Questions and Answers about the Unfolding Nuclear Emergency in Japan

MASSPIRG

Questions and Answers about the Unfolding Nuclear Emergency in Japan

Posted by: Travis Madsen on 03/14/2011

The unfolding nuclear emergency in Japan has raised questions amongst the staff of Public Interest Network organizations and in our own communities. We have prepared this factsheet to attempt to provide answers where information is available, and will attempt to keep it updated as the situation unfolds.

Questions addressed include:

    * What is happening in Japan?
    * What do the radiation levels reported in the media mean?
    * How many U.S. nuclear plants are located near earthquake faults?
    * How large of an earthquake could U.S. nuclear plants withstand?
    * Which U.S. reactors have the same design as the reactors that suffered cooling system failures in Japan?
    * Which U.S. nuclear reactors are located near large population centers?
    * What are other people saying about the unfolding emergency?

See the links to the above blog posts for our most current answers to these questions. If you need a Microsoft Word copy, (not as current, however) one is attached below.

Please forward any additional questions you are encountering to [email protected].