MOSCOW, March 12 - RIA Novosti. provoked powerful earthquake in Japan, the accident at the nuclear power plant located in the Japanese prefecture of Fukushima, worried the whole world - this incident could become the largest radiation incident in the world over the past 25 years, since the Chernobyl disaster.

According to experts, Friday's earthquake of magnitude 8.9 led to an automatic shutdown of reactors at a number of Japanese nuclear power plants Fukushima-1 and Fukushima-2. After that, backup diesel generators were launched, supplying electricity to the reactor cooling system. However, the tsunami wave disabled the generators and the temperatures in the reactors began to rise. Attempts by specialists to reduce the pressure in the reactors and lower the temperature did not lead to success.

"If hydrogen exploded, it escaped and is no longer a danger. According to our data, there (at the nuclear power plant) there is no danger of radiation leakage," Ian Hore-Lacy, director of communications for WNA, told the agency, commenting explosion on Japanese nuclear power plant.

In turn, an expert in the nuclear industry Chief Editor atominfo Alexander Ivanov believes that the situation at the Japanese nuclear power plant Fukushima-1 is not developing according to the worst-case scenario.

"There are first encouraging signs that the situation at the Japanese nuclear power plant is not going according to plan. worst case scenario", - he said.

First, he said, the accident is not nuclear, since the reactors at nuclear power plants are shut down, but radiation.

“The second is an accident, apparently, a design one, not a beyond design one. Moreover, although it may seem strange at first glance, according to the results of the accident, it will be possible to say that the NPP safety systems have confirmed their operability,” he said.

According to the head of the institute safe development(IBRAE), Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Leonida Bolshova, Russian nuclear scientists are analyzing various scenarios for the development of an emergency in the Japanese nuclear power plant.

"We have a staff working in IBRAE (crisis technical Center- Ed.), which carefully analyzes all incoming information about the development of the situation at the Japanese nuclear power plant. I want to say right away that the information received is far from complete, what is in the media often does not reflect reality. And so we use professional channels of information and receive information about the situation from the International Agency for atomic energy(IAEA) and the World Nuclear Association. We are analyzing various scenarios for the development of the situation at the Japanese nuclear power plant," the scientist said.

Waiting for the wave

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent his condolences to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday. He also stated that Russia is ready to provide Japan with the necessary assistance in overcoming the consequences of the tragedy. In turn, the Japanese government has already begun to consider Moscow's proposal for assistance.

Readiness to assist Japan was also announced in the Information Department of the Russian Emergencies Ministry. So, as the chief said national center EMERCOM of Russia Crisis Management Vladimir Stepanov, "Centrospas" and "Leader" detachments of the Russian Emergencies Ministry are ready to go to Japan if this country, which suffered from the earthquake, asks for help. According to him, if necessary, six planes of the department, including those with a mobile hospital on board, will be ready to take off.

On Friday, Sberbank of Russia also opened special accounts for making donations for the elimination of the consequences of a natural disaster in Japan and assistance to the victims.

Planes do not fly, but the Japanese save energy

The traffic situation in Japan after devastating earthquake, which occurred the day before in the northeast of the country, is still violated - a total of 464 flights are canceled, including 30 international ones, and seven aircraft belonging to the Japanese airlines All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) were damaged in the earthquake . Also, trains are still canceled in the country, and many roads are closed.

Japan's largest auto giants Toyota Motor Corporation, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. have announced the temporary closure of their factories in Japan. For example, Toyota Motor Corporation is shutting down all 12 plants in Japan from Monday, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. is shutting down production at three plants, and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. - on two. Automakers say the temporary shutdown of factories is due to difficulties in supplying car parts after the earthquake.

Several dozen universities in Japan decided to postpone the date due to the earthquake entrance exams- they were scheduled for March 12, however, due to the tragedy, the university leadership decided to postpone the date to March 17 or later.

It became infamous on March 11, 2011, after the last earthquake and subsequent tsunami that caused irreparable damage to the northeast of Japan. The tsunami and the accident at Fukushima-1 forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave the disaster zone, more than 15 thousand Japanese died, about three thousand are still missing. The accident was assigned the highest - the seventh - level of danger according to, which automatically entered it into.

Accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant Japan. Chronicle of events

March 11, 2011 – strongest earthquake in Japan with a magnitude of 9.0, which occurred off the coast of Japan, caused a tsunami wave. In this regard, at the Fukushima-1 NPP, three power units operating at that time were stopped by an action emergency protection that worked in the normal mode.

An hour later there was a power outage, including diesel generators. It is assumed that this happened due to the incoming tsunami wave. The electricity supply is used to cool the reactors, which, despite being shut down, still generate heat for a significant amount of time.

