Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster and Japan’s New Energy Strategies
In March 2011, Japan suffered an earthquake with the magnitude 9.0 that led to several tsunamis that disabled the power supply and cooling of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear site. The earthquake was centered 130 kilometers offshore the city of Sendai in the eastern coast of Honshu Island which consists a major part of Japan. 11 reactors were working at the time of the earthquake and they all shut down once the earthquake hit. However, three reactors were not able to handle the tsunami that followed the earthquake. All three reactors melted in the first days of the incident and four other ones were declared to have been damages. The accident was rated as a 7 on the INES scale, mainly due to high radioactive discharges. More than 80,000 residents had to evacuate their houses for the fear of radiation. Unfortunately, it was recently confirmed that the Fukushima Nuclear Site contains radiation-related cancer. Through the two weeks following the incident, the three reactors became stable with water additions and by the summer were being cooled by a new treatment plant. In addition to cooling, the major concern of the nuclear site was to stop the contamination and spread of radioactive water into other parts of the area. There have been no sicknesses or deaths reported that were direct results of radiation. However, over 1000 deaths could have been prevented in the evacuation process if the government allowed early return.
This catastrophe created major hazardous environmental and life threatening problems for the area of the nuclear site. It also forced the country to come up with alternative energy solutions because nuclear energy provided one third of the country’s electricity. Japan does not have many natural resources such as oil, coal, or natural gas and has to import them with high costs from other countries. One of these new strategies is wind energy. Being an island nation, Japan seems to be conveniently located in the route of strong wind currents during the typhoon season. In fact, after the Fukushima disaster, the government approved a massive budget plan for developing and improving wind power energy in Japan. In addition to wind power energy, Japan is investing in other forms of renewable energy such as solar, biomass, small hydro, and geothermal. The government is trying to create incentives by subsiding the renewable energy and conservation industries. The government has also set a tentative 40-year closing out deadline for many of the nuclear reactors. This plan is tentative because the government cannot afford to close down the reactors permanently which will could result in a $55.9 billion loss of power companies just this year. Since the industry is highly regulated, the government cannot afford to have the power companies go bankrupt.
Resources:
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Tabuchi, Hiroko. “Japan Sets Policy to Phase out Nuclear Power Plants by 2040.”The New York Times. N.p., 14 Sept. 2012. 27 Oct. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/world/asia/japan-will-try-to-halt-nuclear- power-by-the-end-of-the-2030s.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>.
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http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/safety-and-security/safety-of- plants/fukushima-accident/.