Worried about Japan's radiation in Pacific?

[Peter_C]

Downside to this is the landscape in China where they are creating the materials to make solar panels. They are crapping all over the landscape with waste materials to do this.

Then you might be amazed how much is mined here in the US and shipped to China. There are some major solar panel manufacturing plants operating in the US under our environmental protection agencies. What product manufactured in China doesn't crap on the landscape and air in China?

 

[drdaddy]

Frank hit the nail on the head. Just look at data after the Bikini tests where they detonated several nukes. Nothing was detonated in Japan. What gets me is why would you build a reactor on a fault on the Ocean knowing that the reactor could survive an earthquake or a tsunami (but not at the same time) and it is earthquakes that form tsunami's? Must have been an engineer or two involved.

I worked with nukes for years and I'm watching this dumbass reporter all in a panic about radiation complaining that all they told him to do was wear long sleeves, not eat or drink and "..they gave me this useless paper mask" I almost died laughing. Alpha and Beta particles, that is what they are checking for with those Radiac Meters, will wreck havoc in the human body if they get inside. They are so slow that paper masks and long sleeves prevent that from happening. The reason they kept those Navy ships out fifty miles was in part to prevent having to scrub every nook and cranny prior to coming into port. Like Frank said don't believe the hype, reporters don't know squat.

The last major tsunami of this this magnitude was in 960 AD. If we were to plan on all contingencies, we would not even get out of bed, let alone drive a car, or build a house anywhere. Not only do "reporters don't know squat" - they will hype it up past irresponsibility and cause tremendous harm with their ignorant lies and fall back on the excuse of "free speech". Our news agencies have become sensationalistic "police gazettes". Following up on the 960 AD tsunami, it is true that given these circumstances the next Japanese nuclear power-plants will be even better engineered. But it is incredible that they could withstand being so close to the epicenter of a 9.0 earthquake.

 

[Deep-6]

Unless you're in or very near the reactor itself the radiation is dispersed to the point that you'll receive more radiation just from suntanning. I think news outlets are in the business of getting ratings and more people watch the channel that sensationalizes the event the most. If there was a Plutonium leak...we'd all know it...it would be on the news 24/7. It too would be blown completely out of proportion.

 

[JollyWaffl]

If there was a Plutonium leak...we'd all know it...it would be on the news 24/7. It too would be blown completely out of proportion.

Been there, done that. Turned out that the plutonium they found was most likely from an old weapons test...

And concerning Germany installing solar? Well, when it's cloudy or when they days are short, they go and buy power from nuclear-loving France (overloading the Belgian power grid until we took steps, btw). You always need reserve capacity for when solar and wind stop producing. Nuclear isn't very good as a reserve as it can't quickly be turned on and off, but it's one of the better baseline sources at the moment.

 

[CuNanoTube]

Making Solar grade Silicone is very very hard and expensive. Before the "green revolution" the solar industry used waste from the computer industry.
My place of employment is working on making solar grade silicon, it is not nearly as energy efficient as nuclear comparing input energy to output over time.

 

[Scott L]

Making Solar grade Silicone is very very hard and expensive. Before the "green revolution" the solar industry used waste from the computer industry.
My place of employment is working on making solar grade silicon, it is not nearly as energy efficient as nuclear comparing input energy to output over time.

Does the company receive significant public subsidy?

 

[Antagonist]

I live in Okinawa japan and I dive every weekend. The water on mainland, jp is not that great in the first place. Mainland Japanese people are still come to my island to go diving. The water around japan is going to be alright. There main income is from the sea, i am sure they will protect it at all cost.

 

[BDSC]

You are so wrong! Solar is the wave of the future.

If it were April 1st this would be an excellent post.

 

[AleG]

You are going to receive a much, much higher (but still insignificant) dose of radiation by flying on a plane at high altitude to the Philippines than by diving there.

One of the problems with the perception of the extent of the problem is that science has developed mind bogglingly precise means of measuring radiation, so you get a headline that says "RADIATION DETECTED IN NEW YORK!!"! or some such thing and some people get understandably nervous, while in truth the levels measured are infinitesimal.

As for safety issues in nuclear power generation, the Fukushima plant was built, if I remember correctly, in the 60s. Now imagine if, because in great part from obstructionism from certain groups (well intentioned as they may be) we would be stuck with driving cars with the same technology as the 60s. No airbags, crumb zone chasis construction, maybe not even seat belts in some cases. Think of the massive improvements in car safety since then and how progress in engineering and science during that time could be extrapolated to better, even more reliable and safe nuclear power plants that could produce a tiny fraction of the nuclear waste of the old ones.

So, in short, happy diving.

 

[Guba]

Since we have moved the discussion content to a broader plateau, I'll hop on the soapbox again, but just for a moment.

I think it will be amazing to future historians to look back on this last century or so. I'm hoping they'll be stunned that our culture learned to become dependent upon a sole source of energy and basically used it to exhaustion before moving to another. I'm HOPING that their sources of energy are far "greener" and sustainable, and I'm betting that they won't be reliant upon a single form of energy such as hydrocarbons (petroleum, natural gas, coal). I firmly believe they will rely upon a multifaceted grid involving a vast array of sources, many of which are not even on the grid today (but are being tested as we speak). Of course there is wind and solar, both to suplement household electricity use and provide heat, but we're seeing an explosion of investiture in massive, mainline facilities (check out the "Mojave solar system" coming soon). Underwater turbines, which could be utilized in large rivers as well as Gulf Stream sites, show great promise, as do off-shore wind turbine facilities (similar to current oil platforms, only cheaper). Then throw in some systems such as geothermal and saline reservoir converters, and probably quite a few that aren't even conceived yet, and the opportunities are even wider. I firmly believe nuclear will be a part of that future grid, but I hope it's only a part. To my way of thinking, an environmentally better solution is to have a diversity of energy providing systems and not a reliance upon a single source that will be used until it is simply too problematic to maintain.

I have great hope and at least an acceptable faith in man's creativity, intelligence, and dedication to the preservation of our planet and its environmental systems. I choose to believe we have the ability to solve some of the dilemmas we've created, and we will.

(Stepping down off the box again...)