Sunday Spectacle CXIII
Japan Devastated by Earthquake and Tsunami
(click through for more pics and videos)
Tall Building Swaying
(h/t Viable Opposition)
Whirlpool Sucking A Ship
Potential Nuclear Meltdowns at Two Reactors
When all is said and done, this earthquake will be most famous for a few close calls at a nuclear power plant. It's too early to say right now but it's possible that two nuclear reactor meltdowns may have occurred (hopefully partial meltdowns like the one at Three Mile Island in USA and not a full meltdown).
Now that poor countries with potentially worse safety records and financial resources than Japan, such as China and India, are building nuclear power plants, I suspect we'll see more nuclear plant blowups in the future. Japan is one of the best and it's doutful the damage will be contained in the same manner if a plant blows up in, say, China.
The following video shows a hydrogen explosion at one of the plants (the core is supposedly intact so the explosion actually isn't as bad as it seems).
Potential Nuclear Meltdowns at Two Reactors
When all is said and done, this earthquake will be most famous for a few close calls at a nuclear power plant. It's too early to say right now but it's possible that two nuclear reactor meltdowns may have occurred (hopefully partial meltdowns like the one at Three Mile Island in USA and not a full meltdown).
Now that poor countries with potentially worse safety records and financial resources than Japan, such as China and India, are building nuclear power plants, I suspect we'll see more nuclear plant blowups in the future. Japan is one of the best and it's doutful the damage will be contained in the same manner if a plant blows up in, say, China.
The following video shows a hydrogen explosion at one of the plants (the core is supposedly intact so the explosion actually isn't as bad as it seems).
The amazing thing to me is how powerful the ocean is. Japan did an amazing job building for earthquakes but it appears they need to focus on tsunami as well. The nuclear plant problems wouldn't have materialized if the backup cooling unit didn't fail due to the tsunami. I also wonder if countries like Japan would be better off trying to pursue tidal wave power plants—admittedly a bit pie-in-the-sky right now—since they may be better suited.
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