If those people that setup the tsunami stones are still alive during the incident they will have a kahuna of "I told you" moment.
>Before beginning construction, Tohoku Electric conducted surveys and simulations aimed at predicting tsunami levels. The initial predictions showed that tsunamis in the region historically had an average height of about 3 meters. Based on that, the company constructed its plant at 14.7 meters above sea level, almost five times that height.
>Tepco, on the other hand, to make it easier to transport equipment and to save construction costs, in 1967 removed 25 meters from the 35-meter natural seawall of the Daiichi plant site and built the reactor buildings at a much lower elevation of 10 meters.
https://thebulletin.org/2014/03/onagawa-the-japanese-nuclear...
Fukushima 1F was a failure of governmental regulation.
It's really important to understand that, because otherwise you inescapably frame the argument wrongly. Capitalism isn't the problem, regulatory weakness is the problem. No capitalist society can survive lack of effective regulation.
(Fukushima was bad, and an example of regulatory failure, but Japan's overall effective regulatory influence over its corporations — and similarly, its mafia — is the secret sauce that has made it an economic overperformer. China can also do that — because it is a brutal dictatorship. America can't do that — and things aren't looking good. UK retains the power to do it, but it's Keystone Kops. EU can't do it, either, for reasons I can't understand at distance.
But creating safe nuclear power plants is fundamentally the same problem as creating safe elevators. In a capitalist society, it's 100% about regulatory power and competence, and nothing else.
Similar to mitigating climate change effects 30 years ago. Now it's way too late.
The issue is the height of the seawalls that was not sufficient (and perhaps historical warnings, if any, were ignored):
"The subsequent destructive tsunami with waves of up to 14 metres (46 ft) that over-topped the station, which had seawalls" [1]
Edit: Regarding historical warnings:
"The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake occurred in exactly the same area as the 869 earthquake, fulfilling the earlier prediction and causing major flooding in the Sendai area." [2]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_Nuclear_Powe...
Various construction changes could have prevented this from happening:
- the whole power plan being built higher up or further inland
-> this would likely be quite a bit more expensive due to land availability & cooling water management when not on sea level & next to the sea
- the emergency generators being built higher up or protected from a tsunami by other means (watertight bunker ?)
-> of course this requires the plan cooling systems & the necessary wiring itself working after surviving a massive earthquake & being flooded
An inland power plant - while quite wasteful in an island country - would be protected from tsunamis & certainly doable. On the other hand, I do wonder how would high concrete cooling towers handle strong earthquakes ? A lot of small cooling towers might have ti be used, like in Palo Verde nuclear generating station in Arizona.
Otherwise a bizzare case could still happen, with a meltdown possibly happening due to your cooling towers falling over & their cooling capacity being lost.
Would work for volcanoes and earthquakes as well.
Century-old stone "tsunami stones" dot Japan's coastline (2015) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39892533 - April 2024 (142 comments)
Tsunami Warnings, Written in Stone (2011) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10122825 - Aug 2015 (10 comments)
Arguably books could be considered warning waystones, but that's a stretch in this context.
Physical monuments though, we have loads, lots of war memorials are/were intended as warning about the cost of war.
Auschwitz-Birkenau being left as as it is could be considered another.
If you want to get really close to similar intentions there are the long term nuclear waste warnings:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_nuclear_waste_warnin...
A bit more esoteric (and less warningy) and you get the signals we send in to space intentionally as a time-capsule/marker for potential alien contact.
Without clear warnings and boundaries humanity is just waiting for a catastrophe.
A tiny sign and words don’t count.
https://www.ans.org/news/article-416/the-art-of-the-10000yea...
"The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake occurred in exactly the same area as the 869 earthquake, fulfilling the earlier prediction and causing major flooding in the Sendai area. [1]
Modern society is not good at this sort of very long term consideration and planning.
https://archive.is/20161221102801/http://www.nytimes.com/201...
