Nukes in Japan

Image via WikipediaDanger Posed by Radioactivity in Japan Hard to Assess

The different radioactive materials being reported at the nuclear accidents in Japan range from relatively benign to extremely worrisome.


The central problem in assessing the degree of danger is that the amounts of various radioactive releases into the environment are now unknown, as are the winds and other atmospheric factors that determine how radioactivity will disperse around the stricken plants.


Still, the properties of the materials and their typical interactions with the human body give some indication of the threat.


“The situation is pretty bad,” said Frank N. von Hippel, a nuclear physicist who advised the Clinton White House and now teaches international affairs at Princeton. “But it could get a lot worse.”


In Vienna on Saturday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Japanese authorities had informed it that iodine pills would be distributed to residents around the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini plants in northeast Japan. Both have experienced multiple failures in the wake of the huge earthquake and tsunami that struck Friday.

Very mixed news reports about the situation at the plants.  More and more reports are coming out that a meltdown is occurring or will be soon. Of course our thoughts are with the people.  Our hopes also are that we all realize that nuclear power - no matter the style of reactor - can never be 100% safe.