Finishing drafts and editorial passes of this book meant a few too many late nights and unwashed dishes, so I owe major thanks (and apologies) to my husband, James Geppner, and especially my daughter, Freddie. They somehow manage to be supportive even when they’re not getting enough cuddles.
And, of course, I owe huge thanks to Katherine Jacobs and Emily Feinberg, who took up the editorial reins of this book and saw it through to completion. Your patience knows no bounds. Thank you for wading into these murky waters with me.
IMAGE CREDITS
here: Shutterstock/FocusStocker; here: Getty Images/Kyodo News; here: AP Photo/Kyodo News, here: AP Photo/Kyodo News; here: Shutterstock/Yoshimi Maeda; here: Alamy Stock Photo/AB Forces News Collection; here: Wikimedia Commons/Sed; here: Getty Images/JiJi Press; here: Getty Images/Kyodo News; here: AP Photo/The Yomiuri Shimbun/Reiri Kurihara; here: Getty Images/The Asahi Shimbun; here: Getty Images/Gamma-Rapho Collection/Kurita Kaku; here: Alamy Stock Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Company; here: Getty Images/Kyodo News; here: Getty Images/Kyodo News; here: Alamy Stock Photo/DOD Photo; here: AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye; here: AP Photo/The Yomiuri Shimbun/Daisuke Tomita; here: Getty Images/Kyodo News; here: Getty Images/Kyodo News; here: Getty Images/AFP/Mike Clarke; here: Alamy Stock Photo/U.S. Navy; here: U.S. Navy; here: Getty Images/The Asahi Shimbun; here: AP Photo/Kyodo; here: Getty Images/Kyodo News; here: Getty Images/AFP/Jung Yeon-Je; here: Getty Images/AFP/Ken Shimizu; here: Getty Images/AFP/Jiji Press; here: Getty Images/Kyodo News; here: Getty Images/The Washington Post/Shiho Fukada; here: Getty Images/AFP/Kimimasa Mayama; here: Getty Images/AFP/Toshifumi Kitamura; here: Getty Images/Bloomberg/Junko Kimura.
All maps, diagrams, charts, and infographics by Manuel Bortoletti.
INDEX
The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your e-book. Please use the search function on your e-reading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.
A
Abe, Toshikazu
family lost
tsunami experience of
accident with local consequences, INES
accident with wider consequences, INES
aftershocks
anomaly, INES
anxiety
Anzai, Toru
asthenosphere
Atomic Energy Society of Japan
atomic weapons
atoms
bodies made up of
electrical charge of
electrons knocked out of
neutrons, isotopes and
radiation altering
uranium 235 atom
as vulnerable to radiation
B
battery power
for generators
to read water level
for water injection
breakwater, at Fukushima Daiichi
C
cancer
linked to Chernobyl
linked to nuclear power plant workers
from radiation
sailors developing, aboard USS Ronald Reagan
carbon dioxide
coal plants as producer of
coal-burning plants releasing
cell phones
no service for
radiation of
cesium
spread to food
chain reaction, nuclear
neutrons driving
starting
uranium pellets driving
Chernobyl
history of
nuclear accident at
climate change
gases contributing to
sea level rise as result of
coal
energy efficiency of, compared to nuclear energy
used to generate heat
coal-burning plants
carbon dioxide released by
in Osaka
power from
in Tokyo
cold shutdown
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
computer
radiation of
radio waves carrying information to
condenser
containment
breach of
containment, primary
radioactive fuel leaking into
structure of
containment levels
containment vessel lid
function of
pressure releasing bolts for
containment vessels
control rods
emergency systems triggering
structure of
control room operators
and radiation exposure
solutions searched for by
working by flashlight
control rooms
communication with
at Fukushima Daiichi
power lost in
unit 3
Cooper, Lindsay
core (of nuclear reactor)
hydrogen gas in
melting down
temperature of
corium
melted
reactor vessel eaten through by
Cosmo Oil refinery, tank collapse and fire at
covalent bond
crisis management
critical
crust
culture, catastrophe remembered by
D
decay heat
depression
destruction
from Great Tohoku Earthquake
from hydrogen explosion
from nuclear reactor, unit 1
from tsunamis
from unit 4 hydrogen explosion
disaster memory
lives saved by
tendenko and
disaster relief operations
displaced people
displacement (of water)
example of
ripple of
distance
radiation reduced by time, shielding and
time, shielding and
diverge
dosimeters
nuclear workers carrying
quantity of
radiation measured by
