Amusing and Informative, Your Lil' Sister Loves to Get the 'Scoop' on the Mainstream Media and To Present a Variety of Obscure, Under-Reported and Decidedly-More Newsworthy Items From Around The Globe; You'll Also Be Privy To Pieces of My Own Personal Paranormal Phenomena; and Frequently Hear of Things Your Parents, Clergy, Society and Uncle Sam didn't bother to tell you. But, I will...
In Other Words:
The Way This Grrrl Sees It!
Fort Calhoun had been using 8ft., inflatable "aqua-dams" in an attempt to prevent the rising floodwater from the Missouri River from repeating a series of events similar to those which recently led to Japan's significant and ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima (the tsunami knocked out the power; stopping the flow of massive amounts of water necessary to keep everything cool; leading to cores/rods overheating; leading to nuclear melt-downs/throughs.).
At Fort Calhoun on Sunday, crews working near the aqua-dams "brushed against one" and punctured it, which caused the one dam to collapse. The collapse of the dam allowed floodwater to reach Fort Calhoun's turbines & transformers (keeps water flowing/cools everything).
Official Statement: "Everything's fine. The aqua-dams weren't key to safety, they were an extra."
Oh, really?
If that's True...
Then how is that - with the collapse of that one aqua-dam - 2ft of the Missouri River managed to get through the cement barrier placed around the transformers? The very cement barrier that's not "extra" and is in place specifically to keep floodwater away from the plant's transformers? This breach then forced Fort Calhoun to disconnect from the power grid... which meant they had to switch to diesel-powered generators (Is this sounding familiar, yet?)?
Fukushima lost power. Then lost their generators. During the disaster, plant officials behaved very much like British Petroleum officials after the oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to one of the worst (if not the worst) oil spills on record: The officials played down how serious the events were and what had resulted; they intentionally provided false figures/information about what was happening to those who were trying to help; they lied, repeatedly; they denied, repeatedly; they turned down/away help.
The end result in Fukushima: 3 Nuclear Melt-downs (and, possibly, Melt-throughs).
The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant is now Two Feet below the current level of the Missouri River.
And, the consistent statement made by Fort Calhoun officials: "Don't worry everything's fine."
Yeah, right. (Initially, Fukushima officials had said pretty much the same thing.)
Have YOU heard about the 2 nuclear plants in Nebraska threatened by floodwater?
If not, you're not alone.
Even before it was acknowledged that the second nuclear plant was being threatened, the threat to the first plant seems to have been rather - I dunno - methinks hush-hush is quite apropos.
As you probably recall, the Fukushima nuclear disaster involving three nuclear reactors and at least 2 - if not - 3 nuclear melt-downs (no, I'm not kidding.) resulted not from the earthquake, but from the floodwater and its effects.
But... fear not, good people! At least that's what the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is saying (though not in those exact words).
"Officials say a key difference between the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan..." and the threats to Nebraska plants is that the NE plants "... have had weeks to prepare flood defenses." *
* They've "... had weeks to prepare", huh?
Well, that's all well and good... but, honestly, just because someone has had weeks to do anything - that doesn't mean they actually did it/did enough, now does it?
Fukushima Japan: No More Headlines & Half-Life Headaches
Nearly 3 months after a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck, the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant are still spewing radiation. The plant's operator, Tepco, has now confirmed that three of their reactors likely suffered meltdowns.
(Sigh.)
But, wait...
There is... well, maybe not "Hope", but... there's definitely "Inspiration", and then some...
Enter: A tough, tried and tested team of Unassuming & Unexpected Heroes: The Skilled Veterans Corps.
Who are they?
They are a group of 200+ Japanese pensioners - mostly retired engineers and other professionals, all of them over the age of 60 - who have volunteered to tackle the nuclear crisis - and replace the younger workers presently at the site and those whom the crisis would, eventually, require to have available to work there.
Michio, a former primary school teacher who is spending his retirement helping out at a cafe that offers work experience to people with learning difficulties, had this to say...
"I don't think I'm particularly special," he says. "Most Japanese have this feeling in their heart. The question is whether you step forward, or you stay behind and watch."
Check out the inspirational story via the link below:
As if you didn't need anymore reasons to dislike Mondays...
As if the devastating 8.9 quake and subsequent tsunami in Japan, followed shortly thereafter by the news (with video) of an explosion at the building housing a nuclear reactor at one of Japan's 50 nuclear plants wasn't enough...
Here's an update:
There are three reactors at Fukushima's Dai-ichi nuclear power plant which are now facing possible meltdown.
This Is Not A Drill, People.
Gee. No... G.E., actually.
(As in "General Electric") :P
What does GE have to do with any of this? You might ask...
Well, in some I-wish-I-could-say "surprising news", it turns out there have long been known vulnerabilities with GE's Mark 1 containment structures - such as are found in the three Japanese reactors which are now creeping - like tectonic plates - toward Epic (not to mention avoidable) Man-Made Disaster Status.
Pray... Think "Good Thoughts"... Whatever feels "right" to you.
Looking On "The Bright Side"...
Here's hope and optimism that, at the very least, the horrible man-made disasters we are now experiencing - ones which followed what were - without exception - inevitable (if not predictable) natural disasters will usher in The End Times for the nuclear power industry.
