Nuclear explosion in Japan

[Mich the Tester]

It's not quite like that. We're not talking about wiring up a cement mixer to a 110v transformer.

Also getting the work done would have taken time they could ill afford.

[Suity in pub expert mode]

Do you mean to say that managing a nuclear power station after a richter scale 9 earthquake and a tsunami is a bit more complicated than the collective wisdom of CUK might suppose?

Stop being so bloody sensible; it just doesn't suit you.

[TimberWolf]

It's not quite like that. We're not talking about wiring up a cement mixer to a 110v transformer.

Also getting the work done would have taken time they could ill afford.

[Suity in pub expert mode]

Yeah, maybe a job for an electrician?

[TimberWolf]

Ok I'll correct you.

The fuel rods are housed in chamber which in turn is housed in a chuffing great concrete chamber many meters thick.

It's only bad in that the reactor is now beyone repair and will cost money to replace.

The coolant is now more likely to contain hazardous particulates. Not something that you'd want to vent if you want to reuse the site, let alone the reactor. Though ordinarily what's released is filtered.

[BlasterBates]

So far the death toll is 2. The biggest nuclear catastrophe in the West since three mile Island which had a death toll of 0.

[d000hg]

Mind meld with the fuel rods?

At the end of Star Trek II (The Wrath of Khan) Spock goes inside the ship's main reactor chamber as the only way to save the ship, manually making repairs and being killed in the process.

I wonder, apart from heat and poison levels, how long would a person last after exposure to a nuclear core? Can extreme levels kill you in minutes like in Star Trek or would it be certain death in a few days?

[Doggy Styles]

At the end of Star Trek II (The Wrath of Khan) Spock goes inside the ship's main reactor chamber as the only way to save the ship, manually making repairs and being killed in the process.

I wonder, apart from heat and poison levels, how long would a person last after exposure to a nuclear core? Can extreme levels kill you in minutes like in Star Trek or would it be certain death in a few days?

Doesn't exposure to radiation give you super-powers?

[minestrone]

At the end of Star Trek II (The Wrath of Khan) Spock goes inside the ship's main reactor chamber as the only way to save the ship, manually making repairs and being killed in the process.

I wonder, apart from heat and poison levels, how long would a person last after exposure to a nuclear core? Can extreme levels kill you in minutes like in Star Trek or would it be certain death in a few days?

It will just destroy your cells and blood will start pishing out of you straight away.

Nice.

[stek]

So far the death toll is 2. The biggest nuclear catastrophe in the West since three mile Island which had a death toll of 0.

What, Japan's in the west?

[Doggy Styles]

What, Japan's in the west?

Yep, even further west than the United States.

[Sockpuppet]

In Japan maybe, but in other countries a lot of nuclear power generators are not on the shore and someone they get enough water. Given that Japan is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes that can cause tsunamis it seems very odd to protect reactors against earthquake but lack in protection against tsunami (which is to have reactor more in land - there it's practically on the shore).

Most if not all of the UKs reactors are on the coast.