brahmburgers

Very serious charges. I hope Filipino investigators are more adept than Thai investigators, and that they do a very thorough investigation. There must be some added evidence that would link or not-link the accused to the crime. The girl was found in a blanket - have any threads from that blanket been found with the accused? So sad about the victim. You want the perpetrator brought to justice, but you don't want an innocent person found guilty.

Wow, brahm, you've added poetry to this thread: "balloon woven of human hair in a firestorm" - whew! First thing made me smile in this forum!

We've not been told if the US robots are radiation-proof. In particular, wouldn't radiation cloud pix and video? Or am I thinking of old-school tech?

I remember they were using robots with cameras at TMI...

They got millions of too-cute robot dogs in Japan. Simple, just strap a camcorder on it, and, ....on 2nd thought, it would be a blob of steaming plastic with wire sticking out - in about 3 minutes.

Sweden was co-sponor. How come Sweden is not being blamed for this?

Maybe you spoke too soon. Could likely happen, that as soon as this item gets to the zillions of hot-head sexually-frustrated Muslims, their immans will be clamoring to be the first to issue a 'fatwa' - which is a Muslim declaration to kill a specific person or group. Muslims are great at revenge, anger, blame and killing innocents. I think they're good at other things also, but it slips my mind what they are.

There are few sadder fates than to be born female in a Muslim country. As soon as you pop out, you're a 2nd class person and your freedoms of movement and speech and thought are severely curtailed for the rest of your life - under pain or beatings or death.

5 billion people on the planet. They need energy. Where is it gonna come from?

The sun, wind, water, geothermal, jetstream winds, tides, ......but most important factor in the energy equation: CONSERVATION.

Nuclear is fraught with more problems than a balloon woven with human hair in a firestorm.

what about fingerprints in the car? Match with whom? The driver may be traceable through DNA from the girl as well.

.....and clothes worn by or disgarded by a suspect - blood splattered.

Was the car reported stolen prior to the hit and run or after? Who reported it stolen and which cell tower (where) picked up the signal of the call? Where was the owner and with whom, before during and after? From where was the car stolen?

Those are the type of questions an objective & adept investigator would pursue. This is Thailand, it just don't happen that way.

Quoting NISA official as saying the radioactive water that injured three workers yesterday probably came from the reactor itself and not from the spent fuel cooling pool, based on the high levels of radioactivity in the water.

NISA official also said they have no indication that the reactor itself is cracked/damaged; rather, speculating that the radioactive water may have come from pipes or valves associated with the reactor. The radiation probably got into the cooling water due to damaged fuel rods within the reactor that are immersed in the cooling seawater.

Some of the statements coming out seem blatantly contradictory. The reactor may be cracked but there's no evidence. There's leakage and radioactivity but that doesn't mean its cracked. There are neutron beams associated with chain reaction but that doesn't mean there's reaction going on. These guys are doing a marvelous job of confusing the issues. I hope they will be sacked and publicly hung out to dry, and soon.

My own speculation is that the last thing NISA officials want is the truth to be known. They really still have no idea, after all this time?

It appears like a combo of A. not knowing much of the actual damage. And it's understandable, to some extent, because of radiation risks all over the site, plus wreckage - both seen and unseen.

So they're having to make some of their assessments on dial readings and assumptions.

However, they're trying to downplay damage as much as possible every step of the way. It's like the parents coming home to find their house trashed, and the kids and the babysitter try one excuse after another, each successive time getting a bit closer to the grim truth of what happened.

When I was young I was probably lucky. I was able to spend a full day in a nuclear research center doing readings of radiation that time. My impression was as it is today. There's no way of safety that could be guaranteed. Radiation plumes can arise with the slightest change of works done on the reactor itself.

When even Canada admits that they don't need this energy but they do it to support the industry, I suppose they mean the nuclear industry, says it all. (read my previous post above #2152 elcent )Lots of checks must be changing hands for this nonsense. Pretty a telling activism going on in that industry.

Canada has never "admitted that it doesn't need nuclear power". Energy generation policy is a provincial responsibility.

