UK Next...? Tsunami Threat & Nuclear Reactor Meltdown

For many years, I have been advising anyone who will listen of the inherent dangers and risks from tsunamis by situating nuclear power stations along the Severn estuary in the UK.

Please read this. It describes what would happen in such an event. An apocalyptic catastrophe that would be of a potentially similar magnitude to what we are witnessing in Japan.

The wave would ... destroy the core at the nuclear power station at Oldbury.

What Would Happen If A Tsunami Hit The Severn Estuary?

In 1607, a devestating tsunami triggered by an underwater landslide between the underwater ridge between Ireland and Cornwall, or triggered by the fault zone south of Ireland created a tsunami over 30 feet in height that killed several thousand and inundated the coast as much as 12 miles inland.

The following videos were broadcast on the BBC. I urge you to watch them. The geologists researching this found evidence of several significant tsunami waves, and storm surges, along the channel through history.

To lift the boulders, they calcuate it would have taken a wave over 20 metres high. Over 60 feet.

Yet the very idea of a tsunami laying waste to the Bristol channel goes against every assumption we have about Britain being geologically safe. The widely held view is that storms batter us all the time but that tsunamis never come anywhere near Britain. But in fact, they do. 7000 years ago, the entire east coast of Scotland was battered by a mega tsunami. It was triggered by a gigantic landslide off Norway. On an area of the continental shelf called Storega billions of tons of sediment plunged from the shallows into the deep. The scar of the landslide is still visible in sonar surveys and from this evidence Norwegian scientists have calculated the size of the tsunami created by Storega. The wave that hit Scotland 7000 years ago was 70 ft high!

I have said for many years that the inherent risks of situating nuclear power stations so close to geologically active fault zones or low lying coastal areas far outweigh the benefits. Now we see the stupidity of these decisions being proven in Japan.

There are two active nuclear power stations along the Severn. Hinkley Point and Oldbury. And they are commissioning new reactors at BOTH these sites. Would these two power stations withstand a 20-60ft wave?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/991f5e864a56.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/781f4fe5e163.jpg[/atsimg]

So, we have evidence of tsunamis, and we have evidence of freak storm surges. Not just one risk, but two! It might not happen again for another 400 years. But then, it might happen tomorrow. Point is, we just don't know. So why are we taking the risk?

Your thoughts and comments on this are welcome.

Close every [snip] nuclear plant all over earth. There's other ways to produce power like: with waves, wind and solar power. Choose one of them instead.

reply to post by the.lights


Thanks for the history lesson.....I honestly did'nt know England has a Tsunami in the past.

I think all populations now should seriously consider ridding their nations of nuclear power stations.

I didn't know the UK had a tsunami in the past either ....

I have heard if we were to flood in the UK anything below Luton would drown.

Never really thought about the pollution from the nuclear plants until this Japan quake.

Originally posted by bluemirage5
reply to post by the.lights

 

Thanks for the history lesson.....I honestly did'nt know England has a Tsunami in the past.

I think all populations now should seriously consider ridding their nations of nuclear power stations.

In light of the current catastrophe, ridding the planet of nuclear power is the only answer.

Originally posted by Lucifer84
I have heard if we were to flood in the UK anything below Luton would drown.

Never really thought about the pollution from the nuclear plants until this Japan quake.

Wow
Were did you hear that? I'm in Luton!

I personally think after whats just hapened in Japan that we are stupid not to stop straight away, turn off and deconstruct these stations and go back to the old way of doing things until new and safer ways have been fully explored. If this means power outs and shortages for a while then so be it, im sure we'd all rather a few years of hit n miss electric to keep our beautiful island the way it is and not a re-run of japan. Nuclear energy is wrong and the sooner the planet wakes up to it the better, we are running with technology we have no control over and dont fully understand how to harness properly and control yet,it seems we are about 10-20 years behind in knowledge of the technology we are currently using. Alot more needs to be invested into solar / hydro / wind and all other alternative energys.

reply to post by the.lights


hi, i'm in the uk... don't have time to watch your vids right now, but will later, thx

hope you don't mind if i add a link showing the uk's reactors, for those who don't know of them...

www.insc.anl.gov...

as a side-note - couple of years ago my boyfriend & i found loads of seashell fossils high up in the derbyshire countryside (approx 100 miles inland)... looking at the density & state of the shell fragments & the deposit they were in, clearly an extremely violent pertubation had carried them there

Originally posted by chaztekno
I personally think after whats just hapened in Japan that we are stupid not to stop straight away, turn off and deconstruct these stations and go back to the old way of doing things until new and safer ways have been fully explored. If this means power outs and shortages for a while then so be it, im sure we'd all rather a few years of hit n miss electric to keep our beautiful island the way it is and not a re-run of japan. Nuclear energy is wrong and the sooner the planet wakes up to it the better, we are running with technology we have no control over and dont fully understand how to harness properly and control yet,it seems we are about 10-20 years behind in knowledge of the technology we are currently using. Alot more needs to be invested into solar / hydro / wind and all other alternative energys.

You are absolutely right. We are playing a high stakes game of russian roulette with nuclear power and right now our luck just ran out in Japan. I, for one, would be prepared to take the hit of a few cold nights, limited power and shortages rather than the possible destruction of my whole way of life and potentially deadly health risks.

I live around 17-20 miles from Hinkley Point and am aware of it as a potentially high risk danger in my life. Believe me, should anything similar happen here I will be out of the area immediately.

