danalwyn

ENGRISH FAIL (some profanity involved).


Or should that be ENGRISH FAIR? Or perhaps ENGRISH FLAIL?

Fukushima has largely fallen off the news, but when it re-emerges it tends to be in some sort of panic-laden title that doesn't actually say anything. Nevertheless the crisis continues. At first we were worried about the reactors exploding, then about the Spent Fuel Pool burning to the ground. Now we're down to high-radiation water leaking out into the ocean. We've pretty much run the gamut from super-critical down to merely urgent.

Nevertheless, radiation is still spreading out there, so if you're concerned about friends and family in Japan, here's the word:

( Radiation )

In short, the crisis level has decreased significantly, but the long-term worries about radiation leakage remain. Additionally there's still a chance for things to go catastrophically wrong, but with each passing day it might actually be less.

So, this is what I've gleaned regarding Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi. Most of it is boring, but that's a good thing. When things about reactors become exciting, that's when you should start being worried.

I should say, that I'm not a nuclear engineer. I do, however, have the same qualifications it seems as a lot of people writing articles for the media, which is to say a Bachelor's degree and the ability to read Wikipedia. So I wrote this to make myself learn the material, and try to keep my head straight. There are probably factual errors. In fact, I guarantee there are factual errors. You should take the word of real nuclear engineers over me.

Furthermore, this is not in any way up to date. The best place to find updates is probably on Facebook, from the page for the International Atomic Energy Agency, or (if you trust them) from the English press release page for the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) (both are slower then normal news, but more accurate).

( Reactors Are (Fortunately) Boring )
I'm hoping things get better. So far the past two days seems to have been a long, painful exercise in hanging on by the fingernails. Now it looks like the wetwell on Unit Two was damaged during the explosion that destroyed their containment system. Also, it appears that part of the building for Unit Four is on fire (this is less of a concern, Unit Four was shut down for maintenance at the time of the earthquake, and so there's nothing to cool in the meantime). Unit Two was already having problems - it's hot enough that they have problems pumping the water in. Meanwhile, Kan has moved the evacuation zone now to twenty kilometers, and the stay-at-home to thirty.

I'm going to post this and hope that things get better, and that we keep hanging on. I think they have a fighting chance. I think that even if they do have a breach, that the effects will be mostly minimal when compared to the effects of the rest of the tsunami. But I'm not all that confident anymore. Hopefully optimism will prove to be correct here.

Dear America,

Don't be stupid.

The Coast Guard was searching for a man in the Pacific Ocean near the Klamath River in Del Norte County in Northern California. The man was swept away after he and two friends reportedly traveled to the shoreline to take photos of the incoming tsunami waves, Lt. Todd Vorenkamp said. His friends made it back to shore.

Quote from MSNBC.