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Comparing Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Accidents: Q&A

By Adi Narayan
Bloomberg
Mar 17, 2011

March 15 (Bloomberg) — Radiation leaks from Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s earthquake-stricken reactors in northeastern Japan represent the worst nuclear power accident since the meltdown at Chernobyl, Ukraine, almost 25 years ago, scientists say.

Military helicopters are dumping water on containers holding spent uranium fuel to prevent them from overheating after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disabled a cooling system, Tokyo Electric spokesman Kaoru Yoshida told reporters yesterday. Once exposed, the spent fuel rods may catch fire and melt, spewing radiation into the atmosphere.

“Radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures,” U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko told a congressional panel in Washington yesterday.

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Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant, Susquehanna River

Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant, Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, from the series Power Places, John Pfahl, 1982
Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant, Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, from the series Power Places, John Pfahl, 1982
Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant, Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, from the series Power Places, John Pfahl, 1982
Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant, Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, from the series Power Places
John Pfahl
Ektacolor print
16″ x 20″
1982
American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery
Gift of the Consolidated Natural Gas Company Foundation, © 1982 John Pfahl