1. Triple Disaster!
Japan 2011

2. What happened? For each of the 9 hyperlinked videos:
Watch each video
Answer these 3 questions for each video segment:
What was the clip about?
What was interesting to you (at least one thing)?
What question(s) do you have (minimum of one question)?
Turn in your answers
Earthquake & Tsunami
Nuclear Power Plant Crisis 1
Nuclear Power Crisis 2
Everyday a new problem?
Watch “Vegetables near stricken plant test high for radiation”
Scroll down to the “Why spent fuel rods should matter to you?” on left hand side. WATCH THIS SEGMENT.
Also watch “Experts track fallout from Fukushima” located below the fuel rod segement.
Radiation!
More Radiation!
Click the jump to video in orange at the top
Food!

3. Radioactive Contamination Radiation Exposure
Radioactive material on or inside the body
Loose particles land on person OR are eaten or inhaled
Radiation Exposure
Radioactive waves or particles have penetrated skin
Can happen when near any source of gamma radiation
Thyroid gland & bone marrow
most vulnerable
Contamination materials can be washed off of surfaces!

4. Who is most at risk? People very close to source Young children
High intensity
Young children
GROWING means lots of cell division
Lots of possibility for mutation effects
Early pregnancy fetuses
Genetic mutations
People of childbearing years
Genetic mutations can be passed to offspring

5. What can be done? Wash contaminated skin/clothing
Eliminating contamination reduces exposure
Do not each contaminated foods
Reduces contamination of person
Take potassium iodide tablets
Protects the thyroid gland
Only lasts 24 hours

6. Radiation Sickness?
Exposure to HIGH dose of gamma radiation for a short period of time
Fatigue
Hair loss
Nauses/vomiting
Diarrhea
Skin changes/burns

7. Everyday Radiation! 100 millirem = 1 millisievert Acute radiation
Sickness starts
At 1,000
Millisievert or
100,000 millirem
Annual Exposure
50 millisieverts or
5000 millirem
Average exposure
Of evacuees
After Chernobyl
31 millisievert or
3100 millirem
Spike recorded
In japan
400 millisievert
Per hour or
40,000 millirem
Per hour
Everyday
Radiation!

8. Where does radiation come from?

9. Where does RADIATION come from?
Unstable isotopes can spontaneously break down or decay (Radioactive decay)
Three decays:
Alpha Decay
Releases helium-4 nucleus (alpha particle)
Beta Decay
Releases high energy electron (beta particle)
Spontaneous fission
Splits element
Releases gamma rays

10. What next?
Nucleus that has decayed becomes unstable & highly energetic.
Releases extra energy in the form of gamma rays.
Gamma rays:
Penetrate matter
Very energetic
Made of energy
Can cause damage to living cells
Cell death; mutations to nucleus → cancer
Used in lower doses for treating cancer

11. Other Radiation?
Alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons, gamma rays, cosmic rays
Difference in energy & ability to penetrate!
ONLY GAMMA & X-rays will penetrate the skin!
X-Rays?
Lower energy
Less chance of damage

12. Experiment: Radioactive Decay AKA Half-Life!

13. Stories from the Past 3 Mile Island Chernobyl: 1979 Pennsylvania
Cooling failure
Vented radioactive steam
H2 accumulated & High heat caused explosion
Radioactive water released into river (drinking water source)
Long term effects unknown
No immediate injuries
Chernobyl:
1986 Russia
Control rods removed for test
Created lots of heat
High amounts of steam
Melt down & fire
Containment broken
Clouds with radioactive fallout widespread
Radiation release greater than both nuclear bombs dropped on Japan
Long term effects great
30 lives lost immediately

14. Where does nuclear energy come from?
Nucleus of atoms
Nuclear Reactors utilize FISSION
CONTROLLED splitting a large nucleus into two or more fragments.
Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239 most common
Chain reactions
See figure 11 pg. 654
235U n0 → 93K Ba n0
3 neutrons emitted
Can penetrate
Can create gamma
NOTE: Fission of ONE GRAM of uranium 235 generates as much energy as
Burning 2700 kg of coal!

16. Nuclear Fusion: Energy of the future?
Happening right now on the SUN
Fusing small nuclei together
Binding nuclei releases even greater amounts of energy than fission
Difficult to control!
4 1H1 → 4He e+1
2 positrons emitted
Positron + electron = 2 gamma rays