Speaking of Canadian nuclear reactors, here's a little tidbit I found on /wiki/Nuclear_decommissioning'>Wikipedia: The Gentilly nuclear reactor ran in Quebec for 180 days, and cost $25 million to decommission. That's works out to the operators having to sock away nearly $140,000 per day of operation - just to cover the decommissioning! And there are still people among us who claim nuclear is the cheaper way to provide for future energy needs.

So lets start building a Reactor somewhere near the Border.

And Thailand wants Nuclear Power?

The Japan nuclear reactors handled the magnitude 9.0 earthquakes.

They didn't handle the tsunami though. It was only designed to handle a 7 metre tsunami, but got a 10 metre one. That washed the back up generators away, so they couldn't be used to pump water to cool the nuclear rods.

We don't yet know how much damage was done by the earthquake - prior to the tsunami. Could have cracked a lot of places. They've barely begun damage assessment there. The headline news kept hammering that it was the tsunami, which of course did a lot of damage, but that doesn't cancel out possible earthquake damage.

as for Plachon's concern about dams bursting. Yes, could happen, and it could be a domino effect. China won't let any petty concerns like that slow down it's frantic dam building plans, ...eight big ones at last count.

And they're damming the Salween also. China is to environmental concerns what Gaddafi is to democracy.

7:23 here in Chiang Rai, just felt a 7 second aftershock. It's so quiet here, I heard it come on up the hill from the north - to my house.

a recent image of controlling station in unit 3.

What's going on in that photo? Is there fission going on in there with those people - are they having a barbecue in the office? Or is it a giant screen monitor, or what? Gives new meaning to roasting marshmallows.

Get yourself a camera and take a picture of an electric light. It's called 'flare'

Are you saying you think that's an uncovered electric bulb (incandescent?) hanging in the foreground of the photo? Like in a funky old basement or garage? It looks to me like something big hot and bright, surrounded by crew.

a recent image of controlling station in unit 3.

What's going on in that photo? Is there fission going on in there with those people - are they having a barbecue in the office? Or is it a giant screen monitor, or what? Gives new meaning to roasting marshmallows.

Guess who'll end up paying the bill for this one?

electricity firms could pass a tax hike on to consumers by raising power charges.

Proving yet again that nuclear is the "cheapest" power generation option.

Right, that's just one of many bullshit claims by nuclear promoters. No way is it the cheapest way to generate electricity, what a sick joke. That's like saying a bonfire is the simplest way to dry out damp socks. The same people say it doesn't generate greenhouse gases - another sick joke? or do they believe their own hype? ...or are they really that dumb to not see the gargantuan amounts of greenhouse gases generated by every phase of nuclear plants: their construction, maintenance, damage control, processing and bringing fuel to the plant, dealing with spent fuel and other radioactive waste, decommissioning the plant. Just for decommissioning, a well-run plant with no glitches needs to put aside about a half million dollars PER DAY - just for that inevitability.

wow 7 varieties of figs, well done.

I brought over a 'Mission Black' fig from California. Although I was able to propagate them, and they start out strong, they fizzle out after a year or two. They just don't like it here. It may be because there are several types of indigenous/non-edible figs - which transfer pathogens, I don't know. I got some newer fig cuttings here (were they from soidog?), and they're doing alright thus far. They sure like lots of water. I'd spoil them with lots of manure also, but it's hard to find the stuff, particularly chicken shit. Since the Sars thing, most all the chicken farms went out of business in my area.

12 avos flowering this year (out of 60+), so am hopeful of a decent crop. All grown from seed.

Still no one seems interested in growing agave for tequila ....oh well.

Yes they are my cuttings, Later in the year, the black mission will be ready, I will post pictures.

The Brown Turkey I sent you has shallow roots, likes continuous moisture, not too much fertilizer.

Don't pick the figs until very soft to the touch, than you will enjoy the juicy pink interior with a delicate sweet flavor.

Best

Yes they sure do need a lot of watering - at least every other day. They're like Thai wives, who need TLC (and money) at a steady clip in order to stay refreshed.

I've had a few of the Brown Turkey figs thus far, and look forward to many more. I've resorted to simple pleasures - in lieu of having a live-in lady, and all that that entails.

I was in Mae Sai an hour before the tremor struck.

Felt it while sitting upstairs in my 2 story house, the last tremor was at 11 pm. Altogether, I felt about 7 tremors in a 2 hour span of time.

