Watch New Explosion Destroys Second Fukushima Nuclear Reactor - Full Videos

None of this is to say that what has happened in Japan is any less of a tragedy, it is just that phrases like nuclear meltdown and nuclear explosion used in this context in no way help, they spread fear, give tabloid headline writers scaremongering fodder, and are being hijacked repeatedly for personal agendas.



Conventional explosions do occur, as we’ve learned this week from tragic events in Japan. But, these are not nuclear explosions. There is a risk of particles of radioactive material entering the atmosphere or the ocean, but this does not amount to the impact of an actual nuclear explosion.


Essentially, the fuel concentration in a power plant is far too low to build the high-energy neutron stream needed to cause an explosive chain reaction. As to nucleear meltdown. The term nuclear meltdown is laden with China Syndrome style drama, but it does not lead to a nuclear explosion; a lot of heat is produced, and the nuclear fuel melts (happens at about 2700 Celsius).None of this is to say that what has happened in Japan is any less of a tragedy, it is just that phrases like nuclear meltdown and nuclear explosion used in this context in no way help, they spread fear, give tabloid headline writers scaremongering fodder, and are being hijacked repeatedly for personal agendas.Conventional explosions do occur, as we’ve learned this week from tragic events in Japan.



But, these are not nuclear explosions. There is a risk of particles of radioactive material entering the atmosphere or the ocean, but this does not amount to the impact of an actual nuclear explosion.