The Pros And Cons Of The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

It’s clear that a Nuclear power plant such as the Fukushima Daiichi can be classified as an HRO if not an Ultra HRO, where an accident has an effect that, even in the technologically advanced Japan, can threaten the lives of millions and negatively impact their health for many years.

Nuclear energy is the energy released by a nuclear reaction (fission, fusion). In nuclear energy, the water is turned into steam, which in turn drives turbine generators to produce electricity. This can be dangerous! Some of the major disadvantages include radiations, radioactive waste that would be produced and accidents that can occur in nuclear reactors.

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

In an attempt to cool down the reactors, the scientists that works at Fukushima filled each containment barrier with sea water and a mixture of boric acid.

Since some countries in the region have already embarked on the nuclear energy option and some others are planning to do so, an increased attention in the country has been given to protective measures in case of a nuclear/radiological emergency. Experience from nuclear accidents at Chernobyl and recently, in Fukushima showed a lack of sufficient capacity for screening internal contamination of the public and pointed out the necessity for its development [1]. Additionally, increasing the national applications of nuclear technology in industry, nuclear medicine and researches involved radioisotopes utilization, resulted in legal and technical provisions adopted on the national level supporting protection of the public and radiation workers against

Though, only 20,000 people were killed during the Fukushim Daiichi nuclear reactor accident, there is no garantee that many more people may not die from long term impact of radiation exposure.”And that’s the problem with radiation—you often don’t see most of the impact for decades.”

Despite citizens opposed nuclear power plants, the government positions nuclear power plants as "important baseload power supplies" and shows the posture to utilize it as well as before nuclear accident six years ago, government decided to "reduce it as much as possible". In other words, people's resistance failed. The government wants to supply stable electricity at low cost, and Japan is an island country with few resources, and if there is no nuclear power will be insufficient when it is emergency. In addition, from the dangers of nuclear accident occurrence, citizens raise demonstrations or requests compensation. There are many people who oppose restarting in Japan because there are many people who think that safety is more important than

Then the question came up that how did the natural disaster occurred, man-made hazards with high technology, and heighten the risk to environmental health. Acceding to the Implications of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Man-Made Hazards, Vulnerability Factors, and Risk to Environmental Health, first of all, the earthquake and tsunami exceeded estimations. Many international sources suggested that secondary technological is needed in order to estimate that incident. This Fukushima incident involved the first ever reactor core melt occurred by earthquake and tsunami. Since Fukushima is north part of japan by the ocean, many fish market and dealer were there, however, people started buying from them because of radiation. Radiation makes affect not only human. It is also effect environment and natural animals such as fishes. If you eat affected fish you will also get effect of radiation. The Fukushima disaster became a public debate emerge over the future desirability of nuclear power in Japan. Despite the growing anti-nuclear sentiment and concerns about the environmental risks of nuclear power, we contend that the continuing power of vested

The nuclear technology debate returns. Narrations about nuclear power in post-Fukushima Japanese and Western films

Fukushima catastrophic is a warning to the world about the hazards of nuclear power and contained lessons for the other governments who plan new generation of nuclear power stations. First lesson is the full disclosure on potential risks and share creditable information with the public. Furthermore,

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.

Exposure to the radiation also carries many hazards. To start off there are the biological effect which is the effects to organism in the area. Some of the biologic effects are things like damage to unrepaired/incorrectly repaired DNA, fibrosis of the lungs, cancer, radiation pneumonitis, various, pulmonary diseases, and burns (Karam 2005, 506-514). The diseases and effects would vary depending on the type of radiation and how much the individual was exposed to. There are also environmental effects that can cause economic devastation such as soil and water contamination which can be treated or reduced, but will cause areas to be contained and monitored (Karam 2005, 517-518). Of course one of the most common hazards, as with any attack, is the damage to peoples trust and moral after losing family, friends, or homes.

Fukushima was the second worst nuclear disaster in the history of the world. Contamination can spread through air, dust, trash, wildlife, and of course water. TEPCO reported that around 300 tons of contaminated water had leaked in to the ocean. By April 15, 2011 radiation levels were 6500 times the legal limit. Cod and pollock are important because of their global demand. Cod has tested positive for radiation contamination more than once since the disaster, not only in the Fukushima area, but in many other areas too. 70% of domestic product comes from the Pacific Ocean. This has led to a lot of negative information circulating through Japanese society and a shortage of positive information (or at least an indifference to it). Negative

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)

Nuclear energy is an alternative source of energy that holds great amounts of energy and is one of the future sources of energy for this world. “Nuclear energy is energy in the nucleus (core) of an atom. There is enormous energy in the bonds that hold the nucleus together. Energy is released when those bonds are broken” (Uranium). Unlike a chemical reaction with fossil fuels, nuclear reactions create an even greater amount of energy than fossil fuels. “Nuclear energy can be used to make electricity, but first it must be released it can be released from atoms in two ways: nuclear fusion and nuclear fission” (Uranium). Nuclear energy already provides 1/5 of all the energy in the U.S.,