bit of good news though. Apparantly before we went to bed last night I heard a CNN news report that there were several US Nuclear officials on the ground yesterday trying to come up with a plan to begin recovery from this disaster. The first and formost item was to regain cooling to the reactors. So assisting the Japanese power company a temporary power line was being rigged up from another power system and strung all the way to the reactor area so that cooling could be restored. I have not checked yet this morning, but it should be pretty close to being completed or already up and running. That is a good sign in my book.

Then once cooling is restored and the reactor heat levels are within acceptable ranges they can start working on a solution to contain the leaking radiation, and finally move on to a more permanent resolve of the entire situation. We are not out of the woods yet, but this is much better news than anything we have heard for the last 5 days. There may be hope yet to overt total anialation. Its about time someone grew a brain in this mess.

Uh oh???
 

This just in 6AM eastern time USA. Another sign that things are not going as well as everyone had hoped it would. Good news for your family Lito.

– 1 hr 43 mins ago
WASHINGTON – The United States has authorized the first evacuations of Americans out of Japan, taking a tougher stand on the deepening nuclear crisis and warning U.S. citizens to defer all non-essential travel to any part of the country as unpredictable weather and wind conditions risked spreading radioactive contamination.

President Barack Obama placed a telephone call to Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Wednesday to discuss Japan's efforts to recover from last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami, and the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-chi plant. Obama promised Kan that the U.S. would offer constant support for its close friend and ally, and "expressed his extraordinary admiration for the character and resolve of the Japanese people," the White House said.

But a hastily organized teleconference late Wednesday with officials from the State and Energy Departments underscored the administration's concerns. The travel warning extends to U.S. citizens already in the country and urges them to consider leaving. The authorized departure offers voluntary evacuation to family members and dependents of U.S. personnel in Tokyo, Yokohama and Nagoya and affects some 600 people.

Senior State Department official Patrick Kennedy said chartered planes will be brought in to help private American citizens wishing to leave. People face less risk in southern Japan, but changing weather and wind conditions could raise radiation levels elsewhere in the coming days, he said.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said it will coordinate departures for eligible Defense Department dependents.

The ship and the crew will be leaving in a couple of days. We are getting everything ready for sea. As for the families and dependents, we got word this afternoon that there will be a "Voluntary Military Assisted Evacuation" and ensure all our families are ready to go. I think they only said "voluntary" instead of mandatory so as not to insult the government of Japan. Nonethe less, my wife and kids will be leaving either tomorrow or Saturday. They will be picked up by a bus which will take them to Narita airport and board one of the chartered flights to Osan Korea and ultimately to the US. It's been a very stressfull day for everyone here because we still have to do our job in getting the ship underway. It sucks too since I have duty today. They already told us to fill out paperwork necessary for the evacuation.

Gods speed chief.
 

Well Lito as an RCM & UE brother we are happy to hear that your family is being taken care of as far as the evacuation is concerned. It will still be stressful, but at least you will know that no matter how bad things may get in Tokyo that your family is safe and sound. As for doing your duty shipmate God's speed my friend. Your in a tough situation, but at least you will be departing the affected area for the time being. I hope whatever your mission is that you can be proud of your efforts there, and that you make it home safely. Its really going to be tough with you at sea, your family stateside, and all of your stuff in Tokyo. I sure hope that something positive happens with this whole nuclear situation and that a remedy is found and conducted soon. The whole world is watching and quite frankly worried about the outcome. I think most of the world loves and has the utmost respect for Japan and its people, except maybe China. We all want to see a good resolution with this and continue to help Japan get back into a somewhat normal life as much as possible after such a huge triple disaster. Stay safe my friend and try to keep us posted about your situation. We will keep the sites going while you are away, and we will be looking for you every day for a speedy return. Good luck and God bless Chief.

From the ue forum
 

About half way down the page is the story about the powerline they are hoping to restore.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Japan....html?x=0&.v=23


Hopefully good news.

The last article I read says things are getting worst. I hope they get that power line up and running soon to cool those rods. I understand the need to keep people calm, but it seems like the Japanese government isnt being to transparent about what is happening. They had US officials and Japanese officials contracting each other about whether there was any water left in one of the pools. I can only hope they contain this thing quickly.

Normally I'm against the US getting in everyone else's business and spending our money helping other countries instead of helping our own people in our country. I know I may me ignorant or whatever but that is how I feel. Japan is different though....First off Japan is a super power nation, wether or not officially classified as so, I don't know. Japan plays a major role in the economics of the entire world, Japan shutting down will have global ramifications. Japan is in a position that they could help the US if we needed help so us helping them in a time of need makes sense. Now throw the nuclear aspect into it and the US as well as every country that can should be helping. If these reactors go into a complete meltdown it could have a major impact on the entire world, hundreds of thousands or even millions of people could die from the long term affects.