Originally posted by pattonisit
reply to post by the.lights

 

hi, i'm in the uk... don't have time to watch your vids right now, but will later, thx

hope you don't mind if i add a link showing the uk's reactors, for those who don't know of them...

www.insc.anl.gov...

as a side-note - couple of years ago my boyfriend & i found loads of seashell fossils high up in the derbyshire countryside (approx 100 miles inland)... looking at the density & state of the shell fragments & the deposit they were in, clearly an extremely violent pertubation had carried them there

Thanks for your post. That is incredible. It would be very interesting to get a geologists input on this.

reply to post by the.lights


yea, we also found lots of crystalline chunks there too... some even looked like the sort of stuff found in new age shops... we came away with a car full of rocks & fossils

that said - brian cox was on tv while i was at my bf's the other night, commenting on the composition of the himalayas... limestone (marine organisms & calcite) & that sea fossils has been found up there too... this is what reminded me of what we'd found in derbyshire

Apparently many UK commentators online have been saying how fortunate we are that we don't live in such a geologically active region as Japan. Whilst that may be partially true, The Times has been reminding them of the 1607 tsunami and of the one that hit Cornwall after the Lisbon quake in the 1700's.

I feel Sarkosi and Cameron owe the people of France and Britain, and by default the rest of Europe, an explanation as to why we have nuclear power plants located in low-lying coastal waters with a history of tsunami and storm surge activity.

Originally posted by pattonisit
reply to post by the.lights

 

hi, i'm in the uk... don't have time to watch your vids right now, but will later, thx

hope you don't mind if i add a link showing the uk's reactors, for those who don't know of them...

www.insc.anl.gov...

as a side-note - couple of years ago my boyfriend & i found loads of seashell fossils high up in the derbyshire countryside (approx 100 miles inland)... looking at the density & state of the shell fragments & the deposit they were in, clearly an extremely violent pertubation had carried them there

hey, the site you link to is asking me for a username and password, is that right? i'm using the firefox browser.

OP. Great thread, going to watch the videos now as I'm in the UK and never knew we'd had such events.. frightening really and that's without taking the nuclear plants into consideration.

Also I came across this link earlier about something that I'd also never heard about:

1957 windscale fire= www.lakestay.co.uk...

Thanks for the links to the video's. Had no idea we had a history of tsunami's but I did enjoy those video's. Certainly gets the mind ticking over about the possibilities

reply to post by reg


Your welcome. Glad you found the information of interest. it certainly is food for thought and frightening to think we are at similar, albeit less frequent, risk. One must hope that time, and dare I say it tide, are on our side.

Thanks for your link regarding Windscale. The fact that they renamed it Sellafield tells all about the behaviour of politicians in light of such events. Like renaming a place will do away with any memory or record of what took place... Where do we get them from?

OP has definetly made a case here. I applaued his efforts bigtime. I was looking at a map another OP posted just the other day. The reactors of the continental U.S. in perspective. I noticed that not one was anywhere near yellowstone. I believe the same caution should be used in relation to shoreline. Tsunamis definetly threaten the continueity of nuclear power. Nuclear power is definetly a threat to the environment.

Excellent thread. SnF

Damn it. Why did I have to be the 11th flag?

Originally posted by StarTraveller
Thanks for the links to the video's. Had no idea we had a history of tsunami's but I did enjoy those video's. Certainly gets the mind ticking over about the possibilities

And in light if what is happening in Japan right now, those possibilities are pretty worrying, right?

Glad you found the videos enlightening. It just goes to prove my point, that in time, humanity will come to realise that situating nuclear power stations in low lying coastal areas, near fault zones or on tidal estuaries is just asking for trouble.

Originally posted by the.lights
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/781f4fe5e163.jpg[/atsimg]

Tsunami's eat nuclear reactors like that for breakfast.

Seriously - that thing is a sitting duck - just asking for a good walloping.

Excellent thread OP, the entire Parliament should be forced to read it!!

And so it continues. This story is just out now on ABC News;

Indian Point Near New York City on List of High-Risk Nuclear Plants

The crisis in Japan has reignited intense debate among lawmakers about the safety of U.S. nuclear-power plants; nowhere more so than at Indian Point, where two aging reactors are 24 miles north of New York City.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Wednesday called for the plant to be closed, pointing out that Reactor 3 at Indian Point sits on the Ramapo Fault.

In a news briefing today, Lyman said it was "utterly unrealistic" to expect that an evacuation within a 50-mile radius of Indian Point could occur successfully.

As for natural disasters, Lyons said, "Just because it happens over there, we hope it doesn't happen over here."

Really? Can you believe these people? It's mind boggling! It defies logic!

Let's read that again... "Just because it happens over there, we hope it doesn't happen over here."

Melanie Lyons is a spokeswoman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry group. She should be sacked! If she were doing her job as she should be doing i.e. safeguarding the public and the health of millions of people she would admit that this needs to be looked at now. Seriously.

Instead, she is throwing caution to the wind and making assinine comments like this; "Just because it happens over there, we hope it doesn't happen over here."

She'd better hope she's right, because if she's not, she can kiss her ass goodbye, along with half of the Eastern coastal seaboard of the US.

This, people, is someone appointed to represent you, as American taxpayers and to ensure, critically, that your safety in energy generation is paramount. And this is all she can say... "Just because it happens over there, we hope it doesn't happen over here."

Clearly the $ has more value than millions of American lives as far as the nuclear industry's vested interests, and Miss Lyon's career, is concerned.