Project idea
The project idea for the development of the TFP- System is based on the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The Fukushima disaster in 2011 illustrates the devastating effects that tsunamis can have on nuclear power plants and represents an alarming turning point in the debate about the safety of these plants.
Although the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant already had a flood wall of 4 meters in height, this was raised to 5.7 meters after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2003 - a response to the lessons learned from this event.
However, in view of the enormous wave heights of the tsunami of March 11, 2011, even this increased protective wall proved to be insufficient, reaching a height of 14 meters at the peak and 10 meters at the site of the nuclear power plant.
The effects were devastating: the external power supply was destroyed and the critical infrastructure of the nuclear power plant, such as the emergency diesel, emergency standby and transformer buildings, were flooded.
The subsequent collapse of the internal battery supply meant that the cooling water pumps and the emergency pumps for cooling the reactors could no longer be supplied with power - a decisive factor in the nuclear disaster that followed.
Initial situation
The threat to nuclear power plants from the effects of tsunamis is a highly relevant issue, particularly in view of global climate change.
There are currently 74 reactors at 23 nuclear power plant sites worldwide (as of 2012, source: Civil nuclear power at risk of tsunamis, Natural Hazards 63(2):1273-1278DOI:10.1007/s11069-012-0162-0) that could potentially be affected by tsunamis - and the trend is rising as the construction of new reactors gathers pace in various parts of the world.
The effects of climate change must also be taken into account, particularly with regard to the parameters for flooding and storm surge events. Rising sea levels and the increase in extreme weather events increase the risk of flooding and tsunamis, which could potentially endanger nuclear power plants.
In addition, global political instability must not be ignored, which leads to further threats. The idea that terrorist attacks could deliberately trigger flooding of coastal areas and nuclear power plants is very worrying.
Overall, this highlights the multiple risks and threats that nuclear power plants face in relation to tsunamis and flooding.
Lessons learned for the Innomecom AG Team was that diversity to flood protection walls is necessary to improve nuclear power plants in terms of nuclear safety and to protect the plant investment.
In principle, the TFP- System can also be used to protect other critical infrastructure against tsunami and severe flooding.