Immediately after the generators were stopped, the TEPCO management company announced emergency. As a result of the shutdown of cooling, the temperature of the power units began to rise, and the pressure inside, created by steam, also increased. To prevent damage to the reactor, steam began to be released into the atmosphere.

However, an explosion occurred at the first power unit of Fukushima-1, which brought down part of the concrete structures. outer shell, the reactor itself was not damaged. Four employees who eliminated the accident were taken to the hospital with injuries.

The radiation level at the industrial site reached 1015 µSv/h immediately after the explosion, 860 µSv/h after 4 minutes, and 70.5 µSv/h after 3 hours and 22 minutes.

Speaking about the causes of the explosion, Japanese Cabinet Secretary General Yukio Edano explained that when the cooling water level was lowered, hydrogen was formed that leaked between the concrete wall and the steel shell. Its mixing with air resulted in an explosion.

The reactors are cooled with sea water mixed with boric acid.

March 13, 2011- the emergency cooling system of the third power unit failed. There was a threat of a hydrogen explosion, similar to the first power unit.

March 14, 2011- at 11:01 local time, a hydrogen explosion occurred at the third power unit. 11 people were injured.

At the first two power units, work has begun on restoring emergency power supply, with the help of mobile installations. The emergency cooling system at the second power unit failed.

March 15, 2011- at 6:20 local time there was another explosion, this time at the second power unit. The bubbler tank used to condense the steam was damaged. The radiation level rose to 8217 µSv/h.

There was also a fire in the storage of spent nuclear fuel at the fourth power unit. It took about two hours to extinguish, however, radioactive substances entered the atmosphere. 50 engineers remained at the station, all personnel were evacuated.

March 16, 2011- at 8:34 puffs of white smoke began to rise from the third reactor. Probably, as at the second, at the third power unit there was another explosion and the bubbler tank was damaged.

According to the Minister of Self-Defense Forces of Japan, Toshimi Kitazawa, it is planned to dump water at power unit No. 3 using a helicopter, and the option of supplying cooling water from the ground is also being considered.

March 17, 2011– 4 water drops were carried out by helicopters to the third and fourth power units. The rubble was cleared after the explosion at the third power unit, but police cars with hydrants still failed to ensure the delivery of water to the reactor from the ground. By the end of the day, fire engines began to perform this function. In total, 130 people are already working at the industrial site.

March 18, 2011- work continues on cooling the reactors, first of all, the third - with the help of fire trucks and the fifth - connected to the generator of the sixth power unit. Works on laying a power line to the second power unit of the nuclear power plant have been completed.

March 19, 2011- A special unit of Japanese firefighters is located on the industrial site with the most powerful fire truck, which pumps 3,000 liters of water per minute to a height of up to 22 meters. Holes were drilled in the covers of the fifth and sixth power units in order to prevent the accumulation of hydrogen and, as a result, a possible explosion.

March 20, 2011– power supply from the diesel generator of the fifth and sixth power units was completely restored.

March 22, 2011– Power cables have been laid to all six power units of the Fukushima NPP, and their performance is being checked.

March 23, 2011– power units 5 and 6 are completely brought to the external electricity supply, the rest is being worked on.

March 25, 2011- work is underway to transfer the cooling of all reactors from sea water to fresh water.

March 26, 2011- water supply of the first, second and third reactors was transferred to fresh water. The increasing pressure in the containment of the first power unit was normalized.

March 27, 2011– pumping out of water at the first power unit has begun, at the second and third power units the work is complicated by high ionizing radiation.

March 31, 2011– the condition of the reactors is stable. Submission continues fresh water. The temperature of the reactors is still high: 1 - 256°C, 2 - 165°C, 3 - 101°C. Next to the power units, it is planned to build treatment facilities to filter the cooling water.

April 2, 2011- continues to enter the Pacific Ocean radioactive water. The concrete channel for electrical cables was also filled with radioactive sea ​​water. A crack was found under power unit No. 2. The power supply of the pumps has been transferred to external power supply.

April 5, 2011- stopped the flow of water into the sea by drilling holes near the crack and filling them with liquid glass.

April 7, 2011- nitrogen is supplied to the containment of the first power unit in order to displace hydrogen.

April 10, 2011– heavy equipment cleaning of the wreckage of the first and third power units has begun.

April 11, 2011- in Fukushima prefecture there was a new earthquake with a magnitude of 7 points. Temporarily - 50 minutes - the power supply and cooling of the reactors were interrupted.

April 13, 2011– the pumping of highly active water from the flooded structures of power unit No. 2 of the Fukushima NPP was started.

