The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident After The Earthquake
Homework Essay Assignment for 9-28-2012 Grade ______ Name Ryan Hung Recitation Session A Topic The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident After the earthquake in Fukushima heavy damage was sustained on the power plant and surrounding area. The reactor was shut down however complications with the reactor soon arose as the residual thermal output of radiation became an issue. Under normal circumstances, the thermal output exceeds a little more than 460MW of energy. The system is cooled using water in order to keep the temperature stable and provide massive outputs of energy. When the earthquake hit Fukushima, the reactor and surrounding area lost all power. This meant the reactor shut down. No more reactions could take place but
also no water could be circulated. Once deactivated, the reactor stops the future fission reactions from occurring however there is still a large residual amount of heat created by the last active reaction. Only is 5.83 of the total possible output the total energy is created by residual radioactive element but the energy output exceeds 13 MW. In order to properly cool even the residual thermal output from the radioactive fragments would require close to 1.358 gallons of water per second to cool the materials. This meant nearly 4888 gallons of water an hour and 117331.2 gallons a day. To put this number into perspective, each and every week the reactor would require the amount of water necessary to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool until most of the short half-life materials faded. This was just not possible without getting the water cooling systems operational. As heat accumulated, the reactor began to meltdown and radiation began to escape the facility and affect the surrounding community on top of the devastating damage of the earthquake. Y, dXiJ(x( I_TS 1EZBmU/xYy5g/GMGeD3Vqq8K)fw9 xrxwrTZaGy8IjbRcXI u3KGnD1NIBs
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also no water could be circulated. Once deactivated, the reactor stops the future fission reactions from occurring however there is still a large residual amount of heat created by the last active reaction. Only is 5.83 of the total possible output the total energy is created by residual radioactive element but the energy output exceeds 13 MW. In order to properly cool even the residual thermal output from the radioactive fragments would require close to 1.358 gallons of water per second to cool the materials. This meant nearly 4888 gallons of water an hour and 117331.2 gallons a day. To put this number into perspective, each and every week the reactor would require the amount of water necessary to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool until most of the short half-life materials faded. This was just not possible without getting the water cooling systems operational. As heat accumulated, the reactor began to meltdown and radiation began to escape the facility and affect the surrounding community on top of the devastating damage of the earthquake. Y, dXiJ(x( I_TS 1EZBmU/xYy5g/GMGeD3Vqq8K)fw9 xrxwrTZaGy8IjbRcXI u3KGnD1NIBs
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