Another product of men so intellegent keep advancing what a joke

I won't go near a Japanese car lot these days. Japan had to ship the waste somewhere.

Tragic for the ecosystem, but Dear God...what has been happening to babies in utero? We will probably never hear about the children born after the disaster or the cancer rates of the survivors. And the debris is heading toward California.

Wait until they catch "Blinky" the three eyed fish. They will say all is well and he actually has an advantage over the other fish with an extra eye.

I doubt much of that debris has any high levels of radiation. Most of it was out to sea already when the reactor failed days after the tsunami.

I wonder what it will do to children that are in their primary growth state.

Mothra a reality? Scary stuff, Talk, radiation damage has already been detected in Yellowfin Tuna, radiation poisoning will go on for years and nothing can be done to curb it. Chernobyl ground area still highly radioactive, although wildlife seems to have recovered somewhat. Check Google for Documentary on Chernobyl.

Michael, type faster than I do, but great minds.

And the debris is heading toward California.

Mother Nature know where to take a dump.

Either one on it's own released more radiation - and much worse and persistent radiation than the Fukushima incident, 3 Mile island, and Chernobyl did combined.

Wow. You wanna cite a source for that information? Or do you just KNOW it?

All in all, the damage from radiation is much, much smaller than the critics of the nuclear energy predicted.

protect the butterfly... ninja...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcMHkvEVgVo&feature=fvwrel

Initial results indicated that roughly 12 percent of the butterflies showed signs of abnormalities, such as disfigurement in their antennas, smaller-sized wings, change in color patterns and indented eyes, Otaki said.

These could morph into an inteligent species of butterfly that may invent their own form of transportation that uses fossil fuels! I predict more global warming!

It's the Chrysalis stage that makes butterflies more susceptible to mutation from radiation or other chemical contamination. The same is true for frogs because they undergo metamorphosis after birth. Have you ever heard of 5 legged frogs they're more common than you think. Most animals develop inside their parent and their parent acts as a filter reducing the amount of toxins the reach the developing fetus but with frogs and butterflies they undergo physical changes in the middle of their lives after living in an unfiltered environment and are prone to mutation.

The five-legged frogs being caused by man's pollution was DEBUNKED - in reality, the extra appendages were a result of parasites. DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE JUMPING OFF THE DEEP END OF THE LIBERAL POOL!

Dear John,

It's not so much that our wingsize will be reduced in the same manner as the above-mentioned lepidoptera, but that the mutations stand a chance of causing a butterfly effect of sorts. Whatever their impact/contribution to their environment will be changed and not necessarily proportionately to their mutation. The balance would be upset and the ramifications are unknown. Hence the need for more study.

It's not nice to foock with Mother Nature.

Hmm, what I see is a butterfly that has most likely suffered developmental problems. Yes, I expect a great of it's DNA was damaged because it was probably in the heart of the contaminated area. But calling it a mutation sounds more like hyperbole. It was simply poisoned.

This is just the start....there are people that think we are supposed to have a DNA shift ourselves this year. Get ready for the aliens coming back. The Myans will reappear. A second Earth will appear close to ours....Oh the joys of what is to come.

Makes you wonder why any BEFORE and AFTER pictures don't exist of any Gulf Shrimp, Oysters and Quahogs! B.P.'s after version of the ecosystem there, claiming everything is safe, I don't believe for a minute! Read the package of origin e1.

The five-legged frogs being caused by man's pollution was DEBUNKED - in reality, the extra appendages were a result of parasites. DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE JUMPING OFF THE DEEP END OF THE LIBERAL POOL!

And that study you mentioned was done by a right wing polluter friendly study group and was debunked by people who do work that is not slanted to big business. Get a life to you right wingnuts we are all liberals unless we goosestep to the right wing agenda which sucks.

the area around the now collapsed nuclear plant is so radioactive, they do not even know how to begin to tear it down, maybe Godzilla wil stomp it in the ground.

The five-legged frogs being caused by man's pollution was DEBUNKED - in reality, the extra appendages were a result of parasites.

