Fukushima: A Nuclear Disaster

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March 11, 2011 at 2:46 pm, the north-east coast of Japan suffered a magnitude nine earthquake that resulted in a tsunami. Millions of people were left homeless by the extensive damage. Cities were destroyed and many lives were lost, but worst of all the nuclear reactors in Fukushima could not withstand the powerful forces of the tsunami. Soon after the tsunami struck, millions of tons of radioactive water dumped into the pacific ocean, and onto the land. The destruction of the nuclear reactors has had many effects on the ecosystem, human health, and the economy. Primarily, the Fukushima disaster has caused negative effects on the ecosystem. Eight hundred square kilometres near the nuclear plant have been declared too radioactive for human habitation; these areas are called exclusion zones. When radioactive caesium is introduced to an ecosystem it contaminates the water, soil, plants, animals and maintains ownership of the land for centuries (Starr). Further, radioactive caesium bioaccumulates as it moves up the food chain. Bioaccumulation refers to the build up of chemicals in an organism which can be dangerous for human consumption. Forty percent of bottom dwelling fish such as halibut and cod were found to have exceeding radioactive levels than regulatory limits. As a matter of fact, the Fukushima disaster is the largest discharge of radioactive material into the ocean in history (Starr). Unfortunately, efforts to clean up are futile because water run-off continues to re-contaminates the land and ocean. Also, many areas are still too radioactive to work in. Currently, reactor four is still in tact; however, if Japan is struck with another magnitude six plus earthquake, the reactor will be destroyed and will cause a world cr... ... middle of paper ... ... 2013. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. . "Fukushima Cleanup Could Cost up to $250 Billion." Fukushima Cleanup Could Cost up to $250 Billion. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. . Starr, Steven. "About." Costs and Consequences of the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster. Physicians For Social Responsibility, n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. . Yamaguchi, Mari. "Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Plant's Contaminated Water Storage Running Out Of Space." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Oct. 2012. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. .

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