MOSCOW, March 12 - RIA Novosti. Accidents at nuclear power plants located in the Japanese prefecture of Fukushima, provoked by a powerful earthquake in Japan, 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 management in crisis situations EMERCOM of Russia Vladimir Stepanov, the "Centrospas" and "Leader" detachments of the EMERCOM of Russia are ready to go to Japan if this country, which suffered from an 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.
/Corr. ITAR-TASS Yaroslav Makarov/.
JAPAN-FUKUSHIMA-CONSEQUENCES
The accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant without exaggeration can be called the largest man-made disaster in the history of Japan, after which this country will never be the same again. Five months after the March events, which the whole world watched with bated breath, one can only roughly estimate the impact they had on the future of Japan.
The economic damage from the accident at Fukushima-1 preliminary estimates exceeds 11 trillion yen (more than 142 billion dollars). This is about a third of the total damage suffered by Japan from powerful earthquake and tsunami waves on March 11. And yet, the wounds inflicted by the elements will heal much faster than those caused by the nuclear crisis. Many years will be spent on emergency work at the station itself: in all three emergency power units, the meltdown of nuclear fuel is confirmed, the extraction of which will begin no earlier than 2020. Even more time will take the laborious process of decontamination of vast areas exposed to radioactive contamination, and this will inevitably change the face of the Tohoku region - northeast Japan.
The spheres traditionally important for this part of the country - agriculture and fishing - were under threat. Farmers in Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures are suffering huge losses after numerous cases identifying radioactive substances in vegetables, milk and meat. In July, radioactive cesium was found in Fukushima beef, which had already been shipped to stores throughout Japan. Subsequently, the excess of the radiation norm was revealed in meat from other neighboring prefectures, and the government introduced a temporary ban on the export of meat products outside them.
Cases of exceeding radiation background has not yet been noted in fish products, but its sales have already dropped noticeably. After the incident, consumer confidence in the offered goods predictably fell. Improvements in the situation in the near future should not be expected, because the "ghost" radioactive contamination will roam Tohoku for many years to come. At the moment, the only thing left for farmers and fishermen is to demand compensation from the operator of the emergency nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power / TEPKO /. It is obvious that it will not be possible to make up for the losses of the agricultural and fishing sectors only through these compensations, and the government of the country will have to actively support them. This, in particular, may halt Japan's integration into some international organizations, which, as a rule, demand to waive benefits for national producers.
The social damage from the accident at the nuclear power plant turned out to be no less large-scale. The government of the country completely evacuated the population of the zone within a radius of 20 kilometers around the station and recommended that residents of areas 30 kilometers from Fukushima-1 leave their homes. Subsequently, some other settlements located more than 20 kilometers from the station, in particular the village of Iitate is located 40 kilometers to the northwest. As a result, more than 80,000 people were evacuated from dangerous areas. After some time, the authorities allowed the refugees short trips home. Nevertheless, all these people still do not know when they will be able to return to their homes and whether they will be able to do it at all. Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that this issue can only be considered not before the start 2012.
Meanwhile, residents of the evacuation zone have to get used to the fact that they are not just refugees, but fled from the "radioactive Fukushima". There have been repeated reports of egregious cases of discrimination against Fukushima residents. Thus, in schools in Chiba and Gunma prefectures, students transferred from Fukushima were teased as "radioactive" and "contagious", and not only classmates but also teachers exerted pressure on them. There were also cases when cars with license plates registered in Fukushima Prefecture were refused service at some gas stations. Justice Minister Satsuki Eda called these incidents a "violation of human rights" and initiated an investigation into them, but the possibility of discrimination in traditional Japanese society cannot be completely ruled out. Unfortunately, the refugees from Fukushima in many ways repeat the fate of the survivors after atomic bombings Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which also, despite all their experiences, often faced discrimination.
