Jenny Daily
Fukushima Expository paper
Jenny Daily
On March 11, 2011 Japan suffered a massive earthquake followed by a devastating tsunami. These natural disasters are bad enough on their own but unfortunately for Japan these disasters caused a nuclear reactor in Fukushima to explode. Unfortunately the reactors are releasing large amounts of hydrogen and some oxygen as well. The Japanese are trying to disperse these gases by pumping sea water and boric acid on the reactors.
The Fukushima nuclear disaster has obviously affected the inhabitance surrounding the nuclear plant. People who lived as far as 3,500 feet of the plant have been evacuated. There are also some major medical issues that have been caused by the nuclear disaster. One of the most common issues is found in infants who were born after the nuclear disaster (March 11, 2011), these infant who live near the Pacific Ocean (like Hawaii or California) are more susceptible to thyroid problems. An example of these thyroid problems is congenital hypothyroidism which is when there is a buildup of radioactive iodine in thyroids. The radioactive chemicals are also causing an increase on cancer for newborns and toddlers near the Pacific Ocean area. There haven’t been any reported deaths that were directly related to the Fukushima nuclear disaster
The Japanese government has come up with a way to try to isolate the Tritium. Their plan will cost around 5 million dollars to create an ice barrier around the contaminated soil and freeze the radioactive chemicals that have leaked since the nuclear disaster successfully. Unfortunately thou the land that was affected by the nuclear disaster will be uninhabitable and also unusable to humans for an unknown amount of time.
Uranium decay is very dangerous for all living things near the vicinity. Uranium decay consists of Cesium-137, Strontium-90 and Iodine-131.The most dangerous of these products is the Cesium-137 and Strontium-90 due to the long-term effects it can have on an environment which can last for hundreds of years, also in the past 30 years, these products of uranium decay have been proven to be highly radioactive. The Iodine-131, however, is less dangerous than the Cesium-137 and the Strontium-90 because Iodine-131 has a short-term effect on the environment which only lasts around 5-8 days. 
Currently Japan has created 14 new coal and gas powerplant to make up for the lack of the nucular energy since the nucular melt down.Japan has some plans to restart 12 power reactors in six different locations some time in the future thou it is still under heavy debate. Do you think they should reopen any of the nucular power plants?
References
http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-radiation-levels-will-concentrate-in-pockets-at-specific-us-and-canada-west-coast-locations/5356528
http://www.livescience.com/39067-fukushima-radiation-5-things-to-know.html
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fukushima-Radiactive-Cesium-Levels-Skyrockets-in-Just-3-Days-366782.shtml