Fukushima Environmental Effects

This caused reactors 1 through 3 to go into a meltdown and it created a situation where Japan was on the brink of a major environmental disaster. To fully understand the different events there will be a focus on: factors that caused the meltdown, why this did not impact the other three reactors, the consequences, who is responsible and how these incidents can be prevented in the future. Together, these elements will highlight the underlying effects of this disaster and its impact on the region. ("Fukushima Accident")

The Fukushima disaster was caused by an earthquake and its following tsunami which caused a failure in the backup systems (World Nuclear Association, 2016). The tsunami knocked out the generators that powered the cooldown processes for three of the Fukushima power plants which caused the radiation leaks and other complications. Consequentially, the disaster was initially classified as a level 5 on the INES scale. Further investigation after the disaster was under control changed it to a level 7 disaster, the highest level on the INES scale. The estimated radioactive releases were about one tenth of Chernobyl, the worst nuclear disaster in history.

The nuclear disaster in Fukushima occurred at fourteen forty six, Japanese time. The disaster occurred because a major magnitude nine earthquake struck North Eastern Japan and a fifteen meter high tsunami also struck the power plant (Grimston). There were eleven overall reactors that were effected by the earthquake and tsunami. Nine of the reactors cooling systems continued to work after the natural disasters occurred, but reactors one, two and three of the Fukushima Daiichi plant were terribly damaged and could not cool down the fission process. This is what lead to the one, two and three reactors to melt, causing the most detrimental damage to the global community (Grimston). Critics of the disasters say that Daiichi was not up to global nuclear safety standards because the wall the protected the plant was only stable against six meter tall tsunami waves, not the massive

The waters north-east of the Fukushima plant are amongst the busiest fishing zones in the world. Half

Lastly, a look into the effects Fukushima has played in our atmosphere. A study published December 29th, 2014 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences confirmed that wind from ocean currents carried radiation all the way from Japan to the United States. The radiation is in the water vapors that make up our clouds, resulting in tainted precipitation. The radioactive fallout was and is being carried throughout the atmosphere. The transportation from the atmospheric effects is the umbrella over every other

The impact from the accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan has had major biological effects that are still effecting people, animals and plants to this day.

In Fukushima, the accident was caused by the earthquake and tsunami that hit the plant. Fukushima power station was worst hit by the earthquake and tsunami destroying the backup power, building facility and the external nuclear power supply. The following morning, after the accident had occurred, radioactive materials were found scattered in the environment.

The plant at Fukushima was dangerous for several reasons. First, because of it's primitive design, second, because of Japan's inherent bad record for nuclear accidents, and third, for the bureaucrats at Tepco; who should have upgraded or made obsolete the Fukushima plant a decade ago, yet they refused. The biggest reason that nuclear power is dangerous in Japan as an entirety not just Fukushima, is because of earthquakes. Earthquake can and has in the past literally opened up multi-meter wide fissures in the earth. Imagine that happening under a nuclear reactor, There is no perfectly safety precaution that is able to guarantee that a nuclear power plant will be safe during an large earthquake and Japan gets large earthquakes roughly every

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and 100-foot high tsunami hit the northeastern shoreline of Japan. At least 28,000 people were killed or went missing and more than 400,000 homes and buildings were destroyed. Recovery and rescue efforts were difficult as a result of the cold weather and because of disrupted transportation routes. Making matters worse, the waves of the tsunami damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant, causing radioactive leaks. in addition to devastating Japan’s economy in many ways, this natural disaster also had negative effects on the United States’ economy and construction industry, though not to the same extent.

In April 1986, only 130 km north of the largest city in Ukraine, Chernobyl unit 4 reactor exploded spreading at least 5% of its radioactive core into the atmosphere and further downwind. 24 years later a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan causing a series of tsunamis that took out and ultimately caused the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors 1-3. Both of these nuclear disasters released large amounts of radiation and causing evacuation of nearby towns and cities. Between these two nuclear disasters, Chernobyl has been found to be the worse because of its “flawed reactor design that was operated with inadequately trained personnel” compared to the quick reaction towards the Fukushima Daiichi accident that ultimately decreased the negative effects greatly.

I. (Gain Attention and Interest): March 11, 2011. 2:45 pm. Operations at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant continued as usual. At 2:46 pm a massive 9.0 earthquake strikes the island of Japan. All nuclear reactors on the island shut

On March 11th, 2011, the northern section of Japan was hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, followed by a 15 meter tsunami, causing the death of over 15000 people. (Spacey) Even though the earthquake and the tsunami caused a tremendous amount of deaths in the northern region of Japan, the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant caused a severe damage to northern Japan’s ecosystem that people still cannot go back to their homes; despite it is 4 years after the disaster. After the earthquake, the tsunami destroyed the power supply used by Fukushima’s three nuclear power stations, causing severe levels of meltdown to be occurred inside the reactors in the timespan of 3 days. It was not until 2 weeks after the tragedy, when the reactors were finally stabilized, and took several months to approach what is called a “cold shutdown condition”, in which the fission in the reactors are completely stopped.(Fukushima A)

Just a few years ago there was a significant catastrophic nuclear failure. This failure caused huge amounts of radioactive materials to be released into the environment. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster quickly became the largest nuclear incident since the 1986 Chernobyl accident while both have affected the environment immensely with radiation. Due to the potential safety issues, the risk to the environment, and the dangers of nuclear power, the use of nuclear facilities must be called off to prevent meltdowns and irreparable damage to the surrounding area.

Japan, because it is an island nation, possesses few natural resources and even fewer sources of fuel and energy (Nuclear Power in Japan, April 2015). As a result, Japan depends on nuclear power to sustain electricity for the 127.3 million people living there (Japan Population, 2015). Nuclear power plants like the Fukushima Daiichi plant in the towns of Futaba and Ohkuma, Japan produced substantial electricity for surrounding areas (Nuclear / TEPCO Power Plants, n.d.) and was one of the largest and most productive nuclear power plants in the world. Yet, in March 2011, a tsunami deactivated and triggered the meltdown of this massive plant, causing devastation for everything in the vicinity. Inhabitants of Japan began to express concerns

Well, we are here at the end of our journey, which it helped us to learn a lot more about nuclear energy and some the drawbacks that comes with it. We also learned about the tragic event that happened in Japan’s catastrophe the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. “What is going on with the Japanese nuclear reactors is, without question, a terrible event that can possibly add more hardship onto an already unspeakable tragedy. The explosions and the threat of a radiation leak are troubling, and Japanese engineers and scientists are doing everything humanly possible to contain the situation. (Turk & Bensel, 2011)