Would blowing up Fukushima help?

[OwlHoot]

No, it would be more of a mess than the worst that can possibly happen if it all goes tits up.

Not necessarily - He may have a point.

Drill down a couple of hundred yards and pack several thousand tons of TNT into large holes near each plant, and detonate the lot with suitable timings.

The result, if it was done correctly would be somewhat like the Hawthorn Mine, one of several set off on the first morning of the Battle of the Somme in WW1.

Finally pour thousands of tons of liquid cement onto and into the pile of earth over the plants, thus sealing the whole thing. Job done (in theory).

[doodab]

Not necessarily - He may have a point.

Drill down a couple of hundred yards and pack several thousand tons of TNT into large holes near each plant, and detonate the lot with suitable timings.

Given that they are struggling even to pump water into them at the moment I suspect the challenge of digging some holes several hundred meters deep might be a little to much.

The result, if it was done correctly would be somewhat like the Hawthorn Mine, one of several set off on the first morning of the Battle of the Somme in WW1.

Finally pour thousands of tons of liquid cement onto and into the pile of earth over the plants, thus sealing the whole thing. Job done (in theory).

Well, sealing the whole thing apart from the sides and the bottom, so that the really nasty radioactive stuff that is currently contained would be free to leak out.

There are reasons why they don't put spent nuclear fuel in landfill.

[Mich the Tester]

Can we add Hull to that list ?

I've never been there, but I've not heard anyone have a good word to say about the place, and it just kind of feels "dirty" having a city lingering above the nice home counties that is a bit redundant.

There are good fish and chip shops in Hull, I am told.

But seeing as I never eat deep fried food, yes.

[OwlHoot]

Well, sealing the whole thing apart from the sides and the bottom, so that the really nasty radioactive stuff that is currently contained would be free to leak out.

There are reasons why they don't put spent nuclear fuel in landfill.

Thinking about it, a better solution to comprehensively bury the whole mess would be to skip the TNT but drill a ring of much smaller holes deeper, perhaps half a mile, round the landward side of each building about quarter of a mile away.

Then plant a 10 kiloton nuke at the bottom of each. Again, if these were detonated in the right pattern, it would raise a huge assymetric mound of earth that would plonk itself over the entire site to a depth of perhaps several hundred yards.

Obvously it would help if the molten (and radioactive) rock from the explosion didn't reach the surface in significant amounts (although I suppose some vapour would inevitably jet through the disintegrating higher layers); but by calculating the depth correctly one could ensure the right amount and direction of earth displacement with no craters being formed.

And I'm being serious here - It's amazing what can be done with coordinated explosions, and if the alternative is a festering smoking radioactive ash heap they may have to consider something like that.

[singhr]

Jeeze - what a mess. Imagine if this was happening in Cumbria right now. The only good thing that will come out of this is for people to take a very long look at what politicians and experts are proposing on UK plc's energy policy. Is this our last chance to turn away from nuclear power and instead re-focus on renewables and population reduction? I really hope so. As a kid who grew up in the 60's fearful of nuclear war, I wouldn't wish that nuclear cloud hanging over the heads of generations to come just because this generation was so selfish.

[BlasterBates]

Here is an update:

Fukushima Status

From what I understand a handful of people have been irradiated with levels comparable Aberdeen background radiation levels.

Of course I do agree with everyone that this is an absolute catastrophe and we should immediately close all Nuclear power stations and sit in the dark, with paper bags over our heads.

[doodab]

Thinking about it, a better solution to comprehensively bury the whole mess would be to skip the TNT but drill a ring of much smaller holes deeper, perhaps half a mile, round the landward side of each building about quarter of a mile away.

Then plant a 10 kiloton nuke at the bottom of each. Again, if these were detonated in the right pattern, it would raise a huge assymetric mound of earth that would plonk itself over the entire site to a depth of perhaps several hundred yards.

Obvously it would help if the molten (and radioactive) rock from the explosion didn't reach the surface in significant amounts (although I suppose some vapour would inevitably jet through the disintegrating higher layers); but by calculating the depth correctly one could ensure the right amount and direction of earth displacement with no craters being formed.

And I'm being serious here - It's amazing what can be done with coordinated explosions, and if the alternative is a festering smoking radioactive ash heap they may have to consider something like that.

I believe you are being serious. I really really hope you don't deal with anything remotely related to public safety for a living.

You aren't going to be able to move a "huge asymmetric mound of earth" without letting a load of radioactive tulip out, because in order to avoid letting the radioactive tulip out you need to ensure that the explosion is buried deep enough that all you get is a sealed in cavity underground that may or may not collapse at a later date leaving a crater on the surface.

[BlasterBates]

looks like the global warming movement might take a blow:

How Japan’s tsunami threatens the global warming movement | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog

[doodab]

Jeeze - what a mess. Imagine if this was happening in Cumbria right now. The only good thing that will come out of this is for people to take a very long look at what politicians and experts are proposing on UK plc's energy policy. Is this our last chance to turn away from nuclear power and instead re-focus on renewables and population reduction? I really hope so. As a kid who grew up in the 60's fearful of nuclear war, I wouldn't wish that nuclear cloud hanging over the heads of generations to come just because this generation was so selfish.

And how shall we accomplish this "reduction"? Spread diseases? Ask people nicely to stop *******?

[EternalOptimist]

Credit where it's due Doodab,

he's thinking outside the box. Something we should all do now and then