Live updates: Nuclear emergency declared in earthquake-struck Japan

http://www.news.com.au/world/magnitude-quake-strikes-japan/story-e6frfkyi-1226019903430 ^ | March 13, 2011 | Sonja Koremans, Simon Black and Andrew Banks

[sheikdetailfeather]

A MAJOR 8.9-magnitude earthquake has struck Japan. Latest updates will be posted by news.com.au below as they come to hand.

[sheikdetailfeather]

This webpage has a lot of intersting updates.

[Jim W N]

I'm a conservative that parts ways with certain persuasions thought to be held generally by conservatives.

One is the death penalty: I'm ag'in it.

Another is nuclear power plants: I'm ag'in 'em also.

(Maybe there's a connection between the two.) To me they're unsafe and are disasters waiting to happen. Either fission technology must become much safer or fusion technology, a clean form of nuclear power, needs an operational breakthrough to be made operationally available.

[Jim W N]

Try again...

I'm a conservative that parts ways with certain persuasions thought to be held generally by conservatives.

One is the death penalty: I'm ag'in it.

Another is nuclear power plants: I'm ag'in 'em also.

(Maybe there's a connection between the two.) To me they're unsafe and are disasters waiting to happen. Either fission technology must become much safer or fusion technology, a clean form of nuclear power, needs a technological breakthrough to be made operationally available.

[Defend Liberty]

Another is nuclear power plants: I'm ag'in 'em also.

(Maybe there's a connection between the two.) To me they're unsafe and are disasters waiting to happen. Either fission technology must become much safer or fusion technology, a clean form of nuclear power, needs an operational breakthrough to be made operationally available.

That's fine so long as the free market dictates which form of energy is best and not the federal government.

[gaijin]

You just ag’in’ed, I believe.

[the invisib1e hand]

Doesnt seem to update too often. The magnitude was changed to 9.1 yesterday.

[Jim W N]

I love hearing from an advocate of the free market. We need more of them.

Here, I don't know, energy, utilities, sort of seems to possibly legitimately fall under Constitutional interstate commerce issues, I'm not sure.

[Jim W N]

gaijin'ed, you ag'in'ed? :)

Actually, I don't know what you just said.

[SE Mom]

Thanks for thread- we need one for changing information.

I just came home from errands to hear there’s a new red alert at one of the other containers.

Going to try and catch up.

[Defend Liberty]

Here, I don't know, energy, utilities, sort of seems to possibly legitimately fall under Constitutional interstate commerce issues, I'm not sure.

The ICC was created by the founding fathers to break down trade barriers between states that existed prior to ratifying the Constitution. They knew it not doing so would prevent the U.S. economy from growing. The ICC was not meant to expand Congress's powers beyond the enumerated powers granted to them by the founding fathers in Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution.

[the invisib1e hand]

Conservatism ain't group-think. The "right" might be, but conservatism is at first a philosophy or an approach or maybe just an acquiescence to reality. Policy is something people will always, rightly, debate.

imfho.

[sheikdetailfeather]

You are welcome SE Mom.

[bigbob]

Sorry Jim, still doesn’t make any sense the 2nd time around.

I live 20 miles form a nuke plant and my only regret is there aren’t more of them. Remember the last nuke plant in the US was built in 1977 (thanks, Jane Fonda) and was designed before the microprocessor was invented. Compare the technology in an AMC Gremilin vs a new BMW and you’ll see all the technology is there, and has been for years.

What is lacking is the political leadership to make safe, clean, and efficient nuclear power the mainstay of our energy portfolio.

Had we put anywhere near as much emphasis on nuclear as has been put on ethanol, wind, solar, biofuels and the rest, we would be energy self-sufficient for power at half the cost. Unless the world is willing to accept a population crash and revert to campfires and oil lamps. And I’m ag’in that.

[mad_as_he$$]

Illogical positions. The amount of “damage” caused by all the nuclear uses in the world is minuscule compared to carbon based fuels. As far as the death penalty goes, God forbid something happens to you or your family, but if it does get back to me on how you feel about it after some tortures and kills a family member.

[Jim W N]

That’s an interesting way of putting it. I think of conservatives as a subset of the right. Do you call Heritage and Cato Institutes conservatives or “the right”? Would you say what I’m doing here is disagreeing with policy generally perceived to be approved by conservatives or the right?

[cbvanb]

Pretty much anything humans build is a “disaster waiting to happen”. Buildings collapse, bridges collapse, wiring shorts out and starts fires, and on and on and on. Given that Japan experienced a 9.1 earthquake I’d say the engineering held pretty well. If you had asked the “experts” the day before the quake what would happen if those reactors were in the epicenter of a 9.1 quake I bet they all would have predicted uncontainable disaster. So far at least, the problem is pretty much under control.
As with most people “ag’in” something, you offer no alternative. So, what is your idea for producing the energy we need?

[Jim W N]

I'm not convinced that any operating nuclear power plant is safe. All it takes is one freaking meltdown to kill everyone within the affected radius.

I'm not just a nay-sayer - the alternative fusion technology needs stepped up R&D.

[the invisib1e hand]

Idunno. I think conservatives are reasonable by definition. I think “the right” is a political label for people who need to be told what to think.

[SteveH]

fusion has been 50 years away for the last 50 years.

[chimera]

All it takes is one freaking meltdown to kill everyone within the affected radius.

Absolutely false. The design basis accident analyses for LWRs (and I have done dozens of them) show that the most likely outcome of a complete failure of reactor cooling is zero fatalities at the plant site, zero fatalities among the general public. And, no, we're talking about Chornobil here. LWR technology is different. There is no positive reactivity feedback in a LWR.