Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Team Alpha Student1 Name, Student2 Name, Student3 Name, Student4 Name, Student5 Name.

Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

Team Alpha

Student1 Name, Student2 Name, Student3 Name, Student4 Name, Student5 Name

● What risks were overlooked in the Fukushima nuclear disaster and what risk controls could have been put in place to avoid this catastrophe?

Risk Research Question

Risk Context● Assets: Critical power infrastructure,

Human lives

● Protector: Japanese Government

● Threat: Earthquake and Tsunami

● Friday March 11, 2011, a 9.0 earthquake hit 130km off the coast of Japan

● Quake lasted for about 3 minutes● As soon as the quake hit, the

Fukushima reactors shut down● Backup generators turned on to start

the cooling process.

What Happened?

World Nuclear Association, 2015

● An hour after the quake, a 15 meter tsunami flooded the backup generator cooling system

● 3 reactors overheated as a result● Weeks were spent trying to cool

down the reactors

What Happened?

World Nuclear Association, 2015

● Reactors were damaged● Radioactive material contaminated

water● Government fear● 100,000 people evacuated

(mitigate)● 1000+ deaths from evacuation

Impact

World Nuclear Association, 2015

Likelihood● Natural Disaster

o Perceived Low Likelihood Event

Retrieved From: Network.ProjectManagers.net

Retrieved From: http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/bild-753679-197101.html

Retrieved from: www.globalresearch.ca

● Reactor locationo Original plans had reactors 10m

above sea levelo Lowered to 5.7m when being built

(risk appetite raised)o Was considered an acceptable

threshold when builto Indicators of previous tsunamis

ignored

Risk Assessment Failures

World Nuclear Association, 2015

● Backup Cooling Power○ Perceived multi-stage measures,

actually single-hit ○ Backup generators not waterproof ○ Earthquake took out main power,

created tsunami which took out backup power

Risk Assessment Failures

World Nuclear Association, 2015, Lipsy 2013

● Ensure one event cannot take out both primary and backup cooling systems

● Create crisis evacuation plans to reduce the likelihood of human deaths

● Routinely create risk assessments on the likelihood of natural disasters

● Restore public trust in government

Reinvestigation – Risk Controls

Visschers, 2012

● Lipscy, P., Kushida, K., & Incerti, T. (2013, May 16). The Fukushima Disaster and Japan's Nuclear Plant Vulnerability in Comparative Perspective. Retrieved from http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es4004813

● Visschers, V., & Siegrist, M. (2012, July 4). How a Nuclear Power Plant Accident Influences Acceptance of Nuclear Power: Results of a Longitudinal Study Before and After the Fukushima Disaster. Retrieved March 1, 2015, retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2012.01861.x/abstract;jsessionid=3C2C31C419AFD7D05A06725B2CC61DFE.f04t04?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false

● Fukushima Accident. (Feb 2015). World-Nuclear. Retrieved from http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Fukushima-Accident/

References