A 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Japan's northwest coast on Monday, killing at least seven people, injuring hundreds and damaging a nuclear reactor that leaked water containing radioactive material into the sea.
The Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, the world's largest in terms of power output capacity, leaked about 1.5 liters of water in the building housing one of its seven reactors, said Katsuya Uchino, an official with plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.
Uchino said the water contained a tiny amount of radioactive material - a billionth of the guideline under Japanese law - and is believed to have flushed into the sea.
Boy the wacky environmentalist zealots around the world will have a field day on this one. But there's one fact they'll ignore. I've heard this story reported dozens of time over the weekend on TV and the internet and only today have I read where the leakage was limited to 1.5 liters(approximately the same amount of product John Edwards uses daily on his hair). Everybody in the media is wailing about the environmental disaster...you'd think it was Chernobyl all over again.
As it turns out, the Japanese can build a nuclear reactor right on top of the ring-of-fire.
5 comments:
I wondered why Hillary was glowing as Edwards whispered in her ear the other day. Now I know.
Ed: It was reported this morning in the local fish wrapper, that the spill was 315 gallons. Still a mere pittance of radioactive potential material contained, but I thought you might want to recheck and verify.
You may be right. Since the earthquake and fire, there were also drums of waste which got tipped over and lost their lids or something like that.
I was just going by what the AP account said.
My question is, surely the Japanese don't store radioactive waste in 500gal drums like it's used motor oil or something?
You jumped the gun a bit there ed in your haste to ridicule the critics of a potential environmental disaster. You self-righteous conservatives think you have all the answers, but explain away the leakage of radioactive waste into the sea as just another hysterical liberal zealot over-reacting.
FYI Radioactive waste is stored in 50 gallon specially lined and constructed drums. This makes it easier to transport within a facility and to a waste dump. That a 6 point something earthquake only knocked over a few barrels is absolutely amazing. Most buildings within a nuclear site are too small to require the inclusion of expansion control devices ( to help control movement and damage in such events). Therefore it is a testament to the japanese contractor who built the facility. I am not exactly sure, 'cause it aint my area, but I believe that there are many levels of nuclear waste. The spillage could have been from all parts of the spectrum in that regard.
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