The Size of Switzerland!

While reading various articles today, I ran across this apparent fact:

Thanks to Chernobyl, an area the size of Switzerland, or 16,000 square miles (41,000 square kilometers), is uninhabitable for the next 300 years.

Source.

See also: Lessons From Chernobyl for Japan



So I got to thinking, what would that look like if Switzerland was superimposed over Japan?





For reference, here is a population map:



Move the red dot in any direction and what you have is still something quite unimaginable.



And one final point: Chernobyl was a single reactor in meltdown.

In Japan, we have potentially six!!

How big does the dot get then? Think about that!

Is it logical to think that Tokyo is really that safe????

Whatever the size, it's for 300 years....

reply to post by loam


That's a lot of rad. So it's basically like erasing Switzerland from the map... But Switzerland is on Japan...and we erase it with Rad. I still don't get why there is more than 1 reactor in one spot... By the way i can't move the red dot

Still think nuclear power is safe????

Here is another thought....If you combine all the locations of all of the strategically placed reactors in the world, and if tose reactors all had a meltdown at once, our planet would be gone in one single life changing event.

reply to post by xShadow13

Originally posted by xShadow13
By the way i can't move the red dot

I have read in a number of places, by those wishing to minimize the scale of the disaster, that much of this will go out to sea. But is that really going to be the case? And even if it does, how will that impact fishing and shipping? Will the fact that it is over water increase the zone?

Remember, one reactor equaled one Switzerland, and Tokyo is only 150 miles away from the reactors.

I think any way you slice it, this is a disaster our great, great grandchildren will still need to contend with.

reply to post by loam


Thanks for the visuals! I think regardless if they get all six reactors under control the damage has already been done. The radiation that has been released is going to destroy all types of life and could kill millions people for years to come in. Not to mention how many people that will have to be relocated from Japan. It is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. We're talking about possibly +10 million people… Eeek!

reply to post by tooo many pills

Originally posted by tooo many pills
Thanks for the visuals!

They're pretty crude. Perhaps someone with better skill than I can improve upon them.

Nonetheless, I think they likely tell the terrible truth.

reply to post by loam


Loam,

Thank you for this.

I am sure many still do not realize the seriousness of this catastrophe...its unprecedented.

To think that Chernobyl was one reactor...

This is six, and one that we know of for sure with MOX.

Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric, known as TEPCO, is studying whether highly toxic plutonium is contained in the soil of the plant. The No. 3 reactor was using plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel for so-called ''pluthermal'' power generation.english.kyodonews.jp...

edit on 27-3-2011 by burntheships because: (no reason given)

Id bet my baguettes that Tokyo is done. This will be the greatest manmade disaster known in human history. The devastating part is the poor people of Tokyo are in the dark, and get nothing from the govt as far as info. It will take a few years, but japan will be the cancer capital of the world.

Those poor, poor people.

reply to post by loam

Originally posted by loam
Will the fact that it is over water increase the zone?

Case and point.

Radiation in seawater may be spreading in Japan

Highly radioactive iodine seeping from Japan's damaged nuclear complex may be making its way into seawater farther north of the plant than previously thought, officials said Monday, adding to radiation concerns as the crisis stretches into a third week.

...

new readings show contamination in the ocean has spread about a mile (1.6 kilometers) farther north of the nuclear site than before. Radioactive iodine-131 was discovered just offshore from Unit 5 and Unit 6 at a level 1,150 times higher than normal, Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told reporters Monday.

He had said earlier there was no link between the radioactive water leaking inside the plant and the radiation in the sea. On Monday, though, he reversed that position, saying he does suspect that radioactive water from the plant may indeed be leaking into the ocean.

Yikes!

reply to post by loam


And that never would have happened if those idiots would have dammed off the area in front of the plant in time. Japan is hardly thinking outside the box when it comes to this event and if someone don't grab the bull by the horns Japan will be a waste land.

The size of Switzerland in not really 41000 km2. Because of the valleys and Mountains it's Surface is about 70000 km2.
3rd.

Originally posted by Sky watcher
reply to post by loam

 

And that never would have happened if those idiots would have dammed off the area in front of the plant in time. Japan is hardly thinking outside the box when it comes to this event and if someone don't grab the bull by the horns Japan will be a waste land.

I dont think its that easy....and the dam you speak of probably would of been destroyed in the tsunami

Originally posted by lonegurkha
Still think nuclear power is safe????

Yes but not in 40 year old reactors using old technology. Thorium reactors are much safer

There is NO safe nuclear power.
There never was........the stories we were told were lies.
The goverments do NOT care whether you live or doie horribly, as long as they dont share your fate.
We are being herded and milked for our resources and usefullnes, but we are far from being protected or cared about.
There has GOT to be a better way! It will take a worldwide revolution to stop this madness!The world has been taken over by zombies who are addicted to money and power!
If we wish to survive well have to remove those zombies from power and make sure they have no resources to harm or use us ever again.

Now, that was quite a disheartening read, and projection in the OP. However, I refuse to cave into all the smoke screens and mix messages being through about by the MSM or any government for that matter. I think all of us can agree that this is unprecedented, and the effects are practically unknown to science. An event on the scale of what Japan is enduring at the moment is practically apocalyptic for the country. Although, keep in mind they have endured apocalyptic situations before, and have triumphed from it.

As far as this incident goes, everyone is taking shots in the dark. No really knows how bad it will get? We need to play this by the numbers, and keep in mind that the MSM is out for ratings. They have a long history of over-dramatizing events to get attention from the population. Furthermore, we know the governments of the world will stop at nothing to keep information that will encourage panic or hysteria among the population private. Then we have the corporations, and we know they face severe liability and legal consequences over this incident. All will fudge the facts or distort reality to a certain to degree to meet its own end.

Lets not lock ourselves in the cage of doom and gloom, and fear. It is too early to make any conclusions about this. The crisis is ongoing. The scenario presented in the OP is something to keep in mind, but it is not set in stone either. We are venturing into the unknown!

reply to post by misfitofscience


Africa and Australia would be sort of safe, Alaska perhaps too.

Is it even worth continuing to learn Japanese now...? This is heartbreaking, I had plans on working in Japan one day.

Well maybe now more people could move to Hokkaido and those damned Russians should return them their Islands at the top, maybe give em an extra piece of land too.

reply to post by PoorFool


As I read your post, I imagined you making the same face as Carrey makes in Dumb and Dumber (your avatar). lol


Anyway, to stay on topic.. Tokyo is kinda close to the site, imagine if Tokyo was deemed to be no longer safe to live or work at.

hey im just saying our grand children, and great grandchildren will have to deal with all of our problems, we maybe the last "Free" generation.