Nuclear Safety Regulations And Measures

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")

When an 9.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Japan on March 11th, 2011, it was the first of a series of horrific events that Japan would be forced to endure. Many homes, families, properties, and belongings were lost on that day. And when the tsunami rolled over the island, many believed that it was over for them. Not only had people’s lives been put in disarray and desolation, but there had not even been simple necessities available. Food. Water. Communications. And electricity. When the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant had been hit by the earthquake and tsunami, the reactors were shut down and so was the electricity. Over the course of months the reactors suffered, extreme heat, fires, hydrogen explosions, and radiation exposures. At the time,

Demetriou, Danielle. "Japan Earthquake, Tsunami and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: 2011 Review." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 19 Dec. 2011. Web. 03 May

Recently, the deserted Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has been emanating an alarming amount of radiation. Kyodo of Japan Times reported that the radiation reading has reached its highest level since its emergence in March 2011 (Kyodo, 2017). As a result, there is a greater presence of air and water pollution in Fukushima that could easily spread to surrounding areas. Therefore, it seems appropriate that in an interview with the Washington Post, radio-ecology expert Tom Hinton stated Fukushima is “an area that is among the most radioactively contaminated in the world” (as cited in Andrews, 2016). This resurgence has generated conspiracy theories, false maps and, interestingly, little news coverage. While many across different continents

Fukushima represents a catastrophe that had world wide implications for the nuclear power sector. On March 11, 2011, following a major earthquake, a 15 m tsunami hit the coast of Japan. This natural disaster caused a great deal of damage to the surrounding areas, but had a particularly dangerous effect on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. In response to the initial earthquake, the operating units at Fukushima were automatically shutdown (Hindmarsh, 5). The 15 m tsunami, which hit the plant, flooded it under several meters of water. This combined caused the entire plant to suffer a complete power blackout. It was not believed that the plant would lose all power, nor that a tsunami of such size could occur (Hindmarsh 28). Resulting from the loss of power, existing cooling functions for the reactors were shut down also and as a result, fuel in the core was damaged, and radioactive material was released into the environment (Hindmarsh 12). Charles Perrow's Normal Accident Theory (NAT) proposes "a framework for characterizing complex technological systems such as air traffic, marine traffic, chemical plants, dams, and especially nuclear power plants according to their riskiness" (“Normal Accidents” 5). Perrow suggests that systems that are highly complex and tightly coupled create the environment for ‘normal accidents’ to occur; that is, accidents that are inevitable (“Normal Accidents” 88-89).

There are currently over 435 commercial nuclear power reactors operable in 31 countries, and about 70 more reactors are under construction. According to World Nuclear Organization, fourteen of them have been classified as accidents where the public has been exposed to large amounts of radiation. The most devastating of these incidents was the core meltdown of reactor 4 at Chernobyl, better known as the Chernobyl disaster. Today, I am going to tell three things about the Chernobyl. First, I am going to tell you what the Chernobyl disaster was. Second, why the explosion happened. Lastly, what the Chernobyl was after the explosion.

To avoid this kind of nuclear disaster from occurring again, both the nuclear corporation and government administrators worldwide must vigorously consider making at least five major adjustments to the safety systems at nuclear power plants, in conjunction to security measures and international reconciliations. Stabilize the electricity supply system is a major contribution to avoid such a horrendous disaster. What really generated Fukushima was the power plant ran out of electricity. The power that was used, was cut off by the earthquake and tsunami; onsite emergency diesel alternators broke down; and batteries were drained within a few hours. In spite of all the reactors turned off right after the quake hit, an enormous load of decay heat was still being discharged and as pumping declined, the temperatures begun to increase.

