Why Fukushimas Backup Generators Failed

On March 11, 2011, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck the ocean near Japan

. This massive earthquake resulted in a gigantic tsunami, which had devastating effects on the Japanese people and their cities. Thousands were killed and millions left homeless as entire towns were washed out to sea. over a year later, debris from the disaster was still showing up on the Pacific coast of North America. To add to all of these problems, the earthquake and resulting tsunami also damaged several of Japans nuclear power plants. This caused great problems with radiation leaking into the surrounding area and into the ocean around it. So why did the plant fail, and what lessons can be learned from this disaster. Read on to find out.

Nuclear power plants such as the one at Fukushima generate power by creating a reaction at an atomic level that creates massive amounts of heat. The heat is captured and used to heat water. The water then turns into steam which turns turbines and generates electricity. When it works, nuclear power works well, the power generated is cheap and the only downside is the nuclear waste, which must be stored as it is toxic for thousands of years. The problem is that when it goes bad, it is really bad. For this reason, these types of plants have many fail safe systems. In the event of a power outage, the reactor needs time to cool down so that it does not fail and release radiation. To give the core time to cool down in the event of a problem, there are a few backup systems. First is the electrical power grid in the surrounding area. This can power the plant for the several hours it takes to cool down to a safe temperature. The second is diesel backup generators, which can run the plant in the event that the grid fails. The third is batteries, which are charged by the generators and can provide a bit of power after the generators fail.

So how did all of these backup systems fail at Fukushima. The reason is that the earthquake and tsunami were a one two punch that they just could not take. The earthquake knocked out the power grid and then the tsunami flooded the diesel generators causing them to fail. Without the generators, the batteries did not have enough time to power the core while it cooled down, failing after about eight hours.

What can be done to avoid this problem in the future. The backup generators could be placed at a higher elevation to prevent them from becoming swamped by water. The power cables running from them to the plant could be made of a flexible material so they do not break under the strain of an earthquake. The batteries should also have a larger capacity as well. That way they can handle more time for the core to cool in the event of an emergency.

So if the diesel generators at the Japanese nuclear plants had been a bit more robust and better placed, the disaster could have been avoided. Of course, learning from our mistakes is all a part of the process, so current and future plants will likely place their diesel generators and backup generators in safer locations. For more information about Power Generation Equipment Repair and Industrial Engines, theres great information online.

by: Max Stanford

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