Comparison of the Fukushima and the Chernobyl Nuclear Disasters

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Recommended: The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

Taking a quick look at the Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear disasters, it may appear that they were the same situation and that history had repeated itself but the two disasters were very different. The Fukushima nuclear disaster took place on March 11th, 2011 in Fukushima, Japan. After the disaster occurred, the government left the issue to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the owner of the plant. However, recently there was an increase in the amount of leaks from the power plant so the government decided to take charge. The government plans to spend $320 million to build a subterranean ice wall to control the contaminated water and $150 million on an improved water treatment unit. The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster, on the other hand, occurred on April 26,1986 in Pripyat, Soviet Union. In other words, it occurred after the Cold War, which might have been one of the reasons that it tried to handle the situation on its own. The nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan is similar to the one of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Pripyat, Soviet Union in that both of their governments evacuated the area close to the reactors and they both did not ask other countries for help. However, the Japanese government left the mess to the Tokyo Electric Company to contain the nuclear disaster which was caused by the loss of power from natural disasters and the government handled the nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union which was caused by a faulty design with inadequate workers running it. This shows that the nuclear leak in Chernobyl was much more severe than the one in Fukushima. One similarity between the Chernobyl and the Fukushima nuclear disasters is that they both evacuated the areas surrounding the sites where the accident took place.Fu... ... middle of paper ... ...es. Works Cited http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/03/the-chernobyl-disaster-25-years-ago/100033/ http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Chernobyl-Accident/#.Uk8gydK_J8E http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/Worksafe/PDF/Forums/safety_culture-Jane_.pdf http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/chernobyl_nuclear_accident_1986/index.html http://elgoog.im/search/?q=Chernobyl+nuclear+reactor+disaster Brennan, Kristine. "Health Effects of Chernobyl." The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster. N.p.: Chelsea House, 2002. 75-86. Print. Great Disasters Reforms and Ramifications. http://go-kids.grolier.com/page?tn=/news/feature_archive.php&id=ns1-20110328&type=0tdns http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/03/fukushima-disaster-ice-wall_n_3858884.html Eisler, Ronald. The Fukushima 2011 Disaster. Boca Raton: CRC, 2013. Print.

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