On September 16, 2013 Japan was hit by a tropical storm known as Man-yi. The storm hit near Kyoto, one hundred and fifty-five miles northeast of Tokyo where the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was hit by the storm (Yamaguchi, 2013). “The rain […] lashed near the broken power plant run by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), swamping enclosure walls around clusters of water tanks containing toxic water that was used to cool broken reactors.”(The Huffington Post, 2013) A plant operator stated that workers moved 1,130 tons of rainwater into enclosure walls within the ground and pumped water with high radiation levels back into extra tanks. (Yamaguchi, 2013) However, the company found one site where water was contaminated beyond the safety limit and leaked from the enclosure for several minutes due to workers inability to contain the water during the storm. It is believed that this water has seeped into the sea along with “300 tones of mildly contaminated groundwater” which is passing under the reactors daily (The Huffington Post, 2013).
Since the start of the Fukushima disaster, TEPCO has not taken sufficient action to prevent more radiation spills. The Man-yi tropical storm emphasizes that TEPCO needs to step up and protect the environment from these spills. TEPCO’s inability to prepare for natural disasters is a huge factor as to why the nuclear spill occurred in the first place. If the earthquake did not emphasize the need for using
efficient safety precautions in the handling of the nuclear power plant, perhaps the Man-yi tropical storm will.
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Works Cited
1.Yamaguchi, M. (2013, September 17). Tropical Storm Man-yi Weakens After Lashing
Japan - weather.com Raw: Typhoon Man-Yi Hits Japan. National and Local Weather
Forecast, Hurricane, Radar and Report. Retrieved September 17, 2013, from http:/
/www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/typhoon-man-yi-weakens-afterlashing-japan-20130917
2.Fukushima Operator Dumps 1,000 Tons Of Polluted Water In Sea. (2013, September
17). Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 17,
2013, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/fukushima-pollutedwater-
sea_n_3939014.html#slide=2853580
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