It's all becoming clearer to me now (Media Blackout).....
I was thinking that the media blackout on this nuclear fiasco was about control, and keeping people from panicking.
To some degree, I believe that this is true, but I underestimated the financial motive.....I thought this was about Tepco and the Japanese government. I forgot that this is now a global economy, with all the implications that that entails.....
"...If worse comes to worst, Tepco share certificates would become worthless sheets of paper for 600,000 shareholders as well as for many corporate pension funds that have included Tepco stock in their portfolios. The steep drop in Tepco's stock price has already dealt a blow to investment funds in the United States. Nearly 20 percent of its stock is held by non-Japanese investors. This has reportedly led the Obama administration to urge the Kan government to take steps to prevent a further decline in Tepco stock."
GE - The world is your oyster
Oh, the world is not really so big. The three major culprits in the multiple Fukushima nuclear meltdowns are General Electric, Hitachi and TEPCO. GE and Hitachi designed and constructed this mess respectively. TEPCO is the operator. In any normal circumstance the designer, constructor and operator would be subject to unlimited liability and certain bankruptcy. Several other corporations played relatively minor, contributory roles. These corporations, their investors and lenders received the benefits of this investment. The governments of Japan and the USA played key roles in promoting nuclear power plant designs that have been long known to be clearly defective.
The players, who reaped the profits, should pay the damages. The gamblers should cover the losses. But, of course, they cannot pay and they will not pay. These corporations have written a check that they cannot pay. GE, Hitachi, TEPCO and the governments of Japan and the USA have wrought this ecological Armageddon. Let us endeavor to leave Hitachi and TEPCO to the tender mercies of the Japanese.
The General Electric Corporation designed all these failed Mark-1 reactor ‘containment’ systems. The GE Mark-1 has been openly identified as a nuclear hazard for decades. These defective GE Mark-1 and GE Mark-2 so called ‘containment’ systems should have all been removed from service years ago. But GE has massive political and media clout within the USA. “The world is your oyster”, describes the General Electric Corporation. GE has held clear title to the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court for over a century. GE cannot pay their part of the damages. The damages are too immense. GE cannot even afford to pay back their share of the profits from their knowingly, willfully defective Mark-1 designs.
So they won’t. GE has killed the story. It is of no consequence to GE or the national government if you and your family die early and painful deaths from cancer. Nothing will be done to reduce the hazard. Nothing will be broadcast to guide you toward safe choices. There are no public service announcements for this hazard. Drink deep the Purple Kool-Aid. Both political parties, both houses of congress, all fifty states, conservatives, liberals and libertarians, the national press corps and the entire speaker’s bureau are on board. They are all cooing that there is no danger. But of course there is great danger from Japan and USA Mark-1 reactors.
These aging, corroded, always defective GE Mark-1 designs are being strained 20% beyond their nameplate power ratings with weapons grade plutonium fuel. They are all being licensed for a 50% extension beyond their nominal design life of 40 years. The Vermont Yankee reactor was issued a 20 year life extension with MOX fuel power up-rating, on March 12, 2011. This NRC relicensing occurred the day after the tsunami, as the Fukushima reactors were literally melting down. The world, you see, is GE’s oyster.
I think it's a stretch
Wow, where to begin....
I think it's a stretch to think there is a media blackout just to
save TEPCO shareholders. The article covers many areas of the situation.
But, there are a number of inescapable realities. And, no. I'm not
defending TEPCO. Just trying to illuminate the terrain in which Japan
finds itself deployed.
1. If it's not TEPCO (not the top management, but the company) running
the power grid in that service area, who? The lights need to be kept on.
Energy monopolies are not an unknown situation in the US either.
2. The scale of the accident will no doubt overwhelm TEPCO's ability
to pay out claims. And if not assisted, TEPCO will collapse and my
question #1 above and other serious problems come in.
3. The Japanese govt is already on its way to floating bonds to help
pay for the claims against TEPCO. So, that isn't a secret.
4. One thing that always amazes me is when folks actually think they can
hold the utility company accountable for paying for fines or damages.
The utility company will simply pass the cost on to its customers. So,
while holding utility companies accountable and constantly monitoring
them is the right and *required* thing to do, fining them is really just
shooting customers in the foot. It's the management that needs to pay for
any neglegent or criminal behavior. And if the govt was in bed with the
utility company, then the govt (aka tax payers and representatives) will
have to pay too. And disasters like this do not get this big without govt
help. Saying the power company "should bear the total responsibility" for
compensating the public may *sound* good and make people feel that the
company has been punished. But, unfortunately, we are highly dependent on
the utility companies. So, severely punishing them for messing up is no
different than fining the govt. or punishing your stomach for causing you
problems. In the end, you pay.
5. This isn't a whole lot different than the bank bail out in the US. As
the article mentions, there could be a domino effect that has an impact
far beyond TEPCO's board room. An impact that Japan's already fragile
economy can't afford. That's just an unfortunate reality.
6. The TEPCO shareholders already got a black eye with the drop of the
stock to 14% of what it was. It's recovered to about 25% of what it was.
But, that's still a huge loss for shareholders. If more comes out about
cover-ups or flat out lies about contamination and impact to the
population, they will continue to face tough times in the stock market.
So, even with govt. bail outs, the stock will continue to be under
pressure.
7. Rolling blackouts are not unusual at all in extreme circumstances.
Calif had rolling blackouts/brownouts in 2000/2001 for a number of reasons.
Some valid and some not. And with at least 3 nuclear plants out of
operation at this time, it comes as no surprise that there will be a power
shortage. Japan gets almost 30% of its power from nuclear plants. So,
when a percentage of those are taken out of service, something's got to
give.
And the list could go on and on.
Where does a media blackout come into this? I don't see how it does.
