March 14, 2011Third Explosion At Japanese Nuclear Plant Heightens Meltdown Nightmares
The troubles at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant began when a massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan's northeast on Friday knocked out power, crippling cooling systems needed to keep nuclear fuel from melting down.
Monday March 14: 4:00 p.m. PDT: Japan is trying to control a nuclear crisis that is being compared to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as the death toll from the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami rises into the tens of thousands. A second nuclear reactor has suffered an explosion, causing leakage of radioactive steam that could go on for months, reports say.
The explosion “blew the roof off” the second reactor at the Fukshima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on Monday, reported the New York Times. The first reactor exploded Saturday.
Coolant at a third reactor has reportedly run out, leaving fuel rods exposed. Officials are using seawater to control the rising temperatures. The 184,670 residents living within 10 kilometers of the power plant have been ordered to evacuate.
Comparing the incident to nuclear crises in the U.S., the New York Times reported that the situation in Japan is unprecedented because of the struggles happening simultaneously at multiple reactors:
"I’m not aware that we’ve ever had more than one reactor troubled at a time,’ said Frank N. von Hippel, a physicist and professor at Princeton, explaining the difficulties faced by the Japanese.
"The whole country was focused on Three Mile Island," he said, referring to the Pennsylvania nuclear plant accident in 1979. "Here you have Tokyo Electric Power and the Japanese regulators focusing on multiple plants at the same time."
One of the major concerns is the long-term damage that comes with such fallout, as Japan is all too aware. Residents near the plant are being given iodine tablet to combat possible radiation poisoning.
Professor Ilham Al-Qaradawi from Qatar University told Al-Jazeera English about the effects of radiation poisoning:
“Radiation affects human cells. It either kills the cell - if the dose and energy are high, or it damages the cell, causing cancer and so on.
When a person is exposed to radiation, the effect could range from redness in the skin to severe burning of the skin - but can also have more pronounced effects such as nausea.
The long term effect of radiation is, of course, cancer.
A large radiation dose or prolonged radiation exposure are the main reasons for radiation-induced cancer. The most common type is thyroid cancer, which can be combated by taking potassium iodide tablets, thereby saturating the body with iodine so it does not absorb the radioactive iodine if inhaled or ingested.
There are also genetic, hereditary, effects and effects on the fetus in cases of high dose exposure.
The effects of very high doses are seen in a very short time - in the order of minutes or hours depending on dose. The lower doses can give rise to cancer, but this might take years.
It is believed that very low doses are harmless, since we are exposed to those naturally.
It must be emphasized that fear of radiation is often as dangerous as the radiation itself, as it leads to unnecessary action that can be just as harmful.”
Meanwhile, rescue workers in have been rescuing people from rooftops and inside their homes, where people are still trapped after the earthquakes.
Rescue workers used chainsaws and pickaxes to remove bodies from the rubble in northeastern Japan, NPR reported.
"There is so much debris, it is going to take weeks if not months to sift through it," NPR's Rob Gifford reported from the area. "But really, the Japanese people have borne up very well considering the magnitude of this disaster."
The number of aftershocks is slowly decreasing. Al-Jazeera English reported that, while on Saturday there were 49 5.0-or-higher aftershocks, there were only 17 on Monday.
The weather, however, is getting worse, Al-Jazeera reported. It is predicted to snow in Japan as early as Wednesday, as people struggle to find shelter and loved ones and as people in their homes try to stay warm without heat and power.
Millions are struggling to find food and water.
Add to everything the economic implications of the devastation. The Japanese government has injected $183 million into the nation's $5 billion economy to keep it afloat through the catastrophe.
http://m.neontommy.com/news/2011/03/third-japan-nuclear-explosion-alarms-rescue-efforts
"There is so much debris, it is going to take weeks if not months to sift through it," NPR's Rob Gifford reported from the area. "But really, the Japanese people have borne up very well considering the magnitude of this disaster."
The number of aftershocks is slowly decreasing. Al-Jazeera English reported that, while on Saturday there were 49 5.0-or-higher aftershocks, there were only 17 on Monday.
The weather, however, is getting worse, Al-Jazeera reported. It is predicted to snow in Japan as early as Wednesday, as people struggle to find shelter and loved ones and as people in their homes try to stay warm without heat and power.
Millions are struggling to find food and water.
Add to everything the economic implications of the devastation. The Japanese government has injected $183 million into the nation's $5 billion economy to keep it afloat through the catastrophe.
http://m.neontommy.com/news/2011/03/third-japan-nuclear-explosion-alarms-rescue-efforts
