RECOGNIZING THE “FUKUSHIMA 50” AND THEIR VALIANT EFFORT DAYS MARCH 12 th –17 TH Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

JAPAN’S 180 HEROS WHO ARE RISKING THEIR LIVES TO PREVENT A MELT DOWN AT THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR FACILITY WHOSE NORMAL COOLING SYSTEM WAS DISRUPTED BY THE EARTHQUAKE

AERIAL VIEW: THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR FACIULITY

THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR FACILITY Radiation leaks and threats of partial melt down developed in four of the six reactors as a result of the quake/tsunami.

RADIATION CLOUD AT THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR FACIULITY

NO-FLY ZONE ABOUT FUKUSHIMA

DRY SPENT FUEL POOLS By days 6-7, Japanese efforts were focused on the pools used to store spent nuclear fuel, now dry or nearly so, because the consensus was that the dry rods could heat up and spew intense radiation.

WORKING TO AVERT DISASTER Emergency workers tried helicopter water drops, heavy- duty fire trucks, and water cannons to cool down Japan's dangerously overheated nuclear reactors and spent-fuel pools.

HELICOPTERS COLLECT SEA WATER TO DROP ON FUKUSHIMA REACTORS

A RACE AGAINST TIME 140,000 people within a 33 km radius of the plant were told to stay in their houses indefinitely; while the increased risk from radiation stymied search and rescue operations, already out of time in terms of the “golden window”, and slowed humanitarian assistance.