dryer-separator pit
drywell
E
Earth
movement of
shift in center of gravity
earthquake monitoring stations
earthquake-resistant technology
earthquakes
cause of Japan’s
causing displacement
duration of
foreshocks compared to
and liquefaction
magnitude of, per year, worldwide
movement of
protection systems for
strength of
tsunamis following
electrical energy
electricity
generating
shortage in
water, steam and
electron cloud
electrons
knocked out of atom
leaping
elements. See also specific elements
combination of
makeup of
emergency cooling systems
emergency guidelines. See also tendenko
emergency injection system (HPCI)
emergency response centers
chaos in
difficulty arriving at
safety of
emergency response team
emergency systems, and control rods
emotional fallout, from accidents
energy
fission and
radiation as
from splitting uranium atom
in tectonic plates
epicenter
Eurasion Plate
evacuation
for American citizens
completion of
orders for
zone
evacuation centers
&nbs
p; Okawa Elementary School as
evacuation order
evacuation strategy. See tendenko
F
Filipino Plate
fire trucks
connection of hoses for
seawater pumped into reactors via
floodgates (in Fudai)
flooding
of backup generators
typhoon causing
foreshocks
friction
Fudai
intact
seawall at
tsunami hitting
fuel rods
as ignited
makeup of
as melting
temperature of
Fujinuma Dam
Fukushima 50
reinforcements for
responsibility felt by
Fukushima Daiichi (One) nuclear power plant. See also nuclear reactors
aerial view of
Chernobyl compared to
cooling lost for reactors at
dismantling reactors at
evacuation zone around
fail-safe systems for reactors at
first tsunami wave hitting
Great Tohoku Earthquake hitting
impact of power loss at
power restored for
seismic waves reaching
as vulnerable to disaster
water storage tanks at
Fukushima exclusion zone
Fukushima nuclear disaster, news coverage of
Fukushima prefecture
dumpsites in
population decline in
Futaba
as empty
hospital patients in
silence within
G
Geiger-Müller counter
generators, backup
battery power for
as flooded
generators, electricity
Georgia Nuclear Aircraft Laboratory
global positioning system (GPS)
ocean changes detected through
tsunami passing by
GPS buoys, tsunamis identified by
gravity, Earth’s center of
Great Tohoku Earthquake
Abe experience of
ceiling collapse during
deaths from
destruction from
epicenter of
foreshocks before
Fukushima Daiichi hit by
immediately after
Kurosawa experience of
and liquefaction
magnitude of
map of
rescue efforts after
shock of people after
strength of
structural damage from
tsunami generated by
Usuzawa experience of
warning of
Greenpeace
grid
H
Honshu
map of
as stretched
hydrogen explosion
destruction from
of reactor vessel
in unit 1 nuclear reactor
in unit 3 nuclear reactor
in unit 4 nuclear reactor
hydrogen gas
building up
escaping from reactor building
leaking
leaking into nuclear reactor
in reactor core
hydrogen molecule
hypocenter
I
IAEA. See International Atomic Energy Agency
Iitate
cleanup cost in
Inagaki, Takeyuki
incident, INES
INES. See International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale
inner core
insomnia
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES)
iodine
decay rate of
isotopes of
iodine
characteristics of
decay rate of
ion, creation of
ionizing radiation
danger of
Ishido, Jin
Ishinomaki
isolation, feelings of
isolation condenser
as outdated
valves for
isotopes, neutrons, atoms and
Iwate prefecture
J
Japan Civil Defense forces
Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)
Japan Special Defense Forces
Japan Trench
geographic location of
rupture of
Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority
JMA. See Japan Meteorological Agency
K
Kan, Naoto
Kimura, Noriyo
kinetic energy
Kobe earthquake
Koshida, Misa
Kurosawa, Yukari
effects of liquefaction described by
tsunami experience of
L
liquefaction
lithosphere
Love waves
M
magma
major accident, INES
mantle
maps
of earthquake
of Fukushima Daiichi
of Honshu
of tectonic plates
of Tohuku region
of tsunami arrival
McNeill, David
megawatt
meltdown cycle, beginning of
Merkel, Angela
microwaves, radiation of
Mini-Manbo
Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, Japan
miracle pine
missing people
bodies of
notes used to find
phone booth tribute to
Miyagi prefecture
Miyako, tsunami hits
molecule
of water
moment magnitude scale
Mount Fuji
N
Namie
Naraha
National Institutes of Health, U.S.