However I do believe that this whole situation could have some positive effects on the US. Japan is a major supplier of electronic components to the entire world. If these manufacturing facilities are shut down for any length of time it could allow some of the US companys to gain a foothold in the market. Another positive that may come out of the whole thing is learning how to deal with a nuclear disaster. If we, and I mean the world, can figure out how to contain a nuclear reactor in the event of a disaster such as this it would be a big step forward for nuclear power.

Even with the possibilty of a major disaster at hand I still beleive nuclear power is the way to go. Nuclear power puts far less demand on fossil fuels and 99.99999% of the time produces little to no harmful emissions other than the warming of bodies of water that are used as a cooling supply. In my local area they have been trying to get bills and laws, and grants , and everything else passed to allow the building of another couple nuclear plants. Not only does the building of a plant provide thousands of jobs but so doesn't the opperation of a plant.

I'm sure there will be a few or maybe many on here that oppse my views but they are my views and just thought I'd share them

Everyone has a right.
 

Everyone has a right to stated their views no matter what they might be. Your views are fine. Japan ranks #3 in the worlds economy making it a superpower. The only thing that makes people think it is not is the size of the Island of Japan. It is a small country, but there are an awful lot of people living there. We need to help Japan for many reasons. They are one of our major alies for one. They afford us the ability to have a large military force in Asia, which helps us protect the Asian community as a whole, but also allows us to have eyes far off our west coast shores for our own protection. We gain some benefits by having such a close relationship with them. Plus in this point in time they have become a great people who deserve our respect and support for whatever may arrise in the way of trouble.

I am also with you in that I think we get overly involved in everybody elses business, and should spend more money, more time, and more attention to our own problems so we can rebuild our countries reputation as the number one superpower. We are losing ground to China every year, and soon we will be #2 or even lower if things do not change for the better. Superpower to me means nothing more than being able to do more, and having more resources than any other country on the globe, and using these benefits to help others in need. We have been known for a very long time as the number on economy, but we are also losing ground there as well. I think it is because we import and export in an unequal balance, and that needs to change. We bring much more into the USA than we send out. That can not go on for ever. It is like filling a pool with a garden hose, while draining it with a firehose. It will soon be empty no matter how wide you open the valve.

My final note is that we need to get more involved in helping Japan fix this nuclear problem, because we have the knowledge from past experiences that will prove invaluable to any kind of resolve in this situation.

Coming from a US citizen living abroad for many years that means alot. I'm glad that there is someone that agrees with me that we need to start taking care of some of our own problems rather than helping everyone one else with all their problems all of the time.

Some problems with some countries are worth helping, not all of them though

Amen! Only helping countries which contribute in a positive way to society and don't want us all dead would be a great start.

Yeah, let those others bury themselves back into the stone age.

Did they ever get out of the stone age?

So glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks like this! Amongst my friends I seem to be the outcast

Of course
 

Of course others would call us arogant, stuck up, or greedy just for talking this way. But it would only be those who do not live our way of life. It is the politicians who think the only way to be helpful is to be consistant and help everyone, or you show favortism and weakness. That we will only help those who will help us. Well Duhh... All I can wish for is that Japan can get things under control before they and other nations have to suffer radiation fallout. If there is something that we can do to help achieve this goal then so be it lets help. Otherwise we have to stay out of it, and from the looks of things Japan is trying their best to show that they can do this. They to do not want to show weakness. God help us all.

thanks for posting updates and information everyone (particularly Jerry!), I haven't really been watching/reading news, and it's nice having information right here where I spend time anyway.

there's some local efforts to raise funds for Japan here in Hilo (mostly fundraiser shirts), is anything like this going on where you guys are?

Prague
 

Well being here in Prague it is hard to tell what is going on some days. We are still waiting on our van to arrive so no vehicle to get out much. Its a 20 minute walk to the local food shopping store, but it is very quiet here for the most part. For two weeks it was sunny and nice out, but the last two days it has been wet and dreary from dawn to nightfall. In fact the kids just left for school and it is snowing right now. Anyway I have read about a few different local fund raisers from various parts of the USA, but honestly it seems pretty quiet. I also noticed that Yahool has a rescue link on its homepage that if you click on it there is a list of various organizations that you can send money to that will assit the japanese humanitarian efforts. Or so they say. Unless you donate directly to some local japanese relief effort I would not trust any of the other organizations to get the actual relief to the victoms of this disaster. There is just too much politics with these so called helping organizations. Too much Gov control and interference.

