A lamentable event took place in Japan on March 11, 2011; a magnitude 9.0 earthquake produced a devastating tsunami. This tsunami in turn caused the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear plant to malfunction. One of the concerns people have regarding this incident is that of leaking radiation. There are different types of radiation, many of which we are exposed to daily, one of which if the visible spectrum and radio waves. Radioactivity, however, refers to an atom’s nature to decompose and decay into its component subatomic particles: protons (positive), electrons (negative) and neutrons. In the case of a nuclear plant, people are most vulnerable of ‘ionizing radiation’, which means that the body absorbs charged particles that can compromise biological processes because of their charge. There is alpha radiation, which consists of heavy positively charged particles that can be easily stopped unless ingested; beta radiation, negatively charged particles harder to protect against than alpha ones since they penetrate deeper; and gamma rays which depending on the energy of the wave will cause different effects. There are also neutrons released, although they are not charged particles themselves, they can interact with other molecules and form ionized molecules. Despite the taboo surrounding the topic, humans are always exposed to radiation and often forget that many common and beneficial medical procedures involve exposure to radiation, such as x-rays and cancer treatments. Despite the extensive research on the topic, there are many things left unknown even now. There is not a established level and exposure time determined for the different effects seen as a result of radiation exposure, often times because of contradicting experiments and lack of information due to ethical implications. On the other hand, as mentioned by BBC expert, David Spiegelhalter, ‘a whole-body CT scan as part of a medical check-up, […] can deliver you a dose equivalent to being 1.5 miles from the centre of the Hiroshima explosion’. There is no doubt that radiation in high enough levels can cause harm and even death to a person, however we have been able to implement enough safety as to avoid this from happening in a nuclear plant such as the Fukushima-Daiichi. It is actually admirable that a plant as old (40-years) as the Fukushima-Daiichi was able to withstand relatively well the strongest earthquake modern Japan has witnessed and the tsunami that followed. The leaking radiation from the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant has not reached a lethal level; quite on the contrary the radiation level changes are minuscule and its effects on the population are minimal compared to the devastation left by the earthquake and tsunami that followed.
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Posted by Isabela Lara
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