“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” says the third of Arthur Clarke’s three laws. This is perhaps no truer than for the miracle of nuclear power. As a species we’re able to create a reaction in specific metals to produce power for our towns and cities. Unless you’re a physicist, that’s probably all you know about it: it’s efficient, it’s not damaging to the environment, and if done properly, it’s safe.
So why is it not more widely used? Or rather, why has its use decreased? The explanation lies partly in what happened on the 11th of March 2011, in Ōkuma, a small town in Fukushima, Japan. At 14:46, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck Japan. It remains the most devastating earthquake in recorded Japanese history – nearly 20,000 died and hundreds of thousands were displaced. The subsequent tsunami flooded the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, cutting electricity to four of the station’s six reactors, meaning the water pumps ceased to function. Over the following days, reactors 1-3 would meltdown, and the plant was officially decommissioned in 2014. Engineers recalled seeing molten materials dripping down reactor 1 and into pressure valves. It isn’t difficult to see how stories such as this would lead to comparisons to the Chernobyl disaster and its famed Elephant’s Foot, leading to public opinion turning firmly against nuclear power.
The consequences of the disaster are arguably worse than the initial earthquake itself. Approximately 160,000 residents were displaced, with 1,700 deaths because of this. While less deadly than the earthquake, what’s most notable about Fukushima is its ongoing effects, both environmental and political.
Official reports blamed operational and logistical faults for the disaster, which they claim have since been remedied in other plants. But this hasn’t made the clean-up any easier. Even a cursory look at the site today shows just how damaging the disaster continues to be. Experts estimate that the government’s 30-40 year cleanup time frame is too optimistic. Many surrounding areas are still uninhabitable and approximately 880 tons of nuclear waste remain in reactors 1-3. The government’s wastewater release plan is even more controversial. Following approval from the International Atomic Energy Agency, treated water from the reactor tanks began releasing into the Pacific Ocean in a gradual, decades-long process. Environmentalists remain unsatisfied: Greenpeace called to halt the plan until better treatment technology is developed, citing risks to sea life and the local fishing industry, which has struggled since the disaster.
The consequences for energy dependence have also been devastating. Since its pivot away from nuclear energy, Japan’s fossil fuel reliance has skyrocketed, and is yet to return to pre-disaster levels. The future of the environment around Ōkuma and nuclear power remains to be determined. But the Fukushima disaster’s impact on the people of the Prefecture, and global energy policy, has been undeniably disastrous.
“Chart of Electromagnetic Radiations” by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.