(2011-03-12) Japan Earthquake Tsunami

Japan had a huge Earth Quake, resulting in a Tsunami on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

There are severe problems with multiple Nuclear Power plants. A large explosion took place at the Fukushima I plant on 12 March at 15:36 local time. Several workers were reported to be injured.[81][82] Pictures broadcast on Japanese television appeared to show the outer structure of one of the buildings had collapsed, releasing a large cloud of dust and vapor.[83][19] The Kyodo News and Jiji Press services reported that the plant may have experienced a nuclear meltdown just before the explosion.[84] The blast was described as "huge" and "massive". A BBC journalist reported being stopped 60 kilometers from the blast site by police.

• Mark Bernstein [found](http://www.markbernstein.org/Mar11/Facts Firsthowaschoolteache.html) these MIT posts most-informative.

IAEA updates.

John Walker on the potential implications for the US economy based on Japan holding so much of our National Debt. If, in the aftermath of this calamity, Japan necessarily turns inward and directs its savings toward investments in recovery from this natural disaster, then it will be far less likely to be a buyer of U.S. Treasury debt. With Japan focussing its investment on domestic recovery, demand for U.S. Treasuries will be reduced at the same time supply burgeons, and a runaway debt service spiral in U.S. sovereign debt could be a consequence.

Mar24: Stewart Brand still supports Nuclear Power. In Fukushima, we're looking at a 40-year-old boiling-water reactor whose cooling capability, it turns out, was not as redundant as it needed to be. Newer reactor designs, like the Westinghouse AP1000, have passive cooling systems. They don't need extra power; nobody has to do anything.

• Nassim Taleb thinks we continue to underestimate the systemic risk of accidents. Two years ago I published an editorial outlining 10 steps for a robust Black Swan society. One of the rules is to eliminate what I call the "agency problem." That's when someone else is making money and you bear the deferred risk, and it's exactly what we had with bankers in the financial crisis. They make the bonuses, and we pay the cost when they blow up. Every captain should go down with every ship -- every captain, every ship. Follow that rule, and we'll live in a much better, safer world. And if a tenured academic makes a miscomputation, he should also go down with it. The government supervisors should too. Everyone involved in the chain should be responsible -- not just the operator of the plant.

Mar25: David Brin notes

• the continuing insanity of not having P2P Cell Phone-s. 2005-06-09-OpenCellphone
• the Transparency spin - First, the horrific behavior of the Tokyo Power company, both before and during the crisis, is an archetype of what can go wrong when a single, monolithic institution is both in charge of critical infrastructure and responsible for its own accountability. This crisis was avoidable. Even in the face of nature’s unprecedented fury. But the lies and shortcuts taken before the calamity pale next to those uttered during the aftermath.... We should never, ever allow a single agency or company the power to issue reassuring “truths” without competing sources of verification and scrutiny.
• the Yucca Mountain spent-fuel storage aspect. I am 99% certain that the cannisters stored in Yucca Mountain won’t have to last 10,000 years!. They will be withdrawn in less than a century, like deposts in a bank! By descendants who are far more advanced that us and who see those rare elements as unmatched resources for fabulous projects! Why is no one able to even mention this most-likely outcome? Promise the State of Nevada a 5% royalty on everything and anything ever withdrawn from the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Resource Bank and Reserve.

Mar29: Anil Dash gives info about radiation exposure levels, as explained by his father-in-law, Stephen Browne, the health-physicist.