Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Catastrophe

Introduction: The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. It measured 7 on the Nuclear Event Scale, which is the highest rating. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was initiated by a magnitude 9 earthquake. This earthquake caused a tsunami with waves reaching up to 133 feet to crash on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. This caused major damage to the nuclear plant. Workers were needed to keep this already terrible incident from escalading. The Fukushima Daiichi cleanup workers are

A huge earthquake with size of 8.9 has struck the northeastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011. It was the fourth greatest in present recorded history. The few minutes of earthquake trigged massive tsunami, as high as thirty meters destroying 500 kilometers of Japan northeastern coast. Effect of the earthquake and tsunami incited a nuclear disaster in one of the few nuclear power plants along the eastern coast—Fukushima Daiichi, had and worked by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The Fukushima Daiichi plant consolidated six nuclear reactors, three of which were in operation, with the rest encountering routine upkeep. All reactors close down successfully immediately imitating the

On March 11th, 2011 an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 struck the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The actual earthquake did minimal damage to all 4 reactors. The resulting tsunami destroyed the 16 diesel backup generators dedicated to cooling the reactors. As a result of overheating, hydrogen explosions damaged Reactors 1, 2, and 3. Reactor 4 was offline for maintenance at the time, but over 1,400 fuel rods in a stored above the reactor were exposed to air. The result was the release of approximately 370,000 terabecquerels of radiation. The situation was declared a Level 7 (major ongoing radioactive accident) by the International Atomic Energy Agency . The only other time this level has been reached was at Chernobyl in 1986.

Stemming from new technologies such as the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb, atomic power was a new, clean source of power. This technology was ultimately executed poorly by the USSR and help lead to its decline. In 1986, the reactor at Chernobyl exploded, which was the worst nuclear meltdown that had happened up until that point (and is still considered the worst in history, rivalled only by the Fukushima disaster in 2011). The fallout was blown into other nations, eventually affecting millions of people. This disaster reflected poorly on the Soviet government, leading many to question its legitimacy. According to Mikhail Gorbachev (the leader of the USSR at that time), “[t]he country will never recover. [Chernobyl] cost us 18 billion rubles.

On March 11, 2011, Japan was hit by an earthquake and a tsunami resulting in 15,894 confirmed deaths, with 2,556 people missing. This was the fourth strongest earthquake to hit in recent years with a magnitude of 9.1 (“Damage Station Police” ). However, this was not the only disaster to have struck Japan, the combination of the earthquake and tsunami led to the meltdown of a power plant in, Tōhoku region, Japan. This event became known as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Nuclear meltdowns has contributed harm to many environments by radioactive leaks, soil contamination, and radiation exposure.

When Fukushima was destroyed, alarms were raised about whether or not the food fish stocks in the Pacific would be harmed. A map was recently released of the spread of the radioactive particles since the nuclear plants demise in 2011. It was shown that the areas where North America raises salmon, oysters, and other vital food fishes were critically affected by the radioactivity. Tests were done on the fish stocks of the affected areas, and it was shown that these animals had trace amounts of Strontium in their flesh.

March 11, 2011 Fukushima, Japan happened. A tsunami flooded and damaged the plants’ five active reactors. The loss of backup electrical power led to eventual overheating and subsequent meltdowns. The INES also labeled this as a seven. Even though this happened in 2011 it is still early to really know the full consequences both human and environmentally of this event. This disaster highlighted the importance of location when building future nuclear power plants.

The Fukushima nuclear plant was on the television; tsunami had hit this plant. A massive amount of stories from air to even in milk. The media is always un believable with these kind of things, always seeming to throw everybody into a panic. If we step aside from the hyperbole and the news reports what do, we find in nuclear power? The truth? In spite of these recent events that made the world nearly hate nuclear power. However, it’s still a source of clean power that needs to be advanced and overseen properly.

The government of Japan has taken lots of measurements to solve the contamination issues. Workers and public were evacuated from the contamination areas. Food and water usage was restricted. Fishing was banned at the coast of Fukushima. Ten tons of seawater is being poured upon the melted cores

The article I have chose to read and write about is, Impact of the Fukushima accident on marine life, five years later. In the article it is stated that about five years ago the largest single release of human-made radioactive discharge to the marine environment resulted from an accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. The article states that approximately eighty percent of the fallout happened over the Pacific ocean. The article then discusses how a new study explores the environmental consequences in the marine environment of the accident. Lastly the article outlines the status of the current research about the impact of the fallout on plant and animal life and what remains to be done as the radioactivity continues to spread.

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 Japan was rattled by a powerful earthquake and tsunami. When the tsunami hit, thousands of lives were changed forever. The tsunami claimed lives, destroyed homes, businesses, and roads and left an excessive amount of debris. The impact of the tsunami also caused a major power outage which in turn caused a nuclear meltdown/explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. With the devastation of that day and the days that followed, there will be long-term effects on the environment and the quality of life of the Japanese people. When nuclear power is used, there is a possibility of a nuclear meltdown and/or explosion, thus Japan should not be using nuclear power as a source of energy.

Ever since disaster struck Japan on March 11, 2011 Fukushima, Japan is now considered the “world’s radiation nightmare”. The tsunami that hit Fukushima led to the meltdowns of the reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Complex. Food contamination quickly became a major concern throughout all of Japan and nearby countries. Fish and other major foods for the Japanese contained an undetectable amount of radiation making the food unsafe for the people who depend on it to eat. Along with the food not being safe the value of the food dropped significantly making it hard for the famers of Fukushima to sell their product to the consumers. This disaster was the world’s worst nuclear accident in the past 25 years. The major problem is that after the tsunami happened tons of radioactive water and waste is being leaked into the ocean.

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," 2012)

The year following the triple disaster of Fukushima was a year of self-assessment, self-criticism and adjustment. It is a model of governance that has been highly criticized in Japan. Of course, to avoid panic, the Government had decided not to warn people of the risks they could incur, when it became probable, a few days after the disaster, that the heart of the reactors had melted. But the government itself was misinformed, and oversight agencies that it depended on in this area did not have the first-hand information or the expertise that they should have had.