's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl
Saturday, March 12, 2011
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Japan is the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl 
Release Date: 12/03/2011
Source : La Voz del Interior - EFE
Country / Region : Japan
The incident at the plant in Fukushima was at grade 4 on a scale of 7. The Japanese government ruled that they can cause serious damage, but no fear of radiation. The accident in the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, northern Japan, was placed in grade 4 (on a scale of 7) by the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety and is considered the worst nuclear incident recorded in the country since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
The explosion at a nuclear power station destroyed the facility where the reactor and raised fears that it could fall into a risky merger process by the damage it suffered during the violent earthquake and tsunami Northeast.
Tokyo Power Company Electric Co., which runs the plant in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power, said four workers were treated for fractures and bruises at a hospital. A nuclear expert considered that a fusion reactor would be a widespread danger.
The images broadcast on Japanese television showed that the walls of the reactor facility collapsed and had been standing only a metal frame. Several columns of smoke rose from the plant in Fukushima, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the city of Iwaki.
"We are trying to analyze what is behind the explosion," said government spokesman Yukio Edan, and stressed that people located within a radius of 10 kilometers (six miles) should leave the area quickly. "We ask everyone to take safety measures."
The problem started in Unit 1 of the plant after the powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9 and the subsequent tsunami that suspended electricity in the area.
According Edan, after the explosion did not increase radiation levels around the plant in Fukushima Dai-ichi, contrary decreased. The official did not explain how this phenomenon occurred, but added that the explosion pressure decreased.
However, any increase in radiation levels in the atmosphere almost could raise cancer rates over time. The authorities intend to distribute iodine, a substance that helps protect against thyroid cancer.
The explosion was caused by the interaction of hydrogen with oxygen out of reactor. The hydrogen is formed when superheated fuel rods make contact with the water that is poured over them to cool the core and prevent it melting.
Danger. "(Experts in Japan) are working hard to find a solution to cool the core, and this afternoon we learned that Europe has begun to inject sea water, "said Mark Hibbs, Nuclear Policy Program of the Legacy Endowment for International Peace .
"This action is indicative of the seriousness of the problem and the initiative of the Japanese to resort to unusual and improvised solutions to cool the reactor core," he said.
The authorities had said that radiation had reached high levels before the explosion. At one point, the plant produced per hour of radiation a person normally absorbed from the environment in a year.
The explosion was preceded by a breath of white smoke, which condensed and became a big cloud that surrounded the entire facility in Fukushima.
concerns about the danger of a radioactive leak at nuclear plant eclipsed the magnitude of the disaster in a coastline of 2,100 kilometers (1,300 miles) long, with numerous villages, towns and cities were hit by a tsunami with waves up to seven meters (23 feet) tall.
Pressure has been building up in the reactor and is now twice normal. The Agency for Nuclear and Industrial Safety in Japan told reporters Saturday he was releasing "radioactive steam" to decrease the pressure, while some officials said radiation levels measured in the area.
Earlier, a commission official national nuclear security, Ryohei Shiomi, also said that on the ground there is a risk of a merger. But he said that if present, would not be affected people in a radius of 10 kilometers (six miles).
Meanwhile, Yaroslov Russian nuclear expert said it was unlikely Shtrombakh a merger like the one in Chernobyl.
"There is a rapid reaction as in Chernobyl," he said. "I think everything will be contained in the land (plant), and there will be no major catastrophe."
In 1986, the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl exploded, caught fire and fired a radiation cloud that covered a large part of Europe.
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Greenpeace responds to release of radioactivity from the reactor in Fukushima
Release Date: 12/03/2011
Source: Greenpeace
Country / Region : Japan
In response to reports stating that they were released from central Fukushima radioactive materials, including Cesium-137 isotope, and?? that were detected increased levels of radiation in the vicinity, Jan Beranek, head of Nuclear Energy Campaigner of Greenpeace International said : "Our thoughts remain with the people Japanese faces the threat of nuclear catastrophe, after the earthquake and tsunami. The authorities should concentrate on keeping people safe and prevent further releases of radioactivity.
