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Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
11 March 2011
A magnitude 9.0 earthquake hits 130 kilometers off Japan's northeastern coast at 2:46 P.M. local time. Several nuclear power plants automatically shut down; the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex loses its connection to the electrical grid and diesel generators kick in to continue delivering power to circulated cooling water around the hot nuclear core. Diesel generators at Fukushima Daiichi shut down at 3:27 P.M. local time after getting slammed by a series of seven tsunamis -
Evacuation Begins
The Japanese government announces residential evacuation within 10 kilometers of the Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini nuclear power plants. With the flow of coolant interrupted, hot nuclear fuel boils the surrounding water, raising pressures in reactor units 1 and 2 at Fukushima Daiichi. A hydrogen explosion (left) blows the roof off of the Unit 1 reactor building and collapses the walls surrounding the pool where spent nuclear fuel rods are kept cool.. -
Conditions
Temperatures stabilize in units 5 and 6, which reach safe "cold shutdown" conditions, or temperatures below the boiling point of water. Electrical power from the grid is restored at Unit -
Radiation
After receiving new estimates of the total amount of radiation released by the Fukushima crisis, Japan rates the situation as a 7 on the International Atomic Energy Agency's severity scale—the highest rating possible. The radioactivity releases are estimated at about 10 percent of those released from Chernobyl, the only other nuclear incident to receive such a rating. -
Economic effect
Fukushima Prefecture announces plans to reimburse hotels and other tourism-related businesses for reservation cancellations. Over 680,000 guests canceled reservations at inns and hotels in Fukushima Prefecture through the end of June due to the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima power plant, resulting in losses of at least $90 million. -
Decontamination
The Fukushima municipal government announces its plans to decontaminate the city's entire area -
radiation continues
TEPCO estimates the maximum amount of radioactive substances leaking from its Fukushima reactor buildings is 200 million becquerels per hour, or about one ten-millionth the radioactivity released in early March. -
Enviornment
The Australian reports that towns in the Fukushima area have few places to dispose of the hundreds of thousands of metric tons of contaminated soil created by the nuclear crisis. In Fukushima prefecture it is estimated that 100 million cubic meters of radioactive soil will need to be stored somewhere -
More economic problems
A survey by the Fukushima Prefecture finds that nearly 70 percent of evacuees have not been able to get jobs since the disaster. -
Rebuilding period
The decommissioning of the four crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will likely take more than 30 years to complete, according to a report by Japanese officials. -
Money issues
According to The Daily Yomiuri, the Fukushima Prefecture's hospital association reports losses of at least $155 million for the first year after the start of the nuclear crisis in March. -
Returning Home
Three months after the government begins allowing citizens to return to the evacuation zone between 20 and 30 kilometers of the power plant, 54 percent of evacuees still have not returned home -
Compensation
Tokyo gives $8.5 billion to TEPCO to cover compensation payments. The total amount of financial aid to residents will reach $20 billion -
New information
A study estimates that 57.8 percent of Fukushima Prefecture residents (excluding nuclear plant workers) were exposed to radiation levels of less than one millisievert during the first four months of the crisis. One millisievert is considered the normal annual limit of radiation exposure. The survey finds that 94.6 percent of residents are considered to have been exposed to less than five millisieverts -
No End In Sight
In prefectures affected by the reactor disaster, 20 percent of businesses still have not resumed operations. Nuclear safety requirements are becoming more stringent in many countries, including the U.S., as a result of the Fukushima crisis. Dismantling the Fukushima Daiichi plant and decontaminating the surrounding areas will continue for 30 years