I think people are so focused on the whole nuclear disaster that no one is doing much of anything until they know for sure that this matter is going to come out on the bright side. I believe once (if) these reactors are brought under control to the point that there is no radiation leaking and it begins to wind down that people will lighten up some and then maybe we can all focus more on the recovery efforts that are going on there.

That region of Japan is going to require an awful lot of humanitarian relief just to get the people out of danager, out of starvation, dehydration, & hypothermia, and into some kind of healthy state of being. The Japanese are even more fixated on the local news waiting for some kind of good news and resolve with that nuclear site so they can rest at ease once again. The people who are still out in the affected Zones are completely cut off with no power, food, water, and sealed in their homes waiting to be told that it is safe to come out of their shelters. Everyone is terrified of what could happen if this gets much worse, because we all know what happened with Chernobyl and how deadly that kind of result can be for miles around. Some of these people already feel if this thing blows then it must be their time to go, because they have nothing left to come back to. What a horrible existance that must be for them.

Overall I have to say that the mental atmosphere in Japan is one of calm and hope for better days. Maybe they are still in shock, but when Katrina happened in the USA there was panic, looting, and rioting in the relief shelters with people demanding assistance. The people of Japan are going through a triple disaster with dignity and calmness trusting in their own spirit that they will overcome. WIth little or no food or water they sit quietly praying for a miracle. If they will die, then it will be quietly without shaming themselves or their country. No spoiled rants over what services are not being provided for them, because they feel entitled to being taken care of. You have to feel proud of them for the humility and dignity that they wear on their sleeve for everyone to see.

It is hard to digest such a catastrophy in a country like Japan but it is also for the reason you just stated that make's it even more heart-felt.

I arrived home yesterday and found a message written on the drive by my 8 year old (they often draw on the drive with crayon), you'll have to excuse her english as she is bi-lingual - "Be australia such a nice place to live" "Be australia such a lucky place" I just know this has derived from Misato trying to explain to them what's happening in Japan. We haven't said there cousin's and grandparents are in danger as they are not...yet, but we are certainly worried.

The Japanese culture still amazes me. As you guys have said, they don't like showing signs of weakness and such. On jp tv the local gov't of Sendai feels they are being left in the dark about the reactors and are very disolutioned.

It does seem
 

Yea it does seem that they are living with the notion that "no news is good news" for the most part. As long as they do not tell them bad news everything looks to be OK in their eyes. The problem is that we now live in such a high tech world that we rely on "up to the second" information because our technology can provide it under normal circumstances. SO when there is no NEW news we naturally fear the worst, or we believe that we are being lied to or kept in the dark. I do understand the want of the Gov not to panic its people with congecture or inuendo or guesstimations, so I get it, but I also believe in not waiting until the damm breaks before telling people to move to safer ground. In America that would be grounds for murder or man alaughter in our courts today. The Gov has to have some level of liability and responsibility to its people to tell them the truth no matter how bad it may be. Especially in a society that lives and dies by its honor. Kids are better at telling the truth than we are, and we teach them not to do this so they do not hurt anyone elses feelings. How wrong is that?

Just watched
 

I just watched one of the latest CNN reports on a local village on the northeast shores of Japan where there was once a small fishing town. A local described how the bay there suddenly began retreating to the sea leaving about a half mile of mud sand and emptiness. Then suddenly a roaring sound began to fill the air, and within a few seconds they could see the waves coming in with increasing hight as the noise got louder and louder. The people ran terrified trying to get out of the way. The village was on high ground behind very large Tsunami walls made of concrete surrounding the entire bay that reached hights of 20 feet or more and were at least two feet thick. The citizens never expecting that tsunami waves would ever reach much higher. But they did wiping out the enitre town in just a few minutes.

Since no one believed that the water would ever reach that high no one had evacuated. There is no way for a vehicle to get there now with roads destroyed, and even walking was extremely difficult for the film crew to get into the town. There is almost nothing left, and the stench of human decay fills the air. It was earily quiet. There were no footprints in the snow leaving no signs that anyone had gone there to look for survivors a week after the quake & tsunami had struck. It was a horrible site to think that this place had been left with no chance for survival, and no attempt for rescue had made it that far. A village forgotten now gone from the face of the Earth with all of its history destroyed in the ruble of whats left. The few who managed to run to higher ground in the chaos just sit sobbing waiting for help to come. It never came. No where to go in the freezing cold. No heat, no food, and no water to drink they are dying.

Sorry, I just had to share what I saw.