There is a parasite that causes deformation of frogs, like extra appendages, that is true. That doesn't mean man made pollutants can't do the same.

BTW right wingers, why did our all knowing, all loving God make parasites such as fleas, ticks, bedbugs, tapeworms, mosquitos, pathogenic bacteria etc. ? And what did those poor frogs do to anger God?

Sorry, I don't feel the need to post of every history book written. Or every study done on the aftermath of radiation exposure.

You don't have to post every one. One or two will do. Just to show us that you really AREN'T just another bozo shooting off his mouth and making excessive claims about something that he knows nothing about.

Just a reminder. Your claim was this:

Either one on it's own released more radiation - and much worse and persistent radiation than the Fukushima incident, 3 Mile island, and Chernobyl did combined.

Surely you can back that up with something more concrete than your own opinion.

Hmmm. Wikipedia claims this about the Chernobyl accident alone, without the effects of Fukushima or TMI included. Mind you, it's not the most reliable of sources always, but it does include citations, something you haven't done yet:

Four hundred times more radioactive material was released than had been by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The disaster released 1/100 to 1/1000 of the total amount of radioactivity released by nuclear weapons testing during the 1950s and 1960s.^[81] Approximately 100,000 km² of land was contaminated with fallout, the worst hit regions being in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.^[82] Slighter levels of contamination were detected over all of Europe except for the Iberian Peninsula.^[15][83][84]

Ahhh. Here we are:

Compared with other nuclear events: The Chernobyl explosion put 400 times more radioactive material into the Earth's atmosphere than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

From the IAEA itself.

http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Booklets/Chernoten/facts.html

The five-legged frogs being caused by man's pollution was DEBUNKED - in reality, the extra appendages were a result of parasites. DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE JUMPING OFF THE DEEP END OF THE LIBERAL POOL!

And that study you mentioned was done by a right wing polluter friendly study group and was debunked by people who do work that is not slanted to big business. Get a life to you right wingnuts we are all liberals unless we goosestep to the right wing agenda which sucks.

Different interests produce different interpretations of data. This is my argument for man caused global warming as well. Check the grant source, they coincide with desired outcomes. Never bite the hand that feeds you!

Shakalac,

It appears John Doe has been watching Fox for his information again......or maybe he and other conservatives, as usual, just pulled the info out of their azz

Harbinger of things to come!

Hey lets make more nuclear power plants cause its 100% clean and safe,and lets stop researching solar wind and tidal power cause thats just way to dangerous to the coal and nuclear fields!

And the debris is heading toward California.

Mother Nature know where to take a dump.

on your head

@onlyyoucanchangethelaws, your sarcasm is understandable, but misdirected. It's true that coal and nuclear power will never be 100% safe (Fukushima has demonstrated this), but time and again, coal and nuclear power has proven far more effective at generating the amounts of electricity needed to sustain large urban and suburban sprawls.

Don't take me the wrong way though. We do need to continue research into other forms of power generation (such as solar and wind or other sources if any are found). With time, they may yet get to a point to actually compete with coal and nuclear. It's currently not feasible to mass produce these "alternative energy" forms on the scale that certain people would desire and end up with the same effect as coal and nuclear power.

john doe, your arguments from ignorance aren't doing you any favors, examples:

None of these things were released by the Fukushima incident. Simple radiation is all.

oh, nope, no radioactive cesium, or radioactive strontium were found at all, right?

WRONG! maybe you should research these things before running your mouth and demonstrating your ignorance for all to see.

DOOOOOM!!! Mutant insects is good!

@Typo: It's funny how, when something like this comes up, the first thing non-believers say is "Why would your loving god let this happen?"

Well, the world Adam and Eve lived in was perfect. No pests, no parasites, no weeds. They disobeyed God and were thrust from paradise to the sinful world we know that has scads of them. We (as humans, that is) decided our need for knowledge was more important than a loving relationship with our Father. Just like if, when you were a teenager, and you repeatedly disobeyed your parents to the point that they were just done with protecting you and let you live your life on your own terms. That doesn't mean they no longer love you or want what is best for you, only that they are allowing you to be in control of your own choices. God still knows what they are and knows what path you'll evenually follow, but He no longer tries to control your choices.

