Re: Does Fukushima bother you ?
It's a serious situation but does not bother me from a safety standpoint. Keep in mind that the instant that earthquake struck, the control rods automatically went into the core and reduced the reactor to ~7% heat output. There are multiple levels of containment, including primary containment which is essentially a concrete shell that is designed to contain a full meltdown indefinitely.
What does bother me is the news media's fear-mongering about it, which borders on nonsensical most of the time. They had a field day with the explosions that "destroyed the containment facilities" - which, if you know a bit about nuclear power stations, is absolutely untrue, and the explosion wasn't significant. The workers have to vent the reactor core periodically to keep pressure levels in check; one of the major byproducts of the reaction is hydrogen gas, which reacts explosively when exposed to the atmosphere. The containment system is designed to deal with this, and the only "containment facility" that was damaged was a "shed" building built around the reactor to keep out the elements. It has nothing to do with the containment of radioactive material.
The big bold headlines of "RADIATION AT 10,000 TIMES NORMAL LEVEL" also puts a bitter taste in my mouth. Radiation is measured in extremely small units. 10,000 times normal level is still minuscule, and nobody except those working directly at the plant has received any more radiation than they'd get on a trans-Atlantic plane flight. Even those workers haven't received radiation dosages that are permanently harmful.
Not to say the Japanese are wrong for evacuating the area and so forth, it's a standard safety procedure. It's just really disheartening to see the anti-nuclear brigade up in arms again over practically nothing.
