Japanese nuclear disaster: lessons to be learned
The scientific community is trying to learn the lessons from Fukushima. The disaster in Japan has highlighted areas where nuclear plants might be vulnerable, especially those that have been in operation for a while. Experts want to learn how to protect future generations from disasters like this one, that put entire populations in danger. Euronews spoke to Luis Echavarri, Director-General of the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Beatriz Beiras, euronews:“Mr Echavarri, the IAEA has confirmed that the cores of reactors 1, 2 and 3 of the Fukushima nuclear plant run a risk of meltdown. What does that mean exactly?” Luis Echavarri: “That means that the temperatures reached made the rods melt and could also make the fuel melt. That means that the fuel is becoming impaired and that it is producing more fission products and as full cooling could not take place, this process has progressed.” euronews:“But does that have an impact on radiation?” Luis Echavarri:“Yes, because the higher the temperature is and the more the fuel deteriorates, the more fission products are produced. And as a result, the radioactivity given off is greater. So the continuation of this process must be avoided. That is why cooling is needed.” euronews:“Can it cause an explosion?” Luis Echavarri:“No, no, not at all. That absolutely can’t happen. You must take into account that, for example, unlike the Chernobyl accident, here the safety mechanisms were activated quickly because of the earthquake. So the only heat is the remaining heat and in this situation an explosion caused by an uncontrolled reaction cannot happen.” euronews:“If water does not succeed in cooling the reactors, do you think that Tepco has other means of stopping this time bomb?” Luis Echavarri:“I think that water and other products like, for example, boric acid, are important in reducing the possible damage to the fuel. But it is difficult to find a solution apart from using water. The latest news we have had is that they are in the process of bringing in electricity from outside the plant and if that is confirmed, it would lead to the use of a lot more cooling systems in the plant and that could help enormously in getting the site back to normal. But, fundamentally, two elements are necessary: electricity and water.” euronews:“Should we be worried, for example, about the arrival of a radioactive cloud in other Asian countries or even in America or Europe? “ Luis Echavarri:“No. I think the distances involved mean that radioactivity is going to be present, because the radioactivity will be felt across the planet, especially in the northern hemisphere – but at very low levels. The radiation is diluting, and the further it spreads, the more it dilutes. What is important are the areas closest to the plant. And gradually the radioactivity is decreasing. So I think that outside Japan, there is no need to worry, even if it will be experienced elsewhere because tiny quantities of radioactivity are easy to detect.” euronews:“You are a nuclear engineer. Briefly, as a technician, what are the lessons to be learned from this accident?” Luis Echavarri:“Briefly, it is difficult. I would say that, first of all, we have to analyse whether all nuclear plants are adequately prepared from a conceptual point of view to deal with bigger earthquakes or tsunamis than we had imagined and which are possible in certain places. “We also have to make an in-depth analysis of the consequences of the tsunami; why it damaged so many emergency installations, if they could have been salvaged in another way, if there are extra safety systems to avoid this sort of situation. And we also have to look again at the containment units, emergency cooling systems, hydrogen explosions, fires, radiological protection, intervening in contaminated zones. They are all lessons that we are going to have to learn to apply to all the nuclear plants in the world – a process which has already begun. All regulatory bodies have already begun an analytical process to apply the lessons to their own plants.” Copyright © 2011 euronews