SOMEONE's first thought is going to be "but Adam and Eve only broke one rule". This is true, because in that Garden, there was ONLY that rule. You can do anything you want EXCEPT eat from THIS tree. That's it. And they didn't listen.

If you had a child that was learning to walk, would you tie them up to make sure they never tried so they would never fall, or would you allow them to take those steps on their own, knowing it is something they need to learn, even though you KNOW they are going to fall and get hurt sometimes? This is the Christian's relationship with our Loving God. He does not prevent hurtful things from happening, because we, as a race, chose this life, but like any Loving Father, He is there to comfort us when we DO get hurt. How sad for you that you have rejected that.

This thread went from funny to some one claiming to "Know it All" to religion. People are so uptight with their panties.

RTypo, what a ridiculous post you have! You asked what the point of parasites were and what frogs did to anger God. You really highlight your own ignorance. The fact that you pose a question instead of just making a statement shows that you yourself do not know the answer to the question you pose, and the wording of your question reflects the assumptions that you make regarding that which you have clearly shown your ignorance of.

Is it not enough for you that all insects and parasites have their place in the biosphere keeping near perfect balance? Obviously not every deformity or mutation is a reflection of Gods anger. I would hope that you would consider that God, being perfect and perfect in love has, in the past used the term "anger" as a tool to teach mankind certain things, but in actuality, "anger" is not something that God would likely actually be experiencing at all.

The whiney little child like mind that you are pinning on God probably is you projecting your own emotional state. After all, you are the one who's posing the ideas. You use what you know of or have experienced yourself when you think, and reach conclusions on any matter. You see a spiteful brat in God because you can relate to that and understand it. You most certainly do NOT understand God, primarily because you obviously do not believe that God even exists. How, bratty, whiny, spiteful and convenient for you.

gotta love these people claiming that they know what their invisible sky-fairy thinks

Does the preface "likely" mean anything to you? And what would you know of any invisible sky fairies? To me, you are an invisible sky fairy of hate.

There is far more evidence of the existence of God than not. In fact there is zero evidence against and mountains of evidence for. I am assuming that you either don't know that or dont really care to investigate reality.

Adam , Eve and a talking snake in the garden of Eden and I'm the one that's delusional? You do know this is the 21st century right? And while you are at it maybe you can explain who Cain's wife was without incest...

OK, so man sinned then all these parasites and pathogens came into being.. Did God create them or not? If so he is immoral at best, sadist at worst.

From my point of view it looks like you have painted yourself into an illogical corner.

veteran55: zuksam in #1.15 did not imply that the "toxins" in question were human-generated.

There is far more evidence of the existence of God than not. In fact there is zero evidence against and mountains of evidence for. I am assuming that you either don't know that or dont really care to investigate reality.

frankly, I couldn't care less what delusion you believe in as long as you don't try to enshrine your delusions and magical thinking into law in an attempt to foist your beliefs upon me. and your "mountains of evidence" is just that, delusional and wishful thinking. there is no evidence for and no proof against either.

you can kneel in a tub of tapioca and worship a pile of dog droppings for all I care, believe what you want, just don't try to force it on me and mine.

just in case anyone was wondering, the Fukushima is still an ongoing crisis. it is STILL emitting crazy amounts of radiation.

how much? try 10,000,000 becquerels per HOUR. that is a lot in case anyone was wondering...

If there is in fact "mountains of evidence" for proving the existence of god, then name three.

Man I hope those guys are watching out for Mothra!!!

@SSPerfectChaos... Thankyou for your reply as I enjoy a good debate.So here is my reply...

"coal and nuclear power has proven far more effective at generating the amounts of electricity needed to sustain large urban and suburban sprawls."

"It's currently not feasible to mass produce these "alternative energy" forms on the scale that certain people would desire and end up with the same effect as coal and nuclear power."

