Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant
by Jesse, Lizzie, and Sebastian
Three Big Questions
1. What happened?
2. Are there still dangers?
3. What have we learned?
Distance
Fukushima is about 6,562 miles (10560 km) from Newton
What happened? (Causes)
• massive earthquake knocked out electricity
• back-up generators
damaged by tsunami
Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant before the disaster
What happened?
• in one reactor, cooling system failed• both backup systems failed and there was a
meltdown
What happened?
• seawater had to be pumped cool the radioactive material
• explosions in other reactors followed
Nuclear equations The Fukushima plant used Uranium 235 235 0 235 U-----> E + Np92 -1 93
Used in similar reactors Plutonium 239
239 0 239 Pu-----> E + Am94 -1
Response
• Japanese Government originally evacuated a 20km zone
• additional areas to the northwest were later evacuated
Response
• Workers went near plant to clean waste
• Health effects,
including death, from this
Radioactive Fallout
• less released than Chernobyl, faster rate• still significant amount • poses a danger• 400 billion neutrons where released
Radioactive Fallout
• spread of radiation based on global wind currents
• radioactive isotopes also released into Pacific
Radioactive Fallout in the U.S.
• Effects not reached East Coast• Fallout has been measured in California• No harmful levels
Health Effects From Fukushima
Health Effects From Fukushima
Japanese Government will announce when citizens can return to their houses in early 2012.
Fukushima in the News
Reporters notified via Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency
Government Response
• countries reviewing safety measures
• some are phasing out nuclear power
former Prime Minister Naoto Kan speaking about the disaster
Containing Nuclear Waste
• solidify in glass• sealed in stainless
containers• buried 300 meters
nuclear waste research facilities
Containing Nuclear Waste
It will take 100,000 years for radiation in waste to decline to safe levels
Could this happen in the US?
• 104 plants inspected
• Watts Bar:• emergency responder
training• control panels• communication
equipment• backup generators
Watts bar Plant in Spring City, Tennessee
What we've learned
• more preparation in Japan for quakes, tsunamis, power failures
• better back-up safety
systems
Could "Fukushima" happen here?
• Possible - controversial aspects, similar design • Lower chance of quake/tsunami
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"Final Nuclear Waste Disposal Issue Needs Serious Deliberation." The Mainichi Daily News. The Mainichi Newspapers, 13 Oct. 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2011.<http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20111013p2a00m0na002000c.html>. " Fukushima Daiichi Crisis - Just another Edublogs.org weblog." Fukushima Daiichi Crisis - Just another Edublogs.org weblog. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://brucesol.edublogs.org/>
Nuclear scare grows with an orange flash and a violent blast | World news | The Guardian ." Latest US and world news, sport and comment from the Guardian | guardiannews.com | The Guardian . N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/14/fukushima-nuclear-power-plant-japan> "Radioactive fallout from Japan: Update - Los Angeles Women's Health | Examiner.com." Welcome to Examiner.com | Examiner.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <http://www.examiner.com/women-s-health-in-los-angeles/radioactive-fallout-from-japan-update>
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