Why Onagawa Nuclear Power Station Survived the Tsunami 148
Kyusaku Natsume writes "While the town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, was hit hard by the March 2011 tsunami, the nuclear plant it shares with the equally devastated city of Ishinomaki survived. The reason it did so is mostly down to the personal strength and tenacity of one Yanosuke Hirai, who passed away in 1986 and insisted that the plant should have been protected by a 14.8 m tall seawall. A great quote from the article: 'Corporate ethics and compliance may be similar, but their cores are different, from the perspective of corporate social responsibility, we cannot say that there is no need to question a company's actions just because they are not a crime under the law.'"
Help needed (Score:1, Funny)
Dear Slashdot,
In an hope of developing an hardware that comes as fully open source and with an help file arranged in an hierarchy like a tree I am providing this information. The help file will contain all information regarding the project. It is important to me as I would like to buy an house with the profits. It would be a honor if you can spend a hour or less looking this message over and thinking about it.
The desire is to build an helicopter, but not just any helicopter, an helicopter that is open source! It might sound like an hopeless pipedream but I assure you this is not an hack and it will be successful. It is definitely not planned to be an hilarious failure. First we need to find an horizontal plane on which to fix an hydraulic pump. Without an horizontal surface the project will be an horrible failure. With an horsepower as great as an helicopter has, an horizontally mounted hydraulic pump is an absolute requirement. Anyone is welcome to give an hand is this project to provide ideas but I think that the pump is essential.
To start the project I need a few things:
First, I am looking for an hand in finding an hydraulic pump that is in an horizontal plane and wondered how many people have one.
Second, would it be a good idea to have an hang-glider attached to the bottom of the helicopter in case there is an horrible accident? An horrible accident could happen if the horizontal plane is out by as much and the width of an hair which would cause an hazardous situation that may require the pilot to abort. Without the hang-glider it may not be possible to avoid an harmful situation and it would certainly be an hazard. Having a hang-glider is surely an harmless addition even if it does not provide any pragmatic use (it would also be fun to fly.)
Pilots will of course be provided with an helmet. Even people riding an horse have to wear an helmet otherwise they might end up in an hospital after the horse tries to jump an hurdle and there is an hump where it lands! There is a honest desire to get this project off the ground so please discuss.
Yours Sincerely,
Fellow hacker
Re:Help needed (Score:3, Funny)
Dear Fellow Hacker,
Unfortunately, I will be unable to provide the assistance you desire, as I have some serious concerns regarding the engineering work that has already been done on the project, and I doubt the current estimates provide an accurate foundation for future work.
Firstly, there is the estimate of "a hour or less" to read a Slashdot post. While I have spent an hour reading a comment before, it was the proofreading of my own essay-length point-by-point rebuttal. The referenced post is obviously not nearly long enough or detailed enough to require an hour to read, so I see this as an intentional over-estimate, seeking to receive a larger donation of time than is actually needed.
Second, you seem to have greatly underestimated the size of a hydraulic pump in comparison to a horizontal plane. You ask for "an hand in finding an hydraulic pump that is in an horizontal plane". A plane, being two-dimensional, has exactly zero thickness, which is not sufficient to hold even an atom of a hydraulic pump.
Finally, you appear to for the power requirements of a helicopter. Helicopters can of course be designed to have any amount of available power, but that is not my concern here. Rather, I question the efficiency of your design, as the engine will need extra power to compensate for the added weight of the extraneous "n"s that appear to be attached to your "a"s.
Yours sincerely,
Grammar Nazi
Re:Huzzah! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Social Contracts (Score:5, Funny)
While not everyone will have the honor of insisting on sound engineering at vulnerable nuclear facilities, we are sure that all of you can find a way to squeeze in some unpaid overtime or not seek reimbursement of job related expenses.