8088 4061 7275 9445 9958 9321 4904 3152 1003 481 7332 3160 3953 7700 5367 1035 1819 9446 5929 1767 8999 2412 3498 373 1145 5224 552 3462 9882 6425 9346 7495 983 9691 9866 7952 7071 1752 1317 6126 8467 987 6973 2764 8261 7166 4746 266 210 5294 8304 7680 545 9044 6097 5182 7293 1733 8123 3201 5324 2785 6527 861 398 8673 1695 1116 2602 8630 7593 8362 3504 5281 8823 6346 4924 4676 9664 992 3683 5174 4229 7139 574 8205 1295 7094 8834 8632 2604 7243 6207 1762 5142 2241 2143 3185 6086 1655 368 8519 5933 7471 5812 4894 270 4816 7587 2751 3154 740 2263 9058 7572 8390 4131 5541 952 6438 1701 8009 6189 6087 2125 5386 1162 520 7795 9528 2196 4113 1799 9425 9462 1274 1489 5888 4755 7244 1855 5296 4646 5701 2933 3524 4456 524 7967 3616 1031 1534 1542 3324 4785 6592 9402 1086 3979 4866 4182 1549 6709 8629 3764 4224 8556 3422 1477 1373 6395 8933 3716 1302 5435 2240 5053 6048 3118 8726 9401 5139 4168 6038 6723 7876 9937 2689 5873 7396 8042 3867 5810 1179 6735 2673 8714 963 6403 6970 1075 2566 518 3538 1349 8564 907 3763 5287 9294 4658 7583 2523 165 2532 4898 511 5730 1210 6171 4413 3497 4215 6443 4028 2945 8869 9468 1352 7712 9113 1195 4876 1428 6539 4320 9189 157 4488 8111 1020 6923 2535 246 5268 6278 1225 9865 7147 9396 9403 3561 9030 2647 8962 8535 3077 5126 4376 9620 3250 3114 6853 9410 2813 1918 5442 3192 5889 8087 2923 4205 7443 3047 6952 2574 6929 1252 4712 9246 704 7416 8106 9702 3491 9263 3798 4987 6622 1507 3134 8177 4760 1331 8903 5080 3759 9579 666 7756 2640 2500 2872 1949 5147 1397 2470 2038 8850 23 5243 9582 2264 2054 2582 4066 2957 3505 2921 6944 2115 7417 4545 2555 3523 661 8994 2028 7450 5208 6784 8752 2384 8704 9661 6518 106 1697 6102 3914 2056 1355 1082 7470 9298 7413 6255 1483 3621 1291 2066 8172 2918 5468 3557 9364 1034 4164 4275 2495 1121 499 4170 6568 2023 5331 8173 6961 1110 9839 5473 6732 6831 494 7957 94 2691 6873 4397 649 5527 2720 8740 1851 8650 2297 8366 8407 2150 6299 5510 2781 2272 3127 5495 5723 966 9114 7562 9191 8777 9004 9455 71 6291 2365 6340 504 6584 4852 5785 2307 2996 9472 6497 460 4999 6526 6805 6367 2231 401 2667 6294 3560 1155 5952 8983 6649 6378 8727 4986 1393 4198 599 9682 8939 5440 6861 7841 9441 19 3724 8442 6057 2043 3003 2836 9105 4541 2149 1281 4484 1180 5360 8789 6276 6303 6363 3550 2827 2861 8507 2766 9933 6245 8323 4434 1774 5843 2662 9898 8057 2610 7037 4326 2522 6813 181 5923 8229 5724 5351 8552 3776 7982 1913 934 9717 8661 4240 7496 8476 8787 9485 1592 4458 41 2202 8622 3121 1801 9587 251 1797 7869 109 9965 1321 5007 2994 8355 9110 5318 3728 4685 6771 32 4638 2436 4087 2258 8220 3657 1986 6839 7162 1620 3431 9125 8430 9758 6145 8012 6514 8722 5831 3969 1330 2435 2128 4744 3615 8288 8070 3920 1495 3591 628 8354 974 4989 3369 4494 4684 3205 9905 7612 8222 9501 8701 9600 5392 7383 7723 9980 9726 1643 4062 7367 7606 8223 5133 4845 2022 7412 6524 8601 8337 6345 9020 7985 5229 5981 9148 8415 9090 2549 4769 5529 5231 3805 880 2884 15 348 3479 9290 5863 2418 6663 2910 9974 687 4813 8848 1430 5829 5107 9532 2514 7529 4801 2968 9388 4752 6992 3435 4936 6820 336 1956 475 8863 691 6381 5567 7748 5152 