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The update of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Station accident (March 11 through May 31, 2011) SHIBUTANI Yu
Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, WasedaUniversity, Waseda Bldg. 1-21-1, Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-0051 Japan, (shibutaniyu@aol.com)
Abstract:The unprecedentedly massive earthquake and tsunami hit the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (the Fukushima Daiichi), operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), in Fukushima Prefecture on March 11, 2011.Two months later TEPCO revealed that No.1, 2 and 3 reactors had melted at the level 7 on the rank of International Nuclear and Radiological Events (INES) scale, as par with the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Complexities of the Fukushima Daiichi’s fiasco have grappled with those of question including nuclear safety standard, reactor and backup safety technology, radioactive disaster and contamination on land and at sea, spread of false rumors at home and abroad and also nuclear governance risks. The accident is a huge challenge we have to deal with immediately. A ground-breaking public awareness embraces fundamental change in nuclear world. Foremost rethinking is required to combine a smaller or zero growth of nuclear electricity with a safer world in the future.
Keyword: Fukushima Daiichi accident; earthquake; tsunami; severe accident; environmental contamination
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