April 17, 2011– Three PACKBOT robots from iROBOT are taking part in the work. They are busy measuring the level of radiation, temperature, oxygen concentration and humidity. They also took a number of photographs of the reactor rooms. An increase in the level of radioactive water has been detected, and a search is underway for a new leak.

April 25, 2011- additional external power lines, independent of the previous ones, were laid in case of a tsunami and an earthquake.

May 5, 2011– for the first time since the accident, people entered the reactor compartment, it was the first

May 11, 2011- a new leak was found near power unit No. 3 - sealed with concrete.

May 12, 2011- it was suggested that water does not completely cool the reactor of the first power unit, which is why it Bottom part could melt and damage the containment.

May 14, 2011– clearing of the territory around the first power unit was completed. It is planned to build a steel frame with polyester fabric over the reactor.

May 20, 2011– Russian expedition geographical society for the study of the radiation situation at Far East under the direction of Artur Chilingarov was completed. The result was the conclusion that the pollution has not yet gone beyond Japanese territorial waters.

May 31, 2011- while clearing debris near the third power unit, an oxygen cylinder exploded.

July 2011- Elimination of the consequences of the accident continues. It is planned to build protective concrete sarcophagi above power units No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4.

October 2011- the temperature of the reactors has reached a level below 100 degrees Celsius. Coating of reactor No. 1 with a polyester cover has been completed.

August 2013- At the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, radioactive water began to pour directly into the ground. The storage facilities around the station created after the accident were completely filled. It was decided to strengthen the earth around with special substances. However, since then, information about water leaks into the ground and the ocean has appeared repeatedly.

December 2013– all three problematic reactors of the Fukushima nuclear power plant were put into a state of cold shutdown. The situation has been stabilized. The next stage - the liquidation of the consequences of the accident - is planned to begin in 10 years.

The main cause of the disaster at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant was the human factor, and not at all natural disasters, as previously stated. This conclusion was made by the experts of the commission of the Japanese Parliament in a 600-page report published on July 5. The commission found that the fault was the negligence of the supervisory authorities and the operating company "Fukushima-1" Terso (Tokyo Electric Power Company), as well as their incompetence during the aftermath of the accident. The commission also encroached on the sacred, stating that the Japanese mentality is also to blame: the desire to shift responsibility to the authorities and unwillingness to borrow Foreign experience in matters of security and modernization.

The commission, established by the Japanese parliament, has been investigating the causes of the accident for six months, and its findings refute three previous reports. The disaster occurred in March 2011, and until now main reason explosions at Fukushima was considered a natural disaster - a strong earthquake with a magnitude of nine points and a tsunami 15 meters high had such destructive force that it was supposedly impossible to avoid what had happened.

The presented report states that immediate causes the accidents were "'foreseeable long before'" and blames Terso's operating company for failing to make the necessary upgrades to the plant, as well as government nuclear energy agencies for turning a blind eye to Terso's failure to comply with safety requirements.

Government Regulators - Agency for Atomic and industrial safety(NISA), as well as the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC), were well aware that the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant did not meet the new safety standards. The fact that the station was not upgraded at the time of the accident speaks to collusion between Thurso and the regulators. At the same time, all these structures understood that a tsunami could cause enormous damage to nuclear power plants: the likelihood that it would lead to a power outage at the station (which happened), putting the country at risk of a nuclear reactor explosion, was obvious even before the accident.

However, NISA did not check the station for compliance international standards and Thurso did nothing to mitigate the risks. "If Fukushima had been upgraded to the new American standards introduced after the September 11 attacks, the accident could have been averted," the report says. The commission also found a conflict of interest in the activities of regulators, declaring collusion the fact that NISA was created as part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) - the very structure that actively promoted the development of nuclear energy in the country.

For a long time, Terso justified herself by saying that the failure at the station occurred precisely because of the tsunami: it is impossible to protect any object from a 15-meter-high wave that sweeps away everything in its path. The commission argues that, in fact, Terso simply ignored the repeated warnings of experts about the likelihood of a tsunami of a magnitude that the station's designers did not count on in 1967.

The commission came to the conclusion that the nuclear reactor's emergency protection system worked as soon as seismic activity began (almost immediately after the earthquake began and almost an hour before the most powerful waves tsunami). Note that it was this circumstance (an emergency shutdown of the reactors) that saved the station from a full-scale nuclear disaster. However, parliamentary experts do not pay attention to this fact. special attention, but they immediately proceed to criticize the operator company. The main claim that experts make to Terso is the vulnerability of the power supply system: it was she who failed, which led to irreversible consequences including the release of radiation into the atmosphere and ocean. Without electricity, the reactor cooling system stopped working at the station, which ended in explosions, fires and a leak of radioactive material. A diesel generator and other emergency sources of electricity were located on or near the plant, and because of this, they were washed away almost immediately by the tsunami, the commission said.

