What Was Japan's Backup Plan?

Here's my question: would it be better for SE to power FFXI with that, or send their employees home to save gas and other resources/spend time with their families and maybe rout any generators into the power grid?

Yeah this is also what I was thinking, but forgot to post.

Even with generators, I would feel better to see them being donated to a better cause then being used for something that isn't "needed" at the moment.

Was thinking the same thing.

Would rather them use that energy to help the survivors and injured than play a game.

unless of course I can use my WHM to help =(

I'd like to point out that all nuclear reactors are built near large bodies of water (rivers, oceans, etc.) for a reason. Anyway, this thread is full of fail, starting with the OP.

/leave

There aren't generators big enough to keep a facility the size of SE operational for four straight days.

And it wouldn't matter anyway. NTT and other Tier I ISP's that SE connects to are also being asked to conserve power and prepare for rolling blackouts.

There's no point in keeping the servers up if they have no internet.

Touche on the no internet part, forgot all about that.

I was wondering about the possibility of docking a US Navy nuclear vessel and routing some of its power production to relief. Is there such a thing as "power ships" that serve as giant generators? If not why? I know that very very very few governments have the wallet and capability of making nuclear ships, and there's high risk involved in damage (intentional or otherwise) to ships nuclear in nature. But it seems like a sound idea on the surface.

That does sound pretty cool. I wonder how much power nuclear ships have to spare - if any, really. I wouldn't think that they would design the reactors too overpowered, because more weight requires more power, which creates more weight, more size, etc. BUT, I don't see what the issue would be with a ship designed for that reason.

On the other hand, I wonder about the amount of useful situations. This would only be useful in pretty developed countries with some sort of power infrastructure very near the coastline.

Whatever though, I think it's an awesome idea.

You could probably do this if the ship itself is designed for it, and the capability for hooking into the infrastructure is feasible. I know that they are capable of providing fresh water from their desalinization plants.

But keep in mind that hooking up a power source onto an electric grid (especially one that contains other sources, going on/off) isn't as simple as just plugging in an outlet.

Plus you have that entire 115/230VAC 50/60hz issue as well.

It could be a good idea but a "power ship" would be an easy target for terrorists. Moreover, each reactor has to be covered by a big concrete shape in case of explosion (cf Tchernobyl), you cant do that with a ship

this not big enough?



plus I would assume nobody intended them to run the whole place, just the servers.

As for the actual use of it would be ludicrous and the ISP thing is just a touche.

it would have to provide enough for the grid to take. I wonder how effective they have been at lowering the grid usage to the point their loss in input is balanced, since they're still having rolling blackouts, not very well it seems.

If you don't want to take that risk due to fear then the terrorists already have won. Plus this would be the U.S. Navy. I'm very doubtful a terrorist can get that close. Especially in Japan, it's not like it would be docked in the gulf of the middle-east (I'm aware of that incident). The Navy would most likely set up a grid around it of so many meters. Who can enter/can't or what vessels can come close. The Army/Marines/Navy/Airforce would probably be close to it.

Our battleships aren't that fragile.

Nuclear carriers have been hooked up to the power grid in San Diego to provide external power during wildfires in past years.

They could do this because the ships were designed for it, San Diego is a naval port with the correct hookups, the power standards and frequencies are all the same, etc.

There's probably just no place to hook such a thing up off the coast of Fukushima, which (for Japan) is really the middle of nowhere, nor the right docking area / plugs to do it.

At any rate, Japan is a pretty wealthy country with its own (well-funded) military. They have carriers they could use for this, if it were a possibility. No need to call in the Americans, yet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating_nuclear_power_station

Might have been old, yes, but not bad for doing what it did though, for being what? a gen 2 or 3 plant?

For what it could stand, I think Jaerik said it stood very well for what it had to deal with, plus whatever it had to compensate with.

Yeah I completely forgot that there is no worldwide voltage/frequency standard x.x
And yeah the US Navy already has pretty well tested ship based nuclear reactors, that isn't an issue. And aircraft carriers could serve just as well, since they are already protected like mad.
the reactors in the carriers produce 104MW each, so 208 MW total. Sizable, could defiantly help, if the hookups were there and compatible.

EDIT: Also Jaerik, the main reason I was wondering is because there already is a carrier there at this time, yeah? just figured might as well hook her up if there were the appropriate requirements met for the connections.

Yeah, the US sent over the USS Ronald Reagan to help, shortly after the earthquake / tsunami.

Problem is, while the intentions are very admirable, and Japan is expressing its appreciation at the gesture, the country has all the technical know-how and infrastructure to help their own people. In most cases, the US military provides all that because the effected countries are too poor or technologically inadequate to help themselves.

So from what I can tell, the carrier is simply standing by off shore, and helping Japan hand out rations and the like to effected civilians. Hillary Clinton and some others first reported that the US was providing "coolant" to the reactors, but given that the reactors are cooled with water, and there's no reason or method for a carrier to provide that anyway, it seems to have been incorrect.

Didn't stop the US media from pouncing all over it, though.

Yeah the support of the US is only in manpower, as Japan is fully capable of everything the US is.

I'm late I know, but for the love of God, people still spouting on about the incident at Chernobyl need to take a breath and get their thoughts, and facts, in order.

The plants themselves managed to withstand a quake 4 times greater than they were originally designed for. The back-up systems kicked in and have been doing so ever since. There have been problems, but hey, guess what, nuclear plants are designed with a principle known as Defense of Depth - in other words, you build the damn thing to withstand the worst thing you can imagine. You have to be slightly wrong in the head if you think that in the case of something so theoretically dangerous, these places don't have a Plan B, a Plan C, a Plan D and God knows however else. Seawater cooling is basically one of the many back-up plans, not a panic reaction.

After this quake, expect every single nuclear reactor in the country to be upgraded to the "withstand a 9.0 magnitude Earthquake and a giant bloody tsunami" level of safety.

If this disaster was as even remotely bad as Chernobyl, guess what, a lot more people would already be in a lot more ***than what's happening right now.

Chernobyl happened for a number of reasons, not limited to people not being evacuated, cost cutting measures and improper containment, and general incompetence on the part of the Soviets.

To put it a simple, more direct way - if these plants can survive not only one of the largest quakes in recorded history, but also a giant friggin' tsunami smashing into them pretty much straight afterward without an Apocolyptic Nightmare Scenario on your hands, I think it's pretty tough to justify any of the panic coming from the western Media.

These two links have been circlating for a while - I recommend people read them before spreading more misinformed panic.

http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/13/fukushima-simple-explanation/
http://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/03/13/some-perspective-on-the-japan-earthquake/

This what Japan is trying to deal with, by listenng to how other countries have dealt with their issues, i.e Chernobyl.

All other countries are doing their best to help, and everyone is doing their share to pitch in to help...

What would happen if Nabis was in charge:

Black lines = 700ft thick and 100ft high walls
Red squares = Floating cities

and now some volcano erupted in japan lmao
its the apocalypse in japan!

shinmoedake is the name of the volcano

Japan cant seem to get a brake. I dont find this funny at all.

I dont understand why the U.S. thinks they need to send all this help and money and stuff over anyway, Japan is one of the richest countries in the world, why not take that manpower money and time to help out our own people we have so many people that are jobless, homeless, and hungry why not invest some money into our own people build houses fix up the slums of the United States put more money into our school systems and stop closing them. We need to stop being so arrogant and stop thinking we are so much better than everyone and everyone needs our help and instead focus on bettering our country and our people.