Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

Aquiace

Members
  • Posts

    187
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Aquiace

  1. I think that's the explosion my friend said he saw. Is there video?

    By the way, how is your family? Are they still in Gunma?

    You probably won't believe me if I tell you. I had a dream this morning about an earthquake. People trapped under rocks and others stranded. It was very disturbing so I couldn't get back to sleep. I got out of bed around 7:15-7:30 and decided to go online. At 7:32 the earthquake hit.

    They are fine, but scared as you can imagine. Ironically, the kids are less worried than their mom. They've already gone back to sleep. Tomorrow is the first day of school after March break. It's weird how kids in Japan love school so much more that we do.

  2. Apparently CDC decided to crash before posting my comment so I'll paraphrase:

    Word from Japan is that the fuel shortage has caused many food and supply delivery companies to virtually come to a crawl. This poses immense problems and I fear a more imminent danger of starvation and panic.

    Not even the local trains and buses are running.

    The government says the food stockpile is more than enough, but it's not getting to them. The city hall laughed at us for asking. Even they don't know. This is a major problem for stores that have to re-stock on a nightly basis under normal circumstances.

    Even if you have money, there is nothing to buy. We'd better start seeing action soon or I fear people may be stretched to their breaking point.

  3. Ah yes, can't build new ones but can't moth ball the grandfathered ones. Perhaps a review o' the whole policy is in order eh?

    Why wouldn't you build the plant downsteam from a natural water body and in the worse case scenario you just divert the flow so you don't even need power?

    There could be all kinds of meltdowns but nuclear power isn't going anywhere. Might as well make it as safe and effecient as possible.

    A number of plants do use that and it seems to be a far more ideal location. Given how prone that particular area is to earthquakes, you'd think someone would have raised their hand in that board meeting and said "We kinda get a lot of big earthquakes directly off shore from here. You think maybe we should pick a different spot?"

    I imagine that person was then hit with a shinai.

    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it."

    - Men In Black.

    Well said.

  4. Geothermal isn't available everywhere.

    Actually it is. Until recently, you basically needed access to a geothermal "hot spot" such as a hot spring where water from seismically active regions naturally create heat near the surface. You basically need to drill down to access it.

    There have been advancements in technology that allows us to harvest energy at much lower temperatures such as binary cycle plants.

    When talking about sheer potential, it's even greater than solar, wind and tidal. But it still requires R&D and it seems people are more interested to invest in other forms because they don't require us to stop using fossil fuels to create. It's a shame, but that's just the way this world seems to work.

  5. Very interesting read.

    I'd like to find some information about how many of the current nuclear reactors in use haven't been upgraded or updated for 20 or more years. The anecdotes I've heard indicate that substantial amount--particularly in the US--are basically from the same era. The primary reason is that since Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and the movie China Syndrome (thanks Michael Douglas) basically made the public resist investing in further nuclear reactor development.

    For France, it's their primary mode of power generation. Japan, on the other hand, is also one of the countries to embrace nuclear technology. So you'd think they would phase out older designs over time. We're talking about designs that are 40+ years old. Given how much more we know today, common sense would be that older reactors would be de-commissioned in favor of safer, more reliable ones.

    When talking about alternatives, I'm surprised geothermal power isn't getting more support. In terms of safe, renewable and accessible power, you don't get much more than that. I understand it's a fairly significant investment because there hasn't been that much research on utilizing it to its potential but the consensus is that it is enormous potential.

    People put tons of R&D into hydrogen power, which by all accounts is a waste, why don't they put R&D into an energy source that doesn't require us to use energy to get more energy? Or worse, use potentially deadly fuel to get energy?

  6. I agree with you that people hear are worrying over every little thing however, with what's happened in Japan, and the numerous newspapers telling people the exact same thing will happen to us, it's kind of hard not to be freaking out.

    Concern and precaution are normal. But people aren't getting the full facts, or if they are, they are too easily accepting information that is misleading.

    People lack a truly comprehensive knowledge of the things they fear. For example, they say "radioactive cloud", what are you going to think? Then you're told it was 809 micro sieverts. Do people even understand what that means? Most people don't. I'll bet you 9/10 people who bought Iodine supplements because they heard that the Japanese people closest to the plants were taking them.

