Nuclear Catastrophes

International Nuclear Event Scale

Introduced in 1990 by IAEA
Enables prompt communication of safety significance in case of nuclear accidents
Logarithmic
There are 7 levels: 3 incident levels and 4 accident levels
Level 7 Major accident: Chernobyl, 1986
Level 6 Kyshtym disaster (Mayak, Soviet Union), 1957
Level 5 Three Mile Island US, 1979; Windscale Fire (UK), 1957
Chernobyl Disaster
Three Mile Island Disaster
2011 Japan Nuclear Disaster
At the three reactor units at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station
Located in the town of Okuma in the Futaba District of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
Combined capacity of 4.7 GW.
What caused it?
o The earthquake caused a power failure
o The subsequent tsunami knocked out the generators that produced the power
o Lack of power in turn caused the cooling systems of the reactors to fail
o This led to a partial meltdown in the three reactors
Background
o Fukushima 1 reactor went critical in 1971
o All the three are Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) and use demineralised water for
cooling nuclear fuel
Methods that can be adopted to avoid a meltdown
o Pump sea water to reduce the heat
o Boric acid is an excellent neutron absorber. Using it would reduce the chances of
nuclear reactions restarting even if the fuel is found loose inside the reactor core.
o
Nuclear Safety
The disaster has re-ignited the debate on the safety of nuclear power
AERB should be made an independent regulator

Earthquakes
Ring of fire in the pacific ocean
Largest Earthquakes by Magnitude
o Valdivia, Chile, 1960: 9.5
o Prince Sound Willaim, Alaska, 1964: 9.2
o Sumatra, Indonesia, 2004: 9.1
o Kamchatka, USSR, 1952: 9
o Sendai, Japan, 2011: 9
Tsunami
Intensity measured by the Soloviev-Imamura tsunami intensity scale.
Major Tsunamis
o 2011: Japan
o 2004: Indian Ocean
o 1908: Messina, Italy