Case Study Analysis on Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant 2011 Disaster Essay

Case Study Analysis on Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant 2011 Disaster - Essay Example (Holt, Campbell and Nikitin, 2012, p. 2) A lot of lives were lost due to the earthquake and tsunami. Numerous people lost their families and friends. The condition was made worse by leakage of radioactive materials from Fukushima- Daiichi power plant. The Daiichi disaster is often considered as a natural disaster for it caused by two natural disasters with high magnitudes. While the other nuclear stations survived, the Daiichi power station succumbed to combined force of the earthquake and tsunami (Là ¼sted, 2011, p. 6- 11). Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is in charge of Fukushima- Daiichi power plant. This nuclear power station had six nuclear units in total. Another nuclear power station of Fukushima, Daini consist four nuclear units. The nuclear reactors situated in Daiichi were basically boiling water reactors (BWRs). The first five reactors bore General Electric Mark-I designs. Nuclear powers were generated for commercial operations. Uranium- 235 and plutonium- 239 are the nuclear fuels. These compositions are heavy isotopes and produced energy through fission of nuclei. Each such reaction results in generation of more fusion events, which in turn support a continuing nuclear chain reaction. Fusion products that are produced â€Å"s iodine- 129, iodine- 131, strontium- 90, and cesium- 137†. Whenever, shutting down is required, control rods are inserted. These rods function by absorbing the neutrons. During nuclear reactions, heat is produced by radioactive decay. Therefore, it is neces sary to keep on pumping water and circulate it so as to reduce the decay heat. Normally, the reactors take a few days time to cool down fully and reach the â€Å"cold shutdown† state (Holt, Campbell and Nikitin, 2012, p. 4). When the earthquake started on 11th, half of Daiichi nuclear reactors were automatically shut down and the other half were suspended from regular functions for routine inspections. However, all though the