{ "id": "R41694", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R41694", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 416062, "date": "2012-01-18", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T21:54:32.970981", "title": "Fukushima Nuclear Disaster", "summary": "The huge earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan\u2019s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station on March 11, 2011, knocked out backup power systems that were needed to cool the reactors at the plant, causing three of them to undergo fuel melting, hydrogen explosions, and radioactive releases. Radioactive contamination from the Fukushima plant forced the evacuation of communities up to 25 miles away and affected up to 100,000 residents, although it did not cause any immediate deaths.\nTokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) operates the Fukushima nuclear power complex in the Futaba district of Fukushima prefecture in Northern Japan, consisting of six nuclear units at the Fukushima Daiichi station and four nuclear units at the Fukushima Daini station. All the units at the Fukushima complex are boiling water reactors, with reactors 1 to 5 at the Fukushima Daiichi site being the General Electric Mark I design, which is also used in the United States. The Fukushima Daiichi reactors entered commercial operation in the years from 1971 (reactor 1) to 1979 (reactor 6). The Fukushima Daini reactors shut down automatically after the earthquake and were able to maintain sufficient cooling.\nWhen the earthquake struck, Fukushima Daiichi units 1, 2, and 3 were generating electricity and shut down automatically. The earthquake caused offsite power supplies to be lost, and backup diesel generators started up as designed to supply backup power. However, the subsequent tsunami flooded the electrical switchgear for the diesel generators, causing most AC power in units 1 to 4 to be lost. Because Unit 4 was undergoing a maintenance shutdown, all of its nuclear fuel had been removed and placed in the unit\u2019s spent fuel storage pool. One generator continued operating to cool units 5 and 6.\nThe loss of all AC power in units 1 to 3 prevented valves and pumps from operating that were needed to remove heat and pressure that was being generated by the radioactive decay of the nuclear fuel in the reactor cores. As the fuel rods in the reactor cores overheated, they reacted with steam to produce large amounts of hydrogen, which escaped into the unit 1, 3, and 4 reactor buildings and exploded (the hydrogen that exploded in Unit 4 is believed to have come from Unit 3). The explosions interfered with efforts by plant workers to restore cooling and helped spread radioactivity. Cooling was also lost in the reactors\u2019 spent fuel pools, although recent analysis has found that no significant overheating took place.\nRadioactive material released into the atmosphere produced extremely high radiation dose rates near the plant and left large areas of land uninhabitable, especially to the northwest of the plant. Contaminated water from the plant was discharged into the sea, creating international controversy.\nThe United States and other countries, as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency, are providing assistance to Japan to deal with the nuclear disater. U.S. assistance has included transport of pumps, boron, fresh water, remote cameras, use of Global Hawk surveillance drones, evacuation support, medical support, and decontamination and radiation monitoring equipment.\nStudies of the Fukushima disaster have identified design changes, response actions, and other safety improvements that could have reduced or eliminated the amount of radioactivity released from the plant. As a result, Fukushima has prompted a reexamination of nuclear plant safety requirements around the world, including in the United States.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R41694", "sha1": "bb76f99c6bfc14d217f2ba4f435316bc99ff8504", "filename": "files/20120118_R41694_bb76f99c6bfc14d217f2ba4f435316bc99ff8504.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R41694", "sha1": "9fde5437bf2559c0b80daaf1e1cb954bd05c42e6", "filename": "files/20120118_R41694_9fde5437bf2559c0b80daaf1e1cb954bd05c42e6.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 2599, "name": "Nuclear Energy" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4402, "name": "Energy Law and Policy" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc98969/", "id": "R41694_2011Apr04", "date": "2011-04-04", "retrieved": "2012-08-31T21:48:36", "title": "Fukushima Nuclear Crisis", "summary": "This report briefly discusses the March 11, 2001 earthquake off the east coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. The earthquake caused an automatic shutdown of eleven of Japan's fifty-five operating nuclear power plants, though the plants closest to the earthquake's epicenter, Fukushima and Onagawa, were damaged by the earthquake and resulting tsunami. This report also discusses efforts by the United States and other countries to provide assistance to Japan to deal with the nuclear crisis.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20110404_R41694_41d9fa760678be45d5ffbd4aa651ef7380bce08d.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20110404_R41694_41d9fa760678be45d5ffbd4aa651ef7380bce08d.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Energy", "name": "Energy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nuclear energy", "name": "Nuclear energy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign policy", "name": "Foreign policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Japan", "name": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Japan" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- Japan -- U.S.", "name": "Foreign relations -- Japan -- U.S." }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nuclear reactors", "name": "Nuclear reactors" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nuclear power plant sites", "name": "Nuclear power plant sites" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nuclear power plant accidents", "name": "Nuclear power plant accidents" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nuclear facilities", "name": "Nuclear facilities" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Emergency management", "name": "Emergency management" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Tsunamis", "name": "Tsunamis" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Earthquakes", "name": "Earthquakes" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Hazardous substances", "name": "Hazardous substances" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Radiation safety", "name": "Radiation safety" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc805976/", "id": "R41694_2011Mar24", "date": "2011-03-24", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Fukushima Nuclear Crisis", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20110324_R41694_04c8a0e544669abb112c49cfe2ba4b49567bc5ae.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20110324_R41694_04c8a0e544669abb112c49cfe2ba4b49567bc5ae.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc33026/", "id": "R41694_2011Mar15", "date": "2011-03-15", "retrieved": "2011-04-28T13:31:19", "title": "Fukushima Nuclear Crisis", "summary": "This report briefly discusses the March 11, 2001, earthquake off the east coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. The earthquake caused an automatic shutdown of eleven of Japan's fifty-five operating nuclear power plants. The plants closes to the earthquake's epicenter, Fukushima and Onagawa, were damaged by the earthquake and resulting tsunami. This report also discusses efforts by the United States and other countries to provide assistance to Japan to deal with the nuclear crisis.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20110315_R41694_4432201d9bb66897e1c0a73b038113e297987df5.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20110315_R41694_4432201d9bb66897e1c0a73b038113e297987df5.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Energy", "name": "Energy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nuclear energy", "name": "Nuclear energy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign policy", "name": "Foreign policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations - U.S. - Japan", "name": "Foreign relations - U.S. - Japan" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations - Japan - U.S.", "name": "Foreign relations - Japan - U.S." }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nuclear reactors", "name": "Nuclear reactors" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nuclear power plant sites", "name": "Nuclear power plant sites" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nuclear power plant accidents", "name": "Nuclear power plant accidents" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nuclear facilities", "name": "Nuclear facilities" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Emergency management", "name": "Emergency management" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Tsunamis", "name": "Tsunamis" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Earthquakes", "name": "Earthquakes" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Hazardous substances", "name": "Hazardous substances" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Radiation safety", "name": "Radiation safety" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Energy Policy" ] }