In my opinion this is only true if you feel the need to have a mother company that produces all of our power from central locations. I have a friend up here in Mass. who has a SH!TLOAD of solar panels on his house.He gets a check every month, even in the winter when there is a lot less sun, from the electric company for the "excess" electricity he produces. This means he is producing more electricity than he is using. He even heats is house with electricity durring the winter and still gets a check (although its a much smaller check).

While putting up one solar elecrictiy plant in one location to provide electricity for many would definetly not work, if every house in america had as many panels as my friend and sold the excess back to the electric co. there would be more than enough to go around and support the most of the buisinesses that cannot produce enough to be self sufficient.

Todays soar panels work even on cloudy and rainy days. Creating more efficient solar panels is not the only answer. Some of the lightbulbs they are making today run on 10% of the power the old incandescent bulbs used.Creating 12 v. versions of them is another way to improve the efficiency of solar panels as thats the form of power they generate and in inverting DC to AC you lose about 15-20%.

The Problem is the almighty dolar. Believe it or not, the major utilities and the coal industries,(and even the oil companies) are among the biggest companies on the planet and stand to lose big $$ if the solar field was perpetuated to an extent that no one needed them anymore.

In fact if I took say $300,000,000 dollars (the same amount as the next powerball jackpot) I could put free solar panels on about 1/3 of the residential buildings in my town,and provide FREE electricity to those houses with the condition that I get the check for the excess they produce, I would make enough $$ off of their excess to place free panels on the rest of the houses in my town and in less than a decade it would just snowball to the point that we could shut down many of the "dirty" fuel plants in our country. We would still have a need for the national grid and all its jobs because not all businesses and highrise residential buildings have enough available space for enough panels,but we would get rid of the greedy utility stockholders who get rich off our DEPENDENCY on electricity and oil.

While the excess electricity one house produces is "just a drop in the bucket" if you multiply that drop by 100 million households,that bucket fills up very quickly.So the statement "It's currently not feasible to mass produce these "alternative energy" forms on the scale that certain people would desire and end up with the same effect as coal and nuclear power." is ony true for utility stockholders and oil companies. All the jobs lost from the utility companies could more than be replenished in the solar maintinence and manufacturing fields.

If the gov't. took the next 1billion dollars they were gonna spend on the next nuclear powerplant and implimented my earlier stated plan this country would be producing FREE and CLEAN electricity to all households and some or most businesses in less than 2 1/2 decades. Just think of the economic benefits of every household in america having an extra $200 to spend or save every month. Even the toughest and longest journey begins with a single step.

You may be interested to know that the first nuclear plant disaster occurred in Ventura, California in 1947 and put 200 times more radioactivity fallout in the air than Three Mile Island.

John Doe2437959 wrote

You people are a joke if there ever was one. Go ahead and check the numbers of mutated babies born after we dropped two nuclear weapons on Japan. Either one on it's own released more radiation - and much worse and persistent radiation than the Fukushima incident, 3 Mile island, and Chernobyl did combined.

Really? Arnie Gunderson says if there is a strong quake and the spent fuel pond in reactor building #4 alone drains and catches fire it will release more cesium than every nuclear test between 1945 and 1998. That's about 2,053 atomic bombs.

So tell me exactly how butterflies and humans are genetically, biologically, and physically related since I don't seem to grasp that.

Well, the Monarch butterfly's genome matches a human's at 31.7% of the same GC percentage. That exact enough for ya?

What amused me was to find that a cat is at 90% but a dog is only 82%. Now that can be looked at as cat's are smarter than dogs, OR as dog lovers would say, that cat's are closer to being as dumb as humans, lol.

Hey doug... if you leave a comment here,after this,I can use the contact this author link and I will send you all the info you requested.

nevermind I figured it out

Lol you beat me to the punch.

Godzilla Vs. Mothra comes to mind. That butterfly is looking more and more like Mothra!

I was *just* getting ready to post that.

I was just pointing to the sky and shouting "Mothra" (with mouth moving out of sync with the audio)

Ugh, and I wanted to be the one to use the Mothra line first... If the next study does lizards, I call first dibs on claiming it is Godzilla.

On a serious note, it is unfortunate what their environment will be experiencing for a long period of time to come.

