CNN 2011-03-17

It's March 15th, I'm Carl Azuz. You're tuned 1 in to CNN Student News! We've got stories on sports and technology coming up. But we start today in Japan.

In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami 2 in that country, one of the many major concerns is problems at a nuclear power plant. In yesterday's show, we talked about how these plants work. There have been explosions inside some of them, but experts think those are probably being caused by a build-up of hydrogen. Another problem, though: The cooling system for one of the nuclear reactors 3 went down. No cooling system means the water that covers up the nuclear fuel rods started to burn off; that left the rods exposed. If those things are exposed for too long, the heat and steam that they let off could melt the reactor's core. And that could be very bad news indeed. Officials are doing everything they can to keep this situation under control.

Meanwhile, rescue crews are spread out all over northern Japan trying to reach survivors 4 of the quake and tsunami. But rescuers are facing obstacles as well. Obviously, they have to work around all the rubble 5 and the flooding you see here. But they're also dealing 6 with aftershocks. And the weather is supposed to get worse, which could in itself cause problems. There are scenes of incredible rescues taking place, like this one. A sixty-year-old man was swept out to sea, along with his house. He managed to hold on to part of his roof, and a Japanese naval 7 ship found him floating nine miles off the coast.

We also talked yesterday about the help coming in from around the world. At least 70 countries have offered help to Japan, and the aid they want to send in is very unique. We have some examples of it for you right now. Rescue dogs. They're heading in from South Korea, Britain, Germany. These are specially 8 trained animals that can tell the difference between survivors and dead bodies. So hopefully, they'll be able to help in the rescue efforts. Next, clinics for medical care. These are mobile clinics, so they can be set up, torn down really quickly and they can get aid to those who need it. Nuclear specialists are also there. And I don't just mean people who have experience with nuclear reactors and how to fix them. These folks are experts at containing radioactive materials, and the specialists are going to be needed. Next, telecommunications equipment. The power has failed in a lot of places. Backup generators 9 are being brought in to restore that power. And phone equipment is being brought in to get loved ones in touch with each another. Finally, machinery 10 to clean debris 11. We're talking about heavy duty equipment, stuff that can lift houses off of people who are trapped or cut through concrete. That kind of equipment could be crucial in towns like the one Gary Tuchman filed this report from.