Triple Disaster! Japan 2011

What happened? For each of the 9 hyperlinked videos: Watch each video Answer these 3 questions for each video segment: What was the clip about? What was interesting to you (at least one thing)? What question(s) do you have (minimum of one question)? Turn in your answers Earthquake & Tsunami Nuclear Power Plant Crisis 1 Nuclear Power Crisis 2 Everyday a new problem? Watch “Vegetables near stricken plant test high for radiation” Scroll down to the “Why spent fuel rods should matter to you?” on left hand side. WATCH THIS SEGMENT. Also watch “Experts track fallout from Fukushima” located below the fuel rod segement. Radiation! More Radiation! Click the jump to video in orange at the top Food!

Radioactive Contamination Radiation Exposure Radioactive material on or inside the body Loose particles land on person OR are eaten or inhaled Radiation Exposure Radioactive waves or particles have penetrated skin Can happen when near any source of gamma radiation Thyroid gland & bone marrow most vulnerable Contamination materials can be washed off of surfaces!

Who is most at risk? People very close to source Young children High intensity Young children GROWING means lots of cell division Lots of possibility for mutation effects Early pregnancy fetuses Genetic mutations People of childbearing years Genetic mutations can be passed to offspring

What can be done? Wash contaminated skin/clothing Eliminating contamination reduces exposure Do not each contaminated foods Reduces contamination of person Take potassium iodide tablets Protects the thyroid gland Only lasts 24 hours

Radiation Sickness? Exposure to HIGH dose of gamma radiation for a short period of time Fatigue Hair loss Nauses/vomiting Diarrhea Skin changes/burns

Everyday Radiation! 100 millirem = 1 millisievert Acute radiation Sickness starts At 1,000 Millisievert or 100,000 millirem Annual Exposure 50 millisieverts or 5000 millirem Average exposure Of evacuees After Chernobyl 31 millisievert or 3100 millirem Spike recorded In japan 400 millisievert Per hour or 40,000 millirem Per hour Everyday Radiation!

Where does radiation come from?

Where does RADIATION come from? Unstable isotopes can spontaneously break down or decay (Radioactive decay) Three decays: Alpha Decay Releases helium-4 nucleus (alpha particle) Beta Decay Releases high energy electron (beta particle) Spontaneous fission Splits element Releases gamma rays

What next? Nucleus that has decayed becomes unstable & highly energetic. Releases extra energy in the form of gamma rays. Gamma rays: Penetrate matter Very energetic Made of energy Can cause damage to living cells Cell death; mutations to nucleus → cancer Used in lower doses for treating cancer

Other Radiation? Alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons, gamma rays, cosmic rays Difference in energy & ability to penetrate! ONLY GAMMA & X-rays will penetrate the skin! X-Rays? Lower energy Less chance of damage

Experiment: Radioactive Decay AKA Half-Life!

Stories from the Past 3 Mile Island Chernobyl: 1979 Pennsylvania Cooling failure Vented radioactive steam H2 accumulated & High heat caused explosion Radioactive water released into river (drinking water source) Long term effects unknown No immediate injuries Chernobyl: 1986 Russia Control rods removed for test Created lots of heat High amounts of steam Melt down & fire Containment broken Clouds with radioactive fallout widespread Radiation release greater than both nuclear bombs dropped on Japan Long term effects great 30 lives lost immediately

Where does nuclear energy come from? Nucleus of atoms Nuclear Reactors utilize FISSION CONTROLLED splitting a large nucleus into two or more fragments. Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239 most common Chain reactions See figure 11 pg. 654 235U92 + 1n0 → 93K36 + 140Ba56 + 3 1n0 3 neutrons emitted Can penetrate Can create gamma NOTE: Fission of ONE GRAM of uranium 235 generates as much energy as Burning 2700 kg of coal!

Nuclear Fusion: Energy of the future? Happening right now on the SUN Fusing small nuclei together Binding nuclei releases even greater amounts of energy than fission Difficult to control! 4 1H1 → 4He2 + 2 0e+1 2 positrons emitted Positron + electron = 2 gamma rays