As most of you know by now, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake cased a massive tsunami hit the island nation of Japan causing a major crisis in the northern half. The earthquake hit the nation with such force that its nuclear power plants are on the verge of meltdown. Due to the very dangerous bi-products that uranium gives off, areas around the nuclear plants have been evacuated in order to keep the public safe from the radiation. Some products that come from nuclear plants include radioactive iodine, strontium, and cesium. The human body reads radioactive iodine the same way that it would read regular iodine that is found in table salt throughout the United States; the iodine goes to the thyroid gland and prevents growths that occur on the neck called "goiers." Radioactive iodine, however, causes thyroid cancer. This, however, is kept away by taking potassium iodine capsules that prevents the radioactive iodine from entering the system; the excess iodine is simply flushed out of the body. Strontium works in the same way that calcium does; it moves right to your bones. The problem is that strontium, especially in the radioactive form, moves into the bones and causes leukemia. This is solved by taking calcium tablets that would flush the strontium out of the system. Cesium-137, the product that is now entering Japan's atmosphere along with radioactive iodine, effects the tissue and increases the risk of cancer.
Although these products that are in Japan's atmosphere are causing huge problems, this is not something to let the public believe that nuclear power is all bad. Think of where Japan is located; it is on a major fault line. Although the power plants were made to be able to withstand an earthquake, no country is ever prepared for an earthquake of the magnitude that hit Japan. This was an 8.9 magnitude earthquake on the Richter Scale; this was large enough to move the coast of Japan 8 inches and move the earth a few microseconds closed to the sun. The buildings in Japan were, however, prepared for earthquakes, explaining the reason why the power plants were not destroyed. This is also not any reason for the United States to give up on nuclear power movements. Besides the west coast, there are no huge fault lines under the United States landmass. The probability of an earthquake hitting somewhere along the east coast with such a magnitude as the one that hit Japan is low.
We should not let what happened in Japan deter us away from moving away from nuclear power. Let us keep in mind that we are in an environmental and energy crisis. We need a cleaner and more efficient form of energy that helps this country run. Nuclear power produce no carbon dioxide or any other forms of greenhouse gases. Yes, if a meltdown occurs then harmful bi-products can potentially enter the atmosphere, but this is only going to make people learn. This will cause other countries to produce safer ways to get nuclear energy in order to make sure that events such as this will not happen.
It is terrible what has happened to Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake. Most of their problems come from more faulty emergency plans is what I heard. The problems with the meltdown were due to the fact that they put the backup generators in the basement and the water got there and ruined them. The actual facility would have been fine if the generators were in a water tight building. I see what you’re saying that these events cannot be prepared for. This stuff is more out of fiction stories than real life. Who would have thought this would happen? I think nuclear is perfectly safe as long as all foreseeable threats are accounted for.
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