During the Cold War era, the two superpowers failed to stop major nuclear accidents at their civilian nuclear facilities. Now Japan, a technological giant, has joined the list.
The most devastating nuclear incident in the history of the US occurred in 1979 when there was a partial core meltdown in one of the units of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station. This resulted in the release of radioactive material into the atmosphere. The accident was rated at scale 4.
The clean up of the damaged system took 12 years and cost around $973 million. Plant surfaces had to be decontaminated and water stored during the clean up had to be processed. For 18 years, the Pennsylvania Department of Health maintained a registry of more than 30,000 people who lived within five miles of the accident.
In 1986, the explosion at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl in Ukraine, then a part of the USSR, raised questions about the nuclear efficacy of the Soviet Union. The IAEA rated the accident at scale 7. The radiation caused the deaths of more than 50 people and the permanent relocation of more than 350,000 others. Around 5 million people were affected by radiation.
The effects of the radiation were felt in some of the European countries also. According to the WHO, about 4,000 cases of thyroid cancer were linked to the incident. In the years that followed there was an increase in malformations of newly-born children in the Ukraine and Belarus. Many of these children were subsequently abandoned by their parents and left in special-care institutions.
After the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island accidents, the nuclear industry argued that newer reactors had incorporated much better safety features and there was no fear of a new accident. This has been challenged in Japan which is grappling with the world’s worst nuclear incident since Chernobyl. The disaster has been equated by France’s Nuclear Safety Authority to a six on the seven-point international scale for nuclear accidents.
Fukushima Diichi nuclear power plant which is located in the worst tsunami hit northeastern part of the country is spewing out radioactivity. The tsunami that devastated the area damaged diesel generators and backup systems, harming the plants ability to cool the reactors. To ward off the release of radioactivity there is a need to constantly pour millions of liters of water daily into the facility. Meanwhile, all six reactors at the complex have developed problems from blown-out roofs to potentially cracked containment structures to exposed fuel rods.
Attempts to pump enough sea water into the affected areas have failed. The difficulties arise because it is not possible for workers to come near it on account of high levels of radioactivity. Six fire engines and 5 police water cannon trucks were sent in on Thursday evening to spray the plant’s No 3 reactor. The same day military helicopters began dumping water on the damaged No. 3 reactor, but after four flybys, the operation was suspended due to high radiation levels.
Meanwhile, radiation levels have continued to rise outside the plant. The government has expanded the evacuation zone to 20 kilometers around each of two nuclear plants. At least 80,000 people in 10 cities and towns near the nuclear plants have been ordered to evacuate. After three explosions and two fires at the Fukushima nuclear plant workers seem to be losing the battle to contain the radiation.
As things stand, the Japanese are making use of each and every means available to them hoping that it will work. Right now this is more prayer than plan, said one American official with long nuclear experience.
This is happening to Japan who sells cutting edge equipment to the whole world, possesses a large pool of highly trained and dedicated team of technicians managing 55 nuclear power plants and according to the World Bank is the second wealthiest nation after the US in terms of GDP.
The three major nuclear incidents make two things clear. First, devastating nuclear accidents can occur even in the most sophisticated nuclear plants, due to some unforeseen natural disaster, mechanical failure or an error of human judgment.
Second, even a most advanced and rich country finds it an uphill task to overcome the after-effects of the accident. On Thursday, President Obama said that the crisis had convinced him to order the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to conduct a comprehensive review of the safety of nuclear plants in the United States.
Nuclear plants have now been set up by countries where administrations in major cities take days to put out common fires and where even during more than normal rains, tens of people die of falling roofs or electrocution. These countries which include India and Pakistan have all the more reason to undertake a thorough review of their security arrangements. In the long run, they have to ponder whether pursuit of nuclear power is the right decision.
The writer is a former academic and a political analyst.
