Saturday, March 12, 2011

stratfor Red Alert: Nuclear Meltdown at Quake-Damaged Japanese Plant

mar 12th, 2011 CE

this is one of the good reasons why nuclear energy is such a bad idea for india. in addition to natural disasters, india will face the threat of terrorists causing meltdowns as well.

fukushima's meltdown should give india a lot of thought. somehow, though, with the current bunch in charge, i doubt it. there are clearly other considerations, not national interest, at play.

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From: STRATFOR <mail@response.stratfor.com>
Date: Sat, Mar 12, 2011 at 4:07 PM
Subject: Red Alert: Nuclear Meltdown at Quake-Damaged Japanese Plant
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Red Alert: Nuclear Meltdown at Quake-Damaged Japanese Plant

March 12, 2011

A March 12 explosion at the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Japan, appears to have caused a reactor meltdown.

The key piece of technology in a nuclear reactor is the control rods. Nuclear fuel generates neutrons; controlling the flow and production rate of these neutrons is what generates heat, and from the heat, electricity. Control rods absorb neutrons — the rods slide in and out of the fuel mass to regulate neutron emission, and with it, heat and electricity generation. Read More »


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5 comments:

san said...

Nuclear power is necessary for India's economic and energy security. The best thing to do is to take appropriate precautions by not building powerplants in vulnerable zones, and to use the safest designs available.

The world simply cannot live without nuclear power, which is indispensible for the viability of the world economy.

Pagan said...

no such thing as safe, non-vulnerable zones... seismologists continue to find new faults that they didn't know before... and with huge dams like the 3-gorges, new faults continue to form, dynamically creating new ones

Harish said...

San,
u r stretching it too far when u claim the world cannot live without nuclear power.. u r kidding right?

The world can of course live without nuclear power...
The perils of nuclear power are far too much in comparisoon to the electricity it produces...especially in a banana republic like India...

We choose to not invest in R & D of alternate sources of energy and we pay the price for it...There is no concept of energy security in India.. The current concept involves begging and being subservient to Sheikhs and Arab World.. or prostrating in front of some gora for nuclear energy throwing away billions of dolllars...

A mumbai style attack on Kalpakkam and Tarapore and I would like to see, what u r views on nuclear energy then are.. given India will once again give STERRRN warnings and DOSSIERS will be exchanged over the dead bodies of millions of Indians...

nizhal yoddha said...

san, i must beg to differ. india does not *nuclear* energy. it needs energy, period.

the tradeoffs in a non-secure nation like india for nuclear power plants is too high. we will have a chernobyl every year from a) construction faults due to someone bribing the guy who okays the containment vessel for instance, b) terrorists finding clever ways of infiltrating the nuke plants. we have seen all sorts of mysterious glitches (including radiation poisoning in a water cooler) recently.

san said...

the alternative is a backward, pre-industrialized economy, afflicted by lots of naxalism