Lessons not yet learned from the Fukushima disaster

The Fukushima nuclear catastrophe has led to a wide-spread international discussion on how seismic and tsunami hazards can be better predicted and adverse consequences be prevented. In some countries the event led to the complete phase-out of nuclear energy. The lessons drawn by different organisations including earth scientists, earthquake engineers, non-governmental and governmental organisations will be reviewed from an independent position. This review captures the following areas: (1) Hazard assessment, (2) Engineering design and defence in depth concepts, (3) Emergency preparedness. It is shown that not all important lessons from the catastrophe have been drawn, because some of the root causes of the accident are not yet addressed. Especially the need of a holistic approach towards hazard assessment and the implementation of defence in depth and diversity of design principles for critical infrastructures like nuclear power plants hast to be stronger emphasized to prevent similar disasters.