I wouldn't say "ignored"

Post #340,655 by Another Scott 3/18/11 9:02:47 PM Reply	I wouldn't say "ignored" There's lots of news every day in the places I read about the earthquake and tsunami aftermath. Not so much about many other important stories - like unemployment (as Krugman pointed out today). The Fukushima story is big news because it may have direct world-wide impact, and because it is about an invisible danger (and thus is scarier). People can and do disagree about the extent of the risk - even within the nuclear field. Lewis's piece is yet again premature and over-sold. Nobody knows how much damage has been done to the plants. Nobody knows if the water pumps will work. Nobody knows the ultimate amount of radiation that will be released. (It took 4 years before they got a camera in the TMI core...) My $0.02. Cheers, Scott.
Post #340,657 by beepster 3/18/11 11:20:15 PM Reply	I don't believe that was a sigh, Mr. F. Sure, understanding today's complex world of the future is a little like having bees live in your head. But...there they are.
Post #340,658 by Ashton 3/18/11 11:48:03 PM Reply	Exactly. Lewis' summary sentence, The prospect of any trouble at these reactors now seems remote. -- betrays his general incompetence to evaluate anything in this field. And his reliance on PEPCO briefs indicates absence of a healthy skepticism of the company's press releases [for culture-based reasons] -- as has been pointed out in many more competent essays. Details Matter, each one -- like (as you mentioned earlier) ... the near-term results of all that sea water and its known debilitating effects on strength of steel/alloys of various kind PLUS the thermal insulating properties of the brine salts themselves! being deposited: exactly what you Don't want to have to deal with, given the decay curves of ALL those individual fuel rods, in-core or in-pools. Yeah, they might dodge this howitzer shell despite all those Damocles' swords, but it Ain't Over in the foreseeable, nor will there be a decent understanding of each reactor's denouement for years, if ever. (Better not take 4 years, in 2011, to get a fiber optic camera in there!) (And as somewhere else I read.. wtf Are?? the Rad-resistant Robots! given Japan's obsession with such things.) First robot would be modeled on a bulldozer, to clear a path for the specialized models. Etc. Sheesh ... ain't smug complacency A Bitch?
Post #340,703 by malraux 3/21/11 5:28:49 PM Reply	Since you like Lewis so much... http://www.theregist..._after_weekend_2/ :-) Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #340,704 by Another Scott 3/21/11 5:44:42 PM Reply	Rofl. :-)

Welcome to IWETHEY!