And yet, one cannot fail to say that the Japanese public, for the most part, warmly supports fellow citizens who survived the tragedy. Suffice it to say that several songs in support of the people of Fukushima, recorded by both popular pop and rock bands and amateur musicians, have become hits on the Japanese Internet. The authorities of Fukushima itself are also trying to ease the burden on their own residents, who, of course, are also concerned about the image of their prefecture. Thus, a special 30-year program was adopted to study the consequences of an accident at a nuclear power plant and their impact on the health of the inhabitants of the region. This study will be the largest of all that has so far been carried out in the world. In addition, the authorities began distributing personal dosimeters to all children under 14 living in the prefecture and pregnant women. AT total It is planned to issue 300 thousand devices. Ten stationary dosimeters are planned to be installed on the territory of each of the 500 schools in the prefecture. Plans are being made to clean up the soil from the radioactive materials deposited on it. In particular, in the capital of the prefecture, it is planned to completely remove the top layer of soil, and clean all buildings with water cannons. The Fukushima authorities are also negotiating with the central government to remove garbage, including radioactive waste, from the prefecture. Undoubtedly nuclear crisis became at the same time an incentive for the development of the region, as it was in its time with Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Finally, the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant had strong influence on the energy strategy of Japan, which, after the March events, realized its excessive dependence on nuclear energy. The surge of anti-nuclear sentiment in Japanese society was supported by the authorities. Prime Minister Kan said that what happened will require a complete overhaul of energy policy. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is already developing new program energy development, which is designed for 30 years. Its main tasks are to reduce the role of the peaceful atom, increase the level of use of renewable energy sources and introduce new technologies in this area. Besides, in state apparatus happened structural changes, which reflect the attitude of the new Japan to nuclear energy. National Agency on nuclear and industrial safety was removed from the subordination of the Ministry of Economy and, as expected, after some time will be transferred under the control of the Ministry environment.
The transition to a new energy policy will not be easy. The gradual abandonment of nuclear power plants will inevitably lead to a greater burden on thermal power plants and will increase Japan's fuel needs for them, while this country is already one of the largest fuel importers in the world and, in particular, buys the most liquefied natural gas/LNG/. Additional complexity is the expected resistance of business circles, which form a kind of nuclear lobby in Japan. Most likely, the formation of a new national energy sector will become one of the main tasks of several future governments of the country at once.
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 by 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 inhabitants produced silk very High Quality. 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 was equal to almost 63 billion dollars (the data given here is fixed as of 2011, that is, before the tragedy at the 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 he found the position of director of the Fokushima 1 nuclear power plant. leading person at the time of the Fokushima nuclear disaster in 2011.
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 of various types of equipment. 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 (#1) was 439 MW net 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 are terrifying with their paintings, the victims are still suffering from the resulting splash of large amounts of 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 the labor force was put in to fix the problems and avert the disaster, and the residents waited in anticipation with thoughts about developments and hope 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 release of 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 on the map is indicated by special icons of increased radiation, and former residents, events and the city of Fukushima, dream in terrible dreams.
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's vicissitudes, important decisions, problems as they are - the author displays all this in the light of the disaster.
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 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 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.
Nuclear energy is a practically inexhaustible source of inexpensive electricity, which has been saving the world from energy starvation since the middle of the last century. But nuclear power plants are not only rivers of cheap electricity, but also the most terrible radiation disasters that can destroy an entire country. Such a catastrophe was avoided at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, Chernobyl caused irreparable harm, and in 2011, the Japanese Fukushima-1 plant unexpectedly struck, which still keeps the world in suspense.
Accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant
An object: Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, Okuma city, Fukushima prefecture, Japan.
Fukushima-1 was one of the most powerful nuclear power plants in the world. It consists of 6 power units, which before the accident gave up to 4.7 gigawatts of energy to the electrical network. At the time of the disaster, only the 1st, 2nd and 3rd reactors were in working condition, the 4th, 5th and 6th reactors were shut down for scheduled repairs, and the fuel from the fourth reactor was completely unloaded and was in the spent fuel pool. Also at the time of the disaster in the spent fuel pools of each power unit there was a small supply of fresh fuel and enough a large number of spent.
Victims: 2 dead and 6 injured at the time of the disaster, another 22 people were injured during the liquidation of the accident, 30 people received dangerous doses of radiation.
Causes of the disaster
The accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant is the only one radiation disaster caused by natural disaster. And, it would seem, only nature can be blamed here, but, surprisingly, people are also to blame for the accident.