If they also find two tiny little 6 inch high singing Japanese girls, wearing flower print mu-mus in the wreckage...run as fast as you can!

I think we are were thinking the same thing we read the headlines. I didn't see anything about lizards yet though.

I remember growing up watching Mothra and all the people when they spoke the words came out 3 seconds later

This was foretold.... by Japanese film makers years ago......

So is this where the Mothman is going to come from? At least he shouldn't be too tall

I do not think they have told us the entire story yet. They have to keep a lid on it because of their exports but who kows. Of course escaping radiation can cause birth defects

Dang it. I wanted to say that. ;)

When those butterflies are 100 feet tall, get back to us. I heard the news report on TV, it was in English but the lip movements were off. Oh damn, CHARGER12 did that one too. And better.

Watch out for that deserted island and the Mushroom People.

Mosura ya Mosura
Dongan kasakuyan
Indo muu
Rusuto uiraadoa
Hanba hanbamuyan
Randa banunradan
Tounjukanraa
Kasaku yaanmu

If you hear these lyrics, run like hell - Godzilla can't be far behind.

You know, now that I think about it, Mothra is the only one who didn't show up in the last Godzilla movie Japan made, called "Final Wars." (Kind of a reboot of Destroy All Monsters, but Mothra was in that one.) Think she's pissed she didn't get invited to the party?

Well, I think it's more in line with Mothra's midget cousin.

Whoa, it appears that the makers of Mothra and Godzilla were actually modern day prophets, seeing into the near future! Run! Fukishima is about to mutate and hatch some ancient dinosaur eggs and those butterflies are about to become your worst f#$@ing nightmare!

Well, I think it's more in line with Mothra's midget cousin.

Yep. her name was just Moth.

Sorry it just washed up on our beaches today

buh-zing

Pacific tides are slow this time of year.

Gojira - a mix of Japanese words 'gorira' (gorilla) and 'kujira' (whale).

exactly what I was thinking.

Naw, that's that mutated iguana that attacked NY city.

What? Japan still have samurais, thought they all became Hibachi Steakhouse chiefs.

"I wonder what made them think that was a good idea?"

Evidently Japanese planners didn't possess your talent for hindsight. In case you hadn't thought about it: Japan has essentially no fossil fuel resources and is located in an earthquake zone as are many of its neighbors. If you use the totally-safe approach to building nuclear power plants, there would be NONE in Japan, none in many other Asian countries, none in California, etc etc.

Power systems, levees, evacuation plans, backup systems -- you name it -- are all thought to be safe until the one unpredictable event comes along and proves they need to be EVEN SAFER to have handled that event. Then all the know-it-alls pile on and tell us that the original plans SHOULD have anticipated the un-anticipated event.

Safety is not an absolute state -- it is only a relative one.

The need for power and some slick advertising by the industry that built it on how safe it was to construct there. Same way they sold it in california and other unsuspecting places in the world.

Hopefully now city planners will think twice about planning coastal communities and nuclear reactors in danger zones...

A fact long since changed from so many years ago. Nuclear plants operational safe life 10 years. Check out problems with Crystal River plant has been repaired numerous times still not on line. Wait until you actually have a full melt down and you will really see some damage. Not the kiddie stuff like Chernobyl, or Fukushima.

I must also add; yes Japan had three meltdowns. However a slow melt is different from a breech which could happen instantly. Large Hydrogen explosion. The truth fluctuates on what you read or who you listen too. Earth is contaminated by radiation some natural a lot more that is not.

When MT. ST. Helens blew up everyone killed by the blast was in the safe zone!

Which do you think will cause more longterm damage to the planet -- global warming from burning of fossil fuels or the Fukushima power plant meltdown?

Our perceptions of risk and safety need to be based on a hard look at options, their cost and consequences, not at our fear of radioactivity. Such an analysis MAY conclude that nuclear power is just not worth it, but that conclusion has so far been based on a lot of public self-panicing about it, which is NOT the same thing as an informed judgement.

