Environment Disaster Fukushima Tsunami and Nuclear Plant Disaster March 2011.pptx

8/14/2019 Environment Disaster Fukushima Tsunami and Nuclear Plant Disaster March 2011.pptx

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CEEB223 Introduction toEnvironmental Engineering

Semester II 2012/2013ASSIGNMENT

TITLE: Environment Disaster: FukushimaTsunami and Nuclear Plant Disaster March 2011

By

GOH PIN LING CE087543

GOH YU HAO CE087544

LECTURER: DR. CHUA KOK HUA

SECTION: 02 Date:29/12/2012

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*

NO CONTENT SLIDE NO.

1 BACKGROUND 3

2 SUMMARY 4

3 CAUSES 5-6

4 IMPACT 7-10

5 COSTS 11-12

6 LESSON LEARNED 13-17

7 EARLY WARNING SYSTEM 18-19

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REFERENCES 20


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BACKGROUND

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Fukushima nuclear power plant

Owned by TEPCO, Tokyo Electric power

Company

suffered major damage from

the 9.0 earthquake and

subsequent tsunami that hit Japan on March

11, 2011 and, as of December 2012, is not

expected to reopen.


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A massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit northeast japan on 11 March

2011, Friday. It causing dozens of deaths, more than 80 fires, and a 10-

meter tsunami along parts of the countrys coastline. Unfortunately, the

earthquake and tsunami knocked down the backup power systems ofFukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that were needed to cool the

reactors at the plant, causing three of them to undergo fuel melting,

hydrogen explosions, and radioactive releases.

SUMMARY

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TEPCO expected the power plant to withstandearthquakes with magnitudes reaching 8.2 to 8.6.The plant is built to withstand a maximum waterheight of 5.7 meters in the case of a tsunami. Thefacilities sit on bluffs 4.3 to 6.3 meters above this

expected high-water mark. But in March, the 14-meter-high tsunami waves overwhelmed theprotective seawall and crippled the Fukushimaplant. The one-two punch of the quake andtsunami, however, wrecked Fukushimas electricgrid.

Humanfactors

Nuclear facilities should be in areas not proneto natural hazards. But here we face a

paradoxical situation: Nuclear power plantsare there to generate electricity, which meansthey cannot be too far from centre's ofpopulations and industrial activity, and theseare largely located in world regions prone tonatural hazards of one sort or another.

Geographicallocation


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IMPACT OF TSUNAMI

Burning and explosion

The electric supply was shut downabruptly during the attack of tsunamiand earthquake.

Thus causing many residential and

industrial area facing threat ofburning and explosion.

Landslides and changes of

terrain Tsunami and earthquake causing

landslides happened around thedisaster area.

Terrain facing changes abruptly asresult in destroy by Tsunami. 7


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Flash flood

The tsunami had bring in terrible amount ofsea water into Fukushima in a short time thuscausing floods around the disaster area.

Many places including residential area,industrial area and even airport also flooding.

Human casualties

Many people were die and missing after theattack of Tsunami in Fukushima.

A lot of residents were lost their homelandand properties.

Economic losses

A lots of companies and factories weredestroyed in Fukushima Tsunami.

Causing economical activities in Fukushima

suspended indefinitely. 8


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Insufficient of electric supply

30% of electric supply in Japan rely onnuclear power plants.

Corruption of Fukushima nuclear plant notonly wreck down the electric grid of Japanbut also put a big question mark on nuclearenergy safety.

Deficit of economies

Japan is synonymous of many foods suchas vegetables, beef, and etc.

News of radioactive pollution on Japansproduction was disrupt the export industriesof Japan. This was cause Japan lose a

great amount of moneys.


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COSTCOST AMOUNT

DEAD > 16000 people

INJURED > 6000 people

MISSING > 3700 people

PEOPLE EVACUATED > 350,000 people


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COST AMOUNT

HOUSES DESTROYED > 200,000 homes

ESTIMATED MONEY LOSS > 100,000 billion US dollars

PEOPLE REMAIN EVACUATED > 80,000 people

ESTIMATED RECOVERY PERIOD > 10 years


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1. Can we produce nuclear energy without running the risk of irradiating people?

