Abstract
The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) following the Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent tsunami in March 2011 changed people's perceptions regarding nuclear power generation in Japan and worldwide. The failure to prevent the accident and the response to it had an enormous impact specifically on the communities close to the site but also across Japan and globally. In this review, I discuss radiation detection technologies, their use and limits in the immediate assessment and response, and improvements since then. In particular, I examine recent developments in radiation detection and imaging systems that, in combination with the enormous advances in computer vision, provide new means to detect, map, and visualize radiation using manned and unmanned deployment platforms. In addition to smarter and more adaptable technologies to prevent and minimize the impact of such events, an important outcome of this accident is the need for informed and resilient citizens who are empowered by knowledge and technologies to make rational decisions. The accident at FDNPS leaves a legacy concerning the importance of historical information, technologies, and resilience as well as challenges regarding powerful technologies that can provide substantial benefits to human society but that are also associated with risks of which we must be aware.
Highlights
Facilities, no need for concern or knowledge regarding the reactors, and no need for extensive evacuation plans or exercises
It is important to note that the tsunami resulted in much more substantial casualties and widespread infrastructural damage than did the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) accident: More than 18,000 citizens were killed by the tsunami, hundreds of thousands were evacuated, and large areas of farmland were devastated [1]
SETTING THE STAGE Before March 11, 2011, Fukushima Prefecture was one of the largest nuclear power–producing areas in the world, with operators and authorities planning to add two more units to the six already in operation at FDNPS in addition to the four units operating at the Daini Nuclear Power Plant located 12 km to the south of www.annualreviews.org
Summary
Before March 11, 2011, Fukushima Prefecture was one of the largest nuclear power–producing areas in the world, with operators and authorities planning to add two more units to the six already in operation at FDNPS ( called Fukushima I or 1F) in addition to the four units operating at the Daini Nuclear Power Plant ( called Fukushima II or 2F) located 12 km to the south of www.annualreviews.org The Nuclear Legacy Today of Fukushima 261. The recent Typhoon Hagibis, which was one of the worst typhoons in the last 50 years to make landfall in Japan and was associated with about 100 confirmed deaths, caused extensive flooding in the larger Tokyo area and Fukushima Prefecture, washing away hundreds of the plastic bags containing the removed soil This event renewed safety concerns about the contamination around FDNPS, reflecting the continued sensitivity and anxiety associated with the site. Beyond Japan, while the earthquake and tsunami received some attention, and despite the enormous suffering and deaths due to the tsunami, the accident at FDNPS has had the most substantial impact: initially in the responses to the threat of radioactive fallout and contamination across the northern hemisphere and, subsequently, in reconsiderations of the use of nuclear power or at least reevaluations of the use and oversight of nuclear power and associated emergency response measures
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