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"We are assuming that a meltdown has occurred" at a nuclear power reactor, Japan's chief Cabinet secretary says. :Oh crap:Oh crap:Oh crap

Holy fuck....

Not good

fucking great :(

Another blow against one of the cheapest forms of alternative energy out there...

An 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan early Friday, triggering tsunamis that sent a wave filled with boats and houses toward land. Are you in an affected area? Send an iReport. Read the full report on how the quake hit Japan and generated a Pacific-wide tsunami.

[9:54 p.m. ET, 11:54 a.m. Tokyo] A meltdown may have occurred at at least one nuclear power reactor in Japan, the country's chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano, said Sunday.

He also said that authorities are concerned over the possibility of another meltdown at a second reactor.

"We do believe that there is a possibility that meltdown has occurred. It is inside the reactor. We can't see. However, we are assuming that a meltdown has occurred," he said of the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility. "And with reactor No. 3, we are also assuming that the possibility of a meltdown as we carry out measures."

Wow, i really hope nothing more happens.

Talk about a hat-trick disaster. 1-earthquake, 2-tsunami, 3-nuclear fuckup.


.

Not exactly the sort of story where you want to see "there is a possibility" and "we are assuming" and "we cant see". Not at all.

these reactors have dual barriers.... if the inner one melted the outside layer can still hold the crap in??

SAw something about it earlier on the news

It is a partial meltdown as the water levels lowered about 4m below the top of the fuel rods. The fuel rods are still contained but for how long no one knows right now. Not as bad as Three Mile Island and no where near as bad as Chernobyl, yet!

They say it will take 10 days to fill the containers with sea water....

Depending on the burn off of the water as compared to the fill rate if water levels are rising, even minimally, it is worth doing. The problem is what to do with the water afterwards. What if the reactor No. 1 leaks (it did explode today)?

Japanese authorities are now confirming that a partial meltdown is occurring at Fukushima Reactor No. 3 as well.

Japan has categorized the Fukushima nuclear disaster as a 4 (out of 7) on the IAEA's (International Atomic Energy Agency) INES (International Nuclear Events Scale). Chernobyl was the only disaster to rate a 7.

http://i.imgur.com/Uw3Qj.gif

I'm a TMI baby. The Three Mile Island incident occurred March 1979 and I was born May 1979. My family lived, and I grew up, just outside of York Haven, PA, which is directly across the river from TMI. As the crow flies, minutes away. And growing up, my family would often go boating in the river that runs along TMI.

For years after I was born, my parents would receive periodic phone calls regarding my health, and if I exhibited any bizarre behavior and symptoms. Birth defects were another question. Even within the past 5-10 years I received a questionnaire regarding my health and TMI.

On a positive note, I seem to be normal (I willfully admit that depends on who you ask :winkwink:), though I do enjoy telling people I glow in the dark.

Ahhh.. if only we could believe them..
Personally, I think that an outside or international organization should be assiging these ratings... It's interesting that the rating didn't change after the second reactor started showing signs of partial meltdown...

I dunno.. You are an eagles fan! :winkwink: lol

The good thing is, humans have the worst memory. So, after this is all said and done, and we've moved on to the next tragedy or conflict, no one will remember it. Nuclear energy will still be a go sometime in the future.

Like I said, it depends on who you ask. :1orglaugh