No matter how safe something looks it can be altered opinion wise by slick advertising making the people who bring the bad (but right) news to the forefront. In the case of japan the need outweighed the risk.

I think this stuff was happening back in the 50s too. But humans will dabble in anything, just look at what happened to the Hindenburg, up til then humans thought it be safe to put an electrical engine next to a huge blimp full of hydrogen.

It seems that Japan wants to keep things silent and The USA is going along with it instead of telling the truth about what is really going on.

Weren't the main differences between the two was the fact that

1 Chernobyl was a total meltdown with a large amount of material being released into the atmosphere (and groundwater till the present); and,

2 Fukushima was flooded with seawater with most of the radiation being released into the ocean?

I believe the radiation to the atmosphere was 1/10 that of Chernobyl.

Oh please. Both of probably forgot this event even happened until reading this article. If they were really trying to keep us in the dark, they wouldn't report anything about it PERIOD. Take off your tinfoil hat and calm down.

Tell me "thestuffmaker25" where did you obtain the measurements from? What was the exact type of radiation that was released? What material was released along with the radiation that will facilitate the natural transport of the radiation over a large area?

Graphite could do that if it were on fire. Along with uranium dust caused by a massive explosion or catastrophic meltdown of a reactor core that subsequently has an explosion due to pressure building up because the steam can't escape fast enough. This explosion also would have to be large enough to severely damage and expose the core and take some of it's material with it. All that ignited graphite moderator material will smolder, putting dust into the air. The vaporized uranium pellets will now be in the air also. This material stands a chance of being spread over a very large area.

Hmm... that sounds an awful lot like Chernobyl, doesn't it? Nothing like Fukushima which had nothing of the sort. Some low level alpha, beta, and x-ray emissions. Maybe some very minor gamma emissions. That's it. Two of which are blocked by your skin and are only dangerous if ingested or inhaled. Even so, they aren't persistent and they amount of Grey you receive is subject to the amount of exposure and the time it takes to rinse them off (or their biological half life if ingested/inhaled).

There is no "fallout cloud" as this wasn't a bomb, genius. Even with the spent fuel rods exposed for a short time - there was not any material released. Just simple radiation which dissipates very quickly. The uranium pellets are still contained inside the actual fuel rods. Yes this was a bad incident for those in the immediate area. Any amount of radiation is bad (thus being alive is bad it would seem) however there are acceptable levels. Fukushima's levels were above 'acceptable' but far below dangerous or catastrophic.

Fukushima's levels were above 'acceptable' but far below dangerous or catastrophic.

Except for butterflies, insects, birds other living things. It remains to be seen what exactly the impact for humans will be.

The levels are meant for humans, thanks for playing shakalac.

Not saying that it does't effect us however, you don't seem to grasp what's going on there as far as the radiation is concerned. Do you even understand what type of radiation was released? Some radiation sticks around, other radiation takes one pass, does what it can and is gone.

If what you said is true then we w ould not have such a problem disposing of the spent fuel rods from our nuclear plants This was a full fledged meltdown and the core was exposed. The flodded it with seawater then dumped that water back into the ocean.

breadex, thanks for making my point. People have a Not In My Backyard mentality, so if you dump radioactive materials into the ocean, it must be okay, right? Out of sight, out of mind. Sure, it is okay for you, for now. If you only live for the immediate future, or figure you'll be dead before it becomes a problem, then why not? After all, man considers himself to be the superior being on this planet; who cares about a few mutated animals, even when they are signaling envirormental changes that could ultimately become fatal even for the "dominant" species?

breadex

Wrong. This was not a full fledged meltdown with the core exposed. Do you not know how to read? The only things that were exposed where the spent fuel rods, used rods sitting in a giant pool of water to keep them cool. The pumps for that water went out, that is what happened.

Exposed core, come on.... lies and fear is what your spreading.

Exposed core, come on.... lies and fear is what your spreading.

*sigh*

Really?

No, not one exposed core. Three exposed, melted down cores. Yes.

Three. Exposed. Cores.

You are the one making incorrect statements.

