Final Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Blog Post

On March 26, 1971 Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) began operating their first nuclear power reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station.  On March 11, 2011 a powerful earthquake and tsunami struck the coast of Japan, severely damaging TEPCO’s Fukushima nuclear power plant.  Our group covered any new developments throughout the semester ranging from the dangers of contaminated water, the impact on the environment, the process of dismantling and decommissioning the power plant, and the overall management of the disaster.

Researching the topic of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster was a fascinating and enlightening experience.  There were typically several new developments each week, and it came down to deciding on which direction to focus that week’s blog post.  Each member of the group conducted online research individually, but would occasionally share interesting and relevant stories with the other members of the group either before or immediately at the end of class, or sometimes through email.  Our grouped worked quite well together, and we easily agreed to a schedule whereby one member of the group would write the post for the week.  We would then all be able to access the file on Google Docs for proofreading, or to add any additional information we had found during our own research, prior to it being posted on the blog. 

Starting with only a vague idea of how badly the tsunami damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant, I learned much more than I could have imagined.  It was both educational and alarming to discover just how hazardous the situation has been.  What I personally found to be most surprising was how TEPCO was allowed to build a nuclear power plant on the coast of Japan, in an area known to have powerful earthquakes, without the proper safety measures in place.  It was also clear that more often than not, TEPCO was unable to manage the disaster on its own, even making careless mistakes such as overfilling a water storage tank and releasing more contaminated water into the ocean.