The power supply system, vital for the operation of the nuclear power plant, was not diversified, and from the moment the plant remained completely de-energized, it was no longer possible to change the course of the situation. Meanwhile, according to the Commission, the first strong blows the earthquakes damaged the plant's security systems to the extent that radioactive leaks would have occurred even with the generators running. True, here, in this key issue, the authors of the report resort to more cautious formulations ("I think ...", "there are reasons to believe ...") - the fact is that in order to confirm this version, it is necessary to get into the room of the destroyed reactor, which cannot be accessed. Experts only assume that "the force of the shocks was large enough to damage the main safety systems, since the necessary checks on the equipment that were supposed to protect the station from seismic activity, have not been carried out"".

Experts also accuse "" the government, regulators, Thurso and the prime minister of mismanagement crisis situation"". Prime Minister Naoto Kan (he left office in August 2011) did not announce the introduction of state of emergency, he and the members of the Cabinet are also responsible for the chaotic evacuation of the population (in total, 150 thousand people were evacuated from the affected area). "The evacuation plans changed several times in one day: the initially set three-kilometer zone was first expanded to 10 kilometers, and then to a radius of 20 kilometers," the report says. In addition, hospitals and nursing homes in the 20-kilometer impact zone struggled to provide transportation for patients and find places to accommodate them. In March, 60 patients died during the evacuation. Due to the erratic movement of residents, many received radiation doses, while others were moved several times from place to place before finally being placed, and because of this they experienced unnecessary stress.

The commission found that people living at a distance of 20-30 kilometers from the station were first asked not to leave their homes, although on March 23 data were published that in some areas in the 30-kilometer zone high level radiation. However, despite this, neither the government nor the emergency response headquarters made a prompt decision to evacuate from these areas - people were taken out of the contaminated territories within a radius of 30 kilometers from the nuclear power plant only a month later, in April. As a result, the evacuation zone in some areas exceeded 20 kilometers. In addition, during the evacuation, many residents were not warned that they were leaving their homes for good, and they left with only the bare necessities. The government was not only extremely slow in informing the local administration about the accident at the nuclear power plant, but also failed to clearly explain how dangerous the situation was. The premier is also accused of the fact that his intervention in crisis management led to confusion and disrupted coordination between services designed to eliminate the consequences of the disaster.

However, it is not entirely clear who the prime minister could have interfered with so much: from the point of view of the commission, both Terso and the government regulator NISA were completely unprepared for an emergency of this magnitude, and their activities were extremely inefficient. According to experts, Terso simply withdrew herself: instead of directly managing the crisis situation at the station, the company's employees shifted all responsibility to the prime minister and simply broadcast Naoto Kan's instructions. The company's president, Masataka Shimizu, was not even able to articulate to the premier the operator's plan of action at the station. Note that he resigned two months after the accident in May 2011.

Experts also argue that, to a large extent, the consequences of the accident turned out to be so severe because of the very mentality of the Japanese: the culture of universal obedience, the desire to shift responsibility to the authorities and the unwillingness to question the decisions of this authorities, as well as due to island isolation and unwillingness to learn from someone else's experience.

However, behind these digressions about the peculiarities of the Japanese worldview, it is difficult not to notice the serious political component of the report. Addressing the deputies introductory remarks, experts unambiguously say that negligence led to the disaster, the reason for which lies in the lack of control by civil society (read: these same deputies) over such a dangerous industry as nuclear energy. In the list of measures that the commission recommends taking in order to reduce the likelihood of such incidents in the future, the first number is the need for parliamentary control of regulators. Thus, we can say that the Commission is not without reason assigning such a serious degree of responsibility for the disaster to government regulators and the operating company subordinate to them.

The accident at the Fukushima-1 "" nuclear power plant was assigned the maximum - the seventh level of danger, this level was set only for a disaster at Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. After the earthquake and tsunami, the reactor cooling systems failed at the power plant, which led to a large radiation leak. All residents were evacuated from the exclusion zone within a radius of 20 kilometers. After a series of explosions and fires at the uncontrolled plant, it was decided to decommission it, but it will take at least 30 years to completely eliminate the consequences of the accident and shut down the reactor. After the Fukushima disaster, the Japanese government decided to temporarily abandon the use of nuclear energy: in the spring of 2011, preventive checks of all nuclear reactors countries. A few hours before the publication of the report of the parliamentary commission, Japan re-commissioned a nuclear reactor at the Oi nuclear power plant.

