tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post2362369592231489317..comments2023-11-03T03:17:27.053-05:00Comments on NPR Check: Q TipsMytwordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04307620268159811668noreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-83416665141842777672011-03-14T14:13:12.325-05:002011-03-14T14:13:12.325-05:00geoff, thanks for your concern. Indeed,I managed t...geoff, thanks for your concern. Indeed,I managed to dodge that particular NPR sewage treatment. I seem to be coping well with my 460-step (or whatever it takes) withdrawal program from NPRadiation.<br /><br />Informed, thanks for the helpful background. Like many situations today, the direness is downplayed to keep the public passive.<br /><br />The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has always been a sane source for info. (Great black humor cartoons, too.)<br /><br />http://www.thebulletin.org/<br /><br />6 minutes to midnight...Porter Melmothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473990960543501439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-62629470758166546302011-03-14T12:25:50.106-05:002011-03-14T12:25:50.106-05:00Injecting emergency coolant and venting steam is a...Injecting emergency coolant and venting steam is a VERY inefficient way to cool a reactor. Reactor Coolant (circulating) Pumps are ENORMOUS machines of technological achievement, and if they are unable to run and CIRCULATE coolant, AND the turbines are unable to spin, AND the condensers are unable to condense exhaust steam AND the feedwater pumps can't circulate that condensate, we are in serious trouble if decay heat can't be dealt with.<br /><br />What we basically have is a machine designed to generate as much heat as possible, and now the parts that normally direct and remove that heat are all out of commission - Pumps, Turbines, Condensers. Even though the emergency shutdown occurred (SCRAMs), "decay" heat is still being generated due to reaction from fission fragments. Decay heat is a small fraction of the heat that is generated from 100% power, but when you are talking about hundreds of megawatts, even a small fraction of that in the form od decay heat is enough to cause "meltdown" if heat can't be controlled. Decay heat is generated for many hours after shutdown.<br /><br />Any reactor that was running at the time of the quake may be in exactly the same boat, and supposedly 11 of Japan's 55 reactors had scrammed.informedveterannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-16999584207761913572011-03-14T11:09:04.419-05:002011-03-14T11:09:04.419-05:00I hope Port wasn't listening to ME Saturday wh...I hope Port wasn't listening to ME Saturday when Wertheimer was channeling the Simonizer. That was some excruciating excrement.geoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04300772545812600392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-29301624831763909332011-03-14T08:16:38.161-05:002011-03-14T08:16:38.161-05:00Fukushima: Japanese for Deep Horizon Louisianna?
...Fukushima: Japanese for Deep Horizon Louisianna?<br /><br />edkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-83801515127081680742011-03-13T21:21:46.414-05:002011-03-13T21:21:46.414-05:00Pretty good summary of the cascading nuclear "...<a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/03/13/134516475/primer-japans-nuclear-crisis" rel="nofollow">Pretty good summary</a> of the cascading nuclear "problems" so far except for a few things. I can say one thing for sure, charging seawater into the reactor coolant is the very last page of the when-s#@t-hits-the-fan manual. It is intensely caustic at low pressure and temperature, let alone hundreds of degrees and thousands of psi. There is little known what will happen because this may have never been done before.<br /><br />That being said, at Chernobyl a 2000 Ton lid blew off the reactor vessel and you could look directly into the glowing reactor core from a helicopter (I'm sure its on utube). Graphite moderator blocks then were ejected in a second explosion and there was fire involved. That was a VERY different design than what was used in Japan. It is very misleading for NPR to use the word Chernobyl when describing what could happen. Three Mile Island Unit 2 was a PWR (pressurized water reactor - water cooled and water moderated) which is a much closer comparison to what is happening in Japan which are BWRs - (boiling water reactors).