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Location Japan

The Fukushima I nuclear accidents occurred in Japan during the March 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. A significant amount of radioactive material was released into the atmosphere and a large number of residents were evacuated from surrounding areas.

There is talk of an apocalypse and I think the word is particularly well chosen... Practically everything is out of control. I cannot exclude the worst in the hours and days to come.
— Guenther Oettinger, European Energy Commissioner, speaking to EU ministers.[1]

Workers at the plant voluntarily exposed themselves to potentially fatal radiation levels, one of them saying "We are not afraid to die."[2]

Causes[edit | edit source]

Several factors contributed to the Fukushima I nuclear accidents:

  • Poor location close to the sea and very close to sea level. This made certain Japanese plants unprepared for a catastrophic earthquake plus tsunami (in an area where such catastrophes are known to be possible).
  • Lack of preparedness of pumps - some pumps had been inoperable for years[verification needed]
  • An unexpectedly large earthquake and tsunami - or to be more accurate, an inadequate safety margin.

Notes and references[edit | edit source]

  1. Reported by London's Daily Telegraph newspaper, described at: EU energy chief: Japan situation 'out of control' MarketWatch, March 16, 2011.
  2. Fukushima heroes: Not afraid to die, CBS News, March 15, 2011.

See also[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]

FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Page data
Keywords disasters, nuclear power
Authors Chris Watkins
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 3 pages link here
Impact 341 page views
Created March 17, 2011 by Chris Watkins
Modified October 23, 2023 by Maintenance script
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