The energies make Fukushima I one of the 25 largest nuclear power plants in the world. Fukushima I is the first nuclear power plant built and operated

5. CPS rod drives

6. Steam to the turbine

7. Make-up water

8. Cylinder high pressure turbines

9. Cylinder low pressure

13. Condenser cooling water

14. Make-up water heater

15. Feed pump

16. Condensate pump

17. Reinforced concrete fence

18. Network connection

In most boiling water reactors

absorber rods of the control and protection system are located below.

Till complete information there is no accident, but the following is relatively certain. At the time of the earthquake, all three operating reactors at Fukushima-1 were simultaneously shut down. Approximately an hour after the first tremors, the emergency diesel generators supplying the reactor cooling system failed for an as yet unknown reason, and the system switched to power from emergency batteries, the capacity of which was sufficient for 8 hours of operation. Due to the complex physics of the processes occurring in core, the reactor continues to produce heat long time after the “stub” and needs active cooling. Due to the failure of the generators and the limited capacity of the emergency batteries, at some point (at which point it remains to be determined exactly), the cooling turned out to be insufficient, the reactor began to overheat, which led to damage to the fuel elements (fuel rods) and partial melting of the uranium fuel. Russian experts also confirm that the fuel rods in the Japanese reactor were apparently damaged.

The situation can be threatening. It seems, after all, that the accident was not limited to damage to pipes. The release over the nuclear power plant was very powerful and sharp. And light - almost White color clouds - indicated what escaped great amount pair.

The so-called boiling water reactors are installed at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Or boiling water reactors (BWRs). In fact, these are giant samovars - very strong and thick-walled cylinders 20 meters high and 7 meters in diameter. Inside - "boilers": uranium rods of fuel elements. They are located in the so-called reactor core. Boilers boil water. Heated to about 300 degrees at a pressure of 70 atmospheres. Right inside the "samovars" - in their upper part - the water turns into steam. It enters the turbines, then condenses and again enters the samovar. The water that circulates in the system also serves as a moderator of nuclear reactions.

If steam escaped and escaped in large quantities, as was seen in the footage from the accident site, then most likely the personnel failed to shut down the reactor. He continued to boil. But already without water supply, because the pumps were turned off.

By the way, the protection of boiling water reactors - weakness. The rods that muffle the core - they slow down the nuclear reaction, are fed from below. That takes effort and energy. On most Russian reactors they fall from above.

As a result, things could come to the point that the "samovar", figuratively speaking, boiled away. The active zone overheated, partially melted. At best, the resulting steam was vented inside the protective concrete shell that surrounds the reactor. And she pulled - this shell, unable to withstand the excess pressure. In the worst case, the lid was torn off the reactor itself. In both cases, unfortunately, radioactive vapor got into the atmosphere - the one that was in contact with the molten fuel elements. Because water, heated to 300 degrees, literally explodes at normal pressure.

Reports flashed that the Japanese were going to flood or are already flooding the reactor with sea water in order to cool it and slow down nuclear reactions. Quite a logical development of events in the event of a core meltdown. However, such filling threatens with new radioactive emissions. Whether they get to the territory of Russia depends on the direction of the wind. Until it blows in our direction.

All experts reject any possibility atomic explosion. And it is unlikely that the surroundings will be contaminated with particles of nuclear fuel - the chances that they will be thrown out are extremely small. Even if the tightness of the reactor is broken.

Experts do not dare to analyze the accident in detail yet. Too little information about her. But there will be no second Chernobyl - at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, a completely different type of reactor exploded: the High Power Channel Reactor (RBMK), in which water boiled inside channels made in graphite rods. Graphite caught fire... And as the President of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" Academician Yevgeny Velikhov said on Saturday about the damaged Japanese reactor: "there is nothing to burn there." In other words, he calmed me down.

The Japanese reported about twenty irradiated. This is clearly not random people. "Liquidators", as we would call them. They tried to repair the damage.

By latest posts, "problems with cooling" arose at five more reactors. So explosions are not excluded on them. And for good reason, probably, 140 thousand people have already been evacuated from the areas of the Fukushima-1 and Fukushima-2 nuclear power plants.

Could be worse

European experts on nuclear safety have suggested that hydrogen exploded at the nuclear power plant. But then things get really bad.

Hydrogen can be formed during the decomposition of water. And it begins to decay in the presence of a kind of catalyst - fuel cells in a metal shell, when the temperature in the core exceeds 400 degrees. With this heating fuel cells are starting to crumble.

Again, at best, hydrogen exploded, bled into protective shell. But along with it, radioactive gases - krypton, argon and others - that appeared in the process of a nuclear reaction, also entered the atmosphere. There were also radioactive particles of fuel.