<br /><br />Moderated means that water is used to slow the neutrons down enough to react with the fuel rods - to make them "thermal neutrons" in Navyspeak.informedveterannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-50280150009049118612011-03-12T19:38:33.778-06:002011-03-12T19:38:33.778-06:00What strikes me about this all is the complete and...What strikes me about this all is the complete and easy caving by S-4-0 staff over l'Affaire o'keefe. Now that the video is proven to have been altered to reflect S-4-0 in a particularly bad light, it would seem obvious that the staff should attack the perpetrator, the mgt. But these people are both cowardly and stupid, and only react to 'calm the waters' when the boat gets rocked. They are very much part of the stupid and lazy class that includes nearly all federal politicians and Department Secretaries. 'The right thing' gets done only if it happens to be the path of least resistance. Why is o'lkeefe allowed to do this stuff? It seems that the tapes were edited to reflect negatively on schiller, does that not meet the standard of Libel? O'keefe has been caught in a criminal conspiracy regarding Senator Mary Landrieu, yet he's out on the street slandering people. Kevin Mitnick was imprisoned for years, and forbidden to go anywhere near a computer, for stealing, and then returning someone's e-mails. Yet o'keefe is free and free to slander and impugn. With the ACORN Affair, I even heard some S-4-0 folks praising o'keefe for his bravery and vision.larry, dfhnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-52088755138693727802011-03-12T15:53:40.104-06:002011-03-12T15:53:40.104-06:00Would that NPR had reporters of calibre of Sea She...Would that NPR had reporters of calibre of <a href="http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-110312-1.html" rel="nofollow">Sea Shepherd Guardians</a>.gDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-25232102017450176982011-03-12T13:42:58.827-06:002011-03-12T13:42:58.827-06:00This is a pretty telling article about the politic...This is a pretty telling article about the political donations the new NPR CEO made to Democratic candidates between 1999 and 2002. <br /><br />From OpenSecrets.org: http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/03/ceo-3-10-2011.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-71096538668921813762011-03-12T12:41:32.339-06:002011-03-12T12:41:32.339-06:00The NPR comments sections seem to be keeping up. I...The NPR comments sections seem to be keeping up. I've been following these:<br /><br />at-crippled-japanese-nuclear-plant-last-ditch-effort-to-prevent-meltdown<br /><br />explosion-at-japanese-nuclear-plant-not-nuclear-no-meltdown<br /><br />shaking-smoke-at-japanese-nuclear-plant<br /><br /><br />Apparently this reactor is a little different than the ones I worked with (and at sea you just dump your radioactive water into the ocean).<br /><br />The building that blew up might have just been a weather covering type of thing and there probably are 2 intact containment structures around the RX vessel.informedveterannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-14949523805915192372011-03-12T11:59:38.485-06:002011-03-12T11:59:38.485-06:00Informed, Where do you think we little people can ...Informed, Where do you think we little people can get reliable reporting on this?gDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-40690744768836233102011-03-12T11:43:51.748-06:002011-03-12T11:43:51.748-06:00Fukushima is FAR beyond the TMI accident now.
Sup...Fukushima is FAR beyond the TMI accident now.<br /><br />Supposedly they are injecting seawater which means all bets are off. Forget saving the core, they are just trying to halt the meltdown.informedveterannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-30113484369251490502011-03-12T09:49:38.996-06:002011-03-12T09:49:38.996-06:00Regarding the Media Matters article conservatives ...Regarding the Media Matters article conservatives praising NPR's "fairness": Of course they think its fair when NPR constantly caters to their positions. <br /><br />The comments made me mostly face palm. What can one say to people who hear words but never apply any kind of thinking towards what those words really mean. Or question their veracity and recognise when Blob Siegel has gotten out his supersize BS shovel.Patrick Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12398291623086774963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-36588257684903768512011-03-12T09:34:35.151-06:002011-03-12T09:34:35.151-06:00Reactor containment building explosion in Japan. I...Reactor containment building explosion in Japan. If I remember correctly an extremely high gamma radiation flux causes the water to separate into hydrogen and oxygen. This could be the cause of the explosion. <br /><br />The containment building comprises a significant amount of the shielding necessary to slow down the "zoomies" like neutrons that naturally escape during normal operation. Now the reactor vessel and primary piping are just flapping in the breeze.