I'm from California, so they're no big deal, ....actually it's a turn-on to feel the power of this planet - residual movements from the big collision which sent a chunk of matter off to form the moon. Compared to the earlier history of this small planet, these little tremors are like a Millie the Mosquito compared to Dino the Dinosaur.

wow 7 varieties of figs, well done.

I brought over a 'Mission Black' fig from California. Although I was able to propagate them, and they start out strong, they fizzle out after a year or two. They just don't like it here. It may be because there are several types of indigenous/non-edible figs - which transfer pathogens, I don't know. I got some newer fig cuttings here (were they from soidog?), and they're doing alright thus far. They sure like lots of water. I'd spoil them with lots of manure also, but it's hard to find the stuff, particularly chicken shit. Since the Sars thing, most all the chicken farms went out of business in my area.

12 avos flowering this year (out of 60+), so am hopeful of a decent crop. All grown from seed.

Still no one seems interested in growing agave for tequila ....oh well.

NHK airing a segment on an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 residents around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plants who have refused to evacuate and leave their homes, defying the government's orders. Many of those residents refusing to leave, despite the radiation exposure risks, are elderly and/or disabled, and sometimes don't have food, water or electricity at home.

Japanese Self Defense Force soldiers below, wearing radiation protection suits, try unsuccessfully to persuade an elderly, disabled couple living a few kilometers from the Fukushima reactors to leave their home. The woman said her husband is disabled and bed-ridden, and cannot leave.

Good post. We need posts and photos like that to try and convince the last die-hard remnants who are in favor of a nuclear Thailand - that it's fraught with problems, big and small.

(excerpt)

Japan's banks are planning on lending $24 billion to TEPCO so the lights won't go dark in Tokyo, plus plus loans of $37.5 billion from government, adding the very real possibility of an economic meltdown to equal the nuclear.

BB's comments in brown

That's like investing billions of $$'s remodeling the Titanic restaurant while it's sinking. I'm not saying Japan is sinking, but to re-invest in nuclear is not the smart way.

Did Japan even consider its vast geothermal potential before going nuclear?

Geothermal, ahhhh, music to my ears. There's vast amount of untapped geothermal potential in Japan, hopefully recent nuclear screw-ups will open their eyes, or better yet, get their butts moving to tap in to it. If they need experts on harvesting geothermal, they can look to the Icelanders and others in N.American who are making it work. Thailand also has geothermal potential. Maybe it's an Asian thing, - to be spooked by developing a clean, nearly limitless energy source just 10 meters beneath their feet.

Can anyone still believe that nuclear power is a proven, safe, clean, green, cheap source of electricity? Proven, yes—proven deadly.

As you say, pretty much only politicians and businessmen who stand to make a lot of money (legit or bribes) in the process, are still in favor of nuclear. It's also a 'face' thing. Vietnam, Indonesia and Burma have been talking about going nuclear. Thailand doesn't want to be left out of the nuclear club. Maybe it's also a hedge toward future bomb development. Look at India's and Pakistan's A-bomb programs. Both got boosts with nuclear plants, which aided processing.

I'll say it again: If Thailand goes ahead with nuclear power, I'll be the first one blocking the road and chaining myself to the gates.

I'll be there with you, though it might put a damper on the visa renewal process.

Again, can we keep the activism down a bit, or at least move it to a nice thread of your own?

No, we can't keep it down. Activism is needed now, as much as ever before. Thailand's EGAT still wants five nuclear power plants. When they decide to scrap those ridiculous and harmful plans, please let me know. ok?

There are some people in Gaza and the West Bank - who benefit by having as much conflict as possible between the Palestinians and Israelis. It reinforces their positions of power - even though their fiefdoms are squalid dry bare-inhabitable scabs of property. They look over the border and see irrigated farms and nice homes. They're jealous and covetous. Then there are the never ending ranks of angry jihadists who egg them on and supply arms. I don't blame Israeli gov't for dealing dynamically with aggressions directed towards them.

Palestinians should start by voting in decent leaders. Concurrently, they should find what their strengths are, and build on them. If they can't generate enough revenue to live comfortably (which they can't, at this time) then accept hand-outs from other countries. There is a wealth of money that donor countries are ready to grant to Palestinians - if/when their leaders quit acting like a**holes.

