FYI

Be calm people, be calm.

Tokyo (CNN) -- The Japanese government halted the sale of all food from farms near a tsunami-affected nuclear plant Saturday after abnormally high levels of radiation were found in milk and spinach.

The news of food contamination came as emergency workers scrambled to curb a nuclear crisis sparked by last week's monster earthquake and tsunami.
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A person who consumed the tainted food continuously for a year would take in the same amount of radiation as a single CT scan, Edano said. That's about 7 millisieverts or double what an average person in an industrialized country is exposed to in a year, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Radiation found in food as workers scramble to curb nuclear crisis

Eye opener

I have really had my eyes opened to threats posed by nuclear power plants that I was totally unaware of.
Perhaps you have too.
This is disconcerting, because nuclear power was the one CO2 free source of electricity that could replace coal in time to prevent calamitous increases in global temperature (more than 2C).

Of course, these circumstances were exceptional. Both the magnitude of the earthquake and the size of the tsunami exceeded the most pessimistic predictions.  But perhaps it will be shown, as the facts are gathered and the story pieced together, that the Japanese had become complacent about the safety of nuclear power. Just as we did with regard to the space shuttle, resulting in the loss of two crews.  Nuclear power, like space travel, is inherently dangerous. We must not forget that.

Continuing emergency in Japan

The nuclear disaster unfolding in Japan has all the experts scratching their heads.

I speculate that the plant did not weather the earthquake as well as originally thought. And that the many after shocks have further damaged it, that parts are no longer water tight,  so that no amount of pumping power can keep the fuel, spent or otherwise, covered in water.

I wonder about the integrity of the  instrumentation. I don't understand how explosions could be a surprise to the crew there.

I totally agree that all plants around the globe should be inspected. We need to learn as much as we can about what happened here to avoid it in the future.

Volcano in southern Japan erupts

Volcano in southern Japan erupts

Sunday's eruption, which was the biggest volcanic activity in Shinmoedake in 52 years, caused widespread destruction and panic. The blast could be heard for miles, and shattered windows four miles away, the BBC reported. Hundreds of people fled the area as the volcano spewed debris, including hot ash and rocks, more than 6,000 feet in the air, according to BBC reports.

Power Plant Air Pollution Kills 13,000 People Per Year, Coal-Fired Are Most Hazardous: ALA Report

How's this for bad reporting?

In a nation besieged with grief over mounting casualties, fears of possible radiation and the threat of more earthquakes, the nightmare grew for Japanese residents Monday as thousands of bodies reportedly were found and crews struggled to keep damaged nuclear plants under control.

Wouldn't the average reader believe that the bodies were associated with the unfolding nuclear power plant disaster?

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What abut the effect of major earthquakes on the vast industrial complexes of oil refineries, chemical plants and nuclear facilities that dot the West Coast of the U.S.? Should applications for continued use of existing plants, such as the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in northern San Diego County be approved?

Japan's crisis may have already derailed 'nuclear renaissance'

Embarrassed

The uproar over the nuclear emergency in Japan after a mag 9 + huge tsunami is embarrassing to me.
It is bad, but nothing like Chernobyl. It will not be like Chernobyl, ever, because the containment of the Japanese reactors is holding. Small releases, similar to Three Mile Island, have been intentional.
In spite of the fact that this overwhelming catastrophe is orders of magnitude worse than the nuclear power plants were designed to withstand, they are holding.   There may be a few die of radiation poisoning, but those will be the workers, not the nearby (or far afield) residents. I grieve for them, as I do the 10s of thousands who were swept away by the tsunami.

Chernobyl killed 4000 over all, including those that died due to long term effects of exposure.
How many, total,  have died due to nuclear power plants? It's a minuscule amount compared to those who have died because of coal... not to mention the millions who will die due to CO2 emission.
Get real people!

I figured out the main reason that I am so embarrassed by the climate hawk reaction to these nuclear power plant emergencies. It's because they are ignoring the science, and instead, reacting to their own anti-nuk bias. Much like the deniers scoff at the science of climate change because it does not support their agenda.. For shame.