JASMINE REVOLUTION

The Tunisian revolution[8][9] is an intensive campaign of civil resistance, including a series of street demonstrations taking place in Tunisia. The events began in December 2010 and led to the ousting of longtime PresidentZine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. Street demonstrations and other unrest have continued to the present day. The demonstrations were precipitated by high unemployment, food inflation, corruption,[10] a lack of freedom of speech and other political freedoms[11] and poor living conditions. The protests constituted the most dramatic wave of social and political unrest in Tunisia in three decades[12][13] and have resulted in scores of deaths and injuries, most of which were the result of action by police and security forces against demonstrators. The protests were sparked by the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi on 17 December[14] and led to the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali 28 days later on 14 January 2011, when he officially resigned after fleeing to Saudi Arabia, ending 23 years in power.[15][16]Labour unions were said to be an integral part of the protests.[17] The protests inspired similar actions throughout the Arab world; the Egyptian revolution began after the events in Tunisia and also led to the ousting of Egypt's longtime president Hosni Mubarak; furthermore, uprisings in Bahrain, Syria and Yemen and major protests have also taken place in Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Israel's borders, Iraq, Mauritania[18] and also Libya - where a full-scale revolution has broken out[19] - as well as elsewhere in the wider North Africa and Middle East. Following Ben Ali's departure, a state of emergency was declared. A caretaker coalition government was also created, including members of Ben Ali's party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), in key ministries, while including other opposition figures in other ministries, with elections to take place within 60 days. However, five newly appointed nonRCD ministers resigned[20][21] almost immediately, and daily street protests in Tunis and other towns around Tunisia continued, demanding that the new government have no RCD members and that the RCD itself be disbanded.[21][22][23] On 27 January Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi reshuffled the government, removing all former RCD members other than himself. On 6 February the new interior minister suspended all party activities of the RCD, citing security reasons.[24] The party was dissolved, as protesters had demanded, on 9 March 2011. [25] Following further public protests, Ghannouchi himself resigned on 27 February, and BejiCaid el Sebsi became Prime Minister; two other members of the Interim Government resigned on the following day.

On 3 March 2011, the president announced that elections to a Constituent Assembly would be held on 23 October 2011; this likely means that general elections will be postponed to a later date.[5]

Background
President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had ruled Tunisia since 1987 with an iron fist. His government, which had been criticised in the media and amongst NGOs, was supported by the United States and France. As a result, the initial reactions to Ben Ali's abuses by the U.S. and France were muted, and most instances of socio-political protest in the country, when they occurred at all, rarely made major news headlines.[32] Riots in Tunisia were rare[33] and noteworthy, especially since the country is generally considered to be wealthy and stable as compared to other countries in the region.[34] Any form of protests in the country were previously successfully oppressed and kept silent by the former regime and protesters would be jailed for such actions, as were for example protests by hundreds of unemployed demonstrators in Redeyef in 2008.[35]Al Jazeera English also said that Tunisian activists are amongst the most outspoken in its part of the world with various
Early Protest

There were reports of police obstructing demonstrators and using tear gas on hundreds of young protesters in SidiBouzid in mid-December 2010. The protesters had gathered outside regional government headquarters to demonstrate against the treatment of Mohamed Bouazizi. Coverage of events was limited by Tunisian media. On 19 December, extra police were present on the streets of the city.[43] On 22 December, LahseenNaji, a protester, responded to "hunger and joblessness" by electrocuting himself after climbing an electricity pylon.[44]Ramzi Al-Abboudi also killed himself because of financial difficulties arising from a business debt by the country's microcredit solidarity programme.[37] On 24 December, Mohamed Ammari was fatally shot in the chest by police in Bouziane. Other protesters were also injured, including ChawkiBelhoussine El Hadri, who died later on 30 December.[45] Police claimed they shot the demonstrators in "self-defence." A "quasi-curfew" was then imposed on the city by police.[46] Rapper El Gnral, whose songs had been adopted by protesters, was arrested on 24 December but released several days later after "an enormous public reaction"