    I'm imagining people taking them like Tylenol without even knowing what side-effects it will cause their bodies.

    Take another kinda off-topic example: In 2001, 2 people were attacked and killed by sharks. Everyone freaked out and starting culling sharks to deal with this "shark problem". People heard the talking heads about a shark invasion and freaked out. But when the scientific community said "um, what are you guys doing?" and pointed out that shark attacks were down since previous years.

    People are simply too quick to panic and that makes people do stupid things. The media is driven by ratings and nothing drives ratings more than fear... even if it's unnecessary fear.

    It's not that this situation isn't worrisome, but action without wrong/incomplete information can be more harmful than inaction. I'm glad that there are many people coming out and explaining the situation in as much depth as people can understand without being trained in that field. It's definitely helping, but I'm still surprised that it's either being ignored or worse, calling it a "cover up" or "downplaying".

    • Upvote 1
  7. Because cooperation is built into the Japanese culture. Our culture (and particularly in the US) is more competitive.

    Also, despite the 20-odd years of recession the Japanese don't have the kind of inequality that we have. You can literally draw lines around sections of towns that are lower-class, middle-class and upper-class here. We're a very stratified society in that way.

  8. Ive tried London Drugs, Shoppers drug mart neither have any potassium iodide left in stock, anyone know where to get some in Richmond?

    Guys, seriously don't start taking iodine supplements. You'll do more harm to yourself than good.

    I'm really sick of all the fear-mongering. You'll get more radiation from normal cell phone use. Every time I turn on the news, they always ask "what's the worst case scenario?". That's like the only question they ask. We already know what the worst case scenario is because you repeated it 500 times already.

    It baffles me really. People who are 500km away from this aren't panicking, yet people who are 8000km away who will most likely be affected in a way that it's statistically zero freak out.

    It also concerns me that if ever disaster struck, even on a small scale we'd turn into Mad Max. We're so sheltered here that people just don't understand what hardship is, so we think anything that happens at all is the end of the world. People say the worst thing you can do in an accident is to panic. There are plenty of people who could remain calm, but given the history of the last few years it seems to me there are enough who would panic to cause us serious problems.

    Sorry for the rant. I honestly think people have life so good here that we look for reasons to be afraid. Fear-mongering doesn't even exist in places with real hardship. You don't have to hear someone tell you, you live it. And it's not harmless because it leads to real world problems. It really becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

    I also honestly believe people have an addiction to fear. And it has nothing to do with caution because how many people do you know who actually have a 72-hour survival kit? It's like life here is so mundane that people actually hope something will happen out of some desire to feel alive.

  9. since radiation cannot penetrate walls or windows. :blink:

    the government also suggested to cover your mouth and nose with a wet cloth if you want to go outside.

    30 km radius evacuated now....

    The amount of radiation detected in Tokyo averaged around .809 micro sieverts, which is higher than normal but still not harmful. It appears since the fire was put out that the current levels are dropping. Within a few hours, it dropped to 0.075 micro sieverts.

    To put some context on that, a chest x-ray is 20 milli sieverts which is 20,000 micro sieverts. Of course repeated, prolonged exposure is never a good idea and precautions should be taken but as of right now the people who really should to worry are those within the evacuation area.

    Source:

    http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article967925.ece/Radiation-level-falls-in-Tokyo

  10. Aquiace, since what you are describing is personal and poignant, may I use this opportunity to encourage everyone to store some water in their homes in case of emergency? Even if you don't have much food, you need water. Do it NOW.

    Personally, many years ago when I was putting my kit together I bought 5 gallon jerry cans to store water in and I have 4 of them I refill every 6 months. Please people, for $20.00 and a little bit of effort you could save someone's life, maybe even your own.

    Sorry, if that was piggybacking on your personal anguish over the situation, but I figure that if we can use this time to get some preventative medicine prescribed that it will have had a positive affect on this city.

    No, by all means! If I could give you more pluses I would.

    Use this as a learning experience guys. Most people either 1) think it's unnecessary or 2) put it off and forget about it.

    The people of Japan, the single most earth-quake prepared nation on earth, aren't even able to cope with this disaster. Don't think for a split second that we are even close to prepared as they are.