In unit 1 most of the core - as corium comprised of melted fuel and control rods - was assumed to be in the bottom of the RPV, but later it appeared that it had mostly gone through the bottom of the RPV and eroded about 65 cm into the drywell concrete below (which is 2.6 m thick). This reduced the intensity of the heat and enabled the mass to solidify.

Much of the fuel in units 2 & 3 also apparently melted to some degree, but to a lesser extent than in unit 1, and a day or two later. In mid May the unit 1 core would still be producing 1.8 MW of heat, and units 2 & 3 would be producing about 3.0 MW each.

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/fukushima_accident_inf129.html

"

This disaster in Japan is worse with far more radioactive fallout and yet where is the fallout cloud? Where are the damaged animals and crops?

Where is the Truth about this disater?"

Have you visited California lately? Chicks have mutated boobs and buttocks. Dudes will magically grow hair overnight. Not to mention co-workers coming to work with different faces. This stuff is scary.

Yeah! Yeah! And Myth Romney and Reckless Ryan actually care about people less fortunate than either of them!!

Not yet.................

Tats why we are looking to colonize MARS so we have some place to go when the 1% totally destroys this planet.

Sadly, the 1% will be the only ones able to afford to go to Mars.

Okay, you don't know that much about nuclear power.

I don't know, the US Navy has been using nukes since 1950 and never had a problem. The boat I was on produced 78 megawatts of power 24/7 for 5 years with only 100 lbs. of fuel. I think there is a place for nuclear power as long as it is carefully engineered. I'm afraid our real problem is our continued, almost unabated, use of fossil fuels, it is really starting to wreck our planet in ways we are just beginning to see. One of the most profound statements on the environment, for me, was in the book Dune, by Frank Herbert. He wrote, "the highest function of ecology is understanding consequences". We don't do that very well, if at all.

You seem to be partially knowledgeable about this sort of stuff. So, what type of radiation was released? What's it's biological half life? Furthermore, what actual material was released that would facilitate the concentration or even transportation of the radiation beyond a localized area? I get it, alpha and beta particles may be in the immediate area. There were even hydrogen isotopes released with the hydrogen explosions. Those isotopes are far from dangerous and have long since dissipated.

The actual reactor building were irradiated and the cores are of course radioactive, however that's a very localized issue. Unless the start crushing the cement and spreading it's dust into the trade winds - the Fukushima incident is a localized problem.

John Doe-2437959

Are you like the nuclear PR dude or something? Gee where do you think science-fiction comes from, let the viner's imagination run a bit proffesor.

I think he meant butterfly larvae.

If thinking like a republican means thinking rationally, then, please, by all means do so. It might enlighten you. You don't want nuclear power? What about coal? Oil? Natural gas? What do you want? The REALITY is that for at least the next couple of generations we are going to have to use ALL forms of energy that we can to meet the energy and economic demands of the world. In the future, technology will likely allow us to introduce viable alternatives. That day is not today. That is just a simple fact. The goal is to utilize the resources that we have in the most efficient and effective manner possible. Right now, that's fossil fuels and nuclear. Rational thinking requires accepting our current reality and dealing with it.

Since when did mankind ever indulge in "rational thinking"? If the human species had allowed research into alternate energy sources (wind, water, solar), we wouldn't be in this mess now. As a kid, I was taught to fear "nukes" from Russia; we actually did the drills where you get under your desk -- fat lot that would have done, by the way. Dumping nuclear material into the ocean -- boy, there's a good idea. Centuries of burning coal? Unacceptable levels of pollution. Global warming is becoming a reality, thanks the the short sightedness of mankind, which places immediate gain over long term goals.

So far, docroc and WakeupAmerica have provided thoughtful and sane comments without attacking anyone. Thank you. Are you two engineering- trained?

An optimist looks at the half-glass of water and sees it as half-full. The pessimist sees it as half-empty. The engineer sees it at half-capacity.

For those of you who demonize nuclear, oil, and coal, please turn off your computers unless you have improvised solar or wind power at the local level. You are adding to the problems you are bitcching about.

Thanks to all the Mothra & Godzilla folks for bringing up warm memories!