TEPCO and the govt (taxpayers) will have to pay for any damage caused
by this disaster. The prime minister will not save his job with media
blackouts. In fact, a blackout will speed up his departure. TEPCO (the
company, not the management) will still be around. And the power will
keep flowing. The only solution to this type of thing is to not get into
the situation in the first place. Just like the corporate, govt, and
borrower corruption that led to the need for bailing out the financial
industry.
I read that 1/3 of Japan's
I read that 1/3 of Japan's remaining power is coming from wind farms. They were not damaged during the earthquake or tsunami.
Even if they had failed, wind generators would not have caused the horrendous ecological and health hazard that is being caused now by 3 concurrent "China Syndrome" meltdowns - one with MOX.
Humans need to change their energy paradigm. Stop thinking about centralized power being supplied through massive, deteriorating and vulnerable grids. Instead, create small, neighborhood grids and home-based power to supply our energy needs. Wind, solar, geothermal, ocean currents and even small hydro power stations that use vortexes instead of traditional turbines are all viable alternatives. Even riding a bike to run the TV! Every tiny amount of electricity that we can generate ourselves will help reduce our dependency on The Big Guys.
We have the technology right now to be nuclear free - no offense BRAWM team. We can be free from fear of nuclear catastrophes, as well as slow/small and constant radiation releases. We can be free from our taxes subsidizing multi-billion dollar corporations that, in turn, poison us by poisoning the land, sea and air.
But, in order to become free, we must stop allowing ourselves to be manipulated and brain-washed by those in the nuclear industry who covet power and greed. We must,instead, take responsibility for our actions, including our energy consumption. Change our minds, change our beliefs, change our habits, demand change from the govt. and "powers that be" - no pun intended.
Germany is doing it. New Zealand and Chile are nuclear free. Why can't we be?
The time is now, because it is only a matter of time before The Big One hits California. Seismologists predicted it within 50 years back in the early 1970's. Three of the corners of the tectonic plate that makes up the Ring of Fire have had devastating earthquakes within the past couple of years. California is the last corner. The 2 nuclear power plants located on the coast are sitting ducks. Do the math.
We need to shut down Diablo Canyon and San Onofre. They are only built to withstand a 7.5 and 7.0 earthquake respectively. The Big One will exceed those limits, we can bet on that. And the fact that they are also within tsunami range, well, we have our own little meltdowns just waiting to happen. Not to mention the spent rods that are being stored there. I'm not fear-mongering. I'm realistic - looking at the world with eyes wide open, not burying my head in the cesium covered sand.
If we are to learn anything from Fukushima, the least the NRC should do is to shut Diablo Canyon and San Onofre down now, decommission them and move the rods elsewhere. They are simply located in places that have been proven to be too dangerous.
Yes, it can be done. The Trojan power plant in Oregon (that created it's own little cancer cluster - even babies being born with cancer) was decommissioned. You just need enough informed, loud and insistent people to demand it.
IMHO The nuclear industry is
IMHO The nuclear industry is dead, sell your stocks now. As the public catches on nuclear will be phased out for greener alternatives, especially in a technologically advanced country like Japan, all the nuclear physicists will have jobs for generations though, getting rid of and containing all the nuclear waste.
If Japan manages to survive
If Japan manages to survive and joins Germany on the development of alternative energy, nuclear energy would be a dead man walking. Hopefully it doesn't takes us with him.
I'd love to think you're
I'd love to think you're correct.
me too, but somehow, money
me too, but somehow, money always seems to win out. I guess time will tell.
whether security measures
whether security measures had worked perfectly, as provided by "theoretical calculations", although there had been a partial core melt due to lack of refrigeration (anyone who had been the cause), it need not have been stored hydrogen in the building. Hydrogen has been released by the chimneys of gas escape into the atmosphere. Evacuation chimneys are the two steel towers, about 100 meters you see in the pictures and are connected to the suppression pool in two of the reactors. Obviously have never thought to use them for the two reactors at the same time, it has not been the case and probably (I have my doubts), this has led to the explosion of reactor 4 building and the destruction of the pool which contained, not only spent fuel, but hot all the fuel they had just removed from the reactor Cuba, as we have been assured. These towers are in all the nuclear plants are designed to rid the atmosphere of small leaks of radioactive gases inside the containment, so that dilution in the air and, at worst, do not affect the concentration of radioactive materials into the atmosphere.
However, General Electric, to keep active plants poorly designed boiling water, after many reports about the potential consequences of an accident, first modified the design and added the so-called Mark I, ie "the bull", is a circular pool or reservoir, located at the base of the reactor and out of contention, with the mission to collect water that may exit the reactor in case of accidents and avoid having a blast. Water, radioactive, would be stored there. But a new danger existed in that the pressure in the torus would increase to blow it or tear (which is precisely one of the things that happened in Fukushima, as TEPCO own images at the beginning of everything).
Then they decided to add an element of passive safety, connect the tank is circular (the suppression pool), a pipeline, if the pressure in the torus increase dangerously, in turn ease the pressure, taking the steam radioactive water and other gases to the outside, but, after all, avoiding cracks or breaks in the reactor vessel, as technicians could handle the flow of the pipe and send it to the fire escape. In short, this means that all this has stopped working good, BUT NOT BY THE TSUNAMI, but rather because the quake crippled the entire system physically, for being a passive system should not depend on electricity. It is clear that "the bull" broke, by the first explosion that occurs in these cases, the so-called "steam explosion", and the hydrogen was released into the building and, as seen in the images of the explosion of reactor 3 , the containment in the form of light bulb, this event must be destroyed.
It is also true that all the calculations of how these security systems are purely theoretical, because no one had ever faced a real accident or had carried out an experiment of this scale.