The "Welcome Post" (an introduction to my blog)

 

Welcome to  Japan: The before and aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster

Hello blog reader! My name is Ian Rogers. I am a high school student in upstate New York, but two years ago I was an exchange student in Maebashi city in Gunma, Japan. I stayed with four different families and traveled all throughout the immensely beautiful country that is Japan. So when I first heard about the Tsunami, Earth Quakes, and the resulting Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster I was devastated. Having host families and their relatives who were directly effected it was hard to be in America thousands of miles away incapable of helping them directly. I remember waiting for updates from rotary members in Japan, some of them engineers, who were working closely with those involved in the Nuclear Disaster. Their email's explained to me about the radiation levels in their district, those who had to relocate, the men and women who were at that moment giving their lives to save others. Stories of incredible bravery in a nation built on selflessness and sacrifice. With all eyes watching and waiting I couldn’t help but wonder, what was it exactly that caused these systems to fail? Why was this earth quake so much more devastating and why were the plants built for this level of destruction? And for how long will these areas be contaminated. I wanted to know more about the disaster that affected so many I know so closely. In this blog, we will take a look at some first hand sources and attempt to answer these questions in depth, and try to obtain a better understanding of how so much could go so wrong so quickly. And how in one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world a full out nuclear disaster, the worst the world has seen since Chernobyl, could occur.



(Photo from Iitate_vs_Fukushima_evacuation_zones_large.svg. Pitcture from Wikipedia user : Lincun)