There’s a very long, but good article explaining what has happened at Fukushima Daiichi. You can find it on several sites, but here’s one.
Its most important conclusions are that
- “The plant is safe now and will stay safe.
- “A very small amount of Cesium was released, as well as Iodine.
- “There was some limited damage to the first containment. There are facilities for treating the cooling water inside the third containment. The radioactive Cesium and Iodine will be removed there and eventually stored as radioactive waste in terminal storage.
- “There will be some low level of activation of the seawater, which will also be removed by the treatment facilities.
- “The safety systems on all Japanese plants will be upgraded to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami (or worse).
- “The most significant problem will probably be a prolonged power shortage. About half of Japan’s nuclear reactors will probably have to be inspected, reducing the nation’s power generating capacity by 15%. This will probably be covered by running gas power plants that are usually only used for peak loads to cover some of the base load as well. That will increase your electricity bill, as well as lead to potential power shortages during peak demand, in Japan.”
Be the first to comment