All weekend, I've been hearing about the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. It's frightening news, even here in the United States. I did read an interesting blog this morning that put my mind at ease a bit. In the post, Barry Brook gives what he calls a
"simple and accurate explanation" of the situation in Fukushima. I would have to agree that it is a simple explanation of how a Nuclear Power Plant works and the design that goes into preventing a meltdown. As for accuracy, I can't judge as I have no background in this. But I've done a little more searching on the interwebs and found
several articles that back him up.
The radio, television, and internet media outlets seem to be over-hyping this part of the disaster. Though I understand it is a serious thing and should be reported. I know that it's the trend in news these days to report the sensational, or to report the real news in a sensational manor, so Brook's post was a welcome change. I didn't feel that he talked down to his audience but rather explained things in a calm manner as a parent would to a young adult. His use of images and diagrams were especially helpful as I could see exactly what he was talking about in his explanation. I also appreciate his point that the architecture that went into this power plant lived up to and exceeded its design in the face of an 8.9 earthquake as it was only designed to sustain an 8.2.
My sister wrote a
blog about the earthquake in Japan and in it, she discussed the economic impact of this disaster and the recent revolutions around the globe. As I said in an earlier post, my mother and her side of the family have an idea that these are signs of the end of times. My sister goes into an explanation of why this simply isn't the case. Though she is not as technical as Brook's she is equally as comforting for me to read.
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