On March 11th 2011 a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 shook Japan, shortly after a tsunami destroyed much of the area. Eleven nuclear reactors at four nuclear power plants shut down immediately after the earth quake and further inspection had shown that all eleven had no damage from the earthquake. Over 100,000 people had to be evacuated fro their homes to ensure that no one would suffer from radiation sickness. The main problem initially centered in Fukushima Daiichi units 1-3 when all three cores melted when the tsunami cut off power supply and cooling system to Daiichi. When this happened the heat exchangers started dumping reactor waste heat and decay heat to the sea. At 7.03 pm Friday 11 March a Nuclear Emergency was declared due to the lack of access they had to the power plant to fix the system damaged and the knowledge of a nuclear meltdown. visible explosions, caused by hydrogen gas, in units 1 and 3 and a suspected explosion in unit 2 caused Radiation to be released and food, water and air supply to be polluted with radiation.
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- On April 9, 2013 radioactive water leaked from the storage units contaminating the soil and water nearby.
- On July 9, 2013, officials reported that Radioactive Caesium was 90 times higher than it was previously. the Caesium-134 levels in the well water were at 9,000 becquerels per Litre, 150 times the legal level, while Caesium-137 measured 18,000 becquerels, 200 times the permitted level.
- On August 7, 2013, highly radioactive water was leaking into the Pacific Ocean at a rate of 300 tons (about 272 metric tons) per day.
The effects of the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown are still in effect today radiation spread throughout the world from this tragedy.
this picture shows radiation permeating the sea
After Fukushima Japan decided they needed to revaluate their use of energy and be more prepared for natural events. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to look less to the no emissions nuclear plants but use more of the countries available resources. Approved by the government in Japan on April 11th is a plan that uses coal as a long term source of electricity. this plan focuses less on clean energy and more on coal because it is inexpensive in nature. It’s understandable that after Fukushima Japans leaders are expected to change the countries approach to energy but there is no way of denying coal will not help global warming.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Fukushima-Accident
http://mashable.com/2014/03/11/three-years-after-fukushima/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_Nuclear_Power_Plant