The disaster at Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, set off by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off Japan's east coast, scored a 7 out of 7 on the International Atomic Energy Agency's International Nuclear and Radiological Events Scale. The metric ranks severity based on many parameters, including an incident's effects on humans and the environment. According to the Japanese government, decommissioning the plant will take 30 to 40 years, and cost an estimated $15 billion.
Many nations reacted by scaling back their nuclear ambitions. Germany led the way, announcing that by 2022, all 17 of its nuclear reactors will be shut down. Those reactors, according to the World Nuclear Association, generated 133 billion kilowatt-hours in 2010, or 28.4 percent of the country's electricity.
To read the full, original article click on this link: The Year in Numbers - Technology Review
