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Japan nuclear disaster 2011

Explanations and information about the Japan nuclear accident of 2011

 

 

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Japan 2011:
    Explanation of nuclear accident (using videos)
   News
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   Radiation in Japan now
   More information
See Japan earthquakes and tsunamis 2011
See also:
- Nuclear reactors and meltdowns
- Radiation
 - Nuclear teaching and learning
 - Nuclear accidents



 

The Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan appears to have had a partial meltdown, not "a meltdown". For an explanation of the distinction see Meltdown 101: What is a nuclear reactor meltdown? (csmonitor.com)

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Japan nuclear disaster 2011:

Japan's partial nuclear meltdown: explanations (videos)

  

First, view this Reuters video on Japan's threatened nuclear plant


For full-screen, move mouse onto movie (once started) then click button at bottom right.
If the volume is too low, try the same video from CNN (on YouTube)

Second - if you need a simple scientific explanation by a chemistry professor - watch this nine minute video:


(Professor Martyn Poliakoff. More information.)
[If the top and bottom videos are not showing then YouTube could be blocked in your organisation. If the middle video is not showing then you might need to install the latest version of Adobe Flash Player.]


 Nuclear fallout explanation (wwlp.com)
Questions asked include: Is a full scale meltdown a real possibility in Japan? What happens during a nuclear meltdown?

Glenn Beck Explains Japan's Nuclear Meltdown Using M&Ms (businessinsider.com)
Explanation of the partial meltdown using blackboard, kitchen pots and M&Ms.

See also:
   our Nuclear meltdown explanation section
Japan nuclear disaster
news for kids

  
See also our earthquakes page:
 Japan earthquakes and tsunamis 2011
 News about Japan's earthquakes and tsunamis
 More
Fukushima parents dish the dirt in protest over radiation levels (guardian.co.uk)
Furious parents in Fukushima have protested at moves to weaken nuclear safety standards in schools, which allow children to be exposed to 20 times more radiation than was previously permissible. 2 May 2011.

Nuclear crisis in Japan explained (firstnews.co.uk)
How the crisis started, what a meltdown is, concern about radiation. 25 March 2011.

U.S. Nuclear Experts Help Japan (scholastic.com)
Nuclear experts from the U.S. are in Japan analyzing radiation leaks and offering advice. 22 March 2011.

Japan's Nuclear Disaster (scholastic.com)
Report, with explanation of nuclear power and health risks. Terms in bold in article: radiation, evacuate, Geiger counter, fuel rods, uranium. 19 March 2011.

Can It Happen Here? (scholastic.com)
An interview. 17 March 2011.

More Trouble for Japan (Weekly Reader)
Now Japan faces a nuclear power-plant crisis. Suggested terms to define: nuclear power plants, reactor, turbine, radiation.  16 March 2011.
 
Japan's Nuclear Fears (Time for Kids)
Suggested terms to define: nuclear power plant, nuclear reactor, backup power, radiation, meltdown, radiation exposure.  16 March 2011.

Japan vows to resume aerial, ground efforts to avert nuclear crisis (CNN)
Includes a short video.  18 March 2011.

Q&A: Is Japan facing nuclear nightmare? (CNN)
Short video.  16 March 2011.

Japan nuclear emergency, Fukushima (makanaka.wordpress.com)
Illustrated continually updated summary of news and resources on the Japan earthquake and nuclear reactor accident.  22 March 2011.

IAEA Updates (iaea.org)
The International Atomic Energy Agency provides daily updates on the handling of the Japan nuclear accident.  27 March 2011.

Japan quake: Nuclear lessons from Three Mile Island (BBC)
 15 March 2011.

See also:
   our Japan earthquakes news for kids section
   the World Nuclear News website
Visualizations

   Nuclear Impact Map (esri.com)
Interactive map which shows Japan's nuclear plants at risk, earthquakes and radiation.

How Japan's nuclear crisis unfolded (cnn.com)
Video summary from CNN.

Visualizations: List of videos, animations and images (serc.carleton.edu)

 See also:
   our Nuclear power animations section
Information   Japan's power plant explosions escalate fear of nuclear crisis (juniorsbook.com)
Summary of the Japan nuclear troubles, with information about nuclear reactors, nuclear waste and meltdowns.
Radiation in Japan

   Japan Radiation Checker (targetmap.com)
Interactive. Data is real time. Takes a few seconds to load.

Fukushima Nuclear Plant (iaea.org)
Radiation updates on individual units

Tokyo, Japan radiation readings (park18.wakwak.com/~weather)

11 Radioactive Vegetables (chinadaily.com)
Eleven types of vegetables from Fukushima have radioactive materials above the legally safe limit.

US advice for expatriates and students in Japan (wwwnc.cdc.gov)
Avoiding radiation.

Advice on exposure to radiation in Japan (arpansa.gov.au)
Advice for Australians.

Information on radiation levels in Japan (international.gc.ca)
Advice and information from the Canadian government.

See also:
   our Nuclear radiation page
More information   Information and reports (serc.carleton.edu)

See also Earthquakes for students: Japan 2011

  

 

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Last updated 31 Dec 2015
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