World's Largest Nuclear Power Plant on an Earthquake Fault Line

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa located in the north Japan is the world's largest nuclear power plant. Say it a faulty design or say it a case of ignorance, the nuclear power plant is placed directly above a significant geological fault line. This line was thought to be inactive until it caused Monday’s earthquake, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale. At present, the plant is closed since Monday, the earthquake day.

As per the design experts, the plant was designed only to cope with earthquakes of a magnitude up to 6.5. The earthquake on Monday caused a number of accidents at the plant, calling into question its safety. There were, in total, fifty malfunctions at the plant following the earthquake. Mildly radioactive water leaked into the sea whilst four hundred barrels of radioactive waste toppled over, 40 of them spilling their contents. Following this, the world's largest nuclear power plant has been closed indefinitely.

As per the statistics, Japan is the third largest user of nuclear energy in the world, using it for over 30% of their energy. However, it is also country that suffers from frequent tremors, and if we look further, Japan is surrounded by ocean which may lead to tsunami whenever a major earthquake occurs. Questions are now being asked about the suitability of such a power source for a geologically volatile country. If

If we talk about mishaps in N-plant, this is not the first nuclear mishap in Japan. In 1999 two workers died in a nuclear accident, whilst in 2004 five workers were scalded to death when a steam pipe burst at an aging nuclear power plant. A further major scandal rocked Japan in 2002 when the Tokyo Electric Power Company had to close down all of its reactors after admitting to falsifying safety information.

The question is why the country is bearing such a high risk to produce energy that one major earthquake can not only destroy the entire country but also effect the nations close to it.