ukushima disaster: What happened at the nuclear plant? Ten years ago, on a Friday afternoon in March, the most powerful

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ukushima disaster: What happened at the nuclear plant? Ten years
ago, on a Friday afternoon in March, the most powerful earthquake
ever recorded in Japan struck off the country's eastern coast. The
9.0-magnitude quake was so forceful it shifted the Earth off its
axis. It triggered a tsunami which swept over the main island of
Honshu, killing more than 18,000 people and wiping entire towns off
the map. 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. A decade later, that zone
remains in place and many residents have not returned. Authorities
believe it will take up to 40 years to finish the work, which has
already cost Japan trillions of yen. Where is the plant? The
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is in the town of Okuma, in
Fukushima Prefecture. It sits on the country's east coast, about
220km (137 miles) north-east of the capital Tokyo. On 11 March 2011
at 14:46 local time (05:46 GMT) the earthquake - known as the Great
East Japan Earthquake, or the 2011 Tohoku earthquake - struck east
of the city of Sendai, 97km north of the plant. Residents had just
10 minutes warning before the tsunami hit the coast. Overall,
almost half-a-million people were forced to leave their homes as a
result of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. What
happened at Fukushima? Systems at the nuclear plant detected the
earthquake and automatically shut down the nuclear reactors.
Emergency diesel generators turned on to keep coolant pumping
around the cores, which remain incredibly hot even after reactions
stop. But soon after a wave over 14 metres (46ft) high hit
Fukushima. The water overwhelmed the defensive sea wall, flooding
the plant and knocking out the emergency generators. Workers rushed
to restore power, but in the days that followed the nuclear fuel in
three of the reactors overheated and partly melted the cores -
something known as a nuclear meltdown. The plant also suffered a
number of chemical explosions which badly damaged the buildings.
Radioactive material began leaking into the atmosphere and the
Pacific Ocean, prompting the evacuations and an ever-widening
exclusion zone. Workers rushed to restore power, but in the days
that followed the nuclear fuel in three of the reactors overheated
and partly melted the cores - something known as a nuclear
meltdown. The plant also suffered a number of chemical explosions
which badly damaged the buildings. Radioactive material began
leaking into the atmosphere and the Pacific Ocean, prompting the
evacuations and an ever-widening exclusion zone. The tsunami
overcame the sea wall and hit the plant The damage led to nuclear
meltdowns and a number of hydrogen explosions How many people were
hurt? There were no deaths immediately during the nuclear disaster.
At least 16 workers were injured in the explosions, while dozens
more were exposed to radiation as they worked to cool the reactors
and stabilise the plant. Three people were reportedly taken to
hospital after high-level exposure. Long-term effects of the
radiation are a matter of debate. The World Health Organization
(WHO) released a report in 2013 that said the disatster will not
cause any observable increase in cancer rates in the region.
Scientists both inside and outside Japan believe that aside from
the region immediately around the plant, the risks of radiation
remain relatively low. On 9 March 2021, ahead of the 10-year
anniversary, a UN report said there had been "no adverse health
effects" documented among Fukushima residents directly related to
the radiation from the disaster. Any future radiation-related
health effects were "unlikely to be discernible", it said.
Fukumisha exclusion worse than radiation? Fukumisha's long road to
recovery Growing crops int he shadow of Fukushima But many believe
the dangers are far greater, and residents remain wary. Though
officials have lifted restrictions in many areas most people have
not returned to their homes. In 2018, the Japanese government
announce that one worker had died after exposure to radiation and
agreed his family should be compensated. Several people are however
confirmed to have died in the evacuation, including dozens of
hospital patients who had to be moved due to fears of radiation.
The Fukushima Disaster is classified as a level seven event by the
International Atomic Energy Agency, the highest such event and only
the second disaster to meet this classification after Chernobyl.
Chernobyl: What happened thirty years ago? Chernobyl: The end of a
three-decade experiment Who was at fault? Who was at fault? Critics
blamed the lack of preparedness for the event, as well as a muddled
response from both the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco)
and the government. An independent investigation set up by Japan's
parliament concluded that Fukushima was "a profoundly man-made
disaster", blaming the energy company for failing to meet safety
requirements or to plan for such an event. However, in 2019 a
Japanese court cleared three former Tepco executives of negligence
in what was the only criminal case to come out of the disaster. In
2012, Japan's then prime minister Yoshihiko Noda said the state
shared the blame for the disaster. A court ruled in 2017 that the
government bore partial responsibility and should pay compensation
to evacuees. How is the clean-up going? Ten years later, several
towns in north-eastern Japan remain off-limits. Authorities are
working to clean up the area so residents can return. Fukumisha: Is
fear of radiation the real killer? Japan nuclear disaster residents
return A school frozen in time after tsunami Major challenges
remain. Tens of thousands of workers will be needed over the next
30 to 40 years to safely remove nuclear waste, fuel rods and more
than one million tons of radioactive water still kept at the site.
But some residents have decided never to return because they fear
radiation, have built new lives elsewhere, or don't want to go back
to where the disaster hit. Media reports in 2020 said the
government could start to release the water - filtered to reduce
radioactivity - into the Pacific Ocean as early as next year. Some
scientists believe the huge ocean would dilute the water and that
it would pose a low risk to human and animal health. Environmental
group Greenpeace however said that the water contains materials
that could potentially damage human DNA. Officials have said no
final decision has been taken about what to do with the liquid.
Question 1
Risk appetite & Risk Management
1.1 Using an appropriate diagram discuss the risk appetite of
the Government Organisation responsible for the oversight of the
nuclear facility? (5 marks)
1.2 The case study is a well-known incident that took place in
2011 in Japan and it has been mentioned that this could have been
avoided. Propose how the use of risk management could have been
prevented? (10 marks)
1.3 Propose the different techniques that can be used
to identify the risks in the case study and justify your response.
(10 marks)
Question 2
Any risk management process starts with planning and is then
followed by the risk assessment process.
2.1 Discuss at least 5 inherent risks that should have been
identified during the risk assessment process? Students must
clearly specify the risk identifier, risk category, risk
description, risk cause and effect. (10 marks)
Students must tabulate their responses and the table below must
be used to populate their responses.
Risk, identifier, Category ,Description, Cause Effect
2.2 Using the risk register in the previous section,
conduct a qualitative risk analysis for these 5 risks by proposing
the probability of occurrence and impact for each risk? (10
marks)
The risk matrix included in appendix 1 must be used to rate the
inherent identified risks and students must discuss the chosen
probability and impact. The table below should be used to show your
response.
Risk identifier, Category ,Description, Cause ,Effect
,Probabilit,y Impact, Rating
2.3 Using the risk matrix included in appendix 1, plot the
inherent risks on a heat map and discuss what the map means? ( 5
marks)
Question 3
Risk Response and Control
3.1 Using the table below, propose the most appropriate
risk responses for each of the risk identified in question 2.1. If
any of the risks are not acceptable, then propose sufficient (more
than 1 if needed) controls to make them tolerable (acceptable). (10
marks)
identifier ,Category, Description, Caus,e Effect ,Rating,
Response, Category ,Control 1 ,Control 2
3.2 Discuss how the level of confidence can be illustrated
on a risk matrix? (5 marks)
3.3 With aid of an appropriate diagram, show the impact of
the various controls on the inherent risks identified in question
2.1 using the level of confidence methodology? (10 marks)
Question 4
Risk Management Framework
4.1 Classify the control category for each control discussed in
the question and justify your response? (5 marks)
Tabulate your responses.
4.2 Propose a Risk Management Framework that could be
implemented at the Nuclear Facility? (20 marks)