Radioactive pollution is affecting our oceans greatly today. There are numerous reasons why radioactivity and radiation are bad for both you and the environment. Radiation consists of several particles, gamma rays, alpha particles, and other elements that can easily penetrate the human body. When they make their way into your body the biological cells which make up your body are damaged and may decompose, cause fatal cancers, and or genetic defects in future offspring. The more radiation one is exposed to will increase these effects and may be incurable. As radiation is obviously harmful and damaging for us as humans and has all these harmful effects, imagine what it does to our environment and our ocean, which covers 97% of our planet. There
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The tsunami overtook the buildings of Fukushima Daiichi, a nuclear power plant company. Electricity and the emergency generator were shut off immediately. Three reactors shut down completely and were destroyed. When the reactors shut down the plant went into meltdown stage, causing the reactors to overheat due to the loss of water. Due to the owner of the plant taking these events lightly an explosion occurred. Japan is still struggling today due to radioactive contamination, and is facing long term effects for those who were impacted directly. The explosion sent cesium-137 and strontium-90, both radioactive isotopes, straight into the ocean. Marine life and seafood were both put at risk due to the capability of ocean currents carrying radioactive material out to sea. According to numerous marine biologists this radioactive material can be found in oceans 60 years after they were initially released, and may be detrimental to both marine life and seafood. This disaster affected the marine food chain in numerous ways. For example, the ocean has natural radioactive isotopes such as Polonium-210, which is responsible for the radiation dose the marine organisms receive. Certain organisms such as types of plankton and tuna were greatly affected by the radiation exposure. Correspondingly as Fukushima Daiichi was a traditional nuclear power plant, meaning it’s uranium based, if it was a thorium reactor, would the explosion have taken place? Thorium salts, an alternative to uranium, needs to be primed rather than cooled, therefore an explosion could’ve been
The tsunami overtook the buildings of Fukushima Daiichi, a nuclear power plant company. Electricity and the emergency generator were shut off immediately. Three reactors shut down completely and were destroyed. When the reactors shut down the plant went into meltdown stage, causing the reactors to overheat due to the loss of water. Due to the owner of the plant taking these events lightly an explosion occurred. Japan is still struggling today due to radioactive contamination, and is facing long term effects for those who were impacted directly. The explosion sent cesium-137 and strontium-90, both radioactive isotopes, straight into the ocean. Marine life and seafood were both put at risk due to the capability of ocean currents carrying radioactive material out to sea. According to numerous marine biologists this radioactive material can be found in oceans 60 years after they were initially released, and may be detrimental to both marine life and seafood. This disaster affected the marine food chain in numerous ways. For example, the ocean has natural radioactive isotopes such as Polonium-210, which is responsible for the radiation dose the marine organisms receive. Certain organisms such as types of plankton and tuna were greatly affected by the radiation exposure. Correspondingly as Fukushima Daiichi was a traditional nuclear power plant, meaning it’s uranium based, if it was a thorium reactor, would the explosion have taken place? Thorium salts, an alternative to uranium, needs to be primed rather than cooled, therefore an explosion could’ve been