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Meltdown: Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Disaster in Fukushima

Page 13

by Deirdre Langeland


  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

 

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