Hammered by a tremendously powerful earthquake and then bludgeoned by a gigantic tsunami, Japan really had enough trouble on its hands. But as fate would have it, the only nation ever to witness the full horrors of nuclear war is, in addition to its other woes, face to face with a nuclear power nightmare. Problems with cooling three reactors at Fukushima Daiichi have already led to the venting of radioactive steam and two explosions. There are similar concerns about another reactor at the nearby Fukushima Daini plant. A desperate struggle is on to prevent the worst from happening — a complete meltdown of the nuclear core that could lead to large releases of radioactivity into the environment. With few natural resources of its own, Japan opted for nuclear power to supply a third of its energy needs. It has today more than 50 commercially operating nuclear reactors. These reactors were built taking into account the fact that they would be operating in a seismically dangerous environment. Unfortunately, Friday's earthquake, which was the worst recorded in the country, and the huge tsunami it unleashed set off a cascade of problems at the two nuclear power plants.
Safely shutting down a nuclear power plant is not simple. Stopping the chain reaction that keeps fission going, thereby producing vast amounts of energy, is just the first step. But even after that is achieved, the core of a nuclear reactor is still very hot. In addition, radioactive processes continue in the nuclear fuel, which too produce heat. The plant at Fukushima Daiichi relied on pumps powered by electricity to keep cooling water circulating. Friday's quake and tsunami knocked out electric supply from the grid. Standby generators kept at the plant for such contingencies could not be used because of the flooding and damage caused by the tsunami. Batteries, which were intended only to keep the cooling going until the generators came on, were soon depleted. The lack of cooling led to what Japanese officials say is only a partial meltdown of the nuclear cores in two reactors. Even if a total meltdown is avoided, it is believed that for many months to come the plant's operator will have to continue pumping in seawater to cool the two reactors and periodically release radioactive steam. People who have been evacuated from the area may not be able to return home any time soon. Understandably, these events in Japan have set off waves of concern in countries that have nuclear plants of their own, with worries about some unforeseen chain of events producing serious safety issues. In India, the country's nuclear agencies have promised a revisit of safety issues at all atomic plants. Such a safety audit must be carried out with a transparency that engenders public trust, without which nuclear power will not flourish.
Keywords: Japan nuclear plants, Japan earthquake, Japan tsunami, Fukushima Daiichi, Sendai, Miyagi
In my view, the tragedy that happened recently in Japan and the effect this perticular country is facing due to their nuclear plant is a notice to those who advocates Nuclear Enery and Nuclear weapons. India should re-think on his view about nuclear plant that India is going to establish.
Japan generates 30% of its power from nuclear fission.Due to Tsunami all the reactors have been shutdown. Hence,Japan is facing acute power shortage.Other countries like India,US, France,Germany must learn a lesson in safely shutting down nuclear power plants and must revisit the process through rigorous audits .This is not so simple as it sounds. This will ensure safety of million of citizens in the face of a disaster or natural calamity.
Well, It is not just only the concern of countries like Japan which are prone to earthquake but also is vital for rest of the world. Nation which operates civil nuclear reacters, relies on its nuclear power capabilities. Any natural calamity or sabotage can cause disaster for human civilization.Thus for the sake of posterity, it's a responsibility of entire world to make sure the ethical use of natural resources,so that undesired incident can be averted.Along with that nations will have to transcend the level of security and support for nuclear powerplant.Disaster management authorities need to be more proactive and reactive.
Will buffoons, here, in high places learn ever? Hiroshima. Bhopal. Chernobyl. Tokyo.Now Jaitapur, for Nuclear Power Plant, in Biodiversity Hotspot, in a rice bowl, in Konkan Region? They can't supply even clean safe drinking water to cities and villages, leave aside farming. And they talk of Energy, while wasting a billion plus Human Energy? Accumulated Energy, by any means, in any form, is never safe. Even Human Energy, in an individual or the Collective, a most dynamic entity, if not creatively directed.
At these times, it really makes us understand the need for more reliable and sustainable systems to produce energy instead of a dangerous methodologies. There is a huge need for alternative technologies to produce energy. We can live even without power but we cannot live with radiation surrounding us all the way. It's fine to be underdeveloped and a sustainable living than a developed and risky life-style. Let's hope that Japan should recover from its disaster at the earliest possible.