3440 7650 7090 1445 7599 5690 2413 8158 4067 4597 88 5797 9603 6115 4911 6826 2338 3350 6956 6796 2805 8280 2198 4000 3987 929 3783 8301 3996 5757 5739 7614 9804 2230 1260 1040 6184 1113 4257 7245 4850 414 9423 468 8392 7543 3661 1983 4453 4610 4436 1218 8210 5170 5396 3252 6731 402 9120 1912 1315 5172 9320 172 6399 7358 2101 6139 3124 405 3050 2243 4447 1105 7319 9162 5467 1061 5005 5227 4537 2267 827 9091 9082 1712 7224 4078 2088 4053 1224 9274 371 1863 765 1575 9421 2403 219 7051 8532 7939 3385 2229 7619 496 632 5079 5506 9578 6902 7337 6019 1622 6699 8854 2396 8400 2869 1441 7759 825 6942 1012 9046 1490 6713 8620 7976 6178 2161 7431 5571 2738 953 6745 5808 6777 8033 9608 2633 9385 3125 3520 5423 4305 6757 7689 561 2702 8483 6025 5801 1850 4688 8040 4132 1327 3943 7491 6361 1106 4139 2090 8016 2249 7643 4325 1636 6855 4634 6247 1959 115 1292 5800 5861 8299 6333 4056 4653 1112 1062 3022 5995 9945 3644 7015 6437 9887 8718 2757 4754 8130 6342 8499 9437 801 3351 7209 4906 8185 4779 2405 4629 2823 4756 9577 3690 7882 7510 7992 4500 4366 8427 5262 9075 3630 2992 921 9477 5987 5494 1884 944 8393 2010 2533 2782 1921 8137 9546 1521 9695 2059 8187 5409 8338 6475 6388 4708 7239 2855 9757 946 5684 2864 6286 3861 832 7517 4348 9273 1970 5074 7119 8843 1871 6015 9184 6896 5400 3189 8679 2320 1439 3832 3380 9494 6863 6555 9514 8406 3317 2390 4192 7075 1854 5137 8680 5585 6249 3697 1268 1781 5141 5871 1491 3508 8979 111 2914 9129 6074 7080 639 9232 9483 6079 2868 3814 5862 6714 1339 9521 7978 1900 1639 3209 9074 9207 33 8091 6167 130 7134 6191 2920 2658 1288 3843 159 9009 9973 2695 6846 3623 6963 9830 1987 9382 9258 4967 6795 3075 6260 3989 8569 8225 8182 4919 9769 1723 9366 6282 3568 1974 8706 2336 5289 1247 5330 8025 5200 4529 282 1322 3224 3299 4247 3200 2355 3659 3742 2497 3089 8125 6177 5805 3580 5721 6269
The scientific community is trying to learn the lessons from Fukushima. The disaster in Japan has highlighted areas where nuclear plants might be vulnerable, especially those that have been in operation for a while. Experts want to learn how to protect future generations from disasters like this one, that put entire populations in danger. Euronews spoke to Luis Echavarri, Director-General of the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Beatriz Beiras, euronews:“Mr Echavarri, the IAEA has confirmed that the cores of reactors 1, 2 and 3 of the Fukushima nuclear plant run a risk of meltdown. What does that mean exactly?” Luis Echavarri: “That means that the temperatures reached made the rods melt and could also make the fuel melt. That means that the fuel is becoming impaired and that it is producing more fission products and as full cooling could not take place, this process has progressed.” euronews:“But does that have an impact on radiation?” Luis Echavarri:“Yes, because the higher the temperature is and the more the fuel deteriorates, the more fission products are produced. And as a result, the radioactivity given off is greater. So the continuation of this process must be avoided. That is why cooling is needed.” euronews:“Can it cause an explosion?” Luis Echavarri:“No, no, not at all. That absolutely can’t happen. You must take into account that, for example, unlike the Chernobyl accident, here the safety mechanisms were activated quickly because of the earthquake. So the only heat is the remaining heat and in this situation an explosion caused by an uncontrolled reaction cannot happen.” euronews:“If water does not succeed in cooling the reactors, do you think that Tepco has other means of stopping this time bomb?” Luis Echavarri:“I think