Let's talk about the infamous city of Fukushima in Japan; determine where Fukushima is located, mark the boundaries of the city and the Fukushima nuclear power plant on the map of Japan; we will tell you what the Fukushima nuclear power plant is and the events of the “Disaster in Japan Fukushima”; we will show that today, a new truth about Fukushima has been revealed.

On the northeastern side of the island of Honshu, which is located in the eastern country of Japan, there is a small prefecture called Fukushima.

The administrative center of this prefecture is the world famous city with the same name - Fukushima. This rather unremarkable city is located on an area of ​​​​about 767.74 square kilometers with a population density of 368.73 people / km². That is, the population of the city of Fokushima is 286,406 people (as of 2014).

Interestingly, in translation from Japanese, if you decompose the word into two parts, "fuku" and "sima", you get original name"island of happiness"

Fakushima Prefecture is bordered by two prefectures. The distance between the center of administration of Fokushima and the capital of Japan, Tokyo, is 288 kilometers. Washed by Fakushima Abukuma, deep river, second in the Tohoku region of Japan.

City `s history

Fukushima did not initially have the status of a city, but became one only in April 1907. Back in the 11th century, it was the village of Shinobuno-sato in the village of Shinobu. Then a tycoon noticed vantage point this village and decided to place his estates there. Already in the 12th century, a castle flaunted on the site of the future Fokushima, and more and more people began to cluster around it. more people who in the future built the city of Fukushima. They began to master crafts, build houses and the city became more and more famous.

Unfortunately, today the castle has not been preserved, but the fame of the city still remains. During the Edo period, the city of Fakushima became even more popular because the residents produced very high quality silk. About him began to know and outside the prefecture.

After the reforms in Japan called the Meiji Restoration, the city of Fukushima gained a status administrative center prefectures. After that, the national bank decided to establish its branch in Fakushima. It was the 1st national bank in the Tohoku region.

History of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant 1

In 1966, the construction of the future nuclear power plant Fukushima 1 began in Fukushima. This was another project that made the city of Fakushima popular throughout the world. Five years later, in March 1971, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was put into operation by the Tokyo Energy Company (TERCO).

TERSO Company

Let us outline some of the information about the company that owned the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant (later also Fukushima 2).

And so, the Tokyo Energy Company or the so-called TERCO is an energy company eastern country Japan, founded in 1951, ranked 118th in the 2011 Fortune Global 500 archive. The net profit of the energy company was more than 14 billion dollars, and there was an amount in circulation that equaled almost 63 billion dollars (the data given here is fixed as of 2011, that is, before the tragedy on nuclear power plant).

The most prominent of the leaders of TERSO was the Japanese businessman Masao Yoshida. At one time, Masao served as director of the nuclear asset management department of the Tokyo Energy Company, then found the position of director of the Fokushima 1 nuclear power plant. He was the leading person at the time of the 2011 Fokushima nuclear disaster.

Masao Yoshida died two years after the accident from an esophageal disease. First, in 2011, he underwent surgery, as a result of which a tumor on the esophagus was removed, then his heart was struck by a stroke, last illness, which led to death, became esophageal carcinoma.

Until 1971, the Tokyo Energy Company specialized mainly in the construction of thermal power plants (CHP). In 1953 and 1959, the first two thermal power plants were built, and another company built a little later - in 1992. In 1965, construction was completed and a new hydroelectric power station was put into operation.

Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is their first nuclear power plant, built in 1971, and it has become one of the twenty-five largest plants. Fukushima 1 gained such popularity thanks to 6 powerful power units. Their capacity was 4.7 GW, and they were designed by am. by the General Electric Corporation.

About General Electric

Let's talk a little about the company that took direct part in the construction and operation of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

General Electric was founded in 1878 by American inventor and later entrepreneur Thomas Edison. He gave his company the name "Edison Electric Light" (including his last name as the basis for the name), but when Edison merged with Thomson-Houston Electric 14 years later, it acquires its modern name.

In terms of company executives, the most famous director of the company was Jack Welch. In 2001, he retired with the largest golden parachute in history, worth $417 million.

His successor, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors, is Jeffrey Immelt. Concurrently, he is also an adviser to the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama (it is interesting that he received this position after the world famous disaster at the Fakushima nuclear power plant). He, a little earlier (2003), was awarded the title of "Person of the Year" by the Financial Times newspaper.

Interestingly, all owners of shares, whether they are private investors or an institutional organization, cannot dispose of more than 5% of the total amount of shares.

As of 2008, the company's net profit was $17.4 billion, and total amount the proceeds were equivalent to $182.5 billion.

The company ranked 14th in the world famous list Fortune Global 500 in 2009 (compare, TORSA - 118th place in 2011), and after 4 years in 2013 General Electric took the crown 6th place in the same list, and the company's capital was estimated at 239.8 billion dollars. This can be considered great achievement and the success of the entire corporation. But here again, modern indicators, as of 2016, submit the Fortune Global 500 list, in which our company dropped six positions and took 12th place. The value of the GE brand is equivalent to $37.216 million.

