the syllabus says
Measuring disasters
- Explain the causes and impacts of any one recent human-induced hazard event or disaster
Nuclear accident in Japan: Fukushima
This case study looks at the disaster of the meltdown at Fukushima Nuclear Power Station March 2011. This disaster was the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986; it remains one of only two Category 7 nuclear accidents.
key terms
Nuclear power - technically non-renewable because it relies on uranium which is a finite resource, but renewable in the sense that it can be refined and processed and used again several times before it is depleted; also, the reserves of uranium would last thousands of years into the future
INES - The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale
INES - The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale
country background
Source for maps: http://www.voanews.com/content/new-leak-found-at-japans-fukushima-nuclear-plant/1732983.html
Population of country: 127,103,388 (July 2014 est.)
GDP per capita: $37,100 (2013 est.) (ranked 36th in the world) Capital city: Tokyo Land area: 377,915 sq km Japan is one of the richest countries in the world. Though it has had a failing economy since the 1990s with very low growth rates, it remains energy poor - it has no sizable reserves of fossil fuels and much of its energy comes from nuclear power. The population pyramid to the right shows the typical elderly population of a high income country. |
Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html
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the event
The Fukushima disaster occurred due to a strong tsunami that itself was caused by one of the strongest recorded earthquakes. The tsunami inundated (swamped) the nuclear power plant which had been designed to withstand a smaller natural hazard event.
Background to nuclear accidents
Though serious accidents are rare, nuclear accidents do occur frequently around the world. The graphic below shows the severity of nuclear accidents; the full list can be seen here. Note that the graphic was created less than three days after the Fukushima accident, before it had been upscaled to level 7.
Though serious accidents are rare, nuclear accidents do occur frequently around the world. The graphic below shows the severity of nuclear accidents; the full list can be seen here. Note that the graphic was created less than three days after the Fukushima accident, before it had been upscaled to level 7.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/mar/14/nuclear-power-plant-accidents-list-rank
The diagram below shows the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale. The levels consider three aspects:
- People and the environment (impact on health and people)
- Radiological barriers and control (the success of prevention methods)
- Defence in depth (the level of intervention needed to respond)
Source: http://www-ns.iaea.org/tech-areas/emergency/ines.asp
Quick facts
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Source: http://blog.thomsonreuters.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/japan-anniversary.jpg
The video below is a long but powerful documentary about the nuclear disaster.
the response
Short term reponses
The immediate response was co-ordinated by the Japanese authorities. Within hours, 8,400 personnel and 190 aircraft were mobilized for activities such as the search and rescue of victims and missing persons, and later was extended to over 100,000 volunteers of the Japanese Self-Defence Force. They succeeded in rescuing approximately 19,000 people–approximately 70% of about 27,000 people rescued. However, most of these were nothing to do with the nuclear accident and were instead victims of the earthquake.
Specific to the nuclear accident:
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The evacuation zones:
Source: http://www.reconstruction.go.jp/english/topics/2013/03/the-status-in-fukushima.html
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Source: http://blog.thomsonreuters.com/index.php/tag/fukushima-daiichi/
Long term responses and impacts
The following impacts are sourced from Al Jazeera and other news websites:
- Japan abandoned its plans to get 60 percent of its energy from nuclear sources by 2100
- Japan shut down all 54 of its nuclear reactors (restarting some in November 2014)
- Germany decided to shut down all its nuclear plants in the following eight years
- 6000 workers involved in the cleanup
- Clean up cost US$15bn and is likely to take a total of 40 years
- Every day, 400 tonnes of groundwater is used to keep the reactors cool; though much is stored in tanks, some escapes into the sea - in the first three years, 500,000 tonnes of contaminated water were produced and stored in more than 1,000 tanks
- The plan to avoid this is to build an 'ice wall' to prevent further escape through the soil, but this has had major problems in construction, and it has been suggested that the contamination will not be entirely stopped in any case
- After three years, 120,000 evacuees were still without permanent accommodation