that water and other products like, for example, boric acid, are important in reducing the possible damage to the fuel. But it is difficult to find a solution apart from using water. The latest news we have had is that they are in the process of bringing in electricity from outside the plant and if that is confirmed, it would lead to the use of a lot more cooling systems in the plant and that could help enormously in getting the site back to normal. But, fundamentally, two elements are necessary: electricity and water.” euronews:“Should we be worried, for example, about the arrival of a radioactive cloud in other Asian countries or even in America or Europe? “ Luis Echavarri:“No. I think the distances involved mean that radioactivity is going to be present, because the radioactivity will be felt across the planet, especially in the northern hemisphere – but at very low levels. The radiation is diluting, and the further it spreads, the more it dilutes. What is important are the areas closest to the plant. And gradually the radioactivity is decreasing. So I think that outside Japan, there is no need to worry, even if it will be experienced elsewhere because tiny quantities of radioactivity are easy to detect.” euronews:“You are a nuclear engineer. Briefly, as a technician, what are the lessons to be learned from this accident?” Luis Echavarri:“Briefly, it is difficult. I would say that, first of all, we have to analyse whether all nuclear plants are adequately prepared from a conceptual point of view to deal with bigger earthquakes or tsunamis than we had imagined and which are possible in certain places. “We also have to make an in-depth analysis of the consequences of the tsunami; why it damaged so many emergency installations, if they could have been salvaged in another way, if there are extra safety systems to avoid this sort of situation. And we also have to look again at the containment units, emergency cooling systems, hydrogen explosions, fires, radiological protection, intervening in contaminated zones. They are all lessons that we are going to have to learn to apply to all the nuclear plants in the world – a process which has already begun. All regulatory bodies have already begun an analytical process to apply the lessons to their own plants.” Copyright © 2011 euronews
8088 4061 7275 9445 9958 9321 4904 3152 1003 481 7332 3160 3953 7700 5367 1035 1819 9446 5929 1767 8999 2412 3498 373 1145 5224 552 3462 9882 6425 9346 7495 983 9691 9866 7952 7071 1752 1317 6126 8467 987 6973 2764 8261 7166 4746 266 210 5294 8304 7680 545 9044 6097 5182 7293 1733 8123 3201 5324 2785 6527 861 398 8673 1695 1116 2602 8630 7593 8362 3504 5281 8823 6346 4924 4676 9664 992 3683 5174 4229 7139 574 8205 1295 7094 8834 8632 2604 7243 6207 1762 5142 2241 2143 3185 6086 1655 368 8519 5933 7471 5812 4894 270 4816 7587 2751 3154 740 2263 9058 7572 8390 4131 5541 952 6438 1701 8009 6189 6087 2125 5386 1162 520 7795 9528 2196 4113 1799 9425 9462 1274 1489 5888 4755 7244 1855 5296 4646 5701 2933 3524 4456 524 7967 3616 1031 1534 1542 3324 4785 6592 9402 1086 3979 4866 4182 1549 6709 8629 3764 4224 8556 3422 1477 1373 6395 8933 3716 1302 5435 2240 5053 6048 3118 8726 9401 5139 4168 6038 6723 7876 9937 2689 5873 7396 8042 3867 5810 1179 6735 2673 8714 963 6403 6970 1075 2566 518 3538 1349 8564 907 3763 5287 9294 4658 7583 2523 165 2532 4898 511 5730 1210 6171 4413 3497 4215 6443 4028 2945 8869 9468 1352 7712 9113 1195 4876 1428 6539 4320 9189 157 4488 8111 1020 6923 2535 246 5268 6278 1225 9865 7147 9396 9403 3561 9030 2647 8962 8535 3077 5126 4376 9620 3250 3114 6853 9410 