The scientific journal article I chose to focus on was based on the incident of Fukushima from five years ago, and how people are dealing with the aftermath. The article indulges into the lesson we learned about nuclear radiation in class, as well as provides a very real landscape of examples to show for it. This article affects not only the people in Japan, but also helps inform the west coast of the United States on if there is any possible threat of radiation poisoning to anyone who lives there. .
On March 11th, 2011, almost five years ago, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami waves struck Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and caused meltdowns at three reactors, the aftermath of the incident was of pure public outcry. The concern for the people of Japan, was met alongside the fear for any other potential dangers of any other nuclear reactors around the world. This concern made the world essentially take a step back and analyze the potential costs as well as benefits to continuing to indulge in this field. However, the effects of what happened to Japan easily outweighed the immediate fear and destruction caused by the meltdown. Japan would be dealing with radiation contamination with the years to come for the population, as well as food and water supplies. .
The article describes that since the incident the government has been telling people that it is relatively safe to move back by 2017. People, however, are still skeptical about how the contaminated area around twenty kilometers of the plant should be safe to live around. The Japanese government could be seen as compelling evacuees back to the area. The article talks about how some specific people are not educated enough about radioactivity and what it truly means and does. The article also emphasizes how the main problem with cleaning up the radioactive leak is that water used for cooling the rods might have leaked and mixed with the groundwater.
