Disaster in Japan
Earthquake, Tsunami, and now the threat of nuclear meltdown from multiple reactors. This appears to be a scene from a Hollywood disaster movie only worse. I feel for the Japanese people.
I do think the construction of those nuclear reactors near the major fault lines were a big gamble/mistake. It looks like no amount of technological advancement can fully protect you 100% from the worse case scenario.
I do think the construction of those nuclear reactors near the major fault lines were a big gamble/mistake. It looks like no amount of technological advancement can fully protect you 100% from the worse case scenario.
Comments
I have also been reading up regarding nuclear power generation and it basically involves a high level of sophistication to keep to keep the process running which is a controlled nuclear reaction to generate heat that ultimately converts water to steam to power those turbine electric generators. The fuel (uranium, plutonium) is highly unstable and once you set it in motion it can't just be turned off with a flick of a switch just like what that wiki article alluded to.
In IT you experience Murphy's law all the time which is anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. What I am witnessing lately though is a resurgence of Pro Nuclear proponents/shills. I suspect some of these who are generating the "buzz" for a nuclear energy future might be insiders who stand to benefit from doing so. I think this incidence should ignite a healthy skepticism on some of the claims being made and at least ignite a debate on the pros and cons of nuclear power. The worse that could happen is the proponents will make less money in building these plants but the plants which will be constructed are much more robust than was planned in the outset.
Also, what about conservation? Why not encourage people to ride the bike more, drive less, be more efficient, etc.? I realize we live in a consumption based economy but you can only go on consuming for so long before you flatten all the mountains/bleed the earth dry of resources... even Uranium and neodymium (the magnet used in hybrid batteries) are limited resources.
I recall this same thing from late 1989, JUST before the Loma Prieta quake.
I'm thinking that the variance in the gravitational pull has some effect on shelf loading, as well as the additional weight of all that water (3" of additional depth, times tens of thousands of square miles) has a demonstrable effect.