Input 2021.03.11 13:47
In the 10th anniversary, the media in each country re-examined… “The damage is ongoing”
Japanese government provides roadmap for completion of decommissioning work by 2051
Experts “It’s difficult to complete in 40 years… it’s almost delusional”
Tokyo Electric Power Co., Ltd. hides seismic system breakdowns during last month’s accident
Two days later, after the hydrogen explosion of Unit 2, a fire broke out in Unit 4 as well. Radiation of 400mSv per hour (millisievert), which is 100 times the amount of radiation normally absorbed by humans in one year, spread directly into the atmosphere. On the same day, a hydrogen explosion occurred at the reactor of No. 2, and a large-scale radioactivity leaked again.
Following the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine in 1986, the Fukushima nuclear accident, which was recorded as the’worst nuclear disaster in human history’, marked its 10th anniversary. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ranked the 7th highest among the 0-7th grades on the Accident Assessment Scale (INES). According to the Japan Metropolitan Police Department, 15,899 people were killed, 6157 people were injured, and 2,529 people were missing at the time. 228863 people lost their home and became refugees.
It was about 20 days from March 11, when the accident occurred, to March 30, when TEPCO recognized the permanent shutdown of nuclear power plants 1 to 4, but the aftermath is’ongoing’. The New York Times (NYT) reported that the contaminated water that the Japanese government expressed willingness to discharge and the decommissioning work left over 40 years shows the aftereffects of the accident 10 years ago. In particular, the Japanese government’s plan to complete the decommissioning of the three nuclear reactors that collapsed is said to be receiving tremendous criticism from environmental protection and anti-nuclear organizations around the world.
◇I will make a’greenery’ within 40 years… Academia and environmental circles are “delusions”
Earlier, the Japanese government pulled out all 566 nuclear fuel rods from Unit 3 on the 28th of last month. However, there are still more than 1,000 nuclear fuel rods in Units 1 and 2. This is in accordance with the roadmap to take out all the fuel rods by 2031 and finish the decommissioning work by 2051 at the latest. However, the investigation on the containment vessel of Unit 1 (steel plate installed on the inner wall of the reactor building) has not been initiated. The removal of debris from nuclear fuel rods melted from the containment vessel of Unit 2 was also postponed after next year.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Akira Ono, who is in charge of the decommissioning operation, said, “We will establish a technology development plan so that the reactor work set for 2041~2051 can be safely completed,” and “There is no plan to revise the final goal.” It is planning to return the site of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to’greenery’ within at least 40 years. The AP pointed out that the level of the first containment vessels at the two nuclear reactors turned out to be significantly different from those originally identified, and that the authorities showed confidence even though the work became more complicated.
German public media Deutsche Belle (DW) also quoted multiple expert comments the day before, predicting that the decommissioning work of disposing of the nuclear power plant will take more than 40 years and the probability of success is very low. “It is a delusion and fraud to return an irreversibly completely changed decommissioned reactor within 40 years,” said Sean Bernie, an East Asian nuclear expert at the global environmental group Greenpeace. “I’m wasting my time fooling humanity.”
Congressman Naoto Kan, who was prime minister at the time of the Fukushima accident, said in a media interview on the 4th, “I saw TV and knew it only at 5pm.” It was 3:36 pm on the 12th that the smoke soared along with an explosion sound from the 1st nuclear power plant. “Tokyo Electric Power’s concealment of this information continues,” he said. “The Fukushima accident is a human resource.” Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who said “Fukushima is well-controlled,” while the nuclear fuel export and contaminated water treatment problems have not been resolved at all, said “I lied to attract the Olympics.”
This is not the first time that Tokyo Electric Power, which manages the Fukushima nuclear power plant, has concealed information. On the 13th of last month, a 7.3 earthquake occurred in the offshore of Fukushima Prefecture, and a large-scale radioactive material leaked from the No. 1 nuclear power plant. However, in the process of investigating this incident, it was revealed that the two seismographs installed by Tokyo Electric Power Co., Ltd. had failed since last year, but had been neglected. Because of this, the Asahi Shimbun reported that it was not able to secure any record of shaking of Unit 3, which will be used as an important measure for future earthquakes.
Earlier, the Japan Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission recommended the installation of an additional seismometer, which was installed only in units 5 and 6, because the earthquake at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake caused the seismic resistance of the reactor building of Unit 3 to be checked continuously. TEPCO installed seismographs on the first and fifth floors of Unit 3 in March last year. However, the first-floor seismometer was flooded with heavy rain in July of the same year, and the fifth-floor seismometer was also said to have frequent errors in the measurement data from October.
The broken seismometer was left unattended for several months, but was revealed late in the process of an inquiry by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission on the 22nd of last month. At a press conference held after the earthquake in Fukushima ten days ago, Tokyo Electric Power did not comment on the fact of the seismic system failure. The Nippon Geizai Shimbun said, “It was not possible to secure an important record due to the easy response of Tokyo Electric Power, and it caused a big setback in response.” On the other hand, Tokyo Electric Power Corp. explained that “it took time to analyze the cause of the problem” for the delay in repairing the seismometer.