As the quake and tsunami that rocked Japan finally start to peeter off, disaster is still on the horizon in the form of nuclear meltdowns. As the tsunami took out power and generators, the nuclear plants had no way of cooling down the reactors thus resulting in melt downs and explosions. The explosions have led to radioactive material being released into the air. Thankfully, a majority of the material was blown over the ocean, but much of it is still affecting Japan and authorities are urging citizens to stay indoors and have enacted a 30 mile no fly zone over the plants.
Many officials are comparing the melt downs to that of Chernobyl. However, I firmly disagree with this. While the events are unfortunate and the entirety of the events in Japan is tragic, the melt downs are no Chernobyl. The events that happened in Chernobyl nearly wiped out the entire surrounding area and caused birth defects and mutations to this day. While the events in Japan may lead to cancerous side effects, the buildings were properly built and containable. The areas that exploded were not the core power sources. The affected zone is within 30 miles. Chernobyl is still affecting the area. The melt downs in Japan are the least of their worries and more attention needs to be brought to the thousands still missing and the devastatingly low amounts of food and water.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/ts_nm/us_japan_quake
Many officials are comparing the melt downs to that of Chernobyl. However, I firmly disagree with this. While the events are unfortunate and the entirety of the events in Japan is tragic, the melt downs are no Chernobyl. The events that happened in Chernobyl nearly wiped out the entire surrounding area and caused birth defects and mutations to this day. While the events in Japan may lead to cancerous side effects, the buildings were properly built and containable. The areas that exploded were not the core power sources. The affected zone is within 30 miles. Chernobyl is still affecting the area. The melt downs in Japan are the least of their worries and more attention needs to be brought to the thousands still missing and the devastatingly low amounts of food and water.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/ts_nm/us_japan_quake
Every time something like this happens then you throw nuclear threats on to it I think to myself why do we even have them. Nuclear plants are the strongest weapons of mass destruction on earth. If they are so dangerous lets just get rid of all of them. It’s only a matter of time before a natural disaster makes one melt down or a terrorist gets a hold of one. I really hope the people of Japan don’t suffer more then they already have.
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