Vanderbilt Television News Archive

(Studio: Brian Williams) The nuclear emergency in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami introduced; statistics on the dead, missing, people evacuated and in shelters cited.

(Tokyo: Robert Bazell) The crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant with radiation leaking from the reactors featured; scenes shown of workers decontaminating residents, a company official apologizing; satellite photos shown of the damaged reactors; map shown of the wind patterns; details given about the workers who volunteered to stay at the plant. [Nuclear safety analyst Ken BERGERON†- notes the life-threatening situation for the workers.]

(Studio: Brian Williams) Map of the affected areas shown.

(Yamagata, Japan: Lester Holt) The anxiety over the nuclear crisis featured; scenes shown of people in shelters and trying to reach loved ones by phone, workers carrying a body, rubble. [Foreign MAN – says with radiation you cannot escape and you cannot see it.] [MAN – says nobody knows the truth and what’s the effect.] [Sendai resident Fumiye MURAKAMI† {thru translator} - worries about radioactive rain.] [Fairfax County Search and Rescue Joseph KNERR†- comments on the disaster.] China’s evacuation of its citizens from northeast Japan and travel advisories from the US noted.

(Studio: Brian Williams) Report introduced.

(The Weather Channel: Bryan Norcross) Concern about wind-borne radiation featured; maps and diagrams shown.

(Studio: Brian Williams) Live in-studio interview held with Princeton University physicist Frank von Hippel† about the nuclear emergency. [VON HIPPEL – compares the situation to Chernobyl; notes the concern is with fire and the spent fuel pool at Reactor 4; says it is a regional problem.]

(Los Angeles: Kristen Welker) Fear about radiation in the US featured; details given about the rush to buy potassium iodide pills, which block radiation and prevent thyroid cancer, and Geiger counters. [Store manager Juan HERNANDEZ†- says this is not a normal thing.] [MAN – worries about his health.] [Surgeon General Dr. Regina BENJAMIN††- says we have to be prepared.] [UCLA’s William McBRIDE†- says the average consumer would not be able to interpret what the Geiger counter readings meant.] [California Emergency Management Agency Kelly HUSTON†- comments on monitoring the situation.]

(Studio: Brian Williams, Nancy Snyderman) Whether people in the US should take the iodide pills and the symptoms of radiation sickness discussed.