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Nuclear accidents essay
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
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Nuclear Energy: Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant On March 11th, 2011, the country of Japan was greatly affected by the well-known Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant nuclear disaster. Due to the limited amounts of natural resources such as coal in the country of Japan, there was not a sufficient amount to cheaply and easily provide for the country’s energy needs through the use of fossil fuel. This resulted in the production of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. This power plant consisted of six boiling water reactors that ran electrical generators (Nuclear Energy Agency, 2011). Boiling water reactors function when water flows through the reactor core which contains an array of fuel rods. Control rods, which are among the fuel rods, prevent overheating by absorbing neutrons. They can be raised and lowered to control neutron moderation and therefore control the rate of the nuclear reaction. When they are lowered, it slows down the rate by absorbing more neutrons and when they are raised, it allows the rate to speed up by absorbing fewer neutrons (Brain & Lamb, 2011). The fission of uranium-235, which is the splitting of the nuclei into smaller remains by being bombarded with neutrons, is stored in the fuel rods as pellets. During the process of fission, a chain reaction occurs. As a neutron joins a Uranium-235 atom, that atom briefly becomes Uranium-236. Then it breaks apart in two and gives off three neutrons, making the nucleus of the original atom release gamma radiation from radioactive decay. The other three neutrons then become attached to other Uranium-235 atoms and cause fission to occur again. As water flows through the reactor core, acting as a coolant to prevent the pellets from melting, it picks up heat generated from ... ... middle of paper ... ...disaster affected the environment? Retrieved from http://mag.audubon.org/articles/birds/how-has-fukushimas-nuclear- disaster-affected-environment Nuclear Energy Agency. (n.d.). Fukushima press kit. Retrieved from http://www.oecd- nea.org/press/press-kits/fukushima.html Oskin, B. (2013, March). Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011: Facts and information. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/39110-japan-2011-earthquake-tsunami- facts.html United Nations Information Service. (2013, May). No immediate health risks from Fukushima Nuclear Accident Says UN Expert Science Panel. Retrieved from http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/pressrels/2013/unisinf475.html World Health Organization. (2013, February). Global report on Fukushima nuclear accident Details Health Risks. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2013/fukushima_report_20130228/e n/
Chernobyl is located in the Ukraine which is about 110 kilometers north of Kiev, near Belarus border. It is a small town with amount of population about 12,500 people. There was a nuclear power station with four reactors that has been built which is located about 15 kilometers to its northwest. A 22 sq. km in size of manmade water reservoir was created in order to cool down the reactor. This power plant was using Soviet-design RBMK-1000 nuclear reactors which are said as old and outdated design. This RBMK reactor are using U-235 fuel to heat water, creating steam that spin the turbines and generate electricity. Graphite is used to controls the core reactivity and also to keep the continuous nuclear reaction occurring in the core. When the core produces more steam and bubbles, it became more reactive and creating positive-feedback loop which is called as positive-void coefficient. Compared to other design of nuclear reactor, water is used as a coolant and to moderate the reactivity of the nuclear core. When the core heats up and produces more steam, the increase in steam bubbles or voids in the water reduces the reactivity in the nuclear core. This is an important safety feature found in most reactors built in the United States and other Western nations.
Leading the disaster, Nuclear reactors require an element cooling with a particular finished objective to uproot the created warmth delivered by radioactive rote. Despite when not delivering power, reactors still make some warmth, which must be cleared with a specific end goal to forestall harm to the reactor center. Cooling is by and large refined through fluid stream, water in Chernobyl s case. The issue at the Chernobyl plant was that taking after an emergency shutdown of all force, diesel generators were expected to run the cooling pumps. These generators took around a minute to fulfill full speed, which was respected an inadmissible long time for the reactor to be without cooling. It was recommended that the rotational power of the backing off steam
When the atoms are arranged in a reactor, the splitting of an atom will cause nearby atoms to split, forming a chain reaction. As the energy is released, it is sent through coolant tanks full of water, which is then heated into steam. The steam is channeled and used to spin a turbine, which in turn powers a generator, producing electricity (whatisnuclear.com, Nuclear Reactors). Despite this, many still fear events such as this.
