Nuclear plant operators worked frantically to try to keep temperatures down in several reactors crippled by the earthquake and tsunami, wrecking at least two by dumping sea water into them in last-ditch efforts to avoid meltdowns. Officials warned of a second explosion but said it would not pose a health threat.
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Well, maybe not much of a health threat to them....... What's gonna happen when they do have a meltdown is that there will be a huge fucking mushroom cloud of steam - highly radioactive steam - shooting up into the atmosphere where it will be carried away from Japan straight to...... the western United States. According to all the data I've seen, it'll take about 6-8 days to reach us. Some of it will be dissipated into the ocean (opening a whole new can of worms) but I can double damn guarantee that we'll catch a shitload of it.
I caught a great article over at Sipsey Street Irregulars about what may happen plus a couple of great links.
So, if you want to see the jet streams and where the shit will hit go here:
http://www.stormsurfing.com/cgi/display_alt.cgi?a=npac_250
For real time radiation levels in several spots in the US, go here:
http://www.radiationnetwork.com/RadiationNetwork.htm
For the article at Sipsey Street Irregulars, go here:
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2011/03/praxis-if-reactors-blow-and-fallout.html
Oh, one more thing for you to think about - if you think I'm preaching doom & gloom, think again. They're using seawater to cool the systems, which is an absolute last resort because salt water is so fucking corrosive. So yeah, they're sweating it. So should we.
