Technical and communication failures that caused disasters Assignment

Technical and communication failures that caused disasters - Assignment Example The technical failure that caused the disaster was the release of methyl isocyanate (MIC) which was due to water that leaked into one of the storage tanks of Union Carbide pesticide factory (Long, 2008). The problem was aggravated by another technical failure when the main warning siren did not go off for another two hours. Apparently, the tank alarms have not functioned for almost four years already. Other technical problems were revealed upon investigation. These include failure to address safety violations, backup system were either not functioning or inexistent, plant was equipped with only one backup system, which was not the norm, over capacity of the tank which held the MIC, water sprays were ineffective and the pipes and valves have not been repaired or replaced (Long, 2008). The technical failure that caused this disaster was the flawed Soviet reactor design which was operated by plant operators who were not properly trained. According to the World Nuclear Association, there was over pressure which was caused by the interaction of very hot fuel with the cooling water (2011). They went on further to say that the over pressure then resulted in the partial detachment of the cover plate of the reactor. The fuel channels were then ruptured and the control rods jammed (World Nuclear Association, 2011). At least 5% of the radioactive reactor core was released through steam and fires, into the atmosphere and downwind (World Nuclear Association, 2011). The reason for the earthquake is due to the abrupt slipping of the crystal rocks comprising the Pacific and North American Plates by as much as 2 meters (7 ft) along their common boundary-the San Andreas fault system (Nakata & Meyer, 2009). There was technical failure in terms of the construction of the buildings. Most of them were extensively damaged because it was built with unreinforced masonry and they were erected on flood plain sediments