Media In General

[stebo0728]

I have to ask .... Is anyone else just completely fed up altogether with ALL the networks' coverages of this tragedy in Japan? I mean come on, its sensationalism at its finest. Its like everyone has forgotten that Japan is one of the worlds SUPERPOWERS so to speak. Its not Haiti or Indonesia, and its not the end of the world. But no, what do we have? Immanent world destruction at the hand of these nuclear facilities. Total hogwash! No one knows what they are talking about, every "expert" contradicts the next, and they cant even get a straight story from Japanese officials as to whats even happening. This is NO Chernobyl, the Russians were stupid and inexperienced, Japan isnt. This is hardly a Three-Mile island either in my opinion. But even if it was, no one has every been able to find any long lasting health effects from the Three-Mile island incident.

And then the Nuclear situation has completely overshadowed the humanitarian need there at the moment. And now you know every "Algoreian" is gonna jump on this and say, "SEE! NUCLEAR IS BAD!" and there we are set back 20 more years in advancement because we cant "let a good crisis go to waste" ya know.

Ugh, Im just completely frustrated, to the point I havent even cared to participate in the discourse here, which takes alot for me, and I have some unanswered posts I just dont care to get to LOL.

Anyone else's thoughts? Notice Im not picking on CNN, FOX, or anyone else, they have all become ratings whores with this thing.

[AppleBonker]

If I only had a nickel for every time I heard the word "meltdown" over the last four days...

[mattblancarte]

Yep, I totally agree Stebo.

I don't even touch the 24 hour news/entertainment networks. Then again, I don't watch TV either.

I occasionally will tune into Al Jazeera's live web feed, as it feels like you are watching real news. The international focus is interesting, and it lacks political bias from all of the reporting I've seen.

http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

The staggering ignorance/sensationalism of Americans is on full display when news about the Fukushima nuclear power plant is on display. If anything, the Japanese reactors made the case for their safety. A 40 year-old plant gets hit by a 8.9 earthquake + tsunami + huge hydrogen explosion and the core is still safe. That's a win in my opinion.

The other day on my Facebook news feed, an old high-school acquaintance of mine (26 year-old female) was complaining about gas prices. Who was she blaming? The "middle east." I wouldn't be surprised if American media has influenced her ignorance.

[IBCoupe]

I intentionally avoid stories about Japan. After the earliest stories, I tuned out on Egypt and Libya, too.

[stebo0728]

If anything, the Japanese reactors made the case for their safety. A 40 year-old plant gets hit by a 8.9 earthquake + tsunami + huge hydrogen explosion and the core is still safe. That's a win in my opinion.

Exactly! A fair analysis would show that this whole incident speaks to just how safe nuclear energy can be. I mean sure any kind of MAJOR disaster could screw up anything, an asteroid could wipe out a nuclear plant, but it could also do far worse.

And another thing, from the reports I am hearing, this quake was 7X's more powerful then the quake that these facilities were designed to withstand, and yet they are still holding up quite well. The radiation that is leaking is steam based, and contains elements that have half-lives of mostly less than a minute, they aren't endangering public safety. Now should the containment breach and the uranium disperse, then yes we will have an ugly situation, but theres no evidence to indicate that that is going to happen.

I'd also like a nickel for everytime I heard "china syndrome".

[mattblancarte]

Now should the containment breach and the uranium disperse, then yes we will have an ugly situation, but theres no evidence to indicate that that is going to happen.

The situation is still critical, and they are resorting to emergency measures to shut down the reaction in several of the cores. Due to the lack in cooling effectiveness, they are pumping in sea water and boron to stop the reaction.

I'm surprised at one thing I read though. Apparently, a technician accidentally opened up an air valve in one of the cores, causing a coolant failure due to high pressure. How is there not a safe-guard for that???

Anyways, hopefully there won't be a melt down.

[stebo0728]

I agree, hopefully no complete meltdown, BUT, even if there is, its not going to be a huge fiasco, as the containment vessel is designed to withstand over and above the maximum burning temperature of the fuel, so that the vessel wont compromise. Now its possible another explosion around the vessel, coupled with the extreme temperatures of the meltdown, could cause a rupture, but I dont know, is the vessel under pressure? If not, then it shouldnt blevy. Im still no expert in all this, this is just what I've mentally gathered through this whole process, so could be wrong at any point.

[mattblancarte]

I think you're right in regards to the vessels being able to contain the problem cores in the event of a meltdown. The technicians/officials would be openly warning the public if there was imminent danger on the level of a core leak or explosion.

Damn physics... you scary!