Engineering Ethics: The Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster

In Engineering Ethics: The Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster, you'll learn ...

• Basic operating premise of nuclear reactor cooling and safety systems
• How the location of the backup power systems contributed to the disaster
• Why engineers and company management hesistated to implement drastic intervention methods soon after the tsunami struck
• Ethical considerations surrounding the actions and decisions of Tokyo Electrical Power Company (TEPCO engineeres)

Overview

Credit: 1 PDH

Length: 21 pages

Preview a portion of the interactive version of the course, designed to provide a multi-media learning experience that you complete at your computer.

You may view either or both versions when you purchase this course

On Friday, March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan. It was the strongest earthquake ever recorded in Japan and one of the strongest ever recorded in the world. The earthquake triggered a tsunami that pounded the coastal areas of Japan with waves as high as 30 feet.

The tsunami inundated the Fukushima Daiichi No. 1 (Daiichi) plant, owned and operated by the Tokyo Electrical Power Company (TEPCO). The plant suffered a series of hydrogen explosions and core meltdown. Radioactive particles from released material settled downwind from the plant and spread to other parts of the globe.

According to the Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Committee (NAIIC):

“The earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 were natural disasters of a magnitude that shocked the entire world. Although triggered by these cataclysmic events, the subsequent accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant cannot be regarded as a natural disaster. It was a profoundly manmade disaster – that could and should have been foreseen and prevented. And its effects could have been mitigated by a more effective human response.”

It’s important to note that the earthquake and tsunami activated emergency systems in five nuclear power stations in the region and some of the plants sustained damage from the natural disasters. Yet only the Daiichi plant experienced catastrophic failure. What did the other four plants do correctly—or why did the Daiichi plant fail?

This course will examine the major “errors and willful negligence” by TEPCO’s engineers and management that led to the disaster. Although this disaster was in the nuclear energy industry and occurred in Japan, the lessons to be learned from it are universal. We will review the critical decisions made by TEPCO’s engineers and management in the context of the National Society of Professional Engineers’ (NSPE) Code of Ethics.