[T]his disaster may set back nuclear power development in our country for decades.
I think your projection could easily be more definitive.
Even if the facility in Japan ultimately proves the durability of nuclear power plants, the NIMBY crowd and environmentalists will beat the "It could have been much worse" drum loudly enough to drown out all else.
Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet; shifted Earth's axis
(CNN) -- The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.
"At this point, we know that one GPS station moved (8 feet), and we have seen a map from GSI (Geospatial Information Authority) in Japan showing the pattern of shift over a large area is consistent with about that much shift of the land mass," said Kenneth Hudnut, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Reports from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy estimated the 8.9-magnitude quake shifted the planet on its axis by nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters).
The temblor, which struck Friday afternoon near the east coast of Japan, killed hundreds of people, caused the formation of 30-foot walls of water that swept across rice fields, engulfed entire towns, dragged houses onto highways, and tossed cars and boats like toys. Some waves reached six miles (10 kilometers) inland in Miyagi Prefecture on Japan's east coast.
The quake was the most powerful to hit the island nation in recorded history and the tsunami it unleashed traveled across the Pacific Ocean, triggering tsunami warnings and alerts for 50 countries and territories as far away as the western coasts of Canada, the U.S. and Chile. The quake triggered more than 160 aftershocks in the first 24 hours -- 141 measuring 5.0-magnitude or more.
The quake occurred as the Earth's crust ruptured along an area about 250 miles (400 kilometers) long by 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide, as tectonic plates slipped more than 18 meters, said Shengzao Chen, a USGS geophysicist.
Japan is located along the Pacific "ring of fire," an area of high seismic and volcanic activity stretching from New Zealand in the South Pacific up through Japan, across to Alaska and down the west coasts of North and South America. The quake was "hundreds of times larger" than the 2010 quake that ravaged Haiti, said Jim Gaherty of the LaMont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.
The Japanese quake was of similar strength to the 2004 earthquake in Indonesia that triggered a tsunami that killed over 200,000 people in more than a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean. "The tsunami that it sent out was roughly comparable in terms of size," Gaherty said. "[The 2004 tsunami] happened to hit some regions that were not very prepared for tsunamis ... we didn't really have a very sophisticated tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean basin at the time so the damage was significantly worse."
The Japanese quake comes just weeks after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch on February 22, toppling historic buildings and killing more than 150 people. The timeframe of the two quakes have raised questions whether the two incidents are related, but experts say the distance between the two incidents makes that unlikely.
"I would think the connection is very slim," said Prof. Stephan Grilli, ocean engineering professor at the University of Rhode Island.
Seriously, as human beings we cherish the objects and shelters that can keep us safe from other human beings, like guns and ammo, arrows and bows, swords and knives etc...but when nature sweeps in with 500mph waves, all we can hope for is speed, skill, and good luck, IMHO.
There is no defense, which in itself, makes it very scary. Prayers Out!
Stratfor is reporting the presence of iodine (from fuel pins), cesium and Selenium 137 outside of the Fukushima Daiichi plant suggests that the Unit 1 reactor’s containment vessel has been breached.
Japan sees lower radioactivity level at plant-IAEA
Sat Mar 12, 2011 3:38pm EST
VIENNA, (Reuters) - Japan has told the U.N. atomic watchdog there was an initial increase of radioactivity around a quake-hit plant on Saturday but that levels "have been observed to lessen in recent hours," the Vienna-based agency said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also said it had been informed by Japanese authorities that Saturday's explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi plant occurred outside the primary containment vessel.
"The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), has confirmed that the integrity of the primary containment vessel remains intact," it said in a statement. (Reporting by Fredrik Dahl; editing by Janet Lawrence)
__________________
“This kind of war, however necessary, is dirty business, first to last.” —T.R. Fehrenbach
“We can trust our doctors to be professional, to minister equally to their patients without regard to their political or religious beliefs. But we can no longer trust our professors to do the same." --David Horowitz
March 12, 2011 | 2148 GMT
Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said March 12 that the explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi No. 1 nuclear plant could only have been caused by a meltdown of the reactor core, Japanese daily Nikkei reported. This statement seemed somewhat at odds with Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano’s comments earlier March 12, in which he said “the walls of the building containing the reactor were destroyed, meaning that the metal container encasing the reactor did not explode.”
NISA’s statement is significant because it is the government agency that reports to the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy within the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. NISA works in conjunction with the Atomic Energy Commission....
It is difficult to determine at this point whether the NISA statement is accurate, as the Nikkei report has not been corroborated by others. It is also not clear from the context whether NISA is stating the conclusions of an official assessment or simply making a statement. However, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, also said that although it had relieved pressure, nevertheless some nuclear fuel had melted and further action was necessary to contain the pressure.
If this report is accurate, it would not be the first time statements by NISA and Edano have diverged. When Edano earlier claimed that radiation levels had fallen at the site after the depressurization efforts, NISA claimed they had risen due to the release of radioactive vapors.
Japan Floods Nuclear Reactor Crippled by Quake in Effort to Avert Meltdown
By MICHAEL WINES and MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: March 12, 2011
TOKYO — Japanese officials took the extraordinary step on Saturday of flooding a nuclear reactor with seawater in a last-ditch effort to avoid a nuclear meltdown, after an explosion there escalated the emergency caused by the huge earthquake and tsunami that destroyed parts of the country’s northeastern coast on Friday.
Officials said late Saturday that leaks of radioactive material from the plant, in northern Japan, were receding and that a major meltdown was no longer imminent....
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“This kind of war, however necessary, is dirty business, first to last.” —T.R. Fehrenbach
“We can trust our doctors to be professional, to minister equally to their patients without regard to their political or religious beliefs. But we can no longer trust our professors to do the same." --David Horowitz
Even if the facility in Japan ultimately proves the durability of nuclear power plants, the NIMBY crowd and environmentalists will beat the "It could have been much worse" drum loudly enough to drown out all else.
It would be a shame to waste a perfectly good crisis.
Photo caption:
STUTTGART, GERMANY - MARCH 12: Anti-nuclear activists hold hands in a human chain they projected as 45km long in front of the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant on March 12, 2011 near Neckarwestheim, Germany. The activists were protesting against the government-granted extension of the operational timespan of several of Germany's older nuclear power plants, which Chancellor Merkel's government claims is necessary to bridge demand before planned renewable energy projects begin operation. The activists claim their call for an end to nuclear power is all the more vital given the current, potential catastrophe brewing at at least one reactor at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima facility in Japan.
__________________
“This kind of war, however necessary, is dirty business, first to last.” —T.R. Fehrenbach
“We can trust our doctors to be professional, to minister equally to their patients without regard to their political or religious beliefs. But we can no longer trust our professors to do the same." --David Horowitz
Photo caption:
In these combo images made from Japan's NHK television, the Fukushima Daiichi power plant's Unit 1 is seen before (top) and after (bottom) an explosion in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, Saturday, March 12, 2011. The walls of the building at the nuclear power station crumbled Saturday as smoke poured out and Japanese officials said they feared the reactor could melt down following the failure of its cooling system in a powerful earthquake and tsunami. The damaged structure of Unit 1 can be seen at left after the walls crumbled. Japanese characters read: "before 9 a.m. , top," and "at around 4:30 p.m." MANDATORY CREDIT, JAPAN OUT.
__________________
“This kind of war, however necessary, is dirty business, first to last.” —T.R. Fehrenbach
“We can trust our doctors to be professional, to minister equally to their patients without regard to their political or religious beliefs. But we can no longer trust our professors to do the same." --David Horowitz
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