The next dozen or so times you talk with the Creator, put in a good word for the Japanese who really need all the help, divine or otherwise, they can get. In the wake of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami, in the last half hour things just got a lot worse. The news is, in short: not good. According to reliable sources in Japan, “an explosion” at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant injured several workers and began emitting either smoke or steam about ten minutes after a loud explosion was heard.
Purportedly the ceiling of the reactor’s radiation containment building collapsed. Cause of the explosion is under investigation but any such damage at any nuclear plant is cause for serious concern. Rajjpuut, who worked as an electronic technician and reactor operator on the U.S.S. Truxtun (a nuclear-powered frigate), has not been optimistic since he first heard roughly 24 hours ago that several Japanese reactors had scrammed and that two were having cooling system problems. In the worst-case scenario, a meltdown is underway already. Lesser scenarios are much less potent and deadly, but hardly anything to cheer about except to say, “Hurrah, NO meltdown is going on yet!” Apparently the problems all ensued when several normally reliable back-up systems failed at the same time as the reactor "fail-safe" scram on the heels of the massive 8.9 Richter-scale earthquake which struck northeast Japan.
Worst news of all at that time was that the backup cooling system was inoperable. Nuclear energy comes from heated water in a contained primary system heated by nuclear fuel generating steam in a secondary system that turns turbines serving as generators of electricity. The primary system of a nuclear plant MUST be contained/housed inside thick radiation-proof walls and never be allowed to overheat or to come in contact with ordinary atmosphere. Nuclear fuel rods generate incredible heat which must be removed constantly by a reliable cooling system. Because of the high density population on Japan, the short- and long-term health risks are almost unimaginably stark for people in the vicinity. Complicating the issue is that the Fukushima nuclear site is a multiple reactor location with at least two operating reactors. No word yet on the cooling systems for other Fukushima reactors. Pray for the Japanese people.
Worst news of all at that time was that the backup cooling system was inoperable. Nuclear energy comes from heated water in a contained primary system heated by nuclear fuel generating steam in a secondary system that turns turbines serving as generators of electricity. The primary system of a nuclear plant MUST be contained/housed inside thick radiation-proof walls and never be allowed to overheat or to come in contact with ordinary atmosphere. Nuclear fuel rods generate incredible heat which must be removed constantly by a reliable cooling system. Because of the high density population on Japan, the short- and long-term health risks are almost unimaginably stark for people in the vicinity. Complicating the issue is that the Fukushima nuclear site is a multiple reactor location with at least two operating reactors. No word yet on the cooling systems for other Fukushima reactors. Pray for the Japanese people.
Say a sincere and righteous prayer,
Rajjpuut