<br /><br />Keep in mind that the containment buildings at Three Mile Island are 3 feet thick made from reinforced concrete.<br /><br />I don't know how many "reporters" in our wonderful news media are able to translate what is happening there so I will try to keep you all posted.informedveterannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-32223790033270816402011-03-12T06:06:10.291-06:002011-03-12T06:06:10.291-06:00Oleaginous panderer to the right Scott Simon knows...Oleaginous panderer to the right Scott Simon knows instinctively how to behave in a crisis: <a href="http://twitter.com/nprscottsimon/status/46000156230946816" rel="nofollow">sanctimoniously attack</a> your own organization's execs rather than the right-wing guttersnipes who are targeting it for destruction.a.m.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-34484660471402774402011-03-11T20:20:55.427-06:002011-03-11T20:20:55.427-06:00media matters has a piece on conservatives defendi...media matters has a piece on conservatives defending NPrrr<br /><br />http://mediamatters.org/research/201103110037Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-37480871050744597172011-03-11T18:42:27.075-06:002011-03-11T18:42:27.075-06:00Miranda, looks like we'll have to get our insi...Miranda, looks like we'll have to get our inside stuff about NPR from Glenn Beck now.<br /><br />On second thought, I think I'll stick with Wonkette.<br /><br />In any case, my latest blitz of tolerating NPR is concluded. I'm feeling too damaged/violated, yet again.<br /><br />Condolences to Japan...Porter Melmothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473990960543501439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-87035113887971656432011-03-11T17:48:46.456-06:002011-03-11T17:48:46.456-06:00So it's APM, but tonight I wanted to note for ...So it's APM, but tonight I wanted to note for y'all Marketplace's litany, "Let's do the numbers": "The earthquake didn't rattle the investors."<br /><br />That's a relief for NPR listeners.JayVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02892272648798100594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-58471019080745945162011-03-11T16:10:38.056-06:002011-03-11T16:10:38.056-06:00They Brought a Tote Bag to a Knife Fight: The Resi...<a href="http://pressthink.org/2011/03/they-brought-a-tote-bag-to-a-knife-fight-the-resignation-of-nprs-ceo-vivian-schiller/" rel="nofollow">They Brought a Tote Bag to a Knife Fight: The Resignation of NPR’s CEO, Vivian Schiller.</a> by Jay Rosen, at Jay Rosen’s Press Think:<br /><br />“To give in to that panic is to cooperate in your own demise. Which is exactly what the NPR board did by demanding that Schiller–a visionary leader who knew where NPR had to go in the digital age–resign immediately, and without a fight. This was a stupid and cowardly act, . . .”<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/schillers_resignation_weakens.php?page=all" rel="nofollow">NPR Flubs Response to Schiller Controversy: Another “scandal,” another rash reaction </a>by Joel Meares at the Columbia Journalism Review<br /><br />“It’s to NPR’s discredit that they took O’Keefe’s bait. Even the least cynical of scandal-watchers would struggle to believe that the NPR board is surprised by the sentiments Ron Schiller expressed. It’s not as if he came out in favor of infanticide, or expressed a lifelong admiration of Pol Pot. He offered the same lazy liberal nostrums common at Washington cocktail parties and presumably very familiar to NPR staffers at all levels.”GRUMPY DEMOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14076837066633851919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-54476590715493234832011-03-11T15:39:29.569-06:002011-03-11T15:39:29.569-06:00From FAIR: "Stinging NPR: James O'Keefe&#...From FAIR: "Stinging NPR: James O'Keefe's Big Nothing"<br /><br />http://www.fair.org/blog/2011/03/11/stinging-npr-james-okeefes-big-nothing/JayVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02892272648798100594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-32670727113473503662011-03-11T15:16:31.266-06:002011-03-11T15:16:31.266-06:00More news from the Bizarro World: Obama says the P...More news from the Bizarro World: Obama says the Pentagon says the Pentagon's treatment of Bradley Manning is just fine; and Wonkette reports that the Glenn Beck (!!!) website exposes the heavy editing of the O'Keefe NPR takedown video. http://bit.ly/hzJBncMirandanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-41936050355418928142011-03-11T13:38:57.220-06:002011-03-11T13:38:57.220-06:00My God, the images...