Well, Reactor No. 4 was shut down at the time of the quake and tsunami, and there were no fuel rods inside generating energy at the time.

There are a lot of fuel rods in the reactor's cooling pool, but that's a separate function from the reactor itself.

The report below might have some significance if Reactors 1-4 were ever going to operate again. But given that most of the reactors have already been flushed/injected with salty seawater, the chances of them ever operating again are minimal. The Japanese govt. has already been talking publicly about their future demolition.

Quote Bloomberg:

"One of the reactors in the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant may have been relying on flawed steel to hold the radiation in its core, according to an engineer who helped build its containment vessel four decades ago. Mitsuhiko Tanaka says he helped conceal a manufacturing defect in the $250 million steel vessel installed at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi No. 4 reactor while working for a unit of Hitachi Ltd. in 1974.."

Of course this report is significant, if TEPCO have been negligent on safety in one place, it is safe to presume they may have been negligent in others.

In fact, that negligence might be ongoing even as we speak.

What if they know of other weaknesses on the plant that they are keeping quiet about? This could bite at any time...

It's known that Japanese construction and safety standards are head and shoulders above Thailand's. And EGAT are still going to be doing a full court press for the 5 nuclear reactors they want for Thailand.

[*]Plutonium comes from Pluto: god of wealth and power and also the god of hell and death.

Ok with the scientific stuff, but not sure we needed the hocus pocus stuff.

As for the 7th Fleet. Being that they're a military force, you'd expect they'd want to keep their whereabouts secret.

Also: haven't heard any mention of whether the coastal inlets, where the tsunami was most severe, are planning to rebuild as usual. I'd like to see them become part of the Japanese park system - cleared as much as possible of civilization's debris, and allowed to devolve to their natural state - for visitors and perhaps campers, beachcombers, etc. Or should we expect the townships to get built back up again, and perhaps add 3 or 4 meters of concrete to the seawall? Plus, what about planning adjustments to the many other towns and cities built along Japan's coasts, particularly at inlets which amplify the height of tidal surges.

Similarly, what about Bangkok? Experts will tell us that giant tidal surges (or similar) don't affect that part of the Bight of Thailand, but those same experts would have told us, prior to the tsunami that hit the Andaman coast, that Thailand's coasts don't have a history of tsunamis.

Bangkok is a flooding disaster waiting to happen. It's not too early or too late to start moving to higher ground. Suggest: rather than one gargantuan metropolis, as it is now, plan on divvying it into sections focusing on industry, religion/royalty, universities, bureaucracy, etc. Maybe even plan for some green space.

It's not a region that can harbor peaceful co-existence, if one side insists on the total destruction of the other.

Arafat, their great hero (he was actually a bozo of the 1st degree) had a golden opportunity - when he was offered a deal in Scandinavia (20 yrs ago?). The US and Israel were bent over backwards to draft an agreement which was as generous as possible to the Palestinians. There was one little item Arafat didn't like (can't recall what it was), so he nixed the entire deal. He came back to the West Bank to a hero's welcome from his intransigent hard-right supporters. What followed were months/years of conflict and misery.

That, to me, indicated that there is no deal, other than the destruction of (or withdrawal of all Jews from) Israel, that will appease the hard liners, who indoctrinate and force their sheeple to follow their demands. Primarily because of that, peace will forever be a stranger in that treeless parched misery-wracked part of the world.

I,m not sure it was in this topic already...

Here a report about a nuclear accident in Samut Prakan / Bangkok in the year 2000.

http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1124_scr.pdf

(*** contains graphic material)

Here's a quote from the foreword of the report, written by members of the IAEA (Int'l Atomic Energy Assoc):

Altogether, ten people received high doses from the source. Three of those people, all workers at the junkyard, died within two months of the accident as a consequence of their exposure.

Interesting that technicians Thailand, a country which wants 5 full scale reactors, can't even be remotely responsible for a relatively tiny amount of radioactive material as mentioned in the report.

I'm not trying to be a 'Thai basher', but instead hoping to avoid unnecessary harm and misery for Thais in the future.

