Nuclear accident

last updated 8 January 2015

Mihama, Japan

Four people were killed this week in Japan’s deadliest nuclear power plant accident. A pipe in the cooling system of one of the reactors ruptured, spraying superheated steam into a building housing turbines. There was no radiation leak, but the accident prompted an inquiry into maintenance procedures. The burst pipe hadn’t been looked at in 28 years, and over that time it had corroded from a thickness of half an inch to that of a piece of paper. “To put it bluntly, it was extremely thin—it looked terrible even in the layman’s view,” said Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa. He ordered inspections of similar plants, saying, “We must not undermine trust in nuclear energy policy.” Japan depends on nuclear power for 30 percent of its electricity. Mihama, located 200 miles west of Tokyo, is home to around 13,000 people.