Posts tagged Fukushima
Fukushima: Second Worst Nuclear Disaster Ever
0Japan’s nuclear power agency has raised the threat level from the Fukushima disaster to level 7, the highest possible level and tied with Chernobyl.
The amount of iodine-131 released is about 10% of that released in the Chernobyl disaster, according to authorities.
Meltdown
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Non-nuclear, hydrogen gas explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant releases radioactivity into the atmosphere. Source: time.com
Many people are concerned about possible exposure to radiation as a result of a potential meltdown in the Fukushima reactors.
I’ve only got time for a quick cut here, and will say more in the comments below if asked, but I wanted to point everyone to an excellent blog post by Gia Milinovich which explains some of the scientific issues involved:
From her Twitter feed (@giagia):
By me. What is radiation: http://bit.ly/dZPY5v The physical effects of radiation: http://bit.ly/hwXAH5 Max levels in Japan: 12 millisieverts
I especially like her “Kylie Minogue vs. Mike Tyson” analogy.
A more formal explanation specific to the Fukushima accident is found in this Nature article. (more…)





