March 11th 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean near Tokyo, Japan which impacted on the occurrence of the tsunami. Tsunami overtook the buildings of the Nuclear Power Plant Company; Fukushima Daiichi. It shut off all the electricity even the emergency generator but the owner of Fukushima Daiichi, PEPCO, did not take so seriously about tsunami and finally ended up with an explosion. PEPCO took over their responsibility to the Japanese government to take care of the nuclear fuel tank that has been damaged. Because PEPCO had kept the problems secret and took authority over to the government after they realize of how critical situation this is. However, the Japanese government was also shifting the liability for the accident and reporting distorted facts. A responsible meeting and a reporting a reliable information lead political confidence and social and economic stability. Therefore, the Japanese government is responsible to report reliable news about their managing on nuclear waste. The nuclear power plant has been spotlighted as a clean alternative energy which is very economical after its construction on the first stage and creates a massive energy. It also brings no worry to nuclear fuel being dried up and even Fukushima Daiichi exports nuclear energy to other countries so this fulfills a positive aspect of interest. However, at the same time, it costs a lot of money to build a nuclear power plant and there will be a huge effect on the economy when the disaster like explosion happens. The nuclear power plant is also better for the environment since it does not release harmful chemicals that can threat environment such as carbon dioxide. According to the EPA, most chemical nuclear power plant emits do n... ... middle of paper ... ...(2013). Agricultural implications of the Fukushima nuclear accident. (pp.1-204). Springer Peplow, M. (2011). Chernobyl’s legacy. Nature, 471, 562-565. Starr, S. Physicians for Social Responsibility, U.S affiliate of international physicians for the prevention of nuclear war. (2013). Costs and consequences of the fukushima daiichi disaster. Retrieved from website: http://www.psr.org/environment-and-health/environmental-health-policy-institute/responses/costs-and-consequences-of-fukushima.html WHO. World Health Organization, (2013). Health risk assessment from the nuclear accident after the 2011 great east japan earthquake and tsunami based on a preliminary dose estimation. Switzerland: WHO press. Yasutaka, T. (2013). A gis-based evaluation of the effect of decontamination on effective doses due to long-term external exposures in fukushima. Chemosphere, 93, 1222–1229.
"What Are the Social and Economic Costs of the Chernobyl Accident?" GreenFacts. Web. 19 Mar. 2011. .
...r. Iodine 131, another radioactive element, can dilute very quickly in the air, but if it is deposited on grass eaten by cows, the cows then re-concentrate it in their milk. Absorbed into the body's thyroid gland in a concentrated dose, Iodine 131 can cause cancer. In the Chernobyl disaster, the biggest health effect has been cases of thyroid cancer especially in children living near the nuclear plant. Therefore, because of the Chernobyl disaster we know to test the grass, soil, and milk for radiation. Also, an evacuation of the Chernobyl area was not ordered until over 24 hours after the incident. Japanese authorities evacuated 200,000 people from the area of Fukushima within hours of the initial alert. From the mistakes and magnitude of the disaster at Chernobyl, the world learned how to better deal with the long and short term effect of a Nuclear Fallout.
Countless engineering disasters have occurred in this world, many civilians lost their lives due to corrupted constructions. The most fatal and deadly engineering disaster that took place in our history was the Chernobyl disaster. The Chernobyl catastrophe was a nuclear setback that happened at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in on April 26, 1986. It is seen as the most recognizable terrible nuclear power plant cataclysm ever. A nuclear crisis in one of the reactors caused a fire that sent a cluster of radioactive consequence that on the long run spread all over Europe.
One of the many benefits of Nuclear energy is that it is completely emission free, in fact, more than 70% of the clean energy produced in the United States comes from nuclear (“11 Facts about Nuclear Energy”) With those lack of emissions we will see a reduction in the
"Estimated Exposures and Thyroid Doses Received by the American People from Iodine-131 in Fallout Following Nevada Atmospheric Nuclear Bomb Tests National Cancer Institute (NCI). 2002. June 2004.
Chernobyl (chĬrnō´byēl) is the uninhibited city in north Ukraine, near the Belarus boundary, on the Pripyat River. Ten miles to the north, in the town of Pripyat, is the Chernobyl nuclear powerstation, site of the worst nuclear reactor disaster in history ("Chernobyl", Columbia Encyclopedia). To specify, On April 26, 1986, Unit Four of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in Ukraine, injuring human immune systems and the genetic structure of cells, contaminating soils and waterways. Nearly 7 tons of irradiated reactor fuel was released into the environment—roughly 340 million curies. Included in the release were radioactive elements with a half-life of 16 million years. Yet, we humans cannot defe...
