1. Japan Crisis Not As Bad As Chernobyl
- Author:
- James M. Acton
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- As the crisis deepens at the Daiichi reactors in Fukushima, Japanese authorities are working to cool the reactors and limit the spread of radiation. The severity of the situation is both unclear and fluid, since measuring gauges at the Daiichi reactors are unreliable and radiation levels have fluctuated greatly on-site. Speaking on NBC's Today Show, Carnegie's James Acton describes the Fukushima reactor crisis as worse than Three Mile Island, though less disastrous than Chernobyl. During the Chernobyl catastrophe, Acton said, a significant fraction of the reactor core explosively spread into the environment. In Japan, the primary threat comes from the melting of the reactor core, exposing fuel rods to the atmosphere. The amount of radiation that will be released from such melting is unclear, Acton concluded.
- Topic:
- Natural Disasters and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- Japan, East Asia, and Island