Interesting what's sad famous earthquake, which happened on March 11, 2011, cannot be considered main reason accident at Fukushima - after the first shocks, all reactors operating at nuclear power plants were muffled by the system emergency protection. However, about an hour later, the station was covered by a tsunami wave almost 6 meters high, which led to fatal consequences - the regular and emergency cooling systems of the reactors turned off, and then a chain of explosions and radiation emissions followed.
It was all the fault of a wave that disabled all power sources of cooling systems, and also flooded backup diesel power plants. The reactors, deprived of cooling, began to heat up, the core melted in them, and only the selfless actions of the station personnel saved the world from a new Chernobyl. Although Fukushima could become worse than Chernobyl- at the Japanese station, three reactors turned out to be in an emergency position at once.
What is the people's fault? Everything is very simple: when designing the station (and it was started to be built back in 1966), the locations for the location of diesel power plants were chosen incorrectly and the supply of electricity to the standard reactor cooling systems was not thought out. It turned out that the reactors withstood enormous loads, but the auxiliary systems failed from the first blow of the elements. This can be compared to the installation of a new armored door with old wooden jambs - the door cannot be broken open, and the hinges are unlikely to hold the burglar ...
Chronicle of events
The elements dealt the first blow to 14.46 local time. The reactors of the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant that were operating at that time (power units No. 1, 2 and 3) were drowned out by the activated emergency protection systems. And everything would have worked out, but about 15.36 The dam protecting the station from the sea was overtaken by a tsunami wave 5.7 meters high.
The wave easily overflowed the dam, penetrated the territory of the nuclear power plant, causing various damages, began to flood buildings and premises, and in 15.41 water put out of action regular power supply systems for reactor cooling systems and emergency diesel power plants. It is this moment that can be considered the zero point of the catastrophe.
As is known, even after shutdown, reactors continue to emit a large amount of heat - this is mainly due to the ongoing decay of highly active fission products of nuclear fuel. And, despite the fact that the reactor is actually "off" (chain nuclear reactions stopped), megawatts of thermal energy are released in it, capable of melting the core and leading to disaster.
This is exactly what happened at the three Fukushima reactors. Each of them emitted from 4 to 7 megawatts of energy, but due to the shutdown of the cooling systems, this heat was not removed anywhere. Therefore, in the first hours after the tsunami in active zones At the 1st, 2nd and 3rd reactors, the water level dropped significantly and at the same time the pressure rose (the water simply turned into steam), and, as experts suggest, part of the fuel assemblies with nuclear fuel melted.
Already on the evening of March 11 in the containment of power unit No. 1, a significant increase in pressure was recorded, which twice exceeded the allowable one. And in 15.36 March 12 the first explosion thundered, as a result of which the building of the power unit was partially destroyed, but the reactor was not damaged. The cause of the explosion was the accumulation of hydrogen, which is released during the interaction of superheated steam and zirconium shells of fuel assemblies.
On the second day after the disaster - on the morning of March 12- it was decided to cool reactor No. 1 with sea water. At first, they wanted to abandon this measure, since sea water, saturated with salts, accelerates corrosion processes, but there was no other way out, to take many thousands of tons fresh water it was just nowhere.
On the morning of March 13 an increase in pressure inside reactor No. 3 was recorded, and sea water was also fed into it. However at 11.01 am March 14 in the third power unit there was an explosion (as in the first power unit, hydrogen exploded), which did not lead to serious damage. In the evening of the same day, the supply of sea water into reactor No. 2 began, but in 6.20 am March 15 and an explosion thundered in its premises, which did not cause serious damage. At the same time, an explosion was also heard in the power unit No. 4, as it is assumed - in the storage of nuclear waste. As a result, the structures of the fourth power unit were seriously damaged.
After a chain of these accidents and a significant increase in radiation on the territory of the station, it was decided to evacuate the personnel. Only 50 engineers remained at Fukushima to decide current tasks. However, employees of third-party companies were involved in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident, which pumped water, laid electrical cables, etc.
Due to the lack of electricity, the spent fuel pools, in which the fuel assemblies of the fourth, fifth and sixth reactors were located, also began to pose a threat. The water in the pools did not circulate, its level fell, and on March 16, an operation began to pump water into them. The next day, the situation became extremely dangerous, and several tens of tons of water from helicopters were asked into the cooling pools of Units 3 and 4.