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

The Fukushi Daii hi nuclear disaster ( Fukushim D i-ichi ( pronunciation) genshi yokuhatsudenshojiko?) is a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioacti e materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, following the 9.0 magnitudeT hoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011.[6][7] The plant comprises si separate boiling water reactors maintained by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPC ). This accident is the largest of the 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents
[who?] arising from the T hoku earthquake and tsunami, and experts consider it to be the largest

nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster, but more complex as multiple reactors are involved.[8] At the time of the quake, Reactor 4 had been de -fueled while 5 and 6 were in cold shutdown for planned maintenance.[10] The remaining reactors shut down automatically after the earthquake, with emergency generators starting up to run the control electronics and water pumps needed to cool reactors. The plant was protected by a seawall designed to withstand a 5.7 m (19 ft) tsunami but not the 15 m (49 ft) maximum wave[11] which arrived about 47 minutes after the earthquake.[12] TEPC announced on 8 July 2011, based on the computer

analysis, tsunami height was 13.1 m (42.9 ft) at time of impact, 51 minutes after earthquake, result of pile up each tsunami caused by six fault destruction at point of 30 km (18.6 mi) off the coast.[13][clarification needed] The entire plant was flooded, including low-lying generators and electrical switchgear in reactor basements and external pumps for supplying cooling seawater. The connection to the electrical grid was broken as the Tsunami destroyed the power lines. All power for cooling was lost and reactors started to overheat, owing to natural decay of the fission products created before shutdown. The flooding and earthquake damage hindered external assistance. In the hours and days that followed, reactors 1, 2 and 3 experienced fu meltdown.[14][15] ll Hydrogen explosions destroyed the upper cla dding of the buildings housing Reactors 1, 3,
[16] and 4; an explosion damaged the containment of reactor 2; multiple fires broke out at

Reactor 4. With the remnants of its reactor core fallen to the bottom of its damaged reactor vessel, Unit 1 continues to leak cooling water approaching three months after the initial events; similar conditions are hypothesi ed to exist at the other two melted -down reactors in the complex.[17] Despite being shut down at the time of the earthquake and tsunami, Reactors 5 and 6 began to overheat. Fuel rods stored in pools in each reactor building began to overheat as water levels

in the pools dropped. Fears of radioactivity releases led to a 20 km (12 mi) radius evacuation around the plant while workers suffered radiation exposure and were temporarily evacuated at various times. One generator at Unit 6 was restarted on 17 March allowing some cooling at Units 5 and 6 which were least damaged. Grid power was restored to parts of the plant on 20 March, but machinery for Reactors 1 through 4, damaged by floods, fires and explosions, remained inoperable.[18] Flooding with radioactive water continues to prevent access to basement areas where repairs are needed.[19] However, on 5 May, workers were able to enter reactor buildings for the first time since the accident.[20] Measurements taken by the Japanese science ministry and education ministry in areas of northern Japan 3050 km from the plant showed radioactive caesium levels high enough to cause concern.[21] Food grown in the area was banned from sale. Based on worldwide measurements of iodine-131 and caesium-137, it was suggested that the releases of those isotopes from Fukushima are of the same order of magnitude as those from Chernobyl in 1986; [22][23] Tokyo officials temporarily recommended that tap water should not be used to prepare food for infants.[24][25]Plutonium contamination has been detected in the soil at two sites in the plant,[26] although further analysis revealed that the detected density are within limits from fallout generated from previous atmospheric nuclear weapons tests.[27] Two workers hospitalized with non-life threatening radiation burns on 25 March had been exposed to between 2000 and 6000 mSv of radiation at their ankles when standing in water in Unit 3.[28][29][30] Radiation levels varied widely over time and location, from well below 1 mSv/h to slightly over 1000 mSv/h. Normal background radiation varies from place to place but delivers a dose equivalent rate of about 0.3 Sv/h.[31][32] For comparison, one chest x-ray is about 0.02 mSv and an abdominal CT scan is nominally less than 10 mSv.[33][34] Radioactive particles from fallout can be concentrated in some locations due to wind and rain,[35] and pose an additional health hazard when ingested or inhaled.[36] Japanese officials initially assessed the accident as Level 4 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) despite the views of other international agencies that it should be higher. The level was successively raised to 5 and eventually to 7, the maximum scale value.[37][38] The Japanese government and TEPCO have been criticized for poor communication with the public[39][40] and improvised cleanup efforts.[41] Experts have said that a workforce in the
[19] hundreds or even thousands would take years or decades to clean up the area. On 20

March, the Chief Cabinet SecretaryYukio Edano announced that the plant would be decommissioned once the crisis was over.

