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Abstract
This article investigates the successful survival of the Onagawa nuclear power station during and after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. As a research method, a system approach investigation and analysis— CAST (Causal Analysis based on Systems Theoretic Accident Model and Processes)—is applied over the life cycle of Onagawa. The main aim of this study is to identify how seismic and tsunami disaster risk reduction was implemented in different stages of the Onagawa nuclear power station’s life cycle. It is found that three safety cultures were built and developed over its life cycle: a nuclear safety culture, an earthquake safety culture, and a tsunami safety culture. These three safety cultures played important roles in the non-failure and success of Onagawa in 2011. Furthermore, the operator of Onagawa, Tohoku EPCo has a dynamic approach and a strong leadership towards earthquake and tsunami risk mitigation in all life cycle stages; flexibility and voluntary safety actions have been in place at Tohoku EPCo and Onagawa . Nevertheless, the 2011 events strongly influenced the decision to decommission the Onagawa Unit 1 early, brought to attention the length of the decommissioning process (which will surpass the operation stage), the high costs involved, and tremendous challenges linked to the permanent storage of radioactive waste. The successful survival of the Onagawa emphasizes that in order to achieve energy security through the nuclear energy in Japan and elsewhere in the world, safety always needs to come first. Furthermore, it supports dynamic learning not only for the nuclear industry, but also for the oil and gas and maritime industries; particularly, those situated in earthquake and tsunami risk areas.
Highlights
Societies are continuously challenging the limits of safety engineering through the rapid development of technology, increased complexity and coupling, competing priorities in various industries and systems, the emergence of new types of hazards, and a reduced capacity to learn from previous events and experiences [1].At present, there are 450 nuclear power reactors in operation and 55 reactors are under construction in many countries around the world, such as China, India, Pakistan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Belarus [2]
Ryu and Meshkati [21] emphasized the existence of a strong safety culture at Tohoku EPCo. This safety culture was so ingrained that representatives of Tohoku EPCo, on a voluntary basis and out of working hours, attended many seminars and panel discussions held by the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) [21]
The successful survival of the Onagawa nuclear power station (NPS) during and after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami was investigated through a system approach investigation and analysis method—CAST which was applied throughout the life cycle of the nuclear plant
Summary
Societies are continuously challenging the limits of safety engineering through the rapid development of technology, increased complexity and coupling, competing priorities in various industries and systems, the emergence of new types of hazards, and a reduced capacity to learn from previous events and experiences [1].At present, there are 450 nuclear power reactors in operation and 55 reactors are under construction in many countries around the world, such as China, India, Pakistan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Belarus [2]. A few years before the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, Perrow [6] warned that usage of nuclear power could have catastrophic potential in the very near future. Accidents such as nuclear meltdowns and the dispersion of nuclear radioactive material into the environment were seen by Perrow [6] as inevitable events or even normal accidents within the few decades. Nuclear power has been seen as a high-risk system and a high-risk technology, and Perrow [6] highlighted that risk can never be eliminated from such systems, due to high interactive complexity and tight coupling
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