Fukushima Burning Anatomy of a nuclear disaster “the [Fukushima] disaster has enormous implications for nuclear power and confronts all of us with a major challenge. The worries of millions of people throughout the world about whether nuclear energy is safe must be taken seriously" - Yukiya Amano, IAEA Director General, 5th Review meeting on the Convention on Nuclear Safety 4th April, 2011 The Fukushima nuclear disaster ranks as the second worst nuclear reactor accident in history. It also ranks as the worst multiple reactor accident in the world. What happened? How did it happen? And what are the implications for the people of the Fukushima district and the surrounding areas most affected? Why is ionising radiation a public health hazard? What happened? On 11th March, 2011 at 2:46 p.m. local time an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 occurred at a depth of 32km in the Pacific Ocean 130km east of the industrial city of Sendai on Honshu. This earthquake is the most powerful experienced in Japan, and was followed by many aftershocks of
considerable magnitude. The effects of the earthquake in Pacific coastal regions of northeast Japan were greatly exacerbated by the tsunami generated by the earthquake which hit the coast some minutes later at heights of 10 metres or more. The Fukushima I reactor complex comprising of six nuclear reactors was most severely affected. At the time, only three reactors were operating (1, 2 and 3), and the active core fuel rods of reactor 4 had been placed in the spent fuel pond in the ceiling of its building. All reactors at the complex stored up to seven times the amount of fuel rods in their cores with spent fuel ponds in the ceiling of each building with minimal containment structures to protect them.
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