Fukushima Disaster

Fukushima Disaster — page 1
Chapter One DANGEROUS WAVES Atsufumi Yoshizawa was just finishing his shift at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant Two seawalls stretched into the Pacific Ocean like arms protecting the collection of turquoise-blue and white buildings Yoshizawa a nuclear engineer helped run the plant which produced electricity for millions of customers including people in Tokyo 177 miles 285 kilometers away It was a relaxed Friday afternoon March 11 2011 But the seafloor was restless The bottom of the sea is part of Earth’s crust which is made of massive plates that fit loosely together like puzzle pieces They usually slide past each other about as slowly as fingernails grow But off the eastern coast of Japan along a crack in the crust called a fault the edges of two plates pushed against each other locked in battle No one at Fukushima Daiichi was aware of the struggling undersea plates on March 11 It was business as usual at the plant Since the 1880s many electrical plants have burned coal to make steam power to generate electricity But nuclear plants use another method they split the smallest pieces of matter atoms to make heat When an atom’s nucleus splits it releases energy in waves most in the form of heat Many types of atoms can produce abundant nuclear energy This process is called fission It is safe as long as people are protected from its intense heat and dangerous radiation The Fukushima nuclear plant housed six huge containers called reactor vessels Each was about six stories high with walls made of steel 5 inches 13 centimeters thick plus concrete Each reactor