Today my blog will be about Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, which occurred in 2011 after an earthquake followed by a tsunami hit japan and damage several nuclear reactor power plants. These power plants were out of control and started leaking radioactive materials to the environment and water that was close to them. So japan authorities forced an unprepared evacuation that led to many people’s deaths, which fortunately didn’t have anything to do with radiation exposure. It was a catastrophe and took japan months and help form unwanted countries like the United States to stabilize those power plants However, until this current day, there are still issues related to this cause, like water contamination is still ongoing, the reconstructions of those areas, which were populated areas, as well as meeting the safety requirements like containment of radiation if something like that happen again, and an easy evacuation process for the people.

So due to this recent catastrophe, japan officials have decided to focus and create new energy strategies to prevent something like Fukushima to happen any time soon. So they have decided to shut down those affected nuclear power plants. According to Wikipedia, “the disaster changed the national debate over energy policy almost overnight. “By shattering the government’s long-pitched safety myth about nuclear power, the crisis dramatically raised public awareness about energy use and sparked strong anti-nuclear sentiment.” So japan since then has considered and being focusing on solar energy, natural gas and coal, as well as having a plan to upgrade the other nuclear power plants around the country despite the country’s opposition,

Japan is a very evolve country and has being using nuclear energy for some time that nuclear energy occupied a quarter of Japan’s electricity. So this disaster didn’t only damaged the country temporarily, but for decades to come. Every country is trying to rely more on renewable energy, especially japan, now face a major setback since now they have to rely more on natural gases and coals for their main source of electricity. I know that japan is looking into other renewable energy like solar, but I do believe that they will go back to using nuclear energy even more in the future despite any opposition, because they truly believe nuclear power is their way of a greener and better future.

 

http://mashable.com/2014/03/11/three-years-after-fukushima/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster