The Fukushima Daiichi disaster and the future implications for Research Paper

The Fukushima Daiichi disaster and the future implications for building new nuclear power plants in the United States - Research Paper Example The calamity was observed to have taken place in the eastern coast, Tohoku in Japan. The severe tremors of the quake were experienced at Fukushima as well (American Nuclear Society, 2012). The above mentioned catastrophe was later found to have significantly affected the ‘nuclear power station’ or rather the nuclear plant that is situated at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan. This disaster was believed to have triggered the most far-reaching ejection of radioactivity in contrast to the Chernobyl mishap that took place in 1986. This particular radioactivity release was considered to be even shoddier than the case or disaster of Three Mile Island that took place in 1979 in the United States. However, the occurrence of Fukushima Daiichi was considered to differ from the stated incidents of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island as the devastation that occurred at Fukushima was learnt to be triggered owing to natural tragedies which was a massive earthquake chased by tsunami. The discharg e of the radioactive gases was regarded as a consequence of the natural disaster rather than any malfunction with regard to the equipments and even ruled out any chances of human faults. The tsunami was measured to have ruptured the systems that helped in providing backup power and which were required for the reason of cooling down the reactors that were present in the definite plant. The breakdowns of the backup systems as a result made a large number of those reactors go through hydrogen explosions, fuel melting and ultimately radioactive releases (Holt, Campbell, & Nikitin, 2012). The paper will intend to focus on the present situation of the mishap that occurred at Fukushima Daiichi along with providing an insight into the various policies or stands taken by the US after this incident. The Accident at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan The earthquake that took place in March, 2011 in the eastern coast of the island Honshu in Japan resulted in initiating a mechanical shutdown of around e leven nuclear plants out of fifty five. Majority of the shutdowns were found to have carried on without any kind of further events. However, the Fukushima and the Onagwa nuclear plants were found to be the ones that were closely located towards the epicenter owing to which severe damages were suffered by those plants. The plant at Fukushima Daiichi, as a result of the earthquake, accompanied with the tsunami experienced hydrogen outbursts and grave damages in relation to nuclear fuel which triggered the discharge of a noteworthy quantity of radioactive elements in the surrounding environment (Holt, Campbell, & Nikitin, 2012). The contamination of the surrounding environment, with the radioactive elements that originated from the plants, compelled the moving out of communities from the adjacent or the neighboring areas till 25 miles. The forceful move out of the communities resulted in disturbing the regular life of around 100,000 residents, majority of whom were believed to remain b anned from accessing their respective homes for an indefinite period. The evacuation activities made in this context are considered to have checked the degree of radiation exposure with regard to the concerned population from surpassing the Japanese authoritarian boundaries in majority of the incidences. However, the consequences of the exposure to the radioactive gases with regard to the residents were measured not to be quite grave. Future deaths as well as