Radioactive iodine detected in the capital’s water supply spurred a warning for infants on Wednesday and the government issued a stark new estimate about the costs of rebuilding from the earthquake and tsunami that slammed into the northeast of Japan this month. The head of water purification for the Tokyo water department, said at a televised news conference that infants in Tokyo and surrounding areas should not drink tap water. He said iodine-131 had been detected in water samples at a level of 210 Becquerel per liter, about a quart. The recommended limit for infants is 100 becquerels per liter. For adults, the recommended limit is 300 Becquerel.
When I heard this news, I think the next generation of Japanese which is effected by the radiation this time will be not as smart as others' normal infants. This incident is quite similar to the incident of milk powder which was happened a few years ago in China. The consequences in th final was every babies who drunk that milk powder, their heads are bigger than others babies who did not drink those milk powder. Because the company which was manufacture these milk powder, was add melamine into these milk powder. I think the consequences of these two things was put infants at risk.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/world/asia/24japan.html?_r=1&hp
The nuclear crisis in Japan once again made the globe revisit the potential danger of nuclear power. Is the safety precautions and maintenance that we are doing enough? In case a serious accident take place, are the procedures that we are taking to secure the power plant enough? And more importantly, for a country like Japan with so much natural disasters, is nuclear power really suitable for it? However, I do understand that although there is a good amount of danger for nuclear power, but as of our technology today and cost effectiveness, it really left us no other choice by to rely more on it. I believe that the right step to take now is only to enhance the safety design and have constant maintenance. In the future, I hope there would be a more safe and clean new source of energy that we could use.
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