According to David Biello writer for Yale Environment 360 in March 11, the ground beneath Japan swayed for as much as 5 minutes, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake that ultimately moved Japan some 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) closer to the United States. Thirty minutes later, a wall of water roughly 250 miles long slammed into the northeast coast of the island nation, smashing everything in its path. Among the victims were at least 7,000 dead and 10,000 missing — as well as one nuclear power plant: Fukushima-Daiichi and its six reactors. When the earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m., the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant, along with at least three others, automatically shut down, sliding control rods — made of materials, like boron, that block neutrons — into the three reactor cores that had been up and running. That instantly stopped the fission of the enriched uranium fuel that allows a nuclear reactor to produce the steam that spins a turbine to make electricity.
By the evening of the first day, the Japanese government warned of cooling problems at the nuclear power plant and declared a “state of nuclear emergency,” though stressing that no radiation leaks had been detected.
The nuclear crises that had reached level 7, the highest on the International Nuclear Event Scale; had alerted not only Japan but the rest of the world. The radiation spread had put not only the people in the area in danger, but had put products such as fish and crops in danger too. Unfortunately the crises did not only take a toll on our society, but also on the economy, slowing down its development and success.
The IAEA issues regular Status Reports to the public on the current status of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, including information on environmental radiation monitoring, the status of workers and current conditions on-site at the plant. Making sure full disclosure informs the rest of the world maintains support.
Fukushima\’s nuclear emergency – by Nature Video
REFERENCES:
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/anatomy_of_a_nuclear_crisis_a_chronology_of_fukushima/2385/
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/japan/index.html
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/2011/fukushimareport01.html
NXT CAR
Building anything that involves calculations and science for a communication student and major is hard enough; putting that together with the technology of a computer only makes it more difficult, yet I had to accept the challenge. Our in class “lab” turned out almost successful after encountering a couple of difficulties with missing pieces and confusion towards the computer program. In the end I found that performing experiments like this will be challenging but will become easier as I increase my science skills.