Originally Posted by Torplexed (Post 1621865)

As if things weren't bad enough.

Japan's Mt. Fuji was rocked yesterday by a significant magnitude 6.2 earthquake, at a shallow 10km depth. This puts the quake around were likely the mid-crustal magma chamber would be.

The last eruption of Fuji in the 1700's followed a few months after by a magnitude 8.4 quake in a similar location to the recent 9.0 event.

The quake occurred along a transform fault zone that splits off from the subduction zone, and ends/intersects at the Mt. Fuji Magma Chamber.

At this point both USGS and EQECAT both are stating that it is unclear if this is related to potential volcanic activity or not. All webcorders for it are offline for now, so unable to determine if there are aftershocks, chugging, or any tremors.

Based on the historical eruption patterns, and that Mt. Fuji is at the apex of two transform faults, each that intersects with two separate subduction zones, does seem to hint there may be a small potential for volcanic activity.

Originally Posted by Dowly (Post 1621458)

I've heard the culture is pretty much so that everyone tries not to draw attention to themselves.

Originally Posted by DarkFish (Post 1622077)

*ahem* cosplay *ahem*
;)

Originally Posted by ASWnut101 (Post 1621518)

Well first, the reactor is normally full of water and steam under very high pressures (around 950-1000 psi). Trying to drop large amounts of any loose material would be very difficult due to the pressure differential, and the fact that liquid water is flowing upwards through the core would mean little "dirt" would actually reach the core and stay there.

Second, BWRs have a steam dryer directly above the reactor core. This is the primary reason why the control rods are inserted from the bottom, as there's a bunch of crap blocking insertion from above. It would also have the effect of blocking any safety material dropped from the top.


The reactor is flooded with neutron absorbing materials in emergency situations. A boric acid solution, to be specific. Doesn't change the fact that there's upwards of 10 Megawatts of heat inside the pressure vessel not caused by fission between fuel elements. The reactor was built with all of the failsafes and safety systems shared by other third-generation BWRs.


Because the fission is completely stopped by the control rods alone. A full scram of the reactor will stop fission. If all of the rods are not raised, the boric acid injection system will start.

The remaining decay heat comes from fission processes within the fuel elements themselves, and is impossible to just stop. You can prevent the elements from interacting with each other, but the rest is all internal.

Originally Posted by the_tyrant (Post 1622110)

over there everybody does cosplay!:D

Originally Posted by HunterICX (Post 1622250)

I saw on the news today that more Japanese firemen are heading towards the plant to try to cool it however they can...

Originally Posted by Catfish (Post 1622626)

By the BBC:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ll-people.html

Nothing to add.


P.S. Our co-worker is safe in Tokyo we are told.