There was a story in the paper today about a class of 30 school children who had stayed in their classroom for 6 days, waiting for their parents to come and collect them. The reporters were instructed not to open the door to the classroom as it would get their hopes up.
Re: Major Earthquake + Tsunami in Japan
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 9:24 am
by Shum
The media angle on the nuclear situation is fucking dire.
It's an unwritten rule in the media - any situation involving a nuclear plant having trouble has to use the word 'Chernobyl' at least once every 5mins/200 words.
Re: Major Earthquake + Tsunami in Japan
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:25 am
by joeki
In Belgium today, finally a newspaper reported about the appalling way this news is being covered on Belgian STATE funded television.
The general population was meant to believe that famine a cross Tokyo was widespread, that the city was receiving radioactive fall-out and that 4 out 6 reactors malfunctioning (gravely) could not be reversed and that apocalypse of Northern Japan was inevitable...
bullshit all of it, and today one newspaper finally stood up and said it.
Let's hope they can fix all power lines and the cooling systems still work after that. I think today the first batch of workers (heroes to be honest) working at the facility have been diagnosed with high amounts of radioactive contamination. The first confirmed! yes... it doesn't come as a surprise.
I still have all faith that this crisis will be averted...the area in the direct vicinity of the plant will be lost but the crisis will be contained.
Re: Major Earthquake + Tsunami in Japan
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:28 am
by wub
joeki wrote:In Belgium today, finally a newspaper reported about the appalling way this news is being covered on Belgian STATE funded television.
The general population was meant to believe that famine a cross Tokyo was widespread, that the city was receiving radioactive fall-out and that 4 out 6 reactors malfunctioning (gravely) could not be reversed and that apocalypse of Northern Japan was inevitable...
The only reason I can think of why they'd say this is to boost sales of games like Fallout 3.
Re: Major Earthquake + Tsunami in Japan
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 4:30 pm
by test_recordings
Naa panic buying and causing a run on stock markets to let those in the know profiteer off high demand on what people want and buy up what they sold off... Standard media tactics really.
Re: Major Earthquake + Tsunami in Japan
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 4:38 pm
by Mr Hyde
test recordings wrote:Naa panic buying and causing a run on stock markets to let those in the know profiteer off high demand on what people want and buy up what they sold off... Standard media tactics really.
I'd think their main aim is to get you to watch (buy) their media, more dramatic stories get more viewers/readers and more advertising/sales profits.
Re: Major Earthquake + Tsunami in Japan
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 5:49 pm
by joeki
yeah I can understand that, but when state television too jumps on the bandwagon, something is fucked up
Re: Major Earthquake + Tsunami in Japan
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:50 pm
by nowaysj
Maybe some reptilians will come down with magic blankets and swaddle the reactors, and everything will be fine?
Re: Major Earthquake + Tsunami in Japan
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:53 pm
by frank grimes jr.
Yeah, I was under the impression aliens were going to save us from ourselves????
That about sums up the LA Times, the comments on most articles are terrible as well.
Quality:
solushnz at 12:28 AM March 18, 2011
If a nuclear device were to be detonated in close proximity,would it stop the meltdown and long term fallout and maybe even neutralize some of the effects,or would a chain reaction ensue?Another approach could be to tunnell infrom underneath with some mining equipment from close to a water source,say a canal from the ocean,digging from directly beneath so as to collapse the whole reactor into the cavern and flooding the tunnell with sea water from the canal,or maybe the earth could slow it down or even neutralize the emission of radiation?At least it wouldn't be exposed directly to the atmosphere.My vote is a NO!ONUNCLEARNUCLEAR!
Re: Major Earthquake + Tsunami in Japan
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:18 am
by joeki
So general consensus is that :
Reactors 5-6 are under control with the cooling system repaired and pumping fresh water in steadily.
Reactors 1-2-4 are under control for the moment but the power to the cooling system to those has not yet been restored. It's basically wait and see whether the cooling system was damaged or not once the power comes back on. Meanwhile, seawater is still being pumped in "manually" which is keeping the temperature at a manageable level.
The situation at Reactor 3 is still dire : the baths with spent fuel remain the problem as they are still boiling, causing vapour with radioactive particles to rise to the sky. Only on site are the radiation levels high enough to be of any danger to man and environ, still the situation there is not yet under control. Helicopters, watercanons and some high tech equipment from the US has made four attempts to seriously cool down the temperature in the baths with spent radioactive fuel. Vapours were seen rising after each attempt giving hope that a cooling effect is being achieved. But the power to the cooling system of reactor 3 will need to be restored sometime soon.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, life goes on. There was some hamstering going on, but there was no famine and there is NO fuel shortage. No other country other than Japan is in danger.
News and media should really be focussing on the ever rising death toll and on the events transpiring in Libya at the moment.
Re: Major Earthquake + Tsunami in Japan
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:32 am
by xarcane
Dunno, if this has been posted already...
Re: Major Earthquake + Tsunami in Japan
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:38 pm
by pkay
xarcane wrote:Dunno, if this has been posted already...
Three mile island was a bad valve. This is an entire damaged facility.
Good read on the comparison
One of the biggest signs of how the Japanese crisis is so much worse than the U.S. incident 32 years ago is that Denton was able to take President Carter on a tour of the plant's control room on the fourth and final day of the Three Mile Island accident.
It is doubtful whether it will ever be safe for Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan to go to Daiichi.
damn right!