Following the March 11, 2011 9.0 Magnitude earthquake that spawned powerful tsunami that pummeled the TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power COmpany)-(privately) owned facility triggering several near meltdowns over the ensuing weeks.
While it took several months to finally get the situation under control, the entirety of Japan's nuclear power generation program came under fire for lack of safeguards, prompting the country to all but shut down its primary source for electrical power.
While Japan has never been truly in the dark electricity-wise, its governments and population certainly appear to have been, as issues continue to arise over the safety of the Dai-ichi reactor facility.
This past Monday, April 15, 2013, the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency arrived on-site to review the decommissioning process that involves shutting it down completely and cleaning up—something that should take about 40 years and (current estimates of) $100 billion (~¥9.8-trillion) to complete.
I appreciate that people want to take their time to ensure the best possible job is done to ensure public safety - but damn, 40 years is a heck of a long time.
According to the Atomic Energy Agency, its 12-person team of experts will look at the damaged and, in some cases, melted nuclear reactors, analyze radiation levels and assess the plant's waste management situation.
Why? To make sure that the decommissioning process is safe.
It kind of makes one wonder that if all facilities tried to be so safe, we wouldn't be having to decommission these reactors in Fukushima.
Despite the plant having first been damaged over two years ago, there have been at least eight documented issues since the middle of March 2013, including contaminated water leaks and power outages.
These issues have caused a fair bit of consternation for the Atomic Energy Agency team—will the Dai-ichi plant maintain a level of safety throughout the 40-year decommission?
One of the major concerns is the tons of water—radioactive water—that have leaked into the solid from three of the seven underground nuclear facility storage pools. TEPCO and nuclear regulatory officials are at least all in agreement that none of the water appears to have reached the ocean, and the fact that no 1,000-foot tall gas-spewing sea cucumbers have been seen stomping around Japanese Sephora shops trying to pick-up teenaged girls seems to back up their conclusions.
Apparently the radioactive water storage pools have been a source of concern for the past two years, with TEPCO acknowledging that more storage is needed and that it is in the process of getting more.
TEPCO says it has promised (no fingers crossed behind the back, I hope) to speed up the construction of steel holding tanks.
WTF?! You man you weren't already working at top speed? The storage problems of the contaminated water has been affirmed since March 2011!!! The issue of leaking water is well-documented! Why were the tank builders not working at a faster rate, if a faster rate was possible?! TEPCO implies a faster rate is possible because it has promised to 'speed up' their construction! OMG. Someone's pants are on fire (Liar, liar)!
Once the steel tanks are ready, the contaminated water will be emptied from the underground pools… but until such time, the radioactive water leaks into the soil around the facility will continue.
This is a fact. Unless the pools become completely empty, at which case I am 100 per cent certain the leaks stop.
See? Others, beside TEPCO can play dumb, too. Except I'm actually playing.
FYI, there are some 11,000 used and new nuclear fuel rods and assemblies that have to be removed from the seven underground storage pools - and even if things were to start later this year, these highly radioactive rods would not be fully removed until sometime in 2021.
The Dai-ichi nuclear power generating plant has six BWR (boiling water reactors) in its 3.5 kilometer grounds located in the Fukushima-ken (Fukushima Prefecture) towns of Futaba and Okuma. Three of the six BWR reactors suffered near meltdowns during the tumultuous time.
Designed by Boise, TEPCO and General Electric (??!!), the Dai-ichi I facility (there's a Dai-ichi II facility farther south that was undamaged by the earthquake and tsunami) is one of the 15th largest nuclear reactor power stations in the world.
The Atomic Energy Agency is visiting the nuclear power plant between April 15-22, 2013. A press conference will be held on the 22nd to reveal preliminary results, with a follow-up evaluation expected in a few months.
Here's hoping the report is glowing. Or not glowing. Whichever one is better.
Cheers
Andrew Joseph
PS: The photo above was taken from the International Atomic Energy Agency website, showing its experts departing Unit 4 of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on April 17, 2013.
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