Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Research Paper

Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown 2011

Introduction

The Fukushima nuclear meltdown disaster on 11 March 2011 was an aftermath of the magnitude 9.0 Tohoku earthquake and the subsequent tsunami. The equipment failures in the power plant led to discharge of radioactive substance into the seawater and atmosphere. It is the biggest nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. This paper analyze the causes and explain the consequence of the disaster, follow by the ethical issue which arises from the accident and finally draw a conclusion.

Findings

As mentioned in the investigation report carried out by the National Diet of Japan[1] found that on March 11, 2011, the East Japan Earthquake(Tohoku) rated in magnitude 9.0 triggered an extremely serious

It is definitely a manmade disaster that could be foreseen and avoided as mentioned in one of the article from Time magazine[2] The root causes of the disaster were due to the regulatory and operational system of the company. From the report[1], it is found that the regulators and the company have noticed the potential hazard that a total loss of power at the plant might arise if there are tsunami hitting at a certain level. But the company kept on neglecting such imaginable possibility of an enormous tsunami. According to the Wall Street Journal[3], the cooling systems in the reactors 1-4 with older design, as the backup diesel generators and electrical-switching equipment were housed in lightly shielded turbine buildings that were easily flooded by tsunami. Meanwhile, there were organizational problems within the company TEPCO as mentioned in the report[1]. During the accident, the company didn’t plan measure for the Isolation Condenser(IC) agency, also there were no manual or any training procedure. The series of operational problems led to the consequential damage and meltdown of fuel rod and lastly triggered extensive explosion which released substantial amount of radioactive material to the

Which mean that the plant had to be built near the sea. In the phrase of construction. Engineers has observed that the site is vulnerable to tsunami even with seawall, but due to the cheaper cost to use seawater cooling, the company continued with the project. The engineer violated HKIE code of ethic [6], engineers should ethically urged to stop the projects that are not safe, no matter what stress on them. Thus, they should call the halt to the project even the company put pressure on them in order to prevent the serious consequences.

Conclusion

This paper has discussed the causes and the ethical issue arise from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. After analysis, it is believed that the accident is ‘manmade’ catastrophe that can be foreseen and prevented rather than a natural disaster. The root cause of the disaster was due to the faulty regulatory and operational system of the company TEPCO. The accident also remind engineer should pay attention to ethical issue in workplace. Finally, the Fukushima nuclear tragedy let people began to reconsider nuclear energy’s