Man, what a horrible story! Although, if the film crews were able to get in, I would think the residents would try to leave the same way. I mean, I'm sure it's not easy, but sure beats just sitting there waiting to die. Maybe I'm not seeing the whole thing.

I think there point is - where will I go, what will I do??? My family just died here along with everyone I know. I have no money, no car, no place to stay, no proof of who I am. On top of being a proud citizen (they have difficulty asking for help, as stated).

Misato is a on the verge of tears tonight because she is starting to realize the possibilities of what could happen. Her Mum seems firm that she will not be leaving the country. For that reason we have little chance of convincing Misato's sister and her children to leave.

I truely hope there is a resolve to this and quickly!

Please, don't get me wrong; I'm not trying to sound insensitive to their plight by any means. Just sitting there waiting for the gov't to take care of them (like many US citizens would) doesn't sound like something they want to do. I understand not wanting to leave the only life you knew, but it doesn't sound like there is anything resembling that old life there anymore. Ultimately, it's everyone's choice, but base survival has to take over at some point. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Misato is your wife I assume? Can't you convince her family to leave for just a little while - just until things settle down? Call it a vacation, call it protecting family, whatever. There's nothing saying they can't go back once the imminent danger is gone.

See through their eyes.
 

BG you have to see things through their eyes. Most of these people left behind were in their 70's and over, so they would not get very far in the freezing weather on their own anyway. Plus after being cut off from the rest of the world by the Tsunami they have no idea how bad things really are. As far as they knew the whole island was hit and destroyed to the same level as their village. No power, no food, no water, no nothing. Where should they have gone. Put yourself in thier shoes. Everyone knows that when things are that bad that the rest of the world comes in to help.

On the second note: Tell them you want to take them to Vegas for vacation or to disney to have some fun. Tell them your wife is sick and needs her help. I know that would not be the truth(or maybe it is now), but this is to get them out of danger that they obviously do not understand how bad it is or could get. I get it though. There is an honor satus there that most people outside of Japan have never understood the depth of that integrity. We hope it all works out for the best one way or another.

Yes Misato is my wife. I have made the suggestion for the family to come here on a temporary basis like you said. We can only be persistent with our wishes and hope they eventually come away from there. My fear is for them to wait and then decide they want out when everyone else does at the same time. Even if they made plans now who knows what might happen tomorrow.

I didn't think your comment was insensitive Brian, sometimes other cultures are hard to understand.

E-Revonut,
We do need to take care of our country, because we have problems of our own. My truck was stolen a while back, my cars broken into 3 times, the houses in my neighborhood get broken into, while we are all at work, if you park your car along the main street in our neighborhood every Saturday someone breaks all the windows and steals everything inside, someone was robbed at our park at gunpoint, my brother was almost killed from someone robbing him at gunpoint. The funny part is I live in a nice neighborhood where this stuff doesnt happen as much. I believe the US has far greater problems than anyone will care to admit and if we cant fix them at home, what makes us think we can fix them everywhere else.

Move
 

I grew up in a place like that. I would move. There are far better places to live. I vowed many years ago that I would never put my family under that kind of stress living in a shitty place. Too many options out there for that crap. Sorry, just my 2cents.

Good advice, I'm working on it.

Good luck
 

Listen man good luck with that. I thiink anyone with half a brain should move away from places like that and leave them to the people who are doing all of the damage, stealing, & hurting others. Let them kill each other off then the place can be bulldozed over and rebuilt for better housing. Sorry to hear that you have to deal with such a stressful situation. I know a lot of people are stuck these days because of upside down loans and just cannot sell their property to get out. Our country sure is in some pretty tough times. I hope it turns around soon.

Unfortunately, in the real world, that doesn't happen. What does happen is the "bad" people move to where the "good" people are so they can get more (and better) loot. Why steal trash from trash when you can get the good stuff? Franky, the justice system in this country is a joke; criminals have more rights than law-abiding citizens, and jail is simply a vacation resort where scum just learn to become more hardened. I'm anxiously waiting for the day everyone gets fed up and starts some kind of vigilante club - when that happens, I'm there! Someone breaks into your house; shoot 'em dead. If they mess with your property; shoot 'em dead. Someone kidnaps and/or does unspeakable acts to someone in your family; shoot'em dead. Do that enough times and the scum of the earth will get the picture and move on to easier prey. But no, in this country, heaven forbid we hurt a criminal's feelings...

Same family tree.
 

It sounds like you and James are from the same family tree.:lol: no offense intended BG. I was laughing so hard about your retorts. It reminded me of Akmed the dead terrorist. "I KIEEEELL YOU, until you are dead" and that is worse. Love the sentiment BG. Thanks for the laugh.