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Nuclear power for the classroom Nuclear reactors Explanations of nuclear reactors and meltdowns

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Nuclear reactors and meltdowns:     Basic explanation of nuclear meltdown    Nuclear reactors    Nuclear power animations    Glossaries    Lists of links See also: Radiation Nuclear teaching and learning Nuclear accidents Japan nuclear disaster 2011

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)

Nuclear reactors and meltdowns:

Nuclear meltdown explanation		Nuclear meltdown (kids.net.au) Online encyclopedia explanation of nuclear meltdown for kids. What is a nuclear meltdown? (healthomg.com) Answers the questions: What happens during a meltdown? What makes it so dangerous? See also our Japan's partial nuclear meltdown explanations (videos) section.
Nuclear reactors		Nuclear Reactors (whatisnuclear.com) Covers definition, components, animation, core, types, How Nuclear Power Works (howstuffworks.com) Remember to click at the bottom for further pages. Uranium (nuclear) (eia.doe.gov/kids) From the U.S. energy Information Administration - Uranium (nuclear) Basics      Nuclear energy. Nuclear fuel. - Nuclear power plants      Fission. - Types of nuclear reactors      Boiling-water reactors. Pressurized water reactors. - Getting (producing) uranium      Occurs in nature but must be processed. - Nuclear power and the environment      No carbon dioxide. Radioactive waste. Spent fuel storage and      decommissioning. Safety and security.   NRC Students' Corner (nrc.gov) From the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. - What is nuclear energy? - Nuclear reactors (Pressurized water reactor. Boiling water reactor.)   Click on "Nuclear Reactors". . - Radiation   Click on "Radiation". - Emergency planning   Click on "Emergency planning". - Security   Click on "Security". - Decommissioning   Click on "Decommissioning". - Radioactive waste/spent fuel   Click on "Radioactive waste/spent fuel".
Nuclear power animations		Nuclear Fission Simulation (phet.colorado.edu) Includes a list of further teaching resources. Nuclear Fission Animated (youtube.com) Pressurized Water Reactor (youtube.com) Safety Features of a Boiling Water Reactor (youtube.com) See also Japan nuclear disaster visualizations
Images		New photos of reactor building partial collapse (uvdiv.blogspot.com) Only one Japanese photo, but the other two are links to many more images. (12 March 2011)
Glossaries		Glossary for Fukushima Daiichi crisis (blogs.cnn) Japanese Disasters Need-to-Know Glossary (languagemonitor.com) USNRC Glossary (nrc.gov) Large list of terms defined on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission website. A full-text glossary is also provided.
Lists of links		Atoms, Nuclei and Particles - dmoz Directory (dmoz.org) Nuclear Age (42explore2.com)

See also Radiation