From the first day, work was underway to bring power to the station from a power line located one and a half kilometers away. It must be said that the diesel power plant of the sixth power unit continued to operate, and it was periodically connected to other power units, but its capacity was not enough. And only by March 22, the power supply of all six power units was established.
It was the injection of sea and then fresh water into the reactors that became the main strategy for stabilizing the situation. Water was supplied to the reactors until the end of May, when it was possible to restore closed system cooling. Only on May 5, for the first time after the accident, people entered the power unit No. 1 - only for 10 minutes, since the level of radioactive contamination was very high.
It was only by mid-December 2011 that the reactors were completely shut down and put into cold shutdown mode.
Consequences of the Fukushima accident
The accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant had the most detrimental consequences, which, surprisingly, were caused by the fault of people.
The most annoying thing of all radiation accidents- contamination of air, water and earth with highly active fission products of nuclear fuel. That is - radiation contamination of the area. A certain contribution to this pollution was made by explosions at power units that occurred from March 12 to March 15, 2011 - steam thrown out of the containment of the reactors carried a certain amount of radionuclides that settled around the station.
However, sea water, which was pumped into the reactors in the first week after the accident, produced the greatest pollution. After all, this water, passing through the core of the reactors, again fell into the ocean. As a result, by March 31, 2011, radioactivity ocean water at a distance of 330 meters from the station exceeded allowable rate 4385 times! At present, this indicator has significantly decreased, but the radioactivity of the coast near the station is almost 100 times higher than all permissible norms.
Releases of radioactive substances forced the evacuation of people from the 2-kilometer zone around the station already on March 11, and by March 24 the radius of the evacuation zone had increased to 30 km. In total, according to various estimates, from 185 to 320 thousand people were evacuated, but this number also includes those evacuated from territories that were severely damaged by the earthquake and tsunami.
As a result of water contamination, fishing has been banned in a number of areas, and a ban has been put on the use of land in the 30-kilometer zone around Fukushima-1. Currently underway active work to decontaminate the soil in this area, however, due to the high concentrations of radionuclides, the simplest solution was to remove the top layer of the earth with its subsequent destruction. Concerning local residents it is forbidden to return to their homes, when this can be done is unknown.
As for the impact of the accident on people's health, there are no particular concerns about this. It is believed that even residents of the 2-kilometer zone received minimal radiation doses that do not pose a danger - after all, the main contamination of the area occurred after the evacuation. However, according to experts, the true consequences of the disaster for human health will not be clear until 15 years from now.
The accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant had consequences of a completely different kind. Japan, due to the shutdown of all its nuclear power plants, was forced to significantly increase electricity generation at traditional thermal power plants. But most importantly, the accident has sparked a fierce debate about the need for nuclear power for Japan, and it is quite possible that the country will completely abandon the use of nuclear power plants by the 2040s.
Now
Currently, the plant is inactive, but work is underway to keep the reactors and spent fuel pools in a stable condition. The fact is that the heating of nuclear fuel is still taking place (in particular, the water temperature in the pools reaches 50 - 60 degrees), which requires constant heat removal both from the reactors and from the pools with fuel and nuclear waste.
This state will remain at least until 2021 - during this time the most active decay products of nuclear fuel will decay, and it will be possible to start the operation to extract the molten cores from the reactors (the extraction of fuel and waste from the spent fuel pools will be carried out at the end of 2013). And by the 2050s, the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant will be completely dismantled and cease to exist.
Interestingly, reactors No. 5 and 6 are still in working condition, but their regular cooling systems are broken, and therefore they cannot be used to generate electricity.
Now the station is building a sarcophagus over power unit No. 4, such measures it is planned to apply to other damaged reactors.
Thus, at the moment, the emergency station does not pose a danger, but huge funds have to be spent to maintain this situation. At the same time, various incidents periodically occur at the station that can lead to a new accident. For example, on March 19, 2013, a short circuit occurred, as a result of which the emergency reactors and spent fuel pools again remained without cooling, but by March 20 the situation was corrected. And the cause of this incident was the most common rat!
The accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant attracted the attention of the whole world, causing fear and anxiety among people even on the far side of the globe. And now each of us can personally see what is happening at the station - several webcams are installed around it, transmitting a picture from the key facilities of Fukushima-1 around the clock.
And it remains to be hoped that the station staff will not allow new accidents, and all the Japanese and half of the world can sleep peacefully.
Animation of the processes that took place at the Fukushima nuclear power plant after the tsunami:
One of the most shocking tsunami videos:
In 2011, its six power units, with a capacity of 4.7 GW, made Fukushima-1 one of the 25 largest nuclear power plants in the world.
General view of the destruction at the Fukushima nuclear power plant
Photo Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, consequences image resolution 1920 x 1234 here
The first photos of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the explosion.
The causes of explosions at nuclear power plants also turned out to be different. In Chernobyl, the situation got out of hand during testing additional system emergency power supply. The staff of the station could not cope with the design flaws of the reactor revealed during the tests. In Japan, the elements led to the explosion, and not even the earthquake itself, which translated into emergency operation, and the ensuing tsunami.
There are several reasons for the crash.
The tsunami wave turned out to be higher than planned during the construction of the station, and the nuclear power plant fell into the flood zone.
The earthquake that preceded it disrupted the power supply. Diesel generator out of order (and we thought Japanese cars were the best), the reactors became impossible to cool. Scientists have repeatedly warned that it is necessary to revise the existing standards - to count on a tsunami with a height of 14 m, not 6 m. To their recommendations, no one built them along the coast, which is understandable - there is water needed for cooling. Why did the Japanese not foresee the possibility of such a giant tsunami? And in our country, someone foresees the possibility that the Smolensk NPP an asteroid will fall from the asteroid belt? The lifetime of a nuclear power plant is 50 years. Of course, no one expects that in these years something extraordinary will happen.
Fukushima nuclear power plant accident destroyed power unit
Do suicide bombers work on the ruins of a nuclear power plant?
The main burden of decontamination is borne by ordinary people. For all emergency workers at nuclear power plants, the maximum allowable dose of radiation is set at 250 mSv. Exactly the same was with us in the 86th, but no one ever reached it. The largest dose received by our liquidators is 170 mSv. There were 17 such people, three of them have local radiation burns. Contrary to idle fabrications that all the liquidators have died, they are still alive.
A radioactive cloud will cover the Russian Far East.
Radiation Threat Forecast for the Russian Federation. In the worst case scenario: the situation at all reactors Fukushima is out of control, the fuel pools are destroyed, the wind is blowing towards Russia, precipitation is falling on our territory... The answer is unequivocal: there is no danger to the population of Russia from the point of view of radiation safety was not, is not and will not be. Calculated by Rosatom and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Can't you eat Pacific fish?
There will be a mixing of ocean waters with radioactive waste. Part of the radionuclides will settle on the bottom. where they will be eaten by fish that feed on benthic fauna. This fish, in turn, will become the prey of predators living in the upper layers of the ocean. Sooner or later on food chain they reach the person. But there is one nuance here. Even if we consider that the Japanese (and they absolute leaders on the consumption of seafood in the world) will eat as much fish per year as before Fukushima, then in a year they will still receive a total dose less than the maximum allowable.
Radioactive emissions from the Fukushima-1 emergency reactors will provoke an unprecedented surge in oncological diseases. According to experts, out of three million people living within a radius of 100 km from the nuclear power plant, about 200 thousand will be affected by the deadly disease. And among the seven million people living in an area within a radius of 100 to 200 km from Fukushima-1, another 220 thousand cases of the disease will be diagnosed. These are not bright prospects for the Japanese.
The evacuation of the population from the Fukushima disaster site was carried out on an area with a radius of about twenty kilometers relative to the destroyed nuclear power plant. About 78 thousand people were evacuated from the so-called exclusion zone. In total, about 140 thousand people were evacuated, including another ten kilometers from where the residents of the prefecture were temporarily evicted.
Time after time, man-made disasters occurring in the world remind humanity that it is impossible to insure against all life events, it is impossible to foresee and calculate everything. So another accident is not far off. As they say, even a gun hung on the wall shoots.
