Lokesh Mangla

Mayank Chaturvedi

OVERVIEW

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster was a nuclear

accident at the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant,inititated
primarily by the tsunami of the Tohuku earthquake on March
11,2011.

The

tsunami breached seawalls of Fukushima Power Plant

and caused equipment failures leading to loss of coolent
followed by three nuclear meltdowns and release of
radioactive materials.

It

is considered the largest nuclear disaster since the

infamous Chernobyl disaster of 1986 and was given Level 7
event classification on International Nuclear Event Scale.

SITUATION AT THE TIME OF THE

EARTHQUAKE

The Tohuku earthquake of magnitude 9.0 triggered

the tsunami waves as high as 40.5 metres.
At the time of earthquake, reactors 4,5 and 6 were
shutdown for refueling.

Immediately after quake,reactors 1,2,3 shutdown

their fission reactions as the safety measure.

Due to shutdown,the reactors 1,2 and 3 were unable

to run their coolent pumps.

Emergency diesel generators came

online,to power electronics and
coolant systems, all of which
became operational.

The largest tsumani wave of height

upto 14-15 m breached the 10m
high seawater wall of the plant
,destroying generators located in
the unhardened low-lying area.

Due to failure of coolent system,fuel

rods started to melt down.

A series of hydrogen-air chemical

explosions occurred in Unit 1 on
March 12th and the one in Unit 4 on
March 15th.

DESTRUCTION

MANAGING THE ACCIDENT

Evacuation of population within 20 km, immediately after the

accident.

Sea water was used in the first phase of the accident.

In order to cool down in Units 1, 2 and 3 ,fresh water was

continuously injected both via the feed water system lines and
the fire extinguishers lines into the reactor pressure vessel;
temperatures and pressures were stabilized.

One generator at unit 6 was restarted on 17th March allowing

some cooling at units 5 and 6 which were least damaged.

TEPCO started work on 9th May to install a supporting structure

for the floor of the spent fuel pool of Unit 4.

NUCLEAR FALLOUT

Spreadout of Radioactive
contamination in Atmosphere

Nuclear Spreadout in Ocean Water

AFTEREFFECTS

A sample of seawater taken on 22 nd March 330m

(30kilometers off the coastline) showed elevated levels
of I-131 and Cs-137.

Zone within 20km from site was evacuated completely.

Test of soil quality revealed the presence of radioactive

Caesium in sample from districts of Chiyoda and Koto.

The contents of I-131 was traced in milk and freshly grown

leafy vegetables.

At the end of the accident,financial losses reached

approximately upto 150 billion Euro.

Fukushima Daiichi Disaster strengthened the voices of the opponents of

Nuclear Energy.

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel announced to abandon nuclear

energy and is working on long term strategy to make Germany
independent of Nuclear as well as coal .

Any Questions ?

THANK YOU