Racist Shandril????? And the Japanese are superior? (as if any one group is?) Where's your logic on this one?

Superior? If they are superior, explain why they couldn't build a proper facility to avoid this disaster? Explain how they lost in WW2 when they started the fight? One rule everyone should have is never pick a fight you can't win...

Not only did we have to defeat them in war, we then used our tax dollars to pay for food and medical aid to their population that was starving under their god Emperor.

One more thing...I also block and ignore stupid C#*ts!! To bad for you Shan!

A couple here need to get a couple of things reset in their head:

Japan is superior in just about everything in science and people treatment compared to USA--that includes nuclear, and somehow you think the old nuclear plants here are better--have you ever visited even one of the 100 or so we have here, like Indian point here on the Hudson--you have no idea what can happen there, Japans problem with this type of accident, would look like a high school project in comparison--I thing you forgot that the problem was caused by huge floods, have you ever been to the ones on the west coast? or the many near big rivers like the former 3 mile Island?

Yes, as you can see on some ranters here there is a superior country, and I think they mean USA, but most of those who have actually been somewhere else just a couple of times remain silent, and have returned with the tail between their legs, when they went like me over to look at technology (computer chip factories), cars, nuclear, renew energy and food products that are not made by molecules taken from all different things, and they then call this chemical---" food "--most of which types are illegal in EU and Japan.

Please stop listening just to Fox news and politics, and let us get to work and make us/US the leader, but currently we are about # 20 on the globe combined (and sliding 2-3 countries a year), when not evaluated by US. (they have sometimes here a problem with theory and facts)--- there are still people here who believe facts are subject to opinions-----

Bundgaard,

It gives me hope that some of us in the U.S. still have some sense of direction and education. People still think we the U.S. are #1 at everything when in reality we are just bullies and is evident by the comments. What happens when you continually cut funding for education? Well you get comments like stupid A$$ Croc up there that cannot stop watching whale wars apparently.

Knitwit, I do not feel one race is "superior", however, Japan did not experience ANY looting or people taking advantage of others when they had a crisis. The populace remained orderly and respectful throughout their ordeal that lasted weeks, including shortages of water, power, shelter, and SECURITY. This compared to New Orleans where it took only a few days for the inhabitants to go totally bonkers stealing and looting, shooting up each other, stealing the MRE's from shelters and selling them on E-Bay, ransacking retail shops, etc. The fabric of their society is tough enough to withstand near destruction, so explain why ours is as thin and fragile as a coating of varnish?

Croc15: A small percentage of the money designated for relief (far less than 1%) was used to aid communities that were heavily dependent on whaling. The money did not come from "us": it came mainly from taxes collected in Japan. Among many, many other sources available if you search Google, e.g., with the terms "Japan uses relief money whaling" is http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/japan-uses-285m-in-disaster-funds-for-whaling-claim-20111207-1ohzc.html.

I do not think any "race" is superior... We are all the same species. We share our problems & successes. GE designed those Mark I reactors. People from all over the planet work for GE. People make mistakes. This is a straw man, man.

Can anyone say, "Godzilla and Mothra"?

Mike-3399710: Can anyone say reference to Mothra has already been made more than 30 times on this thread and has more than likely been thought of well more than 1 million times--I'm thinking here of the population of Japan and the ubiquity of knowledge of Mothra here--by people who did not deem it necessary to demonstrate they noticed the vague similarity?

skunky-shoes--you bring up an EXCELLENT point about the lack of looting and other forms of lawlessness during that calamitous disaster! And here we sit at our computers, allowing ourselves to be pitted against each other. I do believe that there is a lesson to be learned in that amazing example.

All in all, I'm afraid that we humans have set ourselves up for some really hard times. Here we sit on this mostly water planet, using up resources like crazy, polluting in an astoundingly wide variety of ways and taking safety shortcuts in so many different fronts. I don't doubt that the technology exists today to make nuclear power a whole lot safer. What I worry about is, do we have the wisdom, foresight, maturity, and ethics to be sure it's done right--no shortcuts for $ sake? That is the question we as a species face.....