Nuclear power is generated through a process known as nuclear fission which occurs when the uranium molecules are placed in the water. This process causes the water to heat up to boiling point and generates steam, from there it operates like most other power plants by using the steam to turn turbines and create energy. Stea...
As planned by the TEPCO, in case of a disaster, the main power generators to the reactors are designed to shut down, consequently, shutting down the power that helps generate the coolant for the reactors. After the earth quake, the first step of the emergency procedure went well, however, the Tsumanin waves that followed the earth quake was about three times higher than the barrier built by TEPCO to prevent water from damaging equipments within the complex. The water dumped by the Tsumanin flooded the complex, including the basement that housed the backup diesel generators. With the generators demanded by the flooded the workers had no means of get water or coolant to cool the nuclear reactors, and as would be expected, the reactors began to overheat resulting in the nuclear meltdown of the Fukishima nuclear power plant reactors(”Inside Japan’s
I. (Gain Attention and Interest): March 11, 2011. 2:45 pm. Operations at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant continued as usual. At 2:46 pm a massive 9.0 earthquake strikes the island of Japan. All nuclear reactors on the island shut down automatically as a response to the earthquake. At Fukushima, emergency procedures are automatically enabled to shut down reactors and cool spent nuclear fuel before it melts-down in a catastrophic explosion. The situation seems under control, emergency diesel generators located in the basement of the plant activate and workers breathe a sigh of relief that the reactors are stabilizing. Then 41 minutes later at 3:27 pm the unthinkable occurs. As workers monitored the situation from within the plant, citizens from the adjacent town ran from the coastline as a 49 foot tsunami approached. The tsunami came swiftly and flooded the coastline situated Fukushima plant. Emergency generators were destroyed and cooling systems failed. Within hours, a chain of events led to an explosion of reactor 1 of the plant. One by one in the subsequent days reactors 2, and 3 suffered similar fates as explosions destroyed containment cases and the structures surrounding the reactors (Fukushima Accident). Intense amount...
Many of the causes of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear reactors were from the lack of safety and the failure to follow safety features. This horrible incident shows us many lessons that should be learned. A few reasons for the Chernobyl power plant to rupture was due to the amount of control rods that were used. Where a minimum of 30 controls rods were required, only 6 to 8 control rods were used. The main reason that cause the core to actually ruptured was due to a sudden rise of the temperature in the reactor during the manual removal of control rods in a test which lead to the instability of the reactors. As the temperature rose, the core ruptured. A few reasons behind the Chernobyl nuclear power plants core to overheat were due to a few overlooked problems that were not taken care of. The Chernobyl Nuclear power plant used steam as a coolant, where water is a better coolant than steam for it also acts as a moderator, and second, it was found that the reactor’s emergency cooling system was disabled. These lack of actions lead to the catastrophic consequences at the Chernobyl power plant.
Nuclear power is generated by using electricity created during a controlled fission or fusion reaction (“Nuclear Energy.” Global Issues in Context Online Collection). Nuclear fission is a process that releases energy when a nucleus in one atom is separated into two nuclei. Nuclear fusion occurs when the nuclei of two hydrogen atoms are fused together producing a larger nuclei along with energy (“Nuclear Energy.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection). In the 1950s, the use of nuclear power became a realistic idea for countries with nuclear capabilities and nuclear power programs (“Nuclear Energy.” Global Issues in Context Online Collection). The international nuclear program grew rapidly and by 1999 there were 436 nuclear power plants in 32 different counties. The United States, Japan, Canada, Russia, India and France remain the largest users of nuclear energy since the 1990s; however, the dependency on nuclear power varies greatly around the world because of differences in the individual nuclear power programs availability of needed resources (“Nuclear Energy.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection).
