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[freeformschooler]

The nuclear reactor problem is still unresolved. The pressure in the reactor core is increasing to dangerous levels, so they are going to do a controlled venting to reduce the pressure. This means there will be a small radioactive leak.

Welp, there goes all hope of building new nuclear power plants for the next fifty years.

Why didn't the reactor/plant shut down in the first place once the quake hit, much like the others did? Was it a "security problem"? If it had shut down automatically, wouldn't we be not having this problem?

[Phmcw]

It look pretty bad :  the coolant is vaporising and they need to pop the reactor to let the pressure out.
I hope they have some way to pump most of it, but it's still a pretty major nuclear accident. One of the worst these last years.

[olemars]

The nuclear reactor problem is still unresolved. The pressure in the reactor core is increasing to dangerous levels, so they are going to do a controlled venting to reduce the pressure. This means there will be a small radioactive leak.

Welp, there goes all hope of building new nuclear power plants for the next fifty years.

Why didn't the reactor/plant shut down in the first place once the quake hit, much like the others did? Was it a "security problem"? If it had shut down automatically, wouldn't we be not having this problem?

It shut down properly but even then they need coolant circulation, and since emergency power failed the coolant pumps stopped for a while.

[Pandarsenic]

Goodbye, hopes of commonplace nuclear power in my lifetime.

[Rilder]

1 might be dead in California because of the Tsunami

[ToonyMan]

Hurt Heard about this in school from my friend.  I checked to make sure Oda was still alive and he is so that's good.

Otherwise people dying is bad!

[PenguinOverlord]

The videos of the 30 foot Tsunami is just terrifying.

[Chaoswizkid]

Thank you Bay12. I've spent hours watching the news and reading slow-to-load articles that give me spoonfuls of information. I've got more information over the disaster with half of you throwing out personal comments than I have watching television and learning things about earthquakes and tsunamis that I already damn well knew.

To contribute:

Reported death toll is 151, injured persons is 722, and known missing is 530. 1,800 homes in Fukushima Prefecture are gone. I got these numbers from the ticker of CNN, the only place where I actually got any information from the channel.

I'm pretty sure this isn't doom for continued nuclear plant construction. This is a catastrophic natural disaster and only one of the 50 or so (CNN info) nuclear power plants in the affected area is experiencing trouble, and even then it's due to power issues rather than the integrity of the plant itself. It's also near Sendai, which, from what I'm hearing, is among the hardest hit. IMHO, Japan's nuclear power plants are performing damn well.

HLN channel, last time I checked, was broadcasting about some steam room, deadlines for NFL, and teens texting hile driving. That last one was only a hot topic like four years ago! Agh!

My heart goes out to the affected. I'm damn well volunteering at my university to do some sort of aid program. I'm sure we'll have one, as we've got a large Asian organization on campus that has a ton of support from the student and administrative body.

Edit: 4 Trains are now reported missing.

[Phmcw]

You should NEVER put a nuclear power-plant in a seismic area. What will they do if they get a 9 or higher earthquake?
If the core is exposed you could kiss the whole region, if not the country, goodbye for a good 500 years.

[olemars]

Actually this was a 9.0 earthquake. They've upgraded it after analysing the seismograph data more thoroughly.

[Nadaka]

You should NEVER put a nuclear power-plant in a seismic area. What will they do if they get a 9 or higher earthquake?
If the core is exposed you could kiss the whole region, if not the country, goodbye for a good 500 years.

You are seriously overestimating the danger of a nuclear power plant.

[Tellemurius]

You should NEVER put a nuclear power-plant in a seismic area. What will they do if they get a 9 or higher earthquake?
If the core is exposed you could kiss the whole region, if not the country, goodbye for a good 500 years.

Dude im sure they made that core would be contained even with a cruise missile strike.

[Phmcw]

Well a more nastily placed one then : there is reason why nuclear power-plant are build to avoid any accident letting the core melt at all cost.
In a good emplacement, an accident is as near of impossible as you can get.
But if the earth can simply not be behind your plant, then there is nothing you can do and in Japan a 10 on the Richter's scale is a possibility.

[Pandarsenic]

The problem isn't really even the plant itself, so far as I can tell; it's just that the power outage knocked out the cooling system, da?

[Chaoswizkid]

You should NEVER put a nuclear power-plant in a seismic area. What will they do if they get a 9 or higher earthquake?
If the core is exposed you could kiss the whole region, if not the country, goodbye for a good 500 years.

That rules out nuclear power for all of Japan, Eastern Russia, Alaska, the US West Coast, the East Coast, the mainland of the US (Remember Reel Foot Lake? Oak Ridge is right nearby by the way), etc.
What you're saying makes sense, but it goes against logical analysis. It's like saying "No one should live in tornado alley." That's true, it gets destroyed time and again in the US. However, people will need somewhere to live, infrastructure for them must be built, and services supplied. People will live where they can, especially with population as it is.