On Saturday March 12, 2011 only a day after the massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan a total of 6 nuclear reactors suffered damage and 2 blew up. 3 of the reactors lost control and the ability to cool the plant. Unit 3 has partially melted. Japans Cabinets Secretary said, “Reports of a meltdown are inaccurate.” However, Robert Alvarez Professor at Institute for Policy Studies said, “at least one reactor has had some sort of meltdown. Unit number 3 may be on the verge or maybe undergoing a meltdown. Unit number 3 reactor also has a core in it that contains plutonium in it that make things
much more complicated and risky. You have reactors that they have lost the ability to control and this is a very serious matter. I’m hoping they will regain the ability to restore their
ability to cool these reactors.” He went on to say, “The seawater is their last stitch…their Hell Mary option. If that fails I’m not sure what else they have available to them. Hope and pray the secondary containment can withstand, hold up…the concrete dome won’t escape radio-active activity.”
However, on Sunday morning the reports said that Unit 3 reactor suddenly stopped. That the Japanese had to relieve the pressure building in that reactor the utility company opened the valve releasing some radioactive vapor. That vapor goes into the containment buildings surrounding
the reactor. The fear is that this vapor contains hydrogen. Fears that it will build up and there will be a repeat of what happened the day before at reactor Unit 1 if there is a build-up of hydrogen. That explosion blew off the roof and consumed the walls of the containment building surrounding Unit 1. Officials say that the wall incased in steel with reactor was not damaged. Screened evacuee’s for contamination when they began evacuation proceedings. Cabinet Officials say 9 people were being treated for radiation exposure. To try to avoid meltdown in Unit 1 they flooded it with seawater. They are writing off any future use of the 40 year old reactor saying it was better to lose it than risk any further disaster.
Edwin Lyman says, “Monitoring air around the reactor they have found two elements. Radioactive iodine and radioactive Desenex. Those elements are created when the metal rods begin to melt. That’s why they think there is a partial meltdown in Unit 1 and 3.” Edwin Lyman is a senior staff
scientist in the Global Security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) in Washington, DC. Before coming to UCS in May 2003, he was president of the Nuclear Control Institute, a Washington-based organization committed to nuclear nonproliferation. He earned a doctorate in physics from Cornell University in 1992. From 1992 to 1995, he was a postdoctoral research associate
at Princeton University's Center for Energy and Environmental Studies (now the Science and Global Security Program). Dr. Lyman’s research focuses on the prevention of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. He has published articles and letters in journals and magazines including Science, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Science and Global Security, and Arms Control Today. He is an active member of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management. He has testified before Congress and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and has served as an expert witness for interveners in several NRC licensing proceedings. In February 2009, he testified at an NRC briefing on risk-informed regulation, and in March and June of 2009 he spoke on reprocessing issues at two NRC events.
Now they have to manually inject seawater into the reactors. However last night there was another explosion in reactor 3. Edwin Lyman PhD. Said,“trying to keep vessels from melting down which are made from steel and escape the vessel they are held in…the fear is that the radioactive gases will escape and not dissipate.” Dr. Lyman described the explosions, “can be something like lava… most likely the path would be up-word." He believes that the estimations of the radiation exposure “20 kilometers (12 miles is not adequate.” However, he did say it doesn’t pose a threat to the United States. 
Condenser brings in water. Heats up water brings it to a boil at the control rods and reactor vesselsthe nuclear core. Steam comes out this way – Turbine turns the steam to the generator and that how you get electricity. In order to make sure it is contained – to make sure it doesn’t get hot, you need constant water cycling through the whole thing. That requires power which was lost in the earthquake and tsunami.
and how this has affected the Japanese?
300 bodies were found
in one area around airport neighborhood. People who did survive are in need of supplies.
