What happened to Fukushima power plant?
Following a major earthquake, a 15-metre tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, causing a nuclear accident beginning on 11 March 2011. All three cores largely melted in the first three days.
Why did Fukushima fail?
At the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the gigantic wave surged over defences and flooded the reactors, sparking a major disaster. Authorities set up an exclusion zone which grew larger and larger as radiation leaked from the plant, forcing more than 150,000 people to evacuate from the area.
How many deaths were caused by Fukushima?
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster casualties
Satellite image on 16 March 2011 of the four damaged reactor buildings | |
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Date | 11 March 2011 |
Deaths | 1 confirmed from radiation, 2,202 from evacuation. |
Non-fatal injuries | 6 with cancer or leukemia, 37 with physical injuries, 2 workers taken to hospital with radiation burns |
Is radiation still leaking from Fukushima?
The radiation levels offshore of Fukushima have dropped in the years since, but some of the reactors there are still leaking. And over the last decade, TEPCO has continued to cool the fuel cores with water, which is contaminated by the process.
Is the operator of Fukushima plant faking repair records?
^ “Operator of Fukushima nuke plant admitted to faking repair records”. Herald Sun. Australia. March 20, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2011. ^ “Japan tsunami: Fukushima Fifty, the first interview”. March 27, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2017. ^ Mainichi Shimbun, “TEPCO to drop plan to add two reactors at Fukushima nuclear plant”, April 5, 2011.
What happened to the nuclear power plant in Japan?
The plant suffered major damage from the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. The chain of events caused radiation leaks, and permanently damaged several reactors making them impossible to restart. By political decision, the remaining reactors were not restarted.
What happened to Fukushima Daini?
The sister nuclear plant Fukushima Daini ( “number two” ), 12 km (7.5 mi) to the south, is also run by TEPCO. It also suffered serious damages during the tsunami, especially at the seawater intakes of all four units, but was successfully shut down and brought to a safe state through extraordinary actions by the plant crew.
Is the Fukushima plant site safe from tsunami?
^ “Fukushima plant site originally was a hill safe from tsunami”. The Japan Times. Retrieved September 29, 2011. ^ Asahi. Tepco Withdrawal of Plans for New Construction at Fukushima Daiichi. (Japanese) ^ “Nuclear Power in Japan”. World Nuclear Association. February 24, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2011. ^ a b “Reactors in operation”. IAEA.