Tsunami and Environmental Pollution Hazards: A Note for the Restoration Process - Post-Tsunami Hazard: Reconstruction and Restoration - page 267

totaled 120,000 t, representing the highest amount of debris to be processed and
incinerated. Up to March 2013, 3 t of incineration ash and fl y ash were generated
from burning debris (Taisei Corp. 2013 ).
Dioxins, nitrogen oxides, metals and metalloids, among other compounds, may
have been released during this process. To prevent the production of dioxins at the
sites, debris was incinerated at 800 °C, having previously gone through removal of
sand and soil by rotary and vibration screening while modifi ers were also added
(MPG 2013a ). Products of combustion, such as nano-particles, could also have been
produced and may continue to remain in solid and liquid waste (Leiva 2013 ).

17.4 Radiation

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011 caused the Fukushima
Dai-ichi nuclear power plant south of Miyagi Prefecture to suffer severe damage as
radiation spewed into the air, contaminating large areas of land and resulting in
emergency evacuations and setting up exclusion zones (Cabinet Offi ce 2012 ;
Fukushima on the Globe 2013 ) (Fig. 17.8 ). The Onagawa nuclear plant facility in
Miyagi was not affected since the plant's reactors shut down immediately following
the event, initiating emergency cool-down protocols. In the case of the Fukushima
Dai-ichi nuclear plant, although the reactors were shut down automatically, safety
systems for reactors No. 1 to No. 4 failed to keep cooling. The earthquake damaged
power lines providing energy to the facility, and soon after the independent, emergency
diesel generators were fl ooded by the 10-m (30 ft.) tsunami waves. As a result,

Fig. 17.8 Security gate along Route 288 in Tamura city by the exclusion zone. Fukushima
Prefecture