That was to prevent a repeat of the hydrogen explosions that blew radiation out of the plant soon after cooling systems failed in the wake of the tsunami.
So far, the three Japanese reactors experiencing cooling problems haven't released significant amounts of radiation, but the situation is dangerous, as an explosion Monday morning in Japan damaged a pump bringing in cooling seawater at one reactor and a third reactor began experiencing cooling problems Monday afternoon.
The world held its breath for weeks as TEPCO struggled to contain the radiation, restore electricity to the site, and repair cooling systems to prevent major core meltdowns.
Some 110, 000 people living around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant were evacuated after the massive March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami knocked out the plant's power and cooling systems, causing meltdowns in three reactors and spewing radiation into the surrounding air, soil and water.
The basic concept is the same as that underpinning the "white roads" idea -- the development of a technology that can reflect a proportion of the sun's radiation away from the earth's surface and back out into space, thereby cooling the atmosphere and slowing, or even reversing the damaging effects of global climate change.
CNN: The shield of Ra: Could solar reflection save the planet?
While ice reflects around 80 percent of the sun's heat, having a cooling effect, blue sea water can absorb up to 95 percent of solar radiation, warming up the sea and accelerating the melting process further.
Though no radiation was released and no one died, three tons of liquid sodium burst from Monju's cooling circuits.
Cooling problems have resulted in damage to radioactive fuel rods, hydrogen gas explosions, fires and radiation releases.
They also conclude that greenhouse warming has partially been offset by the cooling effect of aerosols - tiny particles of dust thrown into the atmosphere that can reflect solar radiation back into space.
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