There is no SURVIVAL...

Well I suppose this is going to come as a bit of a downer to a lot of the 'Survivalists' among us.
I have come to the conclusion that no matter how much you prep, it's probably a lost cause, here's why.
In any of the hundreds of possible apocalyptic scenarios that may happen, we as a species have at best a few years to live. The reason I say this is that should an event happen that causes a mass disruption to either a) the power grid (EMP, Asteroid, terrorist acts etc. etc.) or b) the workforce (zombies, plague, natural disaster) then it would take very little time before the nuclear reactors start to have meltdowns. Reactors need to keep constant power to cool them. Even when they say they are 'shutting down' a reactor for maintenance, the cooling process must remain. When the cooling stops, the heat starts and meltdown follows. So given the number of reactors worldwide, even if the catastrophic event only happened in one continent or even in some cases one country, the Global effect would be devastating in a relatively short time.
There are currently 112 reactors in the USA with 104 operational. There are 435 reactors worldwide with another 74 under construction. Spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants have a half life of 159,200 years. I hope you have a lot of cans of soup in your bunker.
This is just a scenario I have thought of. My best suggestion; live for today, not tomorrow or yesterday.

you raise a good point. I'm surprised no one has commented. People on the east coast are screwed. West coast is perhaps a bit better wouldn't you think?

I have thought of this myself and a number of T.V. shows have mentioned this also. You will still need to eat, drink, and breath until you die of radiation sickness/poisoning and who knows how long it will take for you or your family to be exposed? I am not a prepper myself but I think it is deeper than just planning to survive the worst case scenario and more about self reliance.

I will add that over prepping can be bad as in a scenario like the one mentioned above you may be forced to relocate from your bug out spot and you wont be able to take everything with you.

We only have one set of reactors left operating on the west coast. Diablo Canyon.

San Onofre nuclear power plant is down and cooled to the point its not a hazard.

That only leaves the rods in cooling pools.

reply to post by DGenR8


People overdue it but some level of preparation is Okay. On the simplest level if you see rain clouds on the horizon you bring an umbrella with you.

And don't forget your seatbelt.

As far as the Pockyclips…

It doesn't exist. No amount of bunker will save you from a Tsunami, megaquake, all out nookler combat or the cancer we all get from say, Fukushima.

What else, food riots? If they are hungry they will come to your cooking fire. If they are out of ammo they will kill you and steal yours.

If they find you at home guarding your pile of survival goods, you already lost. If you pack it up and flee, they will stop you and take everything anyway.

Only the wealthiest people have truly prepared for most of what may befall the earth in any given scenario. And they can have whats left.

They win.

Good idea for a thread. I only started considering this idea a few weeks ago .
If you look at it objectively it has merit.....
I think that New Zealand and Australia might have a chance...But it seems like the Northern Hemisphere is
doomed..............>>>>> Thanks for posting....

actually I did some research and figured it out....

in the event of a apocalpyse you'd probably be running low on fishing rods. So you'd use the spent fuel rods as fishing rods. Just strap a fishing reel to the spent fuel rod and you now have a rod n reel, and you're ready to go fishing. that makes the most sense in this situation.

Also I figured something else out...

fukushima is a code word. It says "fuk USA 4 hiroshima" You see what I'm saying???

ANNED
We only have one set of reactors left operating on the west coast. Diablo Canyon.

San Onofre nuclear power plant is down and cooled to the point its not a hazard.

That only leaves the rods in cooling pools.

Yes, there are two reactors at Diablo, there are 3 reactors at Palo Verde and 1 at the Columbia Generating Station in Washington State, and as I said those cooling pools still need power to stay cool.

... so eventually its Nuclear Winter for everybody, bundle up.

Hang on!!
The reactors create power...so....why would they not have power to run the cooling?

VoidHawk
Hang on!!
The reactors create power...so....why would they not have power to run the cooling?

...because of the catastrophic event.