I took a shower in my passive solar heated outdoor shower today (one of 3). Lovely, thanks. The main components are 20 litre re-cycled metal cannisters - painted black. The whole set up cost about Bt.1,000. Sure beats getting shower water heated by electricity EGAT buys from Laos. And if EGAT get their way, we'll soon have shower water heated by electricity form nuclear plants - each plant needing to put aside a bit less than a half million dollars per day - just for decommissioning costs - and that's assuming nothing goes wrong during their 30 year lifetime - hardy har har chortle

100% Solar Power by 2031?

Author, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil famously and accurately predicted that a computer would beat a man at chess by 1998, that technologies that help spread information would accelerate the collapse of the Soviet Union, and that a worldwide communications network would emerge in the mid 1990s (i.e. the Internet).

Most of Kurzweil's prognostications are derived from his law of accelerating returns — the idea that information technologies progress exponentially, in part because each iteration is used to help build the next, better, faster, cheaper one. In the case of computers, this is not just a theory but an observable trend — computer processing power has doubled every two years for nearly half a century.

Kurzweil also believes this theory can be applied to solar energy. As part of a panel convened by the National Association of Engineers, Kurzweil, together with Google co-founder Larry Page, concluded that solar energy technology is improving at such a rate that it will soon be able to compete with fossil fuels. Here is what he told PBS about solar's future:

"One of my primary theses is that information technologies grow exponentially in capability and power and bandwidth and so on. If you buy an iPhone today, it's twice as good as two years ago for half that cost. That is happening with solar energy — it is doubling every two years. And it didn't start two years ago, it started 20 years ago. Every two years we have twice as much solar energy in the world.

Today, solar is still more expensive than fossil fuels, and in most situations it still needs subsidies or special circumstances, but the costs are coming down rapidly — we are only a few years away from parity. And then it's going to keep coming down, and people will be gravitating towards solar, even if they don't care at all about the environment, because of the economics.

So right now it's at half a percent of the world's energy. People tend to dismiss technologies when they are half a percent of the solution. But doubling every two years means it's only eight more doublings before it meets a hundred percent of the world's energy needs. So that's 16 years. We will increase our use of electricity during that period, so add another couple of doublings: In 20 years we'll be meeting all of our energy needs with solar, based on this trend which has already been under way for 20 years.

People say we're running out of energy. That's only true if we stick with these old 19th century technologies. We are awash in energy from the sunlight."

spacer (1K)

Germany Rethinking Solar

The nuclear power plant crisis unfolding in Japan after the massive earthquake has already caused political fallout in Germany and could usher in a new era of renewable energy in Europe's largest economy.

On Tuesday Germany became the first European country to shut nuclear plants in the wake of the crisis in Japan. The move by the German government to temporarily close seven older plants came just one day after Chancellor Angela Merkel had imposed a three-month moratorium on the extension of the country's 17 nuclear power stations.

- - - - - - - -

Wind and Solar Stocks Surge After Nuclear Disaster

Stocks for wind and solar energy producers jumped as investors speculate that demand for renewable power will surge in response to the unfolding Japanese nuclear catastrophe. The German solar-panel maker Solarworld leads the pack, surging 32 percent. Bloomberg

Renewable Energy Fund

Pretty much every one of the last 100 posts have been about radiation levels. Yes, it's important, but it's not the only issue relating to the damaged plant. How about updates about the individual reactor cores and their containment vessels. If appears all reports of possible meltdowns are indirect data. In other words, how close has anyone been able to get to see first hand - the status of the core containment housings?

There's been talk of declaring the entire plant defunct. Is that real, in part or in whole? If so, what's the latest for dealing with the mess. What, if anything are they thinking of salvaging (rods?) - or are they planning to cover it with sand and concrete?

Maybe some of these questions are premature at this stage, but hearing about nothing but meter readings for radiation is just part of the picture.

(referring specifically to #3) - Their reactor cores are believed to have partially melted and seawater has been pumped into them to prevent the fuel from staying exposed.

Is that correct - the reactor core of #3 is believed to be partially melted? That's the one with Plutonium. That's serious stuff. Seems to me it could be very hot for a long time. Even with sand and concrete over top, it's a danger spot.