Seismic Damage at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station With Emphasis on Unit 1

Abstract

This paper analyzes and reviews various seismic damage at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (F1) caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake (the Earthquake) on March 11 in 2011. Moreover, descriptions of various F1 accident reports on on-site seismic damage are comparatively analyzed. At first, impacts of the Earthquake and tsunami as well as damage at four influenced Nuclear Power Stations (NPSs), including F1, are comparatively analyzed. Although no safety-related equipment were seismically damaged at F1, there occurred various on-site seismic damage which should be learned at NPSs worldwide in preparation for next possible beyond-design-basis disasters. Particularly damaged were the main administration building as well as various on-site high-voltage equipment to receive off-site electric power. Owing largely to this on-site damage F1 lost the off-site power, eventually leading the entire NPS to station black-out. Other on-site seismic damage includes loss of an emergency data transmission system, roads, coolant water tanks, leakage of radio-contaminated water from spent fuel pools (SFP), presumably the Unit-1/2 exhaust stack among others.