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Japan Lessons Learned (ARCHIVED)

Note: This is an archived web page. For the most up-to-date information, see the new Post-Fukushima Safety Enhancements page.

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck Japan and was followed by a 45-foot tsunami, resulting in extensive damage to the nuclear power reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi facility. The NRC has taken significant action to enhance the safety of reactors in the United States based on the lessons learned from this accident. This page is intended to serve as a navigation hub to follow the NRC's progress in implementing the many different lessons-learned activities.

 

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What Are the Lessons Learned from Fukushima?

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Plant-Specific Japan Lessons-Learned Activities
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Mitigation
Strategies

 a brown outline of a domed nuclear reactor building with a white square representing a reactor and a connected vent stack with a white dotted line arrow going up the vent stack

Hardened Vents & Filtration
a brown circle with a 3 sided rectangle with short end top open in the center; inside the rectangle are 3 horizontal arrows pointing from the right to left side with the lower arrow having 6 vertical bars or lines tight together extending down to the bottom short end of the rectangle

Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation Order

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Seismic Reevaluations
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Flooding
Reevaluations

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Plant Walkdowns of Seismic & Flooding Protection Features
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Emergency Preparedness – Staffing & Communications

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Mitigation of
Beyond-Design-Basis
Events Rulemaking
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Regulatory Framework (Recommendation 1)

    
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Reference Library

Page Last Reviewed/Updated Friday, September 18, 2020

Section Navigation
Bonsai tree with green leaves. Black trunk and ground appears in front of a setting red sun.

NRC created this graphic to help the public identify our work on implementing the lessons we’ve learned from Fukushima. The bonsai tree represents Japanese culture, with the green foliage in the shape of Japan’s islands representing hope and growth. The red sun comes from Japan’s flag, and the base of the logo represents a solid foundation of cooperation and understanding.