(BBC, Al Jaz, DN!)My God, the images...<br /><br />(BBC, Al Jaz, DN!)Porter Melmothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473990960543501439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-49940948912721209062011-03-11T13:23:37.866-06:002011-03-11T13:23:37.866-06:00On the USS Enterprise we had an emergency core coo...On the USS Enterprise we had an emergency core cooling system in our reactor plants. I'm sure all reactors have them, and their design varies. Supposedly some are even gravity operated.<br /><br />As for Japan, if you start seeing news reports of "primary relief" or "primary relief valve lifted", put your seatbelt on.<br /><br />I don't know if Japan "scrammed" or not. A reactor scram is an emergency shutdown where the hafnium control rods are quickly injected all the way in to absorb thermal neutrons. If I remember correctly (its been awhile) there are still reactions from fission products for a while after that, that generate heat. <br /><br />You can't "quickly" cool a reactor down though. They have very specific heat up and cool down charts to prevent brittle fracture.<br /><br />Clean, Safe, Too Cheap To Meterinformedveterannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-15151397457173943212011-03-11T13:10:50.334-06:002011-03-11T13:10:50.334-06:00I know I've been overdoing the play-by-play of...I know I've been overdoing the play-by-play of National (Whatever) Radio lately, but this morn I've finally got a good excuse to back off.<br /><br />After sketchy coverage of the Japan quake/tsunami that led the hour (regional location/epicenter weren't even mentioned - granted, maybe not known yet), always in-command Ari indulged in a gosh-gee-golly wonder session about the Reagan assassination attempt. I know that it's one of NPR's missions to keep the Reagan Cult of Personality alive and worshiped (there's a significant number of people in Russia who want Stalin back), but the incongruity was unacceptable. As Ari drooled with excitement over the President's 'still beating' heart being moved aside to get the bullet out, the death numbers in Japan were multiplying, maybe exponentially.<br /><br />This is what I can't stand about NPR choosing to mix hard, breaking news with fluffball features. I know it shows their token 'diversity' as America's Storyteller, but it makes for vulgar broadcasting.<br /><br />But our Leader and Teacher Reagan is bigger than any old tsunami - never forget that. And his gentle, folksy humor is just too wonderful and inspiring. Crabby old Mark Twain, eat your heart out!<br /><br />Magazine shows are all about ratings though, and since NPR is unabashedly commercial, that's the only route to take.<br /><br />Then Renaay was concerned about the Latino explosion in California. She was speaking for scared white folks, who are the core of NPR listenership. Juan Williams had one thing right: NPR is a white bread outfit.<br /><br />Quite frankly, I don't know any person of color who would even think of turning to NPR for anything, let alone the news. Through the years I've casually referred to NPR in conversations, and I've gotten blank looks. No scientific think-tanky study this, just an observation.<br /><br />If NPR speaks mostly to white folks, fine. That's their choice. But it's not particularly 'public' and it's not worthy of fed money. It's basically a special interest operation.Porter Melmothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473990960543501439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-8204270484673528342011-03-11T10:44:37.446-06:002011-03-11T10:44:37.446-06:00The only reporting on Nuke plants in Japan is on t...The only reporting on Nuke plants in Japan is on the "Two Way," whatever the hell that is, which reports that <br /><br><i>... The International Atomic Energy Agency has offered support to Japan and says four nuclear plants closest to the quake have safely shut down. ..</i><br /><br>But the Beeb is reporting thusly:<br /><br><i>Dr Richard Phillips from the University of Leeds said that a reactor has to be rapidly cooled when it is automatically switched off.<br /><br />"One power station failed to cool sufficiently but the stations are robust and there is no expectation that any leaks will occur," he explained.</i>gDoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04301694571913815244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27644679.post-25373930365611923772011-03-11T08:31:34.036-06:002011-03-11T08:31:34.036-06:00Good stuff from around the web about NPR's cow...Good stuff from around the web about NPR's cowardice:<br /><br /><a href="http://pressthink.org/2011/03/they-brought-a-tote-bag-to-a-knife-fight-the-resignation-of-nprs-ceo-vivian-schiller/" rel="nofollow">They Brought a Tote Bag to a Knife Fight: The Resignation of NPR’s CEO, Vivian Schiller.</a> by Jay Rosen, at Jay Rosen’s Press Think:<br /><br />“To give in to that panic is to cooperate in your own demise. Which is exactly what the NPR board did by demanding that Schiller–a visionary leader who knew where NPR had to go in the digital age–resign immediately, and without a fight. This was a stupid and cowardly act, . . .”<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/schillers_resignation_weakens.php?page=all" rel="nofollow">NPR Flubs Response to Schiller Controversy: Another “scandal,” another rash reaction </a>by Joel Meares at the Columbia Journalism Review<br /><br />“It’s to NPR’s discredit that they took O’Keefe’s bait. Even the least cynical of scandal-watchers would struggle to believe that the NPR board is surprised by the sentiments Ron Schiller expressed. It’s not as if he came out in favor of infanticide, or expressed a lifelong admiration of Pol Pot. He offered the same lazy liberal nostrums common at Washington cocktail parties and presumably very familiar to NPR staffers at all levels.”GRUMPY DEMOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14076837066633851919noreply@blogger.com