Nuclear Expert’s Step-By-Step Assessment of the Fukushima Disaster & What You Need to Know

In this detailed interview, Chris talks with longtime PeakProsperity.com member Dogs_In_A_Pile, an expert on nuclear energy who has been posting frequent updates to this site covering the developments at the Fukushima reactor in Japan as they have unfolded.

Based on his decades of experience, Dogs provides a detailed overview of how nuclear reactors work and then speculates as best he can (as the world is still dealing with imperfect information on the situation) how the technical situation at Fukushima likely degraded since the 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit on March 11.

This is an excellent discussion that addresses in depth many of the questions asked on this site over the past week: How does nuclear energy work? What caused the explosion of several of Fukushima's reactors? What is 'decay heat' and why is it so important here? What's the likelihood the situation will be brought under control soon? What dangers should – and shouldn't – we worry about?

Many thanks to Dogs for bringing a knowledgeable and rational voice that helps demystify the haze of incomplete (and often erroneous) information that has been circulating in the media around this tragedy.

Click the play button below to listen to Chris' interview with Dogs_In_A_Pile (runtime 1h:14m:56s):

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In this podcast, Dogs addresses:

How nuclear energy works
What type of reactors are at Fukushima
The different between 'core' and 'spent' fuel and the importance of 'decay heat'
The likely progression of the breakdown of events following the 9.0 earthquake
The difference between radioactivity and contamination
How events at Fukushima are likely to progress from here
How concerned people should be (both in Japan and elsewhere) about the effects of this disaster
What preparations are prudent at this point

Click here to read the transcript

Dogs_In_A_Pile is an expert in the nuclear field: he is a retired navy officer with over 20 years experience, most of that on nuclear-powered submarines. He is a certified nuclear engineer, which means he is certified to operate, maintain and oversee nuclear facilities. He also has extensive expertise on nuclear weaponry. He is a longtime and highly-appreciated member of the PeakProsperity.com community.