Published: August 23rd, 2011 at 10:16 pm ET
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Diane Sawyer interviews Michio Kaku, ABC News, August 23, 2011:
Transcript Summary
Sawyer: [...] When you have to go to the backup to the backup that doesn’t sound good.
Michio Kaku, Physicist: Not good at all. We just dodged a bullet on this one. There are 4 backup pumps, one of them is out… if all four go out then you are on the road to a full scale meltdown [...]
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFa48FPY0hw
Published: August 23rd, 2011 at 10:16 pm ET
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any word from dc area residents on evacuations taking place?
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yes, it was all precautionary. My friends down in DC say there wasn’t much damage–just shocking to have a real earthquake with no warning. They also said when they went to pick up their pets, they were told that all the dogs at the kennel became very still and just lay down on the ground during the quake, not before?… Does that correspond to the advanced sensory ability that animals have?…
Is that what pets do out West before this degree of quake? I’m surprised that the US Geological Service had no advance notice??.. More questions than answers!
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Didn’t they have a 3.+ about 6 years ago in D. C. ?
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Police officers on horseback in NY said that about 5 minutes before the quake their mounts began to act very nervous and skittish.
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Just more proof that nuclear sucks big time……
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I’m hearing from shocked friends all over VA–evacuated, foundation damage…There is footage in the towns near the epicenter and store aisles were wrecked with broken items. The quake was about as close as you can get to the high security nuclear plant.(!) Also, the VA locals have been hounding officials for answers on North Anna! My first thought, NORTH ANNA!
It’s a huge lucky break that a 5.8 magnitude quake was not strong enough to exceed the stated maximum capacity (5.9-6.1) of that construction. By one tenth…
Talk about flying by a wing & a prayer!~
Now if they can withstand this hurricane…
They are on high alert now, but fortunately, the plant is pretty far inland. We won’t be dumping in the Atlantic, anyway!
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More mis info. Generator failed not the pump. This is national news that cant even get the story straight. Diesels are back up number one. Batterys would be the back up’s back up. No word of the plant using batterys. I believe a generator will arrive at this plant by the end of tomorrow for replacement of the lone failed unit, that we are aware of. If not that is unacceptable. A 1300mw reactor can be cooled by a lone pump if below full power. Suspecting the coolant Pump hopefully is in working order just not recieving power from the faulty diesel generator. Each reactor has two generators. One reactor is currently only running one generator only. Should provide enough power to cool the unit.
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You are correct… Thanks.
Additional info can be seen here:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CDkQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nrc.gov%2Freactors%2Foperating%2Flicensing%2Frenewal%2Fapplications%2Fnorthanna-surry%2Fna_lra.pdf&rct=j&q=north%20anna%20nuclear%20plant%20cooling%20pumps&ei=8WNUTuT4NYLt0gGzs8StAg&usg=AFQjCNEgxlolp7SnrbtFGAByYnxTRguo-g&cad=rja
It is an 8.1 meg PDF file. Sorry about the long URL.
Each reactor has three cooling pumps, and there is also an auxiliary feedwater pump house with a turbine driven pump.
I am concerned that there is only one diesel capable of supplying power to one of the reactors at the moment, especially with a hurricane on the way.
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so, what are the odds? Thanks for the technical appraisal. North Anna is just spooky. Ever since a local told me not to go near it…he looked scared and that was a while back!
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Diesels have enough fuel to run continously for 3 days. Batterys minimum of 4 hours. Assuming off site power is restored before all that the reactor can be brought down to a manageable temp(significantly reduced threat of meltdown) within 6-8 days along as circulatory loops and all pumps are in working order. They need off site power..Not sure how fast irene is moving..but plants inland a good ways. I feel this one is actually under control until Irene comes. Hopefully they get some more diesel in the mean time.
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This is not the first miss info Kaku has been caught in. He should read ENENEWS.
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You caught that right…I was thinking the same thing. I am surprised that he made that mistake even though he is a theoretical physicist and not an nuclear engineer. Great showman though as we all know who have followed his career over the years.
He was much better explaining the difference in East coast quakes versus West coast tectonic movement. His error about backup pumps and nuclear diesel generators shows he is losing it a bit. *;-)
I liked his Chernobyl option suggestion in the early days of the crisis. He is a man after my own heart in that regards for the early weeks although they have waited too long.
Other more drastic measures will have to be brought out for discussion as the situation next month may make everything so far look pretty minor.
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Nuclear power is just rolling dice…
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Could anyone tell me what animals do prior or during a big quake in CA or Japan?
–being oddly totally quiet and still was the reaction when it happened here. Just checking!..