At 2:46 PM on Friday, March 11th, 2011, an earthquake hit Japan with a magnitude of 9.0, this earthquake was later named the Great East Japan Earthquake. At this time, the Fukushima Daiichi power plant had a total of six reactors running. When the earthquake hit, these all shut down at the same time. Of the six reactors at Daiichi, three of these reactors were working at that time and were running off of the energy created by thirteen backup generators. At 3:42 PM, twelve of these thirteen generators were disabled when a 15 meter tsunami hit the east coast of Japan and the site was flooded. When the site was flooded, the diesel generators were drowned, which in turn damaged the Residual Heat Removal (RHR) cooling system

Atomic energy production is a dangerous technology that must be replaced by eco-friendly energy production methods. Atomic energy production relies upon radioactive materials used as fuel to generate electricity; these fuels are highly toxic and volatile substances that are lethal to all forms of life. In the event of a technical malfunction, or natural disaster, these dangerous substances can escape into the environment where they will remain disruptive for centuries. The nuclear power plant at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan is one such example of this, but alarmingly, many nuclear power plants are built along geological fault lines, in tsunami regions, and other dangerous weather zones all across the globe. The potential for widespread devastation to the environment is real. For this reason alone nuclear energy should be phased out entirely and replaced by a safe alternative.

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.

Early in the morning of April 27, 1986, the world experienced its largest nuclear disaster ever (Gould 40). While violating safety protocol during a test, Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl power plant was placed in a severely unstable state, and in a matter of seconds the reactor output shot up to 120 times the rated output (Flavin 8). The resulting steam explosion tossed aside the reactor’s 1,000 ton concrete covering and released radioactive particles up to one and a half miles into the sky (Gould 38). The explosion and resulting fires caused 31 immediate deaths and over a thousand injuries, including radiation poisoning (Flavin 5). After the

The destruction of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011, caused by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami, resulted in massive radioactive contamination of the Japanese mainland. In November 2011, the Japanese Science Ministry reported that long-lived radioactive cesium had contaminated 11,580 square miles of the land surface of Japan. Approximately 4,500 square miles – an area almost the size of Connecticut – was found to have radiation levels that exceeded Japan’s allowable exposure rate of 1 mSV (millisievert) per year. For perspective, 1 mSV is equivalent to 100 milliRem, which is the standard unit of dose used here at the shipyard. In a normal background radiation field, an individual is exposed to .02 milliRem/hr dose. Studies of the disaster have identified design changes, response actions and other safety improvements that could have reduced the amount of radioactivity released from the plant. As a result, nuclear plant safety requirements around the world have been reexamined, including here in the United States.

The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred in 2011 at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant following an underwater earthquake that produced tsunamis, eventually resulting in a full nuclear meltdown and toxic amounts of radiation being dumped into the atmosphere. This particular nuclear disaster is infamous because, despite the earthquake and tsunami, it is still considered a man-made disaster. Had Fukushima plant workers been properly trained regarding what to do in the event of a nuclear disaster and had the Japanese government reacted more swiftly and efficiently, the damage to the reactors would have been less extensive and a full nuclear meltdown could have been prevented altogether. The factors that led to the meltdown, however, can be learned from and used to develop better safety procedures and educate people so that hopefully the next nuclear accident can be avoided in the future.

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)

If humans are to solve the vast energy crisis that has been set upon humanity as a whole, they will be successful only if long term energy sources are acknowledged, for fossil fuels are simply a temporary source and will run out. Such alternatives to fossil fuels, excluding nuclear energy, include wind power, solar energy, biomass accumulation using vegetation, geothermal energy, and hydropower. These sources are generally regarded as being the most reasonable for long-term use by many, but, great opposition exists towards their use as well. Nuclear energy has proved to be of great importance within energy production, for it releases no harmful carbon emissions into the environment, and provides clean, affordable energy that never ceases, no matter the external influences of the surrounding environment. It is of great concern to many the vulnerability that stands between the environment and nuclear energy, for past catastrophes have shown that the improper use and operation of these technologies can lead to the utter destruction of local environments, such as the Chernobyl accident of 1986 or the Fukushima accident of 2011. Yet, advances in nuclear technology and the proper dissolution of wastes