This corporation has many industries around the world and deals with the production different types technology. This and Technical equipment in the medical field, and a device for photographic technology, and technical installations for everyday life (including lighting), plastic materials and sealants. But the company gained its greatest popularity in the production of power plants, engines, locomotives and gas turbines.

Under power plants and it means the nuclear reactors we are interested in.

Moreover, General Electric itself built reactor plants for only three power units - the 1st, 2nd and 6th. The fourth unit was taken over by the Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, and the largest Japanese conglomeration Toshiba made the reactor units for the 3rd and 5th power units. All architectural designs were commissioned by the General Electric organization from the Ebasco holding company, which was formerly owned by General Electric. And Kajima took up the development of building structures.

Reactors

By type, the reactors that were installed in 6 power units are BWR (from the English Boiling Water Reactor - boiling water reactor). Let's describe the characteristics of each:

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW:

• The first unit of Fukushima 1 (No. 1) had a capacity of 439 MW in pure form and 460 MW gross. It began to be built on July 25, 1967, and was allowed to work on March 26, 1971;
• The second power unit Fukushima 1 (No. 2) had a net capacity of 760 MW, and a gross capacity of 784 MW. The project for its construction was launched on June 09, 1969, and put into operation on July 18, 1974.

These two power units will be closed after the liquidation of the accident called Japan Fukushima.

• The third power unit Fukushima 1 (No. 3) operated with a similar capacity until the second unit, but was installed a little later - on March 27, 1976. The operation of the fourth unit was completed on March 31, 2011, when the accident occurred at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011;
• The fourth block of Fukushima 1 (No. 4) had the same capacity as the two previous ones. It was allowed into operation on October 12, 1978, and closed on the same date as block No. 3;
• The fifth power unit Fukushima 1 (No. 5) duplicated the capacity of power units No. 2-4. It began to be built on May 22, 1972, completed and allowed to work on April 18, 1978. Before today the power unit is not closed;
• The sixth and last Fukushima Unit 1 (No. 6) was the most powerful. Its power was equivalent to 1067 MW net and 1100 MW gross. It began to cost 1973 November 26, and finished in 1979 the same month.

It is interesting that the company plans to build two more power units with a gross capacity of 1380 MW, and in its pure form - 1339 MW. They planned to make reactors of the ABWR type (Advanced Boiling Water Reactor - advanced boiling water reactor). But the plans were canceled due to the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in April 2011.

Electricity is supplied to the power plant by 4 electricity transmission lines, to which Fukushima-1 is connected. The grid frequency of the Fukushima 1 NPP is 50 Hz.

Briefly about the Fukushima-2 nuclear power plant

On April 20, 1982, the same Tokyo company commissioned another nuclear power plant, Fukushima-2. The electric capacity of the four power units that were installed at the station was 4.4 GW. All power units had BWR-type reactors and had a net power of 1067 MW, gross - 1100 MW. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th power units were launched in 1982, 0984, 1985 and 1987 in turn.

What happened in Fukushima 2011

To date, the territory of the Fukushima nuclear power plant and the entire city have acquired the name Fukushima exclusion zone. Fukushima photos terrify with their paintings, the victims are still suffering from the resulting splash a large number radiation. The tragedy in the city of Fukushima is what makes the heart shrink from sympathy and awareness of the horror of the situation.

The Fukushima exclusion zone got its name because of the infamous accident at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant. In the spring of 2011, due to the earthquake in Japan, Fukushima, the city and its residents were terrified. Three power units of the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant broke down. All manpower was put in place to fix the problems and avert the disaster, while the residents waited, thinking about developments and hoping for the best.

But a few hours later, the city was covered by one of the largest tsunamis in the history of the country. If you look at the map, you can see that Fukushima on the map of Japan is located near the coast Pacific Ocean. So it is not difficult to guess that after the tsunami hit Japan, the Fukushima nuclear power plant suffered great damage.

As already known, the head of the nuclear power plant at the time of the disaster was the Japanese businessman Masao Yoshida. One can only imagine what kind of panic arose at the nuclear power plant after the onset of the tsunami, but who, if not the director, needed to take the situation into their own hands. With every hour the system got more and more out of control, all attempts to repair the destroyed installations were in vain. There was only one way out - to prevent the impending explosion, or at least make the consequences of the disaster less terrible.

What did the director of Fakushima 1 NPP do at the moment of critical tension - he went against the orders of the management. They tried everything, and in the end, the only adequate way to prevent an explosion, Masao Yoshida considered the use of sea water. The system was this: water from the sea was poured into the structure in order to cool the reactors and prevent the collection of steam that could cause an explosion.

