"Hanging on by your fingernails" Prof. Michio Kaku on the nuclear disaster in Japan

[flamingdem]

+ HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 3 part interview with Dr. Kaku about the status of the plant in Fukushima - (Chilling):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtM1P3b37bw


http://bigthink.com/ideas/37705

--- snip

Act II was the enormous damage done to the cores of these three reactors. With the loss of cooling water, temperatures began to rise rapidly, causing the hydrogen gas explosions and fuel melting. We know that about 70% of Unit 1's core was damaged, and that 33% of Unit 2's core was also damaged. All computer simulations done by various laboratories all show the same thing—that we came perilously close to a full scale meltdown at all three reactors, including a spent fuel pond accident in Unit 4.

Against the wishes the utility, the Japanese government ordered flushing the entire reactors with seawater, which temporarily halted the accident from progressing to a full blown tragedy. This stabilized the accident, at present, from going into free fall (but reduced the three reactors to pieces of junk.) Meanwhile, radiation keeps flowing out of the reactors and into food, agricultural products, the oceans, the soil, etc. Now we are entering Act III. With the cores covered with seawater and fresh water, the workers are desperately trying to hit rock bottom, so they can begin recovery operations.

Unfortunately, we have not yet reached the bottom. Leaks of radiation are being found everywhere. The crucial thing is that the workers do not know precisely where this radiation is coming from. The primary suspect is that there is a direct contact between melted uranium (called "corium") and the cooling water, probably caused by a pipe break or, more ominously, a pressure vessel that has completely melted through.

[Teaser]

1. Kaku is outside his expertise here.

Why is he the go-to man on this? He is as much an expert on nuclear engineering as I am.

[franzia99]

3. What he's saying is consistent with what I've heard from a number of nuclear physicists online

So it sounds believable to me. What is Kahu's area of expertise btw?

[flamingdem]

5. He's a theoretical physicist, but also nuclear energy speaker/ educator nt

[Cronus Protagonist]

6. Kaku is a highly respected physicist

Unlike the previous poster, he is WAY more qualified to speak to this subject.

[flamingdem]

8. Who was that? - the previous poster here? nt

[Teaser]

9. "Teaser is a highly respected physicist"

Thank you!!!!

[franzia99]

13. Link to your credentials/profile?

[Teaser]

14. on here? No way dude.

I've said too many inflammatory things here. Way too fucking many.

I like my job, and my family depends on me keeping it. When I'm as old and tenured as Kaku, maybe.

And it's not relevant to the point anyway, which is that a string theorist is not a nuclear engineer.

Neither is an information theorist.

[flamingdem]

16. Please specify your disagreements with Kaku

That would be interesting, he's not an engineer.

[Cronus Protagonist]

17. Yeah

Instead of an ad hominem attack on the messenger, post an alternative solution, or address the issue at least.

[Teaser]

21. AAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGG.

I don't necessarily have any disagreements with Kaku, on the merits. He may well be right on a variety of issues. I have a disagreement with him positioning himself AS AN EXPERT on the matter because he is a SUPER SMART PHYSICIST.

It is a problem endemic to physicists, and it pisses off people in fields other than ours constantly. Theoretical physics is a great GENERAL education, and helps one to develop a problem solving skill set that is rivaled by few other fields. But it doesn't make us experts on everything. Like structural engineering, or materials science, or any of the array of disciplines it takes to understand the multi-mode cascade failure fuck that is Fukushima.

The cult of the universal physicist expert is a pernicious one, and I speak as someone who benefits from it in a variety of contexts.

[JDPriestly]

38. His opinions are valuable on the Fukushima plants because he

understands nuclear materials but does not rely on the nuclear industry for his living.

Most of us want to understand what is going on. We don't need a lot complicated gibberish even though that might be more accurate. His explanations are informative, and face it, he is right about one thing. This is uncharted territory. I honestly don't think that the Japanese owners of the reactors is telling the public all that it knows or maybe even the truth about what is going on. It would not surprise me if the owners and managers are pretty much focusing on the next step and just overwhelmed. They probably don't stop to think about what is going on. They are kind of suffering from shell shock, I should think. That leaves the public out here to imagine the very worst. So Kaku's calm and his general explanations are helpful to us lay people who will never understand what physicists understand about this.

[franzia99]

18. Can you give us your assessment of Fukushima?

Just letting you know I'll remain skeptical since I don't know anything about you. But, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. Can't hurt anything.

[Teaser]

23. Dude! That's my point. You don't want my assessment

and you don't want Kaku's.

You want to talk to some people who have built these plants.

I guarantee you they all agree it's massively fucked. But reading through this Kaku piece, there is nothing in it that hasn't been in the news reports. It's just digested and regurgitated.

[flamingdem]

24. You mean we should talk to Arnie Gundersen? He is pretty close to Kaku on his analysis nt

[Teaser]

25. I'm sure that Kaku

is spitting back pieces of Gundersen's analysis himself.

I'm not trying to slag Kaku's brains here. He's brilliant, even if I happen to think that string theory isn't worth the detritus it's printed on.

But I've watched Kaku wrangle interviews out of this, and I'm just not sure why he's getting so many of them and not someone like Gundersen.

Michio is a nice guy. And he's doing a good thing as a popularizer of science, I guess. I just question the deference he is shown in these matters.

[flamingdem]

28. Please not his longevity on this subject

but yes I think he's not 100% for instance he said bury it from day one and there was no way that was practical. But maybe he was right, and they missed their chance, things got more melted down as a result.

[girl gone mad]

31. A string theorist is essentially an advanced nuclear physicist.

String theorists are particle physicists. They study standard model nuclear physics in addition to studying all of the more exotic subatomic particles.

