It looks TEPCO/Government allow the press inside Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant every three months. The first tour in November last year was only for the reporters and cameramen who belong to the Press Clubs (Japanese and Foreign). The second tour in February allowed the independent media (Iwakami's IWJ and Nico Nico went). The third tour will again allow the independent media, again IWJ and Nico Nico.
What's different this time is, according to the worker who tweets from Fuku-I:
Goshi Hosono, Minister of the Environment and Minister in charge of the nuclear accident, will go with the press on the tour;
They will get off the bus right near the Reactor 4 building;
Hosono and the press representatives may go up the reactor building to see the reinforcement work beneath the Spent Fuel Pool, and go up to the top floors.
The worker who tweets from Fuku-I thinks the reason why Goshi Hosono is coming may be to dispel the rumors circulating around the globe about Reactor 4's building "listing" (leaning, about to collapse, whatever). Bad choice, as Goshi Hosono would be the last person that people would believe. But that aside, the worker doesn't seem particularly worried about Reactor 4 (he never has). From his tweets (here and here):
世論や世界は4号機ばっか騒ぐけど、地震がきて崩壊するのは他も同じじゃないのかなぁ。他号機だって使用済み燃料あるし、まして炉内に燃料が残ってる。1号機や3号機も爆発してるけど補強はやってないよ。今まで何回か震度5がきたけど幸いに大丈夫だった。ちょっと怖かったけど…
People in the world are making a fuss about Unit 4, but I think the other reactor buildings would be the same as Unit 4 if an earthquake hits. Other units also have spent fuel, and what's worse there is still fuel inside the reactors. Units 1 and 3 also exploded but they haven't been reinforced. There has been several earthquakes with seismic intensity of 5, but luckily they were OK. I was scared a bit...
だからと言って楽観的なわけじゃないよ。震度7がきたらわかんないもん。でも危ないのは4号機だけじゃなくて、どれも同じだと思ってる。4号機は来年秋位から使用済燃料を取り出すけど他の号機はまだまだ先の話でいつ使用済み燃料取出すか決まってないからね。
It's not that I am optimistic. No one knows what will happen if an earthquake with seismic intensity of 7 hits. But it's not just Unit 4 that is dangerous. They are all the same. They will start removing the spent fuel from Unit 4 in the fall of next year, but it hasn't been decided when the spent fuel in other Units will be removed.
Independent journalist Ryuichi Kino was tweeting he entered the "lottery" to go to the plant....
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14 comments:
"Bad choice" - love your logic
I agree, Hosono is the last person we want to say it is all "safe.".
The more time Goshi Hosono and his buddies spend prancing around at the reactors, the better. If they truly believe it safe, they should all set up permanent office there.
Lets hope Hosono or "Hoshano" (oyaji gyagu) gets a nice blast of radiation there..
this is rotatably awesome,rejoice, romans everywhere, we need this to happen every week.
They should have invited Gundersen, Alvarez, and those two people from Beyond Nuclear so that they can see for themselves if Unit 4 is tilting like the Tower of Pisa. Gundersen can also check if the Unit 4 SFP's water is boiling at 30 degrees Celsius.
Do any of the reporters now how to take spent fuel assemblies out before another earthquake?
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/303-211/11472-fukushima-daiichi-it-may-be-too-late-unless-the-military-steps-in
Former industry minister Banri Kaieda testifying before a Diet-appointed panel investigating the nuclear disaster.
"It was like we were playing a game of whispers,"
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120518a5.html
@anon 9:25, minor details but the yellow thingy is not the containment vessel in that photo at your link. That's the lid that had been removed from the containment vessel when the unit went into maintenance.
Another minor details, but spent fuel assemblies need to be cooled for a certain number of years before it is safe to be removed. Some of the assemblies in Unit 4 SFP are still very "hot", as they were right out of the reactor when the unit went into the scheduled maintenance.
Mr. Matsumura doesn't give any data or reasoning to support his assertion that "The crippled building of Reactor 4 will not stand through another strong earthquake". Just like Alvarez, Gundersen, or Koide, he just declares.
I've had it with this kind of fear-mongering with thin (no) data. If these people say "TEPCO lies", fine. Then show us the data that support their assertions.
@anon 9:46
Can we be sure that building 4 will survive a strong earthquake? If you know of other such repaired structures holding spent fuel assemblies that have survived a major earthquake then please give us an example.
Perhaps he is thinking of the worst case scenario.
Something we should consider now. Expect the unexpected. At least talk about it and not in whispers.
If M.9 hits again all bets are off, and not just Fukushima. As to other such repaired structures holding SFP, you're out of luck. Fukushima Unit 4 is the first and so far only case in the whole wide world.
As the worker at Fuku-I pointed out, Unit 1 and Unit 3 are not even reinforced after the explosions. They cannot even enter for a long enough time there.
Perhaps he's thinking the worst case scenario? Perhaps is an understatement.
I'd say talk about it with the data, calculation, simulation, not with mere declaration.
I'm not so sure it is the buildings listing or not that should be the concern during earthquakes and tsunamis. I would be focusing on the "mobility" of the steam/water saturated earth under and surrounding all these upper "penthouse" level hot fuel pools. Think of the potential of those millions of gallons of leaked water into the earth immediately surrounding the reactor/hot fuel pool buildings; then add some violent shaking, liquefaction, and maybe a 60 foot tall wave or two.
Not to mention tornadoes, typhoons, lightning strikes and their extremely vulnerable "cooling systems".
Look, we aren't idiots, nuclear industry. The unit 4 building was obviously weakened by the 9M earthquake and tsunami...you don't have to have a PhD in engineering to see that. Furthermore, it's a spent fuel POOL--that must remain cooled. If anything ruptures this and a fire breaks out...prove that you can extinguish it. Prove that this will never happen. Prove that there will never be another earthquake, above a 7M, in an earthquake-prone country and that that pool will never rupture. GO ahead...prove it. EXSKF...prove it. Prove that the worst case scenario is impossible...go ahead, prove it. We're waiting...
anon above, do you care to prove that it will happen?
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