RADIATION EFFECTS
The radiation effects from the Fukushima I nuclear accidents are the results of release of radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after the 2011 T hoku earthquake and tsunami. The total amount of iodine-131 and caesium-137 released into the atmosphere has been estimated to exceed 10% of the emissions from the Chernobyl accident.[2][3] Large amounts on radioactive isotopes have also been released into the Pacific Ocean. The accidents were rated at level 7 rating on the International Nuclear Event Scale. However, according to a June 2011 report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), at that time no confirmed long term health effects to any person had been reported as a result of radiation exposure from the nuclear accident. [4]

Total emissions The primary releases of radioactive nucluides have been iodine and caesium;[2][45] however, strontium[41] and plutonium[46][47] have also been found. These elements have been released into the air via steam;[48] and into the water leaking into groundwater[49] or the ocean.[50] The expert who prepared a frequently cited Austrian Meteorological Service report asserted that the "Chernobyl accident emitted much more radioactivity and a wider diversity of radioactive elements than Fukushima Daiichi has so far, but it was iodine and caesium that caused most of the health risk especially outside the immediate area of the Chernobyl plant."[2] Iodine131 has a half-life of 8 days while caesium-137 has a half life of over 30 years. The IAEA has developed a method that weighs the "radiological equivalence" for different elements.[51] TEPCO has published estimates using a simple sum methodology,[52] and using the IAEA weighting methodology. [53] As of 25 April, TEPCO has not released a total water and air release estimate.[54] According to a June 2011 report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), at that time no confirmed long term health effects to any person had been reported as a result of radiation exposure from the nuclear accident.[4]

[edit]Air Releases

A 12 April report prepared by NISA estimated the total air release of iodine-131 and caesium-137 at between 370 PBq and 630 PBq, combining iodine and caesium with IAEA methodology.[53] On 23 April the NSC updated its release estimates, but it did not reestimate the total release, instead giving indicating that 154 TBq of air release were occurring daily as on 5 April.[55][56]

[edit]Iodine-131

A widely cited Austrian Meteorological Service report estimated the total amount of I-131 radiation released into the air as of 19 March based on extrapolating data from several days of ideal observation at a handful of worldwide CTBTO radionuclide measuring facilities (Freiburg, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Takasaki, Japan and Sacramento, USA) during the first 10 days of the accident.[2][57] The report's estimates of total I-131 emissions based on these worldwide measuring stations ranged from 10 PBq to 700 PBq.[57] This estimate was 1% to 40% of the 1760 PBq[57][58] of I-131 estimated to be release at Chernobyl.[2] A later, 12 April, NISA and NSC estimated the total air release of iodine-131 at 130 PBq and 150 PBq, respectively.[53] However, on 23 April, the NSC revised its original estimates of iodine-131 released.[55] The NSC did not estimate the total release size based upon these updated numbers, but estimated a release of 0.14 TBq per hour on 5 April."[55][56]
[edit]Caesium-137

On 24 March, the Austrian Meteorological Service report estimated the total amount of caesium-137 radiation released into the air as of 19 March based on extrapolating data from several days of ideal observation at a handful of worldwide CTBTO radionuclide measuring facilities. The agency estimated an average being 5,000 TBq daily.[2][57] Over the course of the disaster, Chernobyl put out a total of 85,000 TBq of caesium-137. [2] However, later reporting on 12 April estimated total caesium releases at 6,100 TBq to 12,000 TBq, respectively by NISA and NSC.[53] On 23 April, NSC updated this number to 0.14 TBq per hour of cesium-137 on 5 April, but did not recalculate the entire release estimate.[55][56]
[edit]Water Releases

On 21 April, TEPCO estimated that 520 tons radioactive water leaked into the sea before leaks in a pit in unit 2 were plugged, releasing 4,700 TBq of total water release (calculated by simple sum, which is inconsistent with the IAEA methodology for mixed nuclide releases[52]) (20,000 times facility's annual limit). [52][59] TEPCO's detailed estimates were 2,800 TBq of I131, 940 TBq of Cs-134, 940 TBq of Cs-137.[52] Another 300,000 tons of relatively less radioactive water had already been reported to have leaked or purposefully pumped into the sea to free room for storage of highly radioactively contaminated water.[60] TEPCO had attempted to contain contaminated water in the harbor near the plant by installing "curtains" to prevent outflow, but now believes this effort was unsuccessful.[61