"The evolution of the situation in Fukushima is still far from clear, but we do know is that the contamination release of cesium-137 isotope is a significant risk to the health of anyone exposed. Cesium-137 is a case of radioactive isotopes that caused more impact on health after the Chernobyl disaster, as it can remain in the environment and affect the food chain for 300 years ".
" Fukushima remains under the threat of a serious crisis of the reactor, which could create a cloud of iodine, which could extend high levels of radiation for both the environment and for a town to tens of kilometers . By confining itself to reporting only the local population about the importance of staying inside the houses, the government could limit the potential radiation dose of this cloud by a factor of 2 to 5. "
" How many more warnings do before to understand that nuclear reactors are inherently unsafe? The nuclear industry always tells us that a situation and can not happen with modern reactors, however, Japan is now amid a potentially devastating nuclear crisis. Once again we are reminded of the inherent risks of nuclear energy, which will always be vulnerable to the potentially lethal combination of human errors, design flaws and natural disasters. "
" Greenpeace is calling for the elimination of all existing reactors and abandon the construction of new commercial nuclear reactors. Governments should invest in renewable energy resources that are not only environmentally friendly but also affordable and reliable. "
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Japan revives the fear of energy
nuclear
Release Date: 12/03/2011
Source: BBC
Country / Region : Japan
risk nuclear fusion in Japan brought back to the fore the crux of the nuclear question: Is it safe this type of energy? The term "Nuclear fusion" is associated by the public to two major accidents in recent history: the Three Mile Island, U.S. in 1979 and Chernobyl in Ukraine, seven years later.
nuclear reactors have several security systems, so that if one fails the other should contain the problem. However, in the Fukushima Daiichi plant affected by the earthquake, we are seeing that this is not always so.
The quake caused three reactors in operation to stop. But it also turned off the cooling system, which sends around the nucleus freezing liquid and it is vital to avoid overheating.
For these situations, the plant has diesel-powered generators, but after an hour stopped working for reasons still unknown.
A few hours there was a loud explosion in the place that destroyed the walls and roof of the building. The government says the steel protection prevented the nuclear reactor was affected.
Debate
The debate over the safety of this type of energy is one of the most bitter.
this Saturday, in Germany, tens of thousands of people protested against government plans to extend the use of nuclear reactors.
The march was planned since before the outbreak of the current nuclear crisis in Japan and in it the protesters formed a human chain of 45 kilometers.
event organizers Japan brandished as proof that nuclear power is dangerous and uncontrollable technology.
One of the biggest fears of nuclear antienergía movement, as seen in the 1979 film The China Syndrome, is that security systems fail and toxic materials and highly radioactive core to melt and penetrate underground with devastating environmental effects in the long term.
However, proponents of this type of energy to replenish the partial melting of the Three Mile Island had no serious consequences.
And in the case of Chernobyl, a reactor whose design was considered in the West as unsafe, and that had not undergone the controls of any Soviet-country environmental impact was produced by air pollution by radioactive materials , not a meltdown.
Questions The BBC specialist in environmental issues Richard Black explains that to keep things in perspective, consider that no nuclear accident has caused a number of victims is closer to 1,000 as the potential of the earthquake and tsunami on Friday .
Black said that although he soon will have more information about the causes of Japan's nuclear accident could be months or even years, until we know everything about this episode.
As happens with the nuclear industry in many other countries, Japan is not exactly a model of transparency.
addition, the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) was involved in a series of scandals hiding information in recent years.
long term, Fukushima Daiichi raises other questions of great importance for both Japan and the rest of the world, according to the specialist of the BBC.
1. Since this is not the first time a Japanese nuclear plant is affected by an earthquake, is it smart to build these plants on the east coast delpaís, one of the most seismically active areas of the world?
2. And considering that the accident at Three Mile Island meant that for 30 years, stopped building nuclear power plants for civilian use in the U.S., what impact will Fukushima Daiichi at a time when many Western countries are rethinking promote the nuclear industry?
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