The Fukushima nuclear accident occurred on March 12, 2011 in Japan. On this day, an extreme natural disaster occurred in Japan, causing equipment at the Fukushima nuclear power plant to malfunction and fail to supply power, causing the reactor to fission, resulting in a nuclear leak.
Site of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident
A magnitude 9 earthquake struck Japan and the sea at 14:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011, causing 11 reactors off the coast of Japan to shut down. During this earthquake, the Fukushima nuclear power plant interrupted power supply from the grid and emergency power supply from diesel units was activated. But 46 minutes after the earthquake, it triggered a huge tsunami. The tsunami is said to have reached a height of 14 meters and damaged facilities throughout the northeast region of Japan. Seawater rushed into the Fukushima nuclear power plant, and the diesel units, which had been activated in an emergency, were soaked with seawater, causing the lines to fail and stop working.
At this point, the Fukushima plant had to rely on batteries to power the cooling system. However, the limited emergency operating time of the batteries, coupled with the inclement weather, prevented staff at the plant from taking emergency remedial measures for the reactors. After the batteries ran out of power, the cooling system stopped working and the nuclear reactor heated up rapidly. At 15:36 p.m. that day, a hydrogen explosion occurred in the plant's Unit 1 workshop, which sparked a fire.
Subsequently, on the 14th and 15th, hydrogen explosions also occurred in units 3 and 4. At this point, the accident had reached an uncontrollable point. And because of the explosions, it was much more difficult to rescue workers at the site. Some workers risked their lives to enter the scene and extinguish the fires. But by this time, the fire had caused a nuclear leak.
It wasn't until March 25 that the first freshwater channel was finally set up to inject water into the reactor for cooling, with the cooperation of many parties. on April 12, Japan's Atomic Energy Safety and Security Agency (AESA) classified the accident as a Level 7.
So the Fukushima nuclear radiation was from March 12 to 25, 2011, nearly half a month. Butterflies in this area mutated after the Fukushima nuclear accident.
According to a related report in August 2012, the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan caused butterflies to mutate. Researcher Akiji Otaru and his team found that butterflies in Fukushima developed small wing sizes and abnormal spots.
Mutations in gray butterflies after nuclear accident
At the end of World War II, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. However, more than 100,000 Japanese suffered from nuclear radiation during this event and developed deformities, cancer and other symptoms. So in the conception of Japanese people, the fear of nuclear radiation is more serious than any other nation in the world.
This time, Osamu Okura's main research subject was buttercups, a species of butterfly that can often be found in everyday life.In May 2011, Tatsuo and his research team collected a total of 144 butterflies***. They trained and bred these butterflies and found that the mortality rate of gray butterflies in Fukushima was much higher than in other regions. Also, they found that the closer the gray butterflies were to the center of the radiation, the higher the mortality rate.
In September of the same year, 240 adult gray butterflies were collected and studied by Zhang Eryou in Dalong. In the study, it was found that more than 50% of the wings of these gray butterflies were smaller than the others and the spots on both wings were asymmetrical. This anomaly is 1.5 times higher than the parents.
The discovery of mutations in butterflies caused by the Fukushima nuclear accident caused a national panic in Japan. They became afraid of the "monster" caused by the radiation mutation. However, the Japanese authorities issued a statement on the issue, saying that these fears were unfounded. After all, no one has ever seen a monster caused by radiation. But the danger of nuclear radiation to humans and animals is obvious. Consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident
As a result of the Fukushima accident, all of Japan's offshore areas have suffered varying degrees of nuclear contamination. In many areas, excessive nuclear contamination was detected in seawater, and the Fukushima nuclear power plant was abandoned as the source of the accident.
Photos from the scene of the Fukushima nuclear accident
A few days after the Fukushima nuclear accident, several ships from the U.S. Seventh Fleet rushed to the disaster area to help. Before they arrived at the scene, they detected excessive nuclear contamination in the seawater. In order to protect the personal safety of U.S. soldiers, the U.S. government ordered the rescue ships to change course and leave the disaster area on the 15th. At the same time, the aircraft carrier "" also left Japan's coastal waters and reached the open sea.
With the expansion of the Fukushima nuclear accident, the Japanese government ordered local residents to evacuate on the 12th. Meanwhile, the disaster is getting worse. Residents within a 30-kilometer radius centered on the Fukushima nuclear power plant have been ordered to evacuate. The number of people evacuated this time reached about 300,000 people.
In the northeastern part of the country, close to Japan, tests of water quality in Raohe, Fuyuan and Hulin counties in Heilongjiang province have found that while the nuclear contamination has reached a safety threshold, the State Oceanic Administration and the Environment Bureau said the data obtained so far is still below the safety threshold, and that the figure will gradually decrease as the nuclear radiation spreads.
In Japan's Fukushima Prefecture, data from tests of local water quality and plants show that the area has been heavily contaminated. Japan issued a statement in this regard, saying that the Fukushima nuclear power plant will be abandoned and will not continue to be used.
It is clear that the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident were limited to Fukushima, Japan, and did not spread. And with the passage of time, the level of nuclear contamination will gradually reduce, will not affect the normal life of neighboring regions and countries.