Q&A: Why didn’t Japan make their nuclear plants tsunami-proof?
Question by : Why didn’t Japan make their nuclear plants tsunami-proof?
Why does Japan even use so much nuclear power, when the entire country is susceptible to earthquakes? A lot of the nuclear plants are located near the ocean (as they need large bodies of water), so why didn’t they make the plants tsunami proof, in addition to earthquake proof? As most of the damage came from the tsunamis. That seems pretty stupid, if you ask me. I thought the Japanese were supposed to be very intelligent.
I hope all this increases investments in other alternative energy sources, like solar and wind.
If even Japan is having trouble with nuclear plants, what does this mean for the rest of the world?
Best answer:
Answer by No Feeding The Hippies, Please.
that’s like saying “why dont they make florida hurricane proof?” seriously, you cant disaster proof anything. You can make buildings and areas disaster-resistant, and the japanese have spent tons and tons of money to ensure the saftey of their people and the country. This earthquake was one of the worst EVER. ANYWHERE. and of course the tsunami was a direct result of the earthquake. so saying that they couldnt handle one of the worst earthquakes ever (it may just be the worst earthquake on record, I think.) is just to be expected, really.
nuclcear plants are naturally somewhat risky. (not really risky unless something like a 8.9 earthquake and an equally disastarous tsunami comes. get it?). once again they take precautions to ensure the saftey of the people. but once again there really isnt much you can do when such a large disaster comes.
Give your answer to this question below!
| Print article | This entry was posted by mosotech on February 13, 2012 at 1:06 pm, and is filed under Ocean Energy. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |


about 3 months ago
Because there’s no such thing as “tsunami-proof”. If a tsunami rolls through, all you can really do is hang on and hope for the best.
And Japan uses nuclear power because it’s really their only option. They have a very large population in a very small geographical area. The large tracts of land required for equivalent energy generation by solar panels or wind farms simply doesn’t exist.
about 3 months ago
Have you even been paying attention? The nuclear plant withstood a freakishly powerful earthquake, followed by a serious tsunami. The damage didn’t come from either one, it came from losing power. The reactors all shut down automatically, exactly like they were supposed to, but the cooling systems lost power and couldn’t keep up. If you think your solar panels or wind turbines could have lasted through the tsunami and prevented this from occurring, we’ll have to agree to disagree.
about 3 months ago
Given that the plants are still there, and their containment vessels seem to be working, it seems that they did a pretty good job at designing something which would hold up under the circumstances.