Did you see
 

Did you see the whistle blowers report from the nuclear design specialist guys who quit during the construction of these plants in the 70's? He was hired as kind of a QA inspector to advise Japan on the construction. He tried to tell them about flaws in the designs when it was being built, and no one would listen to him, because it would have cost GE too much for them to fix the problems. One of them was where these storage ponds weregoing to be built. I did not realize it until today that these spent nuclear rods were being stored in a swiming pool size pond on the 5th floor above the reactor. It was designed this way for ease of moving the rods in and out of the reactor. Makes sense right? Except that if there was a problem with the ponds cooling system that it would escalate into a smaller meltdown that would inevitably involve the reactor itself. How stupid was that. Now they have spent rods in a meltdown condition hanging over the already crippled reactor cores. What a bunch of morons.

I also just saw an interview with Hilery Cliton regarding evacuation of Americans from Japan. She was asked directly three times if it was going to happen. She would only say that the situation was being watched very closely and if our professionals on the ground advised to do so that it will be done, but NOT YET. We have litterally thousands of Americans working and living in Japan with their families like Lito. US Navy, US Airforce, US Marines, US Army, Gov contractors, Department of State, and over a dozen other Gov agencies. This is going to be interesting.

The plant here in Cincinnati was the same deal,it was supposed to be nuclear but GE's major design flaws kept it from being approved so it was converted to coal.
As for the rods,why,why,why would someone put a storage pond for rods that have enough heat to light CONCRETE on fire above a reactor? Like,really?
As for American citizens,they should have been our first priority,my guess is that it's PR, like "see,we don't think it's too bad japan! We haven't even pulled out our OWN people yet" like if we pull our people out its a sign of abandonment.
I'm just waiting for the massive fireball that was the plant to appear on the news as the rods hit 3000 degrees f and begin burning everything within a 100yrd radius.

very interesting info... please keep us updated.

Here's a graphic. Not certain it's 100% accurate but it explains a few things

http://images.smh.com.au/2011/03/17/...ar-reactor.jpg

thanks... easy read

Good news
 

Here is a bit of good news though. Apparantly before we went to bed last night I heard a CNN news report that there were several US Nuclear officials on the ground yesterday trying to come up with a plan to begin recovery from this disaster. The first and formost item was to regain cooling to the reactors. So assisting the Japanese power company a temporary power line was being rigged up from another power system and strung all the way to the reactor area so that cooling could be restored. I have not checked yet this morning, but it should be pretty close to being completed or already up and running. That is a good sign in my book.

Then once cooling is restored and the reactor heat levels are within acceptable ranges they can start working on a solution to contain the leaking radiation, and finally move on to a more permanent resolve of the entire situation. We are not out of the woods yet, but this is much better news than anything we have heard for the last 5 days. There may be hope yet to overt total anialation. Its about time someone grew a brain in this mess.

Uh oh???
 

This just in 6AM eastern time USA. Another sign that things are not going as well as everyone had hoped it would. Good news for your family Lito.

– 1 hr 43 mins ago
WASHINGTON – The United States has authorized the first evacuations of Americans out of Japan, taking a tougher stand on the deepening nuclear crisis and warning U.S. citizens to defer all non-essential travel to any part of the country as unpredictable weather and wind conditions risked spreading radioactive contamination.

President Barack Obama placed a telephone call to Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Wednesday to discuss Japan's efforts to recover from last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami, and the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-chi plant. Obama promised Kan that the U.S. would offer constant support for its close friend and ally, and "expressed his extraordinary admiration for the character and resolve of the Japanese people," the White House said.

But a hastily organized teleconference late Wednesday with officials from the State and Energy Departments underscored the administration's concerns. The travel warning extends to U.S. citizens already in the country and urges them to consider leaving. The authorized departure offers voluntary evacuation to family members and dependents of U.S. personnel in Tokyo, Yokohama and Nagoya and affects some 600 people.

Senior State Department official Patrick Kennedy said chartered planes will be brought in to help private American citizens wishing to leave. People face less risk in southern Japan, but changing weather and wind conditions could raise radiation levels elsewhere in the coming days, he said.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said it will coordinate departures for eligible Defense Department dependents.

The ship and the crew will be leaving in a couple of days. We are getting everything ready for sea. As for the families and dependents, we got word this afternoon that there will be a "Voluntary Military Assisted Evacuation" and ensure all our families are ready to go. I think they only said "voluntary" instead of mandatory so as not to insult the government of Japan. Nonethe less, my wife and kids will be leaving either tomorrow or Saturday. They will be picked up by a bus which will take them to Narita airport and board one of the chartered flights to Osan Korea and ultimately to the US. It's been a very stressfull day for everyone here because we still have to do our job in getting the ship underway. It sucks too since I have duty today. They already told us to fill out paperwork necessary for the evacuation.