[Teaser]

12. Kaku is a pioneer in string field theory

and he may or may not be right about this stuff. But he's not especially qualified to talk about it.
There are others who know more, but he has taken to playing public intellectual lately. Bully for him, but it doesn't make him the best at it.

[flamingdem]

20. Not lately! He played the EXACT SAME ROLE during Three Mile Island!

You must be young, or you don't listen to Pacifica

[flamingdem]

22. 1980 article quoting Kaku at Three Mile Island commemoration (also Helen Caldicott)

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1980/3/31/three-mile-island-rally-attracts-2000/

More than 2000 persons gathered on Boston Common Saturday to commemorate the first anniversary of the accident at Three Mile Island nuclear plan outside Harrisburg, Pa.

Spokesmen for Mobilization for Survival, the organization that sponsored the rally, said they had gathered not to celebrate, but "to shut down every nuclear facility and nuclear weapons plant in this country."

Speakers at the demonstration included Helen Caldicott, physician at Children's Hospital and president of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Michio Kaku, associate professor of theoretical physics at the City College of New York; Rep. Mel King (D-South End); and several Japanese survivors of the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Boston rally coincided with almost 100 similar protests throughout the United States.

One year after the Three Mile Island accident, which Nuclear Regulatory Commission studies have confirmed could have caused a meltdown, another mishap could occur, Kaku said.

The nuclear physicist, who was the first to visit the power plant after the accident, said that 70 per cent of its reactor core has collapsed as a result of internal fusing, melting and splintering, and that six feet of debris is lying inside the reactor.

"It is very difficult to cool the core," Kaku said. "That's why we have fears of another meltdown."

Caldicott, recently returned from a nationally televised debate with plant officials in Harrisburg, discussed the medical implications of the accident.

[Teaser]

26. oh he's been around

but look at his public appearances lately. He's on just about every science or physics special out there these days, in addition to having his own mini-series.

I'm not going to go on, cause I don't want to slag him. He's a good guy, and always means well.

[flamingdem]

30. Did you know George Teller was his teacher? Mr. invent the bomb nt

[girl gone mad]

19. String theory and Quantum Field Theory (QFT).

To grasp these subjects as well as he does, you need to have a very deep understanding of particle physics, high energy physics and quantum mechanics. Additionally, his life quest has been to find a grand unified theory, which means he is well versed on all forces, including the nuclear forces. The physics of nuclear energy should be a piece of cake to him.

[Teaser]

29. "The physics of nuclear energy should be a piece of cake to him."

yep. But that's not the problem here. The problem is with the engineering and superstructure surrounding that physics. The physics is working as it always does. It's the various feedback systems, pumps, structures, and materials enclosing that physics that are not functioning.

[girl gone mad]

32. At the heart of this crisis is the potential for nuclear meltdown..

not the many structural and mechanical failures. No one would really be concerned about these plants if they weren't packed full of nuclear fuel.

It is most important to know how the fissile materials respond to various conditional changes, and there is a plethora of good modeling and experimental data available to that end. A physicist of Kaku's caliber knows how to interpret this data and do reasonable risk analysis from it.

[flamingdem]

+100 - the big picture

[flamingdem]

4. He's been speaking and writing on this issue for decades

Not to lump you in with others, but the first attack is always "what are their credentials". This in an industry full of lying and corruption in a situation full of double talk.

[girl gone mad]

11. He's done sifnificant theoretical work in subatomic physics..

in no way is he "outside his expertise".

[Confusious]

27. So if you do theoretical work in subatomic physics,

You're master of every discipline? Biology? computer science? horticulture? mechanical repair? underwater basket weaving?

Just curious what lies outside his "master of the Universe" status.

[girl gone mad]

33. What does this have to do with biology or computer science?

Someone said being a string theorist disqualifies him from giving expert opinion on nuclear physics. My point is that he's highly qualified to give opinions on nuclear physics because it's a subset of his academic knowledge.

[Confusious]

36. Nuclear engineering is not a subset of theoretical physics.

There's a big difference between knowing how something works and making it work.

Fusion is a case in point.

[franzia99]

2. Scary stuff. And to think this was so avoidable.

[flamingdem]

7. Is it Time to Appoint a Body of Top Scientists to Succeed the Fukushima Utility

http://bigthink.com/ideas/37782


On Kaku's blog there are interesting comments on this post

Given the fact that this international team of scientists and engineers have given us the clearest indication of the true extent of the damage, perhaps it is time for the Japanese government to remove the utility from leadership, treating them as consultants, and appointing a body of top scientists to succeed the utility.

This new international body would then be given access to the military in order to end the agony of this tragedy.

Thoughts?

[franzia99]

10. I completely agree. For starters, I don't think the utility has demonstrated competence.

Also, as we saw in the article on the faked safety reports, TEPCO will put their interests ahead of everyone else's. It really looks like TEPCO is trying to save face as much as possible in order to avoid even more PR damage and liability for what will be astronomical damage costs.

[flamingdem]

15. If you look at the list of owners of Tepco, it includes Japan's big banks, insurance!

The need is to get parties in there that don't have to save face and will that happen before it's too late?

There are consultants there but the corporate culture is toxic, and no doubt chaotic right now.. Let's hope the right people prevail.

[upi402]

34. "Journalists" on TV News lamented ruining the reactors

by flushing them with sea water.

Me be cow now? I go cow food ok?

Fecking Jayziz!!!!!!!!!

[Oceansaway]

35. K&R...n/t

[animato]

37. kick and rec

[flamingdem]

39. ..