(their first quake
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The earthquake in China, 2008, I saw a photo of hundreds of frogs crossing or congregating on a road.
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Can Animals Sense Earthquakes?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/11/1111_031111_earthquakeanimals.html
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Did toads predict the earthquake?
http://observers.france24.com/content/20080513-toads-predict-earthquake-dead-china
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I grew up in Cali, and our pets always got really crazy right before a quake. They would just be wired and climbing the walls. We had cats though, so maybe dogs are different.
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Well, I was just trying to compare accounts…
The pet owner here was told that her dogs and dozens of others at the kennel in NoVa did not get excited. Instead, they just became very quiet and lay down, frozen-like, in mass unison!
Pretty unusual!!
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3rd earthquake in Virginia, epicenters extremely close (USGS):
MAP 4.2 2011/08/24 00:04:37 37.912 -77.951 7.9 VIRGINIA
2 earlier ones:
MAP 2.8 2011/08/23 18:46:50 37.931 -77.935 0.1 VIRGINIA
MAP 5.8 2011/08/23 17:51:05 37.936 -77.933 6.0 VIRGINIA
Geocode for North Anna Nuclear Power Plant: Latitude: 38.0608333 – Longitude: -77.7911111.
http://www.satelliteviews.net/cgi-bin/g.cgi?fid=1491207&state=VA&ftype=locale
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The last 4.2 quake was 13.47 mi from the North Anna Nuclear Power Plant;
The middle 2.8 quake was 11.91 miles and the first 5.8 quake was 11.58 miles from this plant.
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The middle quake was .06 miles deep.
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That one is the 4th.
The first two aftershocks were measured to be less than one mile underground. Just 45 minutes after the initial quake, a magnitude 2.8 aftershock occurred around 2:45 p.m., about 45 miles south of Mineral. The second aftershock occurred around 3:20 p.m. with a magnitude of 2.2.
Hours after the initial quake, an aftershock measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale struck the region of Mineral, Virginia, according to the United States
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has confirmed …
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/202847/20110823/virginia-earthquake-2011-4-2-magnitude-aftershock-richter-scale-usgs.htm
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Thanks, I was using USGS. They didn’t list the 2.2 quake. USGS only lists a tenth of the world’s earthquakes.
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I don’t see that 4.2 quake in Virginia on USGS this morning.
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Here was my link, I don’t know why I don’t see it in the index:
Magnitude4.2 Date-Time
• Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 00:04:36 UTC
• Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 08:04:36 PM at epicenter
• Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location37.912°N, 77.951°W Depth7.9 km (4.9 miles) RegionVIRGINIA Distances
• 11 km (7 miles) SSW (199°) from Mineral, VA
• 13 km (8 miles) SSE (160°) from Louisa, VA
• 26 km (16 miles) NE (46°) from Columbia, VA
• 60 km (37 miles) NW (314°) from Richmond, VA
• 138 km (86 miles) SW (217°) from Washington, DC
Location Uncertaintyhorizontal +/- 1.9 km (1.2 miles); depth +/- 2.4 km (1.5 miles)
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/se082411b.php
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Here is the index, 5:50 a.m. Aug 24 MDT
MAP 5.0 2011/08/23 19:53:30 -21.740 -176.850 198.6 FIJI REGION
MAP 5.2 2011/08/23 19:29:53 -5.880 147.476 30.8 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 4.8 2011/08/23 19:01:51 1.234 120.497 44.9 MINAHASA, SULAWESI, INDONESIA
MAP 2.8 2011/08/23 18:46:50 37.931 -77.935 0.1 VIRGINIA
MAP 5.8 2011/08/23 17:51:05 37.936 -77.933 6.0 VIRGINIA
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php
I have to work today.
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With the depth varying from .1 to 7.9 km, it makes me think there is an awful lot happening down there, especially for a “inactive fault”.
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I think it’s a good idea that we are all listening carefully and thinking about what the media and NRC is throwing out as information. Guess we all learned the hard way from TEPCO and the Japanesse goverment.
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Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
Albert Einstein
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Mounted police horses were reported agitated prior to this quake. Animals are much more “in tune” than we are and exhibit aberrant behavior prior to quakes. Although we’ve had many quakes in CA over the years, I’ve only observed one of my dogs just before a quake. She paced, then stopped and went on alert about the same time I felt it.
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The quake earlier here off Fl. I felt the deep vibration in the earth while laying on the couch watching TV, I think animals can feel it when it is much less vibration when happening that we do not feel !
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… earlier this year …
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we had a quake here earlier this year?
where was I, asleep? I don’t remember that?
You are on the coast, lucky you ! I’m stuck over here in the middle of nowhere and no Atlantic to go walk along and look for shells.
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