Natori
natural gas
neutrons
atoms, isotopes and
atoms and
nuclear chain reaction driven by
nitrogen oxide
North American Plate
movement of
Pacific Plate and
nuclear boiling water reactor
nuclear energy, energy efficiency of coal compared to
nuclear engineers
nuclear fission
efficiency of
energy and
isotopes created by
process of
as threat
uranium and
nuclear plant cooling towers
nuclear power, protests against
nuclear power plant workers
cancer linked to
dangers experienced by
dosimeters carried by
exposure limits for
increase in
suit for protection used by
Yoshida organizing tasks for
nuclear power plants
exposure limits at
as heavily guarded
nuclear reaction
nuclear reactor, unit 1
destruction from
hydrogen explosion in
isolation condenser in
rising radiation in
water pumped into
nuclear reactor, unit 2
danger for
melting down of
saved from explosion
nuclear reactor, unit 3
control room for
hydrogen explosion in
hydrogen gas leaking into
increase in radiation
nuclear reactor, unit 4
fire in
hydrogen explosion in
spent fuel in
nuclear reactor, unit 5
in cold shutdown
spent fuel in
nuclear reactor, unit 6
in cold shutdown
spent fuel in
nuclear reactor control room
nuclear reactor operators
nuclear reactors
challenges with
in containment vessels
cooling needed for
disassembling
at Fukushima Daiichi
losing all power sources
maintenance for
melting down of
radioactivity within
seawater used for cooling
uranium used in
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
nuclear waste, storage system for
nucleus
of atom
of oxygen
of uranium 235 atom
O
Okawa Elementary School
Okuma
operating manuals
Operation Tomodachi
Osaka
Otsuchi
outer core
oxygen, nucleus of
P
P waves. See primary waves
Pacific Plate
movement of
North American Plate and
panic
passive system
polonium
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
potassium iodide pills
potential energy
pressure
bolts for containment vessel lid released by
in pressure cookers
in reactor vessel
release of steam to lower
rocks under
in tectonic plates
of water
primary waves (P waves)
protection systems, for earthquakes
protective gear
citizens’ lack of
radiation exposure with
restrictive
protests, against nuclear power
protons
PTSD. See posttraumatic stress disorder
R
radiation
atoms altered by
atoms vulnerable to
avoiding
cancer from
dosimeters measuring
as energy
exposure to
high levels of
long-term impact of
naturally occurring
nuclear reactor, unit 3, increase in
produced from nuclear reaction
rising levels of
robots destroyed by
spectrum of types of
Sv measuring levels of
as terrifying
time, distance, and shielding reducing exposure to
radiation hot spots
radiation sensors
radiation sickness
radio waves
radiation of
radioactive
radioactive cesium
radioactive cloud
formation and movement of
USS Ronald Reagan caught in
radioactive debris
radioactive decay
radioactive disaster zone
radioactive isotopes
contamination from
damage to human body by
travel capacity of
uranium transforming into
Meltdown: Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Disaster in Fukushima Page 13