I found an amplifying article by technology pundit Robert X. Cringely with a different take...he says that when Hillary Clinton said "coolant" she really meant "coolant", not water. Why would our military need to deliver water to Japan?

He says we delivered boric acid from spare supplies for our carriers, see the full article here:

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Thanks for the link, Jonah.

Hey mcgruf! Several of my fellow RCTS are former Navy "nuke pukes". Best guys in the world to work with.

I give it a 2 in 3 chance that "The China Syndrome" will appear on one or more cable movie channels within the next 30 days.

Agree with the post and Radiation Guy, and I'm sure millions of Americans will spend the time to educate themselves before announcing, "ok, build one next to your house, not mine". No doubt Democrats across the nation (those too ashamed to protest in WI over pensions on a day when thousands of people are dying in Japan) will encourage cooler heads to prevail.

Props to the Japanese though. If this is the worst it gets, then they built one heck of an amazing power plant. 9.1 earthquake, 33ft tsunami. Short of a precision guided bomb, I'm not sure what could have hit that reactor harder. That they are even able to take steps to contain it is incredible.

Recall that after Chernobyl, there were military helicopter pilots flying over the reactor trying to pour concrete onto the exposed reactor core. Most died from insane radiation exposure, but gave their lives to save a lot of people. I haven't read anything that would indicate this is like Chernobyl.

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It was Chernobyl, more than TMI, that spooked the world about nuclear power.

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This is the best explanation I've seen so far

@bmp: There's some speculation that hydrogen gas built up in the containment building, and it blew up the building, but not the steel containment vessil inside. From what I've read the design of the facility means that once they lost power/cooling that the reaction stops and a slow cooldown ensues. Slow. It's still a hot mess, but not getting any hotter which is good.

Still pretty scary. I don't think anyone is whistling past the graveyard, but like someone else noted, thousands more people will die from the earthquake and flood and not radiation. The slow drip, drip, drip of news makes this feel more ominous I have to admit.

The "shipping coolant" story was suspicious from the beginning -- I know Hilary said it, but journalists should have checked it for plausibility, and that story has now been revoked/corrected.

But even when it was alive, "coolant" is certainly not water, or special pure water, ... I thought maybe heavy water, but they don't use heavy water in Japan, so that too does not work.

But what could it be???

My latest guess: Boron. They have been adding it to the sea water to kill the nuclear reaction (if it is still going).

Perhaps they had Boron somewhere in Japan, or somewhere else that USAF airplanes could move it quicker. But in the end they were able to do it without help.

So, bad journalism, bad analysis. Upgrade your "Radiation Guy" if you can.

> "So why are people being treated for radiation sickness already?"

Because Jonah's Radiation Guy probably doesn't know what he's talking about. Never trust an anonymous "expert."

@littleoldme If by people being treated for radiation you mean workers at the facility, then that doesn't prove anything about the danger of radiation levels outside the facility. Radiation drops off with the square of distance even without shielding. If you're refering to the dispencing of potasium-iodide pills, they are a prophylactic not a treatment.

This is a horrible catastrophe. This is the end of nuclear power as an option for generations, probably forever. And you post this complete nonsense, from an anonymous emailer? Wow. Jonah's contributions to the Corner are usually trifling silliness, but this is just moronic.