    You just don't realize how precious those extra 2 or 3 bottles of water becomes until there is none available for days on end. Or how nourishing those cans of food are when the closest place you can get food is hours away. Or how life-saving that first-aid kit is when no ambulance is around to help when they are saving people who have been crushed by buildings.

    So please, don't take it for granted. Go! Do it and don't put it off. It's such a minor inconvenience for something that could possibly save your life one day.

    Here is some more information on it:

    http://www.pep.bc.ca/hazard_preparedness/prepare_now/prepare.html

    Thank you for bringing it up. They are simple to follow and everyone should at the very least have food/water/first aid and a means to contact people outside of the disaster area.

  11. Aquiace, how's the family doing?

    Trying to keep in good spirits, but there is literally no food anywhere. No bottled water and there isn't any relief station nearby. I imagine this is the situation a lot of families are facing right now.

    I think a lot of people are concerned with the drinking water because it's starting to rain now.

    There aren't a lot of electric stoves there, so most people cook with gas and everyone is afraid to use it for fear of a rupture in the system. There's already been a few fires because of it. Even the schools aren't providing lunches because they wont' cook with gas.

    I actually looked into sending a relief package of my own, but UPS and FedEx have suspended all services in central Japan. It's like, what on earth do you do to help? The relief effort is focused on people who lost their homes right now, so you can't exactly complain. But they need to start helping people get basic necessities for people who just can't get food and clean water.

  12. Schools are still in session and people are still going to work. Even though people know how bad it is, they do not waiver.

    Even amidst all this, people are duty-bound to do their jobs and fulfill their responsibilities. Some people have left, but many, many people are staying. We'd call them crazy or foolish, but they know it has to be done. The sense of duty and responsibility really runs deep.

    That barely even exists in our culture. I don't even have the words for it.

  13. I don't even want to share this. I don't. I just can't handle it.

    0309: Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says: "Now we are talking about levels that can impact human health. I would like all of you to embrace this information calmly. These are readings taken near the area where we believe that the release of radioactive substances is occurring. The further away you get from the power plant or reactor the value should go down".

    0306: Winds over the stricken nuclear plant are blowing slowly towards the Kanto region, which includes Tokyo, Reuters reports.

    0303: Radiation is 400 times the annual legal limit near Fukushima's reactor 3, the Kyodo news agency reports.

  14. 2106: More from Prime Minister Kan: He says he will personally lead operations at the joint response headquarters, which will be based at Tepco's main office in Tokyo. The company earlier said fuel rods at Fukushima Daiichi's reactor 2 were once again fully exposed, just hours after it managed to stabilise a similar emergency.

    I hate news like this... it worries me to my core.

    • Upvote 1
  15. Japanese media and Tweets from those at the scene aren't more reliable?

    Believe it or not, but most of the sources outside of Japan give the information quicker. But they're also more likely to post information with unreliable sources. That's why there's been so much doom-and-gloom speculation.

    You get information quickly, but it's more likely to be "a guy I saw who said this..." or "someone from around the globe offering his opinion on the same information we just gave him that may or may not be accurate".

    So it's a mixed bag. Twitter is essentially the game of telephone.

    The local media in Japan will be accurate, but it will be slower because they need to verify the information first.

  16. I took a couple of screen grabs of some of the damage to the building. I decided not to post them unless people asked because the resolution is kinda crappy and it's not as dramatic as some of the pictures that we've been seeing.

    To most, it probably wouldn't seem so bad but the sheer number of cracks in the walls is staggering. There isn't a single section of the apartment building that isn't cracked and fragile.

    To me, it's terrifying because the aftershocks are still very frequent and strong and one of the buildings close by just collapsed. That's 3 days after the earthquake.

    Edit: They're not that noteworthy in comparison, so I just posted them under my profile.

  17. Dear God, please let this end...

    0636: AFP news agency has just run the same story from Jiji - this is definitely Reactor 2 we are talking about.

    0631: This is the first time today that we are hearing of problems in Reactor 2. This morning, there was a huge explosion at Reactor 3, and there was a blast at Reactor 1 on Saturday. But both of those reactors are said to be intact.

    0629: Urgent news: Cooling functions have stopped and water levels are falling in Reactor 2 at the Fukushima 1 nuclear plant - Jiji news agency, quoted by Reuters.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

×
×
  • Create New...