On August 10, 2012 the UN Atomic Agency said that the Japan’s Onagawa nuclear power plant was surprisingly in good shape. The nuclear power plant is in good condition despite the fact that it was closest to the epicentre of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The International Atomic Energy Agency in an initial report said, “the structural elements of the plant were remarkably undamaged given the magnitude of ground motion experienced and the duration and size of this great earthquake”. While the Vienna based IAEA said, “Onagawa experienced very high levels of ground shaking—among the strongest of any plant affected by the earthquake—and some flooding from the tsunami that followed, but was able to shut down safely”.
On the other hand the Fukushima plant which was 120 kms to the south was not so lucky and suffered multiple reactor meltdowns and released the radioactivity in to the environment and resulted in the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years. There will be more visits at the Onagawa and the other Japanese nuclear plants will also be reviewed.
The findings will be then added to the IAEA database after being compiled by its International seismic Safety Centre which was a part of the watchdog’s action plan on nuclear safety.