Gods speed chief.
 

Well Lito as an RCM & UE brother we are happy to hear that your family is being taken care of as far as the evacuation is concerned. It will still be stressful, but at least you will know that no matter how bad things may get in Tokyo that your family is safe and sound. As for doing your duty shipmate God's speed my friend. Your in a tough situation, but at least you will be departing the affected area for the time being. I hope whatever your mission is that you can be proud of your efforts there, and that you make it home safely. Its really going to be tough with you at sea, your family stateside, and all of your stuff in Tokyo. I sure hope that something positive happens with this whole nuclear situation and that a remedy is found and conducted soon. The whole world is watching and quite frankly worried about the outcome. I think most of the world loves and has the utmost respect for Japan and its people, except maybe China. We all want to see a good resolution with this and continue to help Japan get back into a somewhat normal life as much as possible after such a huge triple disaster. Stay safe my friend and try to keep us posted about your situation. We will keep the sites going while you are away, and we will be looking for you every day for a speedy return. Good luck and God bless Chief.

From the ue forum
 

About half way down the page is the story about the powerline they are hoping to restore.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Japan....html?x=0&.v=23


Hopefully good news.

The last article I read says things are getting worst. I hope they get that power line up and running soon to cool those rods. I understand the need to keep people calm, but it seems like the Japanese government isnt being to transparent about what is happening. They had US officials and Japanese officials contracting each other about whether there was any water left in one of the pools. I can only hope they contain this thing quickly.

Normally I'm against the US getting in everyone else's business and spending our money helping other countries instead of helping our own people in our country. I know I may me ignorant or whatever but that is how I feel. Japan is different though....First off Japan is a super power nation, wether or not officially classified as so, I don't know. Japan plays a major role in the economics of the entire world, Japan shutting down will have global ramifications. Japan is in a position that they could help the US if we needed help so us helping them in a time of need makes sense. Now throw the nuclear aspect into it and the US as well as every country that can should be helping. If these reactors go into a complete meltdown it could have a major impact on the entire world, hundreds of thousands or even millions of people could die from the long term affects.

However I do believe that this whole situation could have some positive effects on the US. Japan is a major supplier of electronic components to the entire world. If these manufacturing facilities are shut down for any length of time it could allow some of the US companys to gain a foothold in the market. Another positive that may come out of the whole thing is learning how to deal with a nuclear disaster. If we, and I mean the world, can figure out how to contain a nuclear reactor in the event of a disaster such as this it would be a big step forward for nuclear power.

Even with the possibilty of a major disaster at hand I still beleive nuclear power is the way to go. Nuclear power puts far less demand on fossil fuels and 99.99999% of the time produces little to no harmful emissions other than the warming of bodies of water that are used as a cooling supply. In my local area they have been trying to get bills and laws, and grants , and everything else passed to allow the building of another couple nuclear plants. Not only does the building of a plant provide thousands of jobs but so doesn't the opperation of a plant.

I'm sure there will be a few or maybe many on here that oppse my views but they are my views and just thought I'd share them

Everyone has a right.
 

Everyone has a right to stated their views no matter what they might be. Your views are fine. Japan ranks #3 in the worlds economy making it a superpower. The only thing that makes people think it is not is the size of the Island of Japan. It is a small country, but there are an awful lot of people living there. We need to help Japan for many reasons. They are one of our major alies for one. They afford us the ability to have a large military force in Asia, which helps us protect the Asian community as a whole, but also allows us to have eyes far off our west coast shores for our own protection. We gain some benefits by having such a close relationship with them. Plus in this point in time they have become a great people who deserve our respect and support for whatever may arrise in the way of trouble.

I am also with you in that I think we get overly involved in everybody elses business, and should spend more money, more time, and more attention to our own problems so we can rebuild our countries reputation as the number one superpower. We are losing ground to China every year, and soon we will be #2 or even lower if things do not change for the better. Superpower to me means nothing more than being able to do more, and having more resources than any other country on the globe, and using these benefits to help others in need. We have been known for a very long time as the number on economy, but we are also losing ground there as well. I think it is because we import and export in an unequal balance, and that needs to change. We bring much more into the USA than we send out. That can not go on for ever. It is like filling a pool with a garden hose, while draining it with a firehose. It will soon be empty no matter how wide you open the valve.

My final note is that we need to get more involved in helping Japan fix this nuclear problem, because we have the knowledge from past experiences that will prove invaluable to any kind of resolve in this situation.

Coming from a US citizen living abroad for many years that means alot. I'm glad that there is someone that agrees with me that we need to start taking care of some of our own problems rather than helping everyone one else with all their problems all of the time.

Some problems with some countries are worth helping, not all of them though

Amen! Only helping countries which contribute in a positive way to society and don't want us all dead would be a great start.