Japan's Nuclear Disaster Explained

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In which Hank explains nuclear power and the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan.

In short, fission products continually decaying in both active and spent fuel rods create enough heat to melt themselves. The coolant systems that would prevent this from happening were disabled by the tsunami. Cracks in the fuel rods created an environment allowing hydrogen to form, which concentrated and then exploded several times destroying both the primary and secondary containment structures at at least one reactor.

The result is that the reactor needs to remain cooled or else radiation from the meltdown will be released to the environment in significant quantities. The people working to keep the reactor from overheating are risking their lives to do so, and we all hope they will be able to stabilize the reactor without harm.


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• Category

  Education

[KnightRaymund]

Modern reactors are safer. These ones were actually quite old.

And if we switched to thorium it would be better, it's safer than uranium and you can't weaponize it.

[wtcorrigan]

GREEN GREEN 2016!

[boonw]

I am not sure if you know this, but nuclear is almost entirely government funded. The reason shitty old plants are in use is because no new ones are being built.

[boonw]

There are a lot of problems. Its really in the pioneering stages. Its nothing research cant fix, but we are in no way ready to shift.

[Flyingvoxel nolond]

Isn't thorium more expensive and less efficient /effective?

[8XPowerGamer]

im 10 but i understood :D

[Phuckz Bichez]

I'll show YOU my primary container... ;]

[MissssSofie]

What other people do before an oral physics/chemistry exam - Study

What I do - Watch this.

So much win! :D

[56cottontop]

CONT- to ensure safety at the most deadly waste from the bombs making used on Japan. It took a worker going to the local news to get the attention of the NRC & congess who still has cut funding for clean up! The list of nuke plants in the USA going back to 2011 is long & getting longer. These olants are way past their life span yet still get renewed to operate,why?Owners dont have to worry about paying for claen ups,the tax payers pay for this with their taxes & lives!SO IS IT WORTH IT? HELL NO!

[56cottontop]

2 years have done by, many deaths,many sick,the air,the water, the ground all have now have been laced with deadly elements that will last for who knows how long! The worlds nuke plant & waste sites are having a very bad time, Hampford waste site is a time bomb that experts do not have a clue on how to stop the heating process in one of the tanks which they said it could blow up from the Hydrogen gases from the leaks that were said were not there! The Congress & NRC hired out side contractors-

[sukiXrose]

Unique: being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else. That's the definition I was always told. But maybe it's a british thing

[Trevor520599]

Unique :particularly remarkable, special, or unusual. Very unique is extra remarkable, special, or unusual.