Japan’s Nightmare

Consider this scenario: An earthquake has just hit your home country of Japan with a subsequent tsunami that destroyed most of civilization. An estimated two thousand people went missing, six thousand injured, and as many as twenty thousand people died because of the natural disaster. With already a tremendous amount of distress on the country, there is still more to come. Three reactors in a nearby nuclear power plant melted down, causing the largest nuclear disaster in over twenty years. Many of the problems that happened within the power plant could have been avoided had the proper safety steps been taken beforehand. Modern nuclear safety has been a rising problem in many countries, especially since this earthquake and tsunami that triggered the Fukushima Daiichi plants to meltdown. Other countries must now buckle down in order to prevent future disasters and make nuclear power a safe and effective way to produce energy.

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan with a tsunami following soon after that severely damaged the Fukushima power plant. A little over a year and a half since the disaster, the aftermath is still being considered. What is certain is that the safety systems that were supposed to oppose outside threats failed and made it possible for a release of radioactivity into the atmosphere (Get Tough). Fukushima power plant consists of six different reactors in Japan that are located in the cities of Okuma and Futaba. Being one of the biggest nuclear power plants in the world today, it originally opened in 1971 and was recently closed down. While there were no deaths due to the March incident, anyone within a certain proximity of the plants was asked to leave their homes for their personal safety. Had the reactors worked the way they were supposed to, Fukushima would be a good example of how we want our power plants to operate. There are several disasters that have occurred in the last several decades that we should have learned from to ensure safety.

Three Mile Island and Chernobyl are both well-known nuclear incidents that made their mark in history. Three Mile Island took place in March of 1979 in Pennsylvania, marking the worst catastrophe in United States nuclear power plant record. There were no immediate deaths linked to the incident, but it took several years to clean up and possible further health problems could be linked in years to come (Spencer). Chernobyl occurred in April 1986, killing about thirty people who were on the scene when the incident occurred. The explosion injured many people and several contracted cancers as a result of radiation exposure. Bloomberg composed an article that compares the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear accidents to the Fukushima accident that happened in 2011. The article claims that Fukushima is a six or a seven on the international scale of nuclear incidents, while Three Mile Island was a five and Chernobyl was a seven. This puts into perspective how much damage Fukushima caused compared to Chernobyl on the nuclear scale (Narayan).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/m1k3y/5615387345/

The unknown author from Nature, a weekly science journal, claims that research and knowledge shows that nuclear energy is safe to the people. Fukushima changed many people’s perspectives and the author believes that if another accident were to occur, many industries would be depleted (Get Tough). Fukushima has raised doubts to pro-nuclear countries such as France, according to The Christian Science Monitor. This is a very big step for France, as well as anyone globally that believes in a safer future for nuclear energy. André-Claude Lacoste is one of the founding members and chairman of the INRA, an institute that supports social innovation. He said that Fukushima is even more severe than most people think it is, and France will work hard to raise the bar of safety. He hopes that the entire world will follow in their footsteps and continue to promote safety (Marquand). Lacoste also adds that, “the Fukushima accident marks nuclear history”, and that “France should not add any more technical systems in order to ensure safety to the people.” France currently has fifty-eight working nuclear power reactors and they are all sufficiently safe. They plan to keep all of the plants open unless they become harmful (Post-Fukushima).

Nuclear energy has been and will be the most economical source of power. Pro-renewable energy groups say is it risky but there will be affordable and clean energy that does not put humans and the world at risk. Many people voice their opinions in favor of clean energy, but by no means do they want to deplete all nuclear power plants. Ending all nuclear power would cause an even bigger problem than already presented and as it is, the industry is in for a challenging future (Khaleel).

The Fukushima disaster was a game changer for nuclear activity. It was a horrible incident, but it really opened the eyes of other countries to the importance of safety precautions for nuclear energy. The world must be more aware of how to react when a catastrophe does occur. If countries like France take safety more seriously, this will cause a trickle down effect on to other countries. They can then make sure they are always providing safe and efficient energy. Nuclear energy is a major resource to millions of people, and it can continue to be delivered to them as long as the correct safeguards are taken.

 Work Cited

"Get Tough on Nuclear Safety." Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group, 12 Jan. 2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2012. <http://nature.com/nature/journal/v481/n7380/full/481113a.html>.

Khaleel, Shehu. "Post Fukushima Disaster; The Fate of Nuclear Energy." Post Fukushima Disaster; The Fate of Nuclear Energy. CyberTech, Inc, 20 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Sept. 2012. <http://www.energycentral.com/generationstorage/nuclear/articles/2517/Post-Fukushima-Disaster-The-Fate-of-Nuclear-Energy/>.

Marquand, Robert. "Japan Crisis Rattles Even Pro-nuclear France." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Mar. 2011. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2011/0315/Japan-crisis-rattles-even-pro-nuclear-France>.

Narayan, Adi. "Comparing Nuclear Events at Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island: Q&A." Bloomberg. Bloomberg L. P., 17 Mar. 2011. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-16/comparing-nuclear-events-at-fukushima-chernobyl-three-mile-island-q-a.html>.

"Post-Fukushima Era Begins for France." Post-Fukushima Era Begins for France. World Nuclear News, 4 Jan. 2012. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Post_Fukushima_era_begins_for_France_0401121.html>.

Spencer, Jack, and Nicolas Loris. "Three Mile Island and Chernobyl: What Went Wrong Then and Why Today’s Reactors Are Safe Now." News. The Cutting Edge News, 30 Mar. 2009. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=11226>.