HUGE earthquake and tsunami hit Japan...

[ungeheuer]

So then, whilst a significant explosion has occurred at at least one nuclear power plant..... this >>

the melting of a significant portion of a nuclear-reactor core due to inadequate cooling of the fuel elements, a condition that could lead to the escape of radiation.

<<  has not (yet) occurred, or been confirmed as having occurred?

[ducatiz]

Well, here is what they're throwing all over the TV to define it:

melt·down
[melt-doun]

â€"noun
the melting of a significant portion of a nuclear-reactor core due to inadequate cooling of the fuel elements, a condition that could lead to the escape of radiation.

Just saying...

in one of the MSNBC articles, one of the guys interviewed from a nuc agency said there's no technical definition of it, but that in general, it refers to some wide, massive failure of the system.  i'll see if i can find the quote.

[Slide Panda]

Good to hear you're all doing well Chris (this is Yuu with a new name btw)

Consensus seems to be that a melt down happens when the fuel burns through containment and is exposed to the world at large.

At 8.9 this quake is in the top 10 recorded quakes. Probably the top 5.

It's mind boggling to see what's happened

[IZ]

Upgraded to 9.0

[ungeheuer]

in one of the MSNBC articles, one of the guys interviewed from a nuc agency said there's no technical definition of it, but that in general, it refers to some wide, massive failure of the system.  i'll see if i can find the quote.

I dont really care about the semantic definition of "meltdown". 

What I'm interested to learn is if the confirmed explosion has led to (or is likely to lead to)  any catastrophic reactor failure resulting in significant irradiation of the community at large.

[Howie]

Hi Chris, good hearing from you.  Great knowing all is good with you and your family.

[DRKWNG]

Hi Chris, good hearing from you.  Great knowing all is good with you and your family.

+1   

[mitt]

here is a pretty good explanation

http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2011/03/fukushima_crisis_anatomy_of_a.html

[Triple J]

Consensus seems to be that a melt down happens when the fuel burns through containment and is exposed to the world at large.

Consensus of whom? A melt down is when some of the fuel melts. It doesn't have to burn through containment to be considered a melt down, and it all doesn't have to melt.

People always remember Chernobyl when they think about a meltdown, but that was an extreme worst case condition.

here is a pretty good explanation

http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2011/03/fukushima_crisis_anatomy_of_a.html

Good article 

[Triple J]

It seems as tough each new disaster is worse than the last. Maybe its due to media coverage, but clearly something is going on here. If that epicenter was 200miles south near Tokyo, what would be the damage and casualty? What if a 9.0 hit 2 miles off coast of San Fran? I have to say thanks that these events are not hitting the major cities or we could be looking at hundreds of thousands.

It only seems that way due to the media, combined with our increasingly centralized populations. Nature has always laid the smack down on us though. There is a ton of evidence of massive 9+ earthquakes in the geologic record.

You're correct on the potential for devastation. Wait until the next earthquake in Istanbul. It's coming soon, and it will be very ugly due to their very dense population and lax (and corrupt) building codes.

[erkishhorde]

That whirlpool still interests me. So I understand the natural whirlpools are created differently in nature than in your tub or toilet but it seems to me that they're normally created by a difference in current. I'm guessing that's not the case with this one? This one seems like more of a toilet whirlpool to me with a giant crack in the sea floor. How's that work? My geology is weak so maybe I don't understand this thing at all.

[Ddan]

That whirlpool still interests me. So I understand the water can't just disappear into thin air so it's gotta be a crack in the floor. But is it like a toilet that will stop eventually or is it like a tub and it's not gonna stop unless a big rock falls into it?

I don't think it's a hole in the floor, it's just a huge volume of water moving, causing a big eddy

[erkishhorde]

Oh, I get it now that I watch a different video of the whirlpool.
Uzumaki whirlpool Japan tsunami
All the things I read said that whirlpools usually appear in straights and so I got confused when it looked like it was happening right there in the open waters. Now I see that video before was just really zoomed in. The man-made harbor is channeling the tsunami flood water as it recedes which is causing the whirlpool because there's something on the ocean floor creating drag, yes?

[IZ]

10' wave spotted. :x

[bulldogs2k]

I hope people get enough food and water, I heart goes out to the victims and their families.