In theory, it may be possible: A large number of nuclear reactors have been operating

for decades and as far as we know, nuclear accidents have seldom occurred.

Nonetheless, such accidents have happened and can happen again. Indeed, given the

reputation that Japan has for its management style, attention to details and advanced

technology, the Fukushima accident suggests we cannot mitigate the risk entirely

whether on the technological or management level. The current situation thus

highlights the danger of nuclear accidents in otherand especially in less prepared

parts of the world now and in the future. This in turn highlights the critical role of

international supervision in the nuclear sector globally, and enforcement of higher

nuclear safety regulations on the national level.

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3. Mitigation of risks

We also try to mitigate risks, by, for example, having plants shut down when an

earthquake strikes, as Japans automated system does. But again, Fukushima

shows that the system isnt perfect: The nuclear disaster occurred after the

facility had already been shut down.

On the day of the earthquake, three of the plants six units were not operating

(shut down for routine maintenance) and the other three units were shut down

by an automated system that sensed strong ground shaking. The Fukushima

disaster has awakened the public to the fact that nuclear plants, even if not

operating, require 24/7 maintenance because the radioactive fuels rods (even

the spent rods) still release huge amount of heat and should thus be kept cool

and safe.


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4. Nuclear Wastes Disposal

When that doesnt happen, as is the case at Fukushima, disaster can ensue.

This disaster has yet again also revived the decades-old and yet unresolved

problem of nuclear waste disposal. Currently, in the absence of safe

underground storage, thousands of tons of spent fuel rods are sitting on the

ground at hundreds of nuclear plants around the world and are kept cool by

water; how safe are they from natural hazards? Or for that matter, how safe are

they from people who may be up to no good? These are important questions

that the public needs to ask and officials must clarify. Nevertheless, we can see

that how weak are human in front of radioactive pollution. Hence, the reliabilityand safety of nuclear power generation should be redefined.


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5. Petroleum or Nuclear power?

Then there is the issue of materials: When oil prices increase abruptly,we think of tapping non-petroleum resources such as nuclear power. We

think of switching to nuclear power to decrease our dependency on

imported oil from relatively unstable parts of the world. But like the

petroleum industry, nuclear power utilizes minerals (uranium and

plutonium) that are finite and expendable, and are concentrated in

certain areas, notably Canada, Russia, Australia and parts of central

Asia and Africa. Japan and the U.S. both import the bulk of theiruranium from overseas. So if more countries go nuclear, the price of

uranium will rise because of increased demand.


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Early Warning System

On 11st March 2011, 2:46pm, a magnitude of 9.0 earthquake struck

northeast of Japan which is Fukushima.

3 minutes later, the Japans Meteorological Agency released its first

tsunami warnings.

More than 4,000 Seismic Intensity Meter in place throughout Japan to

measure earthquake activity.

These meters provide information within two minutes of an earthquake

happening. Information about the strength and the center of the

earthquake can be learned within three minutes.


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Hence, Japan is said to be the most well-prepared countries on earth in

terms of tsunami warning.

2 reasons for Japan had not anticipated the

size of this earthquake and tsunami

Japan has not had any event anywhere near as big as this one in the last

one hundred fifty years. And scientists had not expected such a large

earthquake happening off the coast of Japan.

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake was the fourth most powerful

earthquake ever recorded worldwide. It was also the worst earthquake

ever to hit Japan. The tsunami waves that followed were reported to

have reached as high as fourteen meters in some areas.


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References1. http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/japans-early-warning-system-

one-of-the-best-in-the-world-118258934/116824.html

2. http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/voices-nuclear-plants-and-natural-

disasters-fukushimas-fallout

3. http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/voices-what-happened-fukushima

4. http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/03/earthquake-in-japan/100022/

5. http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/fukushima_accident_inf129.html

6. http://earthquake-report.com/2011/03/16/catdat-estimated-direct-loss-

after-japan-tsunami-100-billion-us/

7. http://www.fas.orgsgpcrsnukeR41694

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