Fukushima Technical Discussion

[Mr Alcatraz]

Hahaha
Yes, I have my doubts about Ferrari, I am sure they are building a car to run on plutonium to met the newer CO2 regulations.
So if Yellowstone has a super event, how near is near for nuclear plants?

The closest is the Columbia Generating Station near Richland, Washington, about 650 miles. The next closest is 950 miles. Your original question; "are there any close to Yellowstone"?. The answer is still no they are not close to this seismically active area. It's indicated by the dark red spot on the map Richard posted, mostly in Wyoming. (you have to look closely to see the states)

Volcanologists with the U.S. Geological Survey believe that supervolcanoes are likely to give decades — even centuries — of warning signs before they erupt. The scientists think those signs would include lots of earthquakes, massive bulging of the land, an increase in small eruptions, "swarms" of earthquakes in specific areas, changes in the chemical composition of lavas from smaller eruptions, changes in gasses escaping the ground and, possibly, large-scale cracking of the land.

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/su ... under.html

That should be ample time to plan for Armageddon!
As for it's eventual lethality, it would probably be world devastating.

[Richard]

Good point, volcanoes do give warning signals. Unlike earthquakes that build up pressure that suddenly snaps.

[autogyro]

Good point, volcanoes do give warning signals. Unlike earthquakes that build up pressure that suddenly snaps.

Not all together true Richard.
Seismic activity is used to predict volcanism but earthquakes can also be predicted to a degree.

[xxChrisxx]

So if Yellowstone has a super event, how near is near for nuclear plants?

If a supervolcano goes off having nuclear meltdowns are the least of your problems.

Supervolcanos are considered potential extinsion events, with planetwide consequences. The predicted energy release and mass ejected would pluge the world into volcanic winter.

[autogyro]

If a supervolcano goes off having nuclear meltdowns are the least of your problems.

Supervolcanos are considered potential extinsion events, with planetwide consequences. The predicted energy release and mass ejected would pluge the world into volcanic winter.[/quote]

Ah you mean like Bernie Ecclestones views on electric racing?
Or Montezemelo on v6 v8 and v12 engines.

Sorry Chris, bad night.

There is another way to quantify the Fukushima disaster and that is to estimate how much of an area of land has been lost to nature and human economics and social use. Divide this into the total landmass of Japan and work out the cost in all human and environmental meanings of the word cost.
WB comes close on monetary cost but there is far more 'cost' in other areas.
Bottom line is how many Fukashimas to wipe out Japan completely.

[autogyro]

There seems to be a lot of dust settling onto my vehicles here in the UK.
Last year at this time it was from Sahara sand or so they said.
I hope this year it is not from Japan.

[xxChrisxx]

If a supervolcano goes off having nuclear meltdowns are the least of your problems.

Supervolcanos are considered potential extinsion events, with planetwide consequences. The predicted energy release and mass ejected would pluge the world into volcanic winter.

Ah you mean like Bernie Ecclestones views on electric racing?
Or Montezemelo on v6 v8 and v12 engines.

A bit of a non sequitur there.
No I don't.

[andrew]

Interesting programme on More 4 this week on Tuesday (26th) at 10pm. True Stories: Nuclear Eternity - looks at the construction of a bunker in Finland to store nuclear waste. Followed by a documentary on Chernobyl.

For anyone interested who lives outside the UK this may be available on the Channel 4 website, but I am not sure.

[Richard]

There seems to be a lot of dust settling onto my vehicles here in the UK.
Last year at this time it was from Sahara sand or so they said.
I hope this year it is not from Japan.

That dust has circled 3/4 of the globe without any dilution or dispersal and homed in on your car. I do feel sorry for you, but it does mean my car is clean.

[autogyro]

Interesting Richard, so why was the sahara sand that settled on my car last year not diluted or dispersed.
Figure that one out.

[andrew]

Have to say that there has been no dust up in my corner of the country, well no more than normal.

I don't recall seeing anything in the news about dust in the UK since the Icelandic volcano last year. I may have missed it, any links?

[autogyro]

I have seen very little news in this country about anything connected to the Japanese nuclear disaster. I do not doubt that this is mainly to prevent any panic in the population.
I would imagine that we will not be told of any health risk until well into the future, much as we were not told about the Chernobyl disaster.

The only link I have andrew is the dust that was on my car and the bucket and sponge I used to clean it.
A friend does have a geiger counter however and I will be borrowing it before the car is cleaned again.
I will let you know.

[forty-two]

I have seen very little news in this country about anything connected to the Japanese nuclear disaster. I do not doubt that this is mainly to prevent any panic in the population.
I would imagine that we will not be told of any health risk until well into the future, much as we were not told about the Chernobyl disaster.

The only link I have andrew is the dust that was on my car and the bucket and sponge I used to clean it.
A friend does have a geiger counter however and I will be borrowing it before the car is cleaned again.
I will let you know.

Hey Autogyro, I've been "offline" for a couple of weeks but I concur. My car has been getting a dusting, almost daily of what I can only describe as a very fine reddish/camel tinted dust (a little like brick dust) which does not rinse off particularly easily, almost like it's glued on with static, since about a fortnight after the first Fukushima explosion.

It seems like more accumulates when it rains too, suggesting that it's being helped out of the sky by precipitation.

I joked with the missus that it was fallout from Japan, but it is coming from somewhere. As far as I can work out, here in the UK we've been getting the tail-end of the jet stream this year, where in the last few years it's moved north to Iceland, and as a result, we've had a warm dry spring, but Iceland have had (and are still having) a rotten spring.

Doesn't the Jet stream begin somewhere around Japan, cross the pacific, then the USA and then the Atlantic?

Doesn't the Jet stream travel at around 200MPH?

And finally, isn't the Jet stream a relatively narrow band of wind, which when stable would deliver whatever it was carrying to a quite specific target?

[andrew]

Where abouts in the UK are you? I have not seen any dust here in Aberdeen on anyones car (except those parked near a building site that I go past regularly).

I have not seen any news coverage about dust in the UK or anything to do with Fukushima in general. The UK news has been to busy with some expensive party for some blue blood of late!

[forty-two]

Hey Andrew,

I live in London, but I chose to "get out of Dodge" for the inbred-shindig to which I believe you were referring, not my cup of tea really!

I travel around quite a bit, normally something around 700 miles per week, but I have witnessed this dust within hours of washing my car, and parked in various locations from Surrey to Dorset. It does not seem to be localised in any way, unless I have got some magic dust fairies living under my bonnet!

PS Great news on the SNP result today?