I. (Gain Attention and Interest): March 11, 2011. 2:45 pm. Operations at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant continued as usual. At 2:46 pm a massive 9.0 earthquake strikes the island of Japan. All nuclear reactors on the island shut down automatically as a response to the earthquake. At Fukushima, emergency procedures are automatically enabled to shut down reactors and cool spent nuclear fuel before it melts-down in a catastrophic explosion. The situation seems under control, emergency diesel generators located in the basement of the plant activate and workers breathe a sigh of relief that the reactors are stabilizing. Then 41 minutes later at 3:27 pm the unthinkable occurs. As workers monitored the situation from within the plant, citizens from the adjacent town ran from the coastline as a 49 foot tsunami approached. The tsunami came swiftly and flooded the coastline situated Fukushima plant. Emergency generators were destroyed and cooling systems failed. Within hours, a chain of events led to an explosion of reactor 1 of the plant. One by one in the subsequent days reactors 2, and 3 suffered similar fates as explosions destroyed containment cases and the structures surrounding the reactors (Fukushima Accident). Intense amount...
In conclusion, there are different opinions on the issue of the use of nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is only one of many energy options. Nuclear power can decrease pollution to the environment because it does not produce harming gases like other plants do. However, there are also drawbacks that can influences human health by emitting radioactive substances. Thus, all parties should make a deeper research and analysis based on the argument to decide the use of nuclear energy as a safe and cost effective source of energy.
Flanary, W. (2008). Environment effects of the Chernobyl accident. Retrieved November 1st, 2013 from /http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/152617
Media coverage of such cases have made the public less comfortable with the idea of moving further towards nuclear power and they only opt for reducing human activities to reduce global warming. It is true that there have been some notable disasters involving nuclear power, but compared to other power systems, nuclear power has an impressive track record. First, it is less harmful and second, it will be able to cater for the growing world population. Nuclear power produces clean energy and it delivers it at a cost that is competitive in the energy market (Patterson). According to the US Energy Information Administration, there are currently 65 such plants in the Unite States (National Research Council). They produce 19 percent of the total US energy generation.
Currently, Chernobyl holds the record for largest nuclear incident in the world. Some areas of Europe were substantially contaminated by the radiation released; particularly Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. The explosion of the reactor caused for massive evacuation for anyone who was even remotely close to the explosion. This turned most cities around the area into ghost towns with populations ranging from double digits to the low hundreds. Even though a large majority evacuated, a large portion were still affected by the radiation because they were within the range of the incident and/or they took too long to move out of the vicinity. This caused millions...
mental degradation. The mass production of goods, in manufacturing industries, more so has led to a lot of pollutants being released into the atmosphere. These pollutants continue to degrade the environment. There are several forms of pollutions that continue to be heavily experienced as a result of the activities of Multi-National Corporations. The two most adverse types of pollution are water pollution and air pollution. They affect a lot of the systems that are in play.
The radiation released through ground, air and sea. Around 20 kilo meters of regions from the nuclear power plants was contaminated , and the residents 20 to 30 km from the nuclear power plant were asked to leave the region. The polluted coolant goes to the Pacific Ocean, which is very dangerous, because human being is the placed at the top on the food chain, therefore, the fish consumption may result the cancer. Pacific Ocean is the biggest fishery in the world, and Japan’s fish consumption per person is highest in the world (Mccurry, 2014).
The Japan disaster was devastating, and it had an abundance of causes and effects. The nuclear disaster, the tsunami, and the earthquake were the causes of the disaster in Japan. In addition, the disaster had countless effects on the land and people in Japan. The disaster in Japan was as devastating and tragic as 9/11. Both events took a great number of lives and left their country shocked, but prepared them for anything similar that might happen in the future. Knowing the causes and effects of Japan’s disaster can prepare other people and countries around the world for a comparable disaster.
The greatest disadvantages of nuclear energy are the risks posed to mankind and the environment by radioactive materials. ‘On average a nuclear plant annually generates 20 metric tons of used nuclear fuel cla...