As with most doom scenarios on ATS ,the United states seems to be the most dangerous place on earth.
The smartest thing a hardcore prepper in the U.S could do would be to leave ,there is actually some other places out there ( what? ) that will survive

DGenR8

VoidHawk
Hang on!!
The reactors create power...so....why would they not have power to run the cooling?

...because of the catastrophic event.

My comment concerned your suggestion that a cme or similar were to shut down the grid. Power plants have built in safety for such events.
However, if it was so "catastrophic" that it took out all the power plants then I doubt we'd be alive to know anything about it.

reply to post by spartacus699

fukushima is a code word. It says "fuk USA 4 hiroshima" You see what I'm saying???

That you're really dumb? That's all I see you saying. You think it makes sense for Japan to retaliate against the US by engineering a meltdown that affects their population 100x what it does people an ocean away? That's like Florida getting pissed at Seattle and nuking themselves.

Hatchets have been buried. Japan is a staunch allie. Germany is too. My obvious American ass (sensual, robust, and farting red white and blue) would rather visit Japan than the UK if safety were a concern.

This isn't WW2.

reply to post by DGenR8


Don't underestimate the Earths ability to heal itself quickly. Within a relatively short period, life had returned to Chernobyl and although there were negative effects, it didn't wipe out all life.

Look at the BP oil spill, the damage was intense but everyone was surprised that the devastation did not live up to what many expected it to.

Most life may die but there will probably be pockets of survivors.

12voltz
As with most doom scenarios on ATS ,the United states seems to be the most dangerous place on earth.
The smartest thing a hardcore prepper in the U.S could do would be to leave ,there is actually some other places out there ( what? ) that will survive

edit on 4-12-2013 by 12voltz because: (no reason given)

The only reason I quoted the number of reactors in the US is they have about 25% of the entire world.
Remember this is only a 'what if' not a 'will be', I love to watch the Walking Dead and that was what got me thinking about all the reactors and nobody manning them.

As I said at the end of my first post, live for today, enjoy it now, don't fret too much about what could be.

reply to post by DGenR8


Almost each time this has come up, I'll agree with your thinking.

But...since MOST people have a zero clue - the more YOU prep, the better. You can be a dud or a hero - how you see yourself in an event is a reflection of YOUR character.

So....you gonna be a man, or a mouse?

reply to post by Domo1


but you have to admit the word looks like it's saying htat doesn't it???

There are people still alive today living in and around Chernobyl apparently unaffected, Christ!, Have you seen the size of their Cabbages....Life will always find a way.

Given the Nuclear scenario you mention, mankind will just adapt to live in a Nuclear Fallout world. we may have three noses, but all the better to smell our enemies coming..

Yeah, you know every book I've read and every movie I've seen about the apocalypse they never mention real things like nukuler reactors melting down. I've wondered about that myself.

As to your comment about prepping being useless OP, I don't think so. Not at all. There are alot of SHTF scenarios where the power stays on. Anything can happen. Having extra food and fuel onhand can really help when an icestorm or something come through and you are without power for several days or weeks. Having food onhand can help you if you live paycheck to paycheck and suddenly you are out of work.

There are alot of SHTF scenarios and they don't all need a meteor or an EMP blast. When I was diagnosed with cancer it was a very real SHTF moment. So I say learn what you can skillwise and keep a years worth of food onhand just in case.

) then it would take very little time before the nuclear reactors start to have meltdowns. Reactors need to keep constant power to cool them

Obliviously you know nothing about Nuclear Plants here in America in general and in the TVA specifically.

Plants like Browns Ferry don't need any kind of electricity to shut down the reactor. They are designed that way as gravity would release water from the Tennessee River into the reactor core. This same gravity-the force of water-would begin the containment process of removing the fuel rods. The flow of water from the river could cool the containment vessel for over 30 years.

If you don't know anything about Nuclear power then stop acting like you do.

There is not a single Nuclear plant in America that loss of power would cause a scramble in the reactor core. They would all shut themselves down with no containment issues.