The Disaster Of Nuclear Reactors - 1057 Words

An earthquake centered 130 km off shore of the city of Sendai in Miyagi caused 11 nuclear reactors that were operating at 4 different nuclear plants to shut down on March 11, 2011(Fukushima Accident, 2015). The earthquake had a magnitude of 9.0, which is classified as one of the worst earthquakes/ greatest earthquakes on the earthquake scale, the tsunami following the earthquake was about 560 sq km resulting in over 19,000 human deaths. The earthquake and tsunami caused the following nuclear units to shut down, Tokyo Electric Power Company s (Tepco) Fukushima Daiichi 1, 2, 3, and Fukushima Daini 1, 2, 3, 4, Tohoku s Onagawa 1, 2, 3, and Japco s Tokai, total 9377 MWe net (ibid). Nuclear plants create energy through radioactive substances that help the creation of energy. Substances can become radioactive because the nucleus of each atom is unstable and can decay giving off nuclear radiation in the form of alpha particles, beta particles or gamma rays (What is Radioactivity, n.d.). Most power reactors use water as a coolant, in light-water reactors, the core is surrounded by the coolant under pressure. The nuclear fuel contains uranium that contains 2 to 4 percent uranium-235. For fuel rods the uranium is changed to uranium dioxide (Nuclear Energy, n.d.). Heat is created by the uranium-235 atoms splitting which is called fission then steam is made which spins a turbine to drive a generator and produces electricity, this is a nuclear reaction. Fukushima are boiling-waterShow MoreRelatedA Note on the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster974 Words   |  4 PagesChernobyl Nuclear Disaster: The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster is an accident that took place at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine in April 1986. The accident was because of a flawed Soviet reactor design, severe mistakes by the plant operators, and direct result of Cold War isolation. 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The loss of life sparked by the ordeal official thirty-one peo ple by direct cause. The disaster has had a prolonged effect to environmentalRead MoreEssay on Could the Chernobyl Disaster Have Been Prevented?1249 Words   |  5 Pages A- Plan of Investigation- For my Historical Investigation, I wanted to research the catastrophic nuclear meltdown that occurred on April 26th, 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. My research question is: Could the Chernobyl disaster have been avoided, if so, which moments in the chain of events leading to the accident needed to occur differently? To carry out my investigation, I plan on utilizing the Internet, encyclopedias and finding books that explain how accidental Chernobyl