The TEPCO Corporation, from its headquarters in Tokyo, confirmed the action to cool the reactors in this way, and the workers proceeded to carry out the order. This order was canceled because the company wanted to save money. The Tokyo Energy Company made calculations and found that if you cool the radiators with salt water for two weeks, they will simply have to be thrown away, since they will not be usable. All this decision was made within a period of no more than 20 minutes.

But Yoshida was a joint director, and he was more concerned not with the loss of the company, but with the future threat to people's lives. He continued to fill reactor No. 1 with sea water, for which, after some time, he received a reprimand in oral from the owners of TERSO for insubordination. A very strange fact, because a few hours after the order to stop the filling, the company nevertheless decided to act according to the planned plan by Masao Yoshida.

Many nuclear physicists studying the case of the explosion have repeatedly said that at the moment critical situation Masao Yoshida's actions were the only adequate attempt to avert disaster. But, nevertheless, the tragedy at Fukushima happened, and it is not known what force the catastrophe would have acquired if it were not for him.

Three reactors of the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant exploded, the fourth caught fire, the fire lasted two days. In the vicinity of the accident site and in the city of Fukushima itself, radiation increased thousands of times.

Even more striking is the ejection radioactive substances into the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Water, by its nature, tends to evaporate and irrigates the entire planet with its droplets contaminated with radiation. And then we are so frightened and horrified by the news in the Fukushima before and after photo column, where in addition to the destroyed city, people post photos of terrible mutations taken both in the city itself and in its environs. And in 10 years or more, this evaporation will spread much further than in the vicinity of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, and we will all be under its influence. Anomalies will become less and less surprising, and strange gene mutations will gradually increase.

The Fukushima 2 nuclear power plant did not crash, and this is a very happy fact, since it is not known what could happen to the country and the atmosphere if even more nuclear reactors exploded and a powerful release of radionuclides into the atmosphere occurred.

Tokyo Energy Company losses

For TERSO, the disaster at the Fakushima 1 nuclear power plant was fatal. Even before the explosion of the nuclear power plant, the management had a large debt, and after the accident in Japan at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the owners of the corporation announced that they needed to borrow a huge amount. This was the equivalent of $25 billion that TEPCO was willing to borrow, as of March 2011.

Two months later, in May of the same year, the company announced the results and the financial report showed that the accident caused damage in the amount of more than $ 15 billion. Seeing the unstable state of the company, its leader Masataka Shimizu decided to leave the position.

After an examination of the catastrophe that happened, experts deduced the results. They say that at least 12 billion dollars will be spent on the elimination of the accident, and the time of work will last more than forty years.

To avoid the risk of bankruptcy, a year after the explosion, the Tokyo Energy Company decided to ask for help from the state. Experts say that this act was the basis before the start of the nationalization of the company. In response to a request to borrow $12 billion, the state can put forward its own requirements - to become shareholders, namely, to receive more than half of the company's shares (51%), and eventually increase the number of shares altogether.

Fukushima Japan in art and school

When Fukushima 1 exploded, interest in the city increased. Now Fukushima is a city where life is impossible, Fukushima is marked on the map with special icons of increased radiation, and former residents, events and the city of Fukushima, have nightmares.

During the time that has passed since the day of the disaster, many articles, reports and other notes have been published in the media. Art also does not stand still. Over the past 5 years, many documentaries have been made about the disaster in the city of Fokushima.

The first tape, the Fukushima documentary, was filmed in 2011 under the title " Technological disaster: Japanese tragedy by the American Discovery Channel.

Another film "Welcome to Fukushima", directed by Alain de Allo, shows the life story ordinary families who live in the vicinity of the Fukushima nuclear power plant 1. Life vicissitudes, important decisions, problems as they are - the author displays all this in the light of the catastrophe.

Art is actively collaborating with educational program, and opens the eyes of children to world problems not in a scientific light, but from the side of human lives. Yes, repeatedly classroom hours children show reports on the disaster in Japan, make a Fukushima presentation and watch documentaries about the events of that year and their consequences, view material on the Fukushima map.

Much truth is revealed before our eyes every day. Investigations do not stand still, more and more obscure facts emerge. Why did management hesitate with the cooling procedure? How is it that they did not have any facilities to prevent similar cases, because the nuclear power plant was located near the location of a possible earthquake. Many of these questions show us the investigations of journalists and scientists, we hear many stories from the lips of eyewitnesses, we learn interesting things from films.

But the disaster of 2011 will show us more than once that the Fukushima exclusion zone is fraught with many more secrets.