2813 1918 5442 3192 5889 8087 2923 4205 7443 3047 6952 2574 6929 1252 4712 9246 704 7416 8106 9702 3491 9263 3798 4987 6622 1507 3134 8177 4760 1331 8903 5080 3759 9579 666 7756 2640 2500 2872 1949 5147 1397 2470 2038 8850 23 5243 9582 2264 2054 2582 4066 2957 3505 2921 6944 2115 7417 4545 2555 3523 661 8994 2028 7450 5208 6784 8752 2384 8704 9661 6518 106 1697 6102 3914 2056 1355 1082 7470 9298 7413 6255 1483 3621 1291 2066 8172 2918 5468 3557 9364 1034 4164 4275 2495 1121 499 4170 6568 2023 5331 8173 6961 1110 9839 5473 6732 6831 494 7957 94 2691 6873 4397 649 5527 2720 8740 1851 8650 2297 8366 8407 2150 6299 5510 2781 2272 3127 5495 5723 966 9114 7562 9191 8777 9004 9455 71 6291 2365 6340 504 6584 4852 5785 2307 2996 9472 6497 460 4999 6526 6805 6367 2231 401 2667 6294 3560 1155 5952 8983 6649 6378 8727 4986 1393 4198 599 9682 8939 5440 6861 7841 9441 19 3724 8442 6057 2043 3003 2836 9105 4541 2149 1281 4484 1180 5360 8789 6276 6303 6363 3550 2827 2861 8507 2766 9933 6245 8323 4434 1774 5843 2662 9898 8057 2610 7037 4326 2522 6813 181 5923 8229 5724 5351 8552 3776 7982 1913 934 9717 8661 4240 7496 8476 8787 9485 1592 4458 41 2202 8622 3121 1801 9587 251 1797 7869 109 9965 1321 5007 2994 8355 9110 5318 3728 4685 6771 32 4638 2436 4087 2258 8220 3657 1986 6839 7162 1620 3431 9125 8430 9758 6145 8012 6514 8722 5831 3969 1330 2435 2128 4744 3615 8288 8070 3920 1495 3591 628 8354 974 4989 3369 4494 4684 3205 9905 7612 8222 9501 8701 9600 5392 7383 7723 9980 9726 1643 4062 7367 7606 8223 5133 4845 2022 7412 6524 8601 8337 6345 9020 7985 5229 5981 9148 8415 9090 2549 4769 5529 5231 3805 880 2884 15 348 3479 9290 5863 2418 6663 2910 9974 687 4813 8848 1430 5829 5107 9532 2514 7529 4801 2968 9388 4752 6992 3435 4936 6820 336 1956 475 8863 691 6381 5567 7748 5152 3440 7650 7090 1445 7599 5690 2413 8158 4067 4597 88 5797 9603 6115 4911 6826 2338 3350 6956 6796 2805 8280 2198 4000 3987 929 3783 8301 3996 5757 5739 7614 9804 2230 1260 1040 6184 1113 4257 7245 4850 414 9423 468 8392 7543 3661 1983 4453 4610 4436 1218 8210 5170 5396 3252 6731 402 9120 1912 1315 5172 9320 172 6399 7358 2101 6139 3124 405 3050 2243 4447 1105 7319 9162 5467 1061 5005 5227 4537 2267 827 9091 9082 1712 7224 4078 2088 4053 1224 9274 371 1863 765 1575 9421 2403 219 7051 8532 7939 3385 2229 7619 496 632 5079 5506 9578 6902 7337 6019 1622 6699 8854 2396 8400 2869 1441 7759 825 6942 1012 9046 1490 6713 8620 7976 6178 2161 7431 5571 2738 953 6745 5808 6777 8033 9608 2633 9385 3125 3520 5423 4305 6757 7689 561 2702 8483 6025 5801 1850 4688 8040 4132 1327 3943 7491 6361 1106 4139 2090 8016 2249 7643 4325 1636 6855 4634 6247 1959 115 1292 5800 5861 8299 6333 4056 4653 1112 1062 3022 5995 9945 3644 7015 6437 9887 8718 2757 4754 8130 6342 8499 9437 801 3351 7209 4906 8185 4779 2405 4629 2823 4756 9577 3690 7882 7510 7992 4500 4366 8427 5262 9075 3630 2992 921 9477 5987 5494 1884 944 8393 2010 2533 2782 1921 8137 9546 1521 9695 2059 8187 5409 8338 6475 6388 4708 7239 2855 9757 946 5684 2864 6286 3861 832 7517 4348 9273 1970 5074 7119 8843 1871 6015 9184 6896 5400 3189 8679 2320 1439 3832 3380 9494 6863 6555 9514 8406 3317 2390 4192 7075 1854 5137 8680 5585 6249 3697 1268 1781 5141 5871 1491 3508 8979 111 2914 9129 6074 7080 639 9232 9483 6079 2868 3814 5862 6714 1339 9521 7978 1900 1639 3209 9074 9207 33 8091 6167 130 7134 6191 2920 2658 1288 3843 159 9009 9973 2695 6846 3623 6963 9830 1987 9382 9258 4967 6795 3075 6260 3989 8569 8225 8182 4919 9769 1723 9366 6282 3568 1974 8706 2336 5289 1247 5330 8025 5200 4529 282 1322 3224 3299 4247 3200 2355 3659 3742 2497 3089 8125 6177 5805 3580 5721 6269