power reactors are operating in 30 different Figure 1: Operational Reactors (2013) countries. Along with radiation contamination in the air, one of the main concerns was the The root causes of the accidents have leaking of the radioactive materials to the particular mutual grounds being; untrained public water. Therefore, the government operators, negligence, lack of evacuated the surrounding population with communication, deficiency of safety setting a 20-kilometre exclusion zone and culture and lack of proper legal banning fishing along the northeast coast regulations. So as to systematically assess of the country. Nobody died from radiation the root causes, the grounds should be exposure, however; in the meantime, briefly analyzed. failure to prevent further crises paved the Untrained Operators way to a hydrogen explosion. A nuclear power reactor operator is a After the reparation process, the leaking of person who is entitled to control the reactor the radioactive materials to the ocean was from a control panel which gives him or prevented; however, there have been her the responsibility to shut down the several leaks and threats to public life since nuclear reactor in case of a crisis situation. then. Accordingly, Fukushima disaster led Moreover, an operator can provide the governments around the world, assistance with the loading and unloading including the UK, USA, PR China and of the nuclear fuels and monitor the Germany, to re-evaluate their nuclear emergency sensors to control whether there energy programmes. is a leak or not. Within this context, Lessons Learned education and training of the operators play a crucial role with regards to the It may or may not be human-induced; emergency response circumstances. Thus, every nuclear crisis is considered to have the should cover operators’ qualifications the possibility of predictability. Within this all aspects of managing and monitoring regard, setting general safety standards and matters of nuclear power plants with enhancing the existing ones play a crucial adequate education and training. The role on the way to eliminate these factors. IAEA encourages all Member States to Experience gained from afore-mentioned employ reactor operators who have license crises show that there is still a lack of from the governing body. preparedness in a world that 434 nuclear Negligence
Figure 1: Operational Reactors (2013) Along with radiation contamination in the air, one of the main concerns was the leaking of the radioactive materials to the public water. Therefore, the government evacuated the surrounding population with setting a 20-kilometre exclusion zone and banning fishing along the northeast coast of the country. Nobody died from radiation exposure, however; in the meantime, failure to prevent further crises paved the way to a hydrogen explosion. After the reparation process, the leaking of the radioactive materials to the ocean was prevented; however, there have been several leaks and threats to public life since then. Accordingly, Fukushima disaster led the governments around the world, including the UK, USA, PR China and Germany, to re-evaluate their nuclear energy programmes. Lessons Learned It may or may not be human-induced; every nuclear crisis is considered to have the possibility of predictability. Within this regard, setting general safety standards and enhancing the existing ones play a crucial role on the way to eliminate these factors. Experience gained from afore-mentioned crises show that there is still a lack of preparedness in a world that 434 nuclear power reactors are operating in 30 different countries. The root causes of the accidents have particular mutual grounds being; untrained operators, negligence, lack of communication, deficiency of safety culture and lack of proper legal regulations. So as to systematically assess the root causes, the grounds should be briefly analyzed. Untrained Operators A nuclear power reactor operator is a person who is entitled to control the reactor from a control panel which gives him or her the responsibility to shut down the nuclear reactor in case of a crisis situation. Moreover, an operator can provide assistance with the loading and unloading of the nuclear fuels and monitor the emergency sensors to control whether there is a leak or not. Within this context, education and training of the operators play a crucial role with regards to the emergency response circumstances. Thus, the operators’ qualifications should cover all aspects of managing and monitoring matters of nuclear power plants with adequate education and training. The IAEA encourages all Member States to employ reactor operators who have license from the governing body. Negligence