Fukushima power plant disaser Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fukushima power plant disaser - Essay Example The events resulted in an explosion and partial nuclear meltdown in three operational reactors of the plant. However, it never caused serious fatalities given the rapid response including evacuation efforts. Even though the disaster never caused many deaths, it comprises of the significant occurrences in the global history. It remains as the biggest nuclear disaster that took the authorities about 14 days to completely shut down the facility and several years to decommission and restore the effects. The collapse began when the tsunami severely damaged three operational reactors in plant number 1 and 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi. Subsequently, the shutdown stopped operations of the site by stopping the backup diesel generators thereby leading to a site blackout. The blackout and tsunami resulted in the failure of seawater pumps thus hindering cooling of the reactors. It then led to the meltdowns in the three primary reactors of the facility. In response, the government issued an evacuation notice for people within the 3-kilometre radius and later 10 km radius because of the magnitude of the challenge (Fukushima Accident). The radiations contaminated the Pacific Ocean water and caused massi ve air pollution. It also led to displacements of people, disruption of the way of life, the decline in the economic activities. The Tokaimura accident in 1999 triggered the development of radiation-resistant robots. However, a task force that included the representatives of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) discredited the robots in 2002. Besides, no nation or plant projected the possibility of occurrence of a disaster similar to the Chernobyl. The firms also showed belief in the skilled employees to manage and limit the occurrence of nuclear accidents. Hence, dissolution of radiation robots enhanced Japan’s vulnerabilities and limited the response options to the Fukushima disaster (Lochbaum, Lyman and Stranahan 40). Earlier on, the Tokyo Electric Power