Those who can are keeping in contact
with loved ones and are ready to get out of harm’s way. All but one airport is
functioning, so flights are running except in the hardest hit areas. Iodine
tablet are being given out as a precaution. Why? Because of possible radiation poisoning
that can cause Thyroid Cancer. The Japanese are also telling people to use wet cloths to seal their doors. “People are coping by leaning on each other, helping each other because help hasn’t arrived. The Japanese are waiting in lines in an orderly manner. This shows the character of the people. They are de- traumatizing and looking forward toward the future,” according to Ann curry from NBC’s Today Show.
in one area around airport neighborhood. People who did survive are in need of supplies.
Those who can are keeping in contact
with loved ones and are ready to get out of harm’s way. All but one airport is
functioning, so flights are running except in the hardest hit areas. Iodine
tablet are being given out as a precaution. Why? Because of possible radiation poisoning
that can cause Thyroid Cancer. The Japanese are also telling people to use wet cloths to seal their doors. “People are coping by leaning on each other, helping each other because help hasn’t arrived. The Japanese are waiting in lines in an orderly manner. This shows the character of the people. They are de- traumatizing and looking forward toward the future,” according to Ann curry from NBC’s Today Show.
Officials are telling Americans to avoid traveling to Japan
due to the aftershocks and other dangers that will meet them there. However, Navy ships have been dispatched for
aide and U.S. Military efforts on the U.S. Japanese bases are underway. 45 countries, 75 % of the International Community are sending search and rescue teams. Included in the search efforts are countries such as Australia, South Korea, and the UK. Heading up the recovery efforts is Sayaka Matsumoto of the Red Cross of Japan. For more info on how you can contact the Red Cross of Japan go to www.jrc.or.jp/english so they can get food and water out to those who still can’t be reached due to lack of resources.
due to the aftershocks and other dangers that will meet them there. However, Navy ships have been dispatched for
aide and U.S. Military efforts on the U.S. Japanese bases are underway. 45 countries, 75 % of the International Community are sending search and rescue teams. Included in the search efforts are countries such as Australia, South Korea, and the UK. Heading up the recovery efforts is Sayaka Matsumoto of the Red Cross of Japan. For more info on how you can contact the Red Cross of Japan go to www.jrc.or.jp/english so they can get food and water out to those who still can’t be reached due to lack of resources.
San Andreas Fault in California may be the source to the next tremor. According to Simon Winchester these things happen in clusters: New Zealand, Chili, Tokyo, and next the San Andreas Fault in California. “If either of those ruptures it could be major, major problems.” The last which happened in 1906 happened in San Francisco. He also says that California isn’t taking this serious enough.
It has a Cascadia connection. So what is a Cascadia connection? Would this cause a tsunami? Yes. It could travel as fast as 500 miles an hour. Waves could be as large as 15 feet high says some experts, and go inland 2 to 3 miles in Los Angeles, California.
Cascadia connection
Recent studies ofpast earthquake traces on both the northern San Andreas Fault and the southern Cascadia
subduction zone indicate a correlation in time which may be evidence that quakes on the Cascadia subduction zone may have triggered most of the major quakes on the northern San Andreas during at least the past 3,000 years or so. The evidence also shows the rupture direction going from north to south in each of these time-correlated events. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake seems to have been a major exception to this correlation, however, as it was not preceded by a major Cascadia quake, and the rupture moved mostly from south to north.[
The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a very long sloping fault
that stretches from mid-Vancouver Island to Northern California. It separates the Juan de Fuca and North America plates. New ocean floor is being created offshore of Washington and Oregon. As more material wells up along the ocean ridge, the ocean floor is pushed toward and beneath the continent. The Cascadia Subduction Zone is where the two plates meet.
that stretches from mid-Vancouver Island to Northern California. It separates the Juan de Fuca and North America plates. New ocean floor is being created offshore of Washington and Oregon. As more material wells up along the ocean ridge, the ocean floor is pushed toward and beneath the continent. The Cascadia Subduction Zone is where the two plates meet.
The last known great earthquake in the northwest was in January,1700, just over 300 years ago. Geological evidence indicates that great earthquakes may have occurred at least seven times in the last 3,500 years,
suggesting a return time of 400 to 600 years.
suggesting a return time of 400 to 600 years.
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