I have covered Fukushima extensively in these posts but I have just come across something that I had not seen before. There have been recent articles lately about the involvement of the Yakuza in the Japanese nuclear industry and the presence of members of the Yakuza at the Fukushima nuclear plant that suffered the catastrophe in March of 2011.
Several days ago I wrote a post about the impact of Hurricane Sandy on nuclear reactors on in the East Coast of the United States. With respect to a particular reactor, I wrote:
I have covered different aspect of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in past blog posts. My sister blog http://www.Radiationrelations.com presents four link every day about radioactivity and nuclear issues, often dealing with Fukushima. I thought that I should explain why I dwell on Fukushima so much. Nuclear power is an important source of electric power generation in the world today.
The first commercial power plant in the United Kingdom and the world went into operation in 1956 at Calder Hill but the main reason for the reactor being built was to produce weapons grade plutonium. and the last plant built in the UK was put into operation in 1995.
I have discussed the fact that nuclear reactors require an enormous amount of water to cool them in previous posts. This means that they have to be located near major sources of water such big rivers, big lakes or the ocean. Since many big cities are near large bodies of water, this makes such locations convenient for major power plants that supply electricity to cities. Unfortunately this also makes the reactors vulnerable to flooding.
Seventy percent of Finland’s power comes from coal, gas, hydro and biofuels. Some power is imported from Russia. Coal is imported from Poland and Russia. All imported gas comes from Russia. Finland has four operating nuclear reactors that supply about thirty percent of their electrical power. When the annual rainfall is low, there is a power shortfall and more electricity must be imported. Finland is working to be more energy independent.
The Fukushima nuclear disaster was partly caused by the tsunami triggered by the nearby earthquake. The generator room that supplied power for monitoring and cooling was located in a basement which flooded. Without monitoring and cooling , several of the reactors overheated and generated gases which exploded causing major damage to the reactor buildings.
Muons are elementary particles similar to electrons. They were discovered in 1936 by Carl Anderson and Seth Neddermeyer at Caltech in 1936. They have a negative charge and are two hundred times as heavy as an electron. They occur naturally as a result of cosmic rays hitting the atmosphere of the Earth. About ten thousand muons hit every square meter of the Earth’s surface every minute of every day.
I have discussed many issues that might lead to closing a nuclear power plant. There can be concerns about earthquakes, flood, tornados, hurricanes, explosions, leaks and many other problems. One thing that has nothing at all to do with reactor design, the weather but does have to do with the location is the demand for electrical energy.
French scientists discovered natural radioactivity and explored its properties early in the history of nuclear science. France was involved in nuclear research prior to WW II and, following the war, the government created the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique to fund and guide research. In the 1950s, the emphasis was on nuclear weapons research but progress was made on civilian use and the first nuclear reactor in France started in 1963.
