Florian Janocha: Fukushima I

To the Editor:

Fukushima I: a reactor on the decline. Two gas explosions, three possible nuclear meltdowns and a land having problems to handle this. First the earthquake, which was no big deal for Japan. Second the Tsunami which was a lot worse. It brought devastation and death. Third Fukushima. That’s when a really serious trouble began. In detail, it began when cooling systems in reactor 1 stopped working. Hope was there to make it work again – but no chance. Thinking and begging that it is going to stop, nobody did a thing. Later reactor 3 had the same problem – no cooling systems.

At Sunday, 12.03.2011, reactor 1 suffered a severe hydrogen explosion. The concrete wall protecting the core of the reactor was totally devastated. Thousands of people were worried, but that was not the end. Monday 13.03.2011 reactor 3 became critical and exploded. Reactor 2 got damaged a lot by the explosions before. Now, three possible nuclear meltdowns are about to happen, as it is just a matter of time. Fukushima I is like a bomb, which will set off at a certain time. Many scientists say that if it is going to occur, it will be a lot worse than the disaster of Chernobyl.

Japan is making a dangerous action, trying to stop the heating of the reactors. They pumped water and a boron solution into reactor 2. But this was a very risky action, because if the reactor leaked, all the contaminated water would flow out into the sea. The result would be a big dying off of fish and beaches could be no longer visited, as there would be a high radioactive concentration. Now, as the reactor 1 and 3 exploded, toxins have been released into the air. Those are Iodine 131, Strontium 90, Plutonium and Cesium. All of these are highly radioactive. Not only Japan, but the whole world will suffer from this. There is probably no way to stop this horrible disaster.

Florian Janocha (11)
-Germany