Is there someone from Tamil Nadu looking at what is happening to Nuclear reactors in Japan. I think we have one in Kalpakkam too. I think the state first family must be busy with their own 2G spectrum.
The post tsunami fiasco that made Japan's scrambled efforts helpless has raised serious concerns on disaster management techniques adopted by India. Barrage of comments and satirical views of critics on nuclear safety in India have to be analyzed with utmost care.The politicians and the government should heed to this issue to prevent a dire situation.When the extensive safety measures adopted by the island nation is itself useless at needed moments, then country like India should be vigilant enough in inspecting/installing of its nuclear reactors. It would be becoming to quote that there is no harm if the exchequer is spent for these safety procedures.After all the end result is peace that guarantees ones life during calamities or disasters, instead resulting in a befuddled hell like situation.
India being almost wholly subservient to western ways of doing things and slavishly following prescriptions from outside, has never taken the lead in coming up with native solutions to anything, in particular energy sustainability, especially renewable, and the obvious use of the sun's and wind's power. Not one prime minister has shown any vision in this regard, while the current incumbent is of course comatose most of the time as he performs to perfection his babu instincts of pushing files around. One shudders to think what will happen here should ever a similar catastrophe come calling, as the response can only show how much of a fourth world country she really is.
The nuclear power plants located at Fukushima are said to be quite old. Still, a lot of safety measures might have been taken to withstand earth quakes of milder intensities than the current one, knowing that Japan is a earthquake-prone country. Are recent nuclear power plants in Japan and other countries better from the point of view of saftey? Now, our country is going ahead with nuclear power. We should ascertain that safety concerns are addressed to limit the damages.
Nuclear power is the fourth largest source of electricity in India after thermal, hydro and renewable sources of electricity. It contributes around 4% of the total installed power generation capacity of 165,000 MW as on Dec 2010. Indian Nuclear power industry is expected to undergo a significant expansion in coming years to decrease the expanding gap between energy demand and supply. This is the time for the NPCIL and Government to come up with standard set of protocol to follow during unprecedented and unpredictable future calamities and come up with additional safety measures to counter the problems seen in the nuclear plant in Fukushima Daiichi. Government should right away audit the safety process and verify that all the safety processes are intact and functioning as per the safety guidelines. In Japan, think that if some of safety process such as automatic shutdown of plant, initiation of evacuation process had failed then the loss incurred from life and property would have been substantial.
We (India) have worst safety record on road, rail, air,chemical industries and terrorism. On building quality (Asian Games fiasco). We need nuclear power like we need 'leprosy'. Please if we must have them let them be placed 'strategically' in Lutyens Delhi next to PM, SoniaJi and other important union ministers.
Japan opted for nuclear power because of lack of other natural resources. But it is not so with India..Indian can do without nuclear power and its associated risks..
A mighty nation which is always on toes to face any disaster like earthqack or tsunami has been going through the worst phase after WW II. Japan has the best preparation to face any natural calamity but scale of disaster like this proved that modern safety equipment and life style is flimsy and nature cannot be conqured if it hits hard. This disaster has put a serious question mark on viability of nuclear energy but world now is not in a postion to abandon it. Still safety aspect must be improved and put on public domain. Governments world over need to invest hugely on R&D of renewable energy as countries like Germany and Sweden is doing it because they are safe and secure. We as nation can learn a great deal from this disaster and build more quick,responsive and effective disaster management teams because we are one of the worst affected country from natural disaster and cannot bear huge loss of life and money.
Safety generally is the least of our concerns as a nation. We are also habitually not meticulous in what we do. One is certain that none of us will ask for proof for these assertions since it is all too be evident wherever we look. But those, who have professionally and socially dealt with Japanese like this writer has, would have seen how different they are from us in these qualities. If even the Japanese have failed to ensure the safety of nuclear power plants when natural calamities strike, will we be able to do this? It will be a miracle if we do!.
India and other countries will do well to review the safety of their own nuclear plants on an urgent basis to ensure that they are safe. As you have rightly pointed out, 'a safety audit must be carried out with a transparency'. Should a nuclear plant in India suffer damages due to either natural disasters or terrorist attacks, the devastation would in all probability be much more than what Japan has experienced so far.
The safety audit in India should include all eventualities including a) possible conflagration on our frontiers with China and Pakistan (with other neighbouring countries being used by our adversaries to outflank our defences), b) terrorist attacks from without as well as by fifth columnists, c) naural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, d) civil disorder.
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