The issue of the world’s energy crisis is becoming a topic of everyday conversation, we are constantly surrounded by statements that coal and natural gas could run out in as soon as 50 years time. One possible solution to this problem is to get our energy from nuclear plants instead of the current reactors which use fossil fuels. Currently, nuclear power stations use the process of nuclear fission or induced fission; this is the process of firing neutrons at Uraniam-235 causing it to split into two lighter elements, causing a large amount of energy and high energy neutrons to be released.
On March 11, 2011natural destruction raged the small island nation of Japan. With a massive earthquake and tsunami caused equipment damage that eventually lead to destruction of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. During the earthquake and tsunami three nuclear reactors were destroyed. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake caused damage all over the island and still 2 years later Japan is struggling to get back on its feet. People were forced to leave their homes and possessions behind as the Japanese government tried to correct the damage done by the tsunami and earthquake. With not only the country hurting, its natives hurt for normalcy. The road to recovery is a long one but one must look at the steps taken so far to return Japan back to where it once was.
Okay let's start out with the basics of how a nuclear power works. You have a nuclear reactor, tubes that carry superheated radioactive
Nuclear fission may sound like a radically scientific process, but in reality it is actually very simple and logical. Nuclear power plants use Uranium, a naturally occurring element, as fuel. Basically, the uranium is converted into Uranium dioxide through chemical means and is compressed into a pellet. The pellets are placed into tubes and then into the reaction core where the process takes place. Uranium is a radioactive element, which means that in its natural form, it is unstable and regularly releases subatomic particles. When it is in the reactor, free neutrons are released and collide with the Uranium which causes it to release its own neutrons causing a chain reaction. All of this is happening very quickly and doing so it releases enormous amounts of heat. This heat is then used boil water into steam, turning turbines and producing electricity. There are also rods that are placed between the fuel rods that will absorb some of the neutrons. This is to control the amount of reactivity and heat being produced (Schrock 3). After the reaction is complete, t...
The energy industry is beginning to change. In today’s modern world, governments across the globe are shifting their focuses from traditional sources of power, like the burning coal and oil, to the more complex and scientific nuclear power supply. This relatively new system uses powerful fuel sources and produces little to no emissions while outputting enough energy to fulfill the world’s power needs (Community Science, n.d.). But while nuclear power seems to be a perfect energy source, no power production system is without faults, and nuclear reactors are no exception, with their flaws manifesting in the form of safety. Nuclear reactors employ complex systems involving pressure and heat. If any of these systems dysfunctions, the reactor can leak or even explode releasing tons of highly radioactive elements into the environment. Anyone who works at or near a nuclear reactor is constantly in danger of being exposed to a nuclear incident similar to the ones that occurred at the Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi plants. These major accidents along with the unresolved problems with the design and function of nuclear reactors, as well as the economic and health issues that nuclear reactors present serve to show that nuclear energy sources are not worth the service that they provide and are too dangerous to routinely use.
This chain reaction produces massive amounts of heat. Nuclear reactors take advantage of this heat by pumping water into the reactor, which in turn produces steam. The steam then becomes pressurized through a pipeline and exits into a turbine (“How to do Nuclear”). The pressurized steam causes the turbine blades to spin, producing power which is linked to a generator for use in the main power lines. When the steam passes the turbine blades, it goes past cooled pipes and condensates (“How to do Nuclear”).
Nuclear power, the use of exothermic nuclear processes to produce an enormous amount of electricity and heat for domestic, medical, military and industrial purposes i.e. “By the end of 2012 2346.3 kilowatt hours (KWh) of electricity was generated by nuclear reactors around the world” (International atomic energy agency Vienna, 2013, p.13). However, with that been said it is evident that the process of generating electricity from a nuclear reactor has numerous health and environmental safety issues.