Shukan Asahi, one of the major weekly magazines in Japan by one of Japan's mainstream media (Asahi), has a scoop on Fukushima II (Daini) Nuclear Power Plant. I have no reason to believe this is true, but I also have no reason not to believe this is true. According to the person who used to work at Fuku II, it is more likely to be true.
According to the reporter, Fukushima II has sustained extensive damage from the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and that hasn't been properly disclosed by any party (TEPCO or the government). He also says TEPCO knows there is no way the plant can be restarted anytime soon, if at all.
The reporter, Shun Kirishima (probably a pseudonym), works at Fukushima II and filed this report, according to Shukan Asahi. The article has several photographs, but the quality is rather bad.
Information from Shukan Asahi May 9, 2012 issue (the images of the article are posted at the end of the post):
1. Reactor 1 building still has no electricity restored after more than 1 year since the March 11, 2011 disaster. Aluminum window frames bend inward. (Photo 1)
2. Reactor 1 building basement is all rusted - pipes, light shades, equipment. Sands on the floor, mud caked on the cables on the ceiling (3-meter high).
3. The industry insiders had told the reporter earlier that TEPCO had informed them right after the March 11, 2011 disaster that Fukushima II wouldn't be operational for 5 years. It is a wishful thinking on TEPCO's headquarters' part that Fukushima II is anywhere near operational. It isn't, and it is damaged badly.
4. The office building is badly damaged, with ceiling collapsed and walls fallen down. (Photo 4)
5. Even though Fukushima II achieved cold shutdown 4 days after the earthquake/tsunami, it was a very close call. Some of the pumps for the heat exchanger didn't work, and some of the emergency diesel generators in Reactors 1 through 4 didn't work after the tsunami. In Reactor 1 building, 2 out of 3 diesel generators couldn't be used because they were damaged by the tsunami, even though they were in the reactor building above the 1st floor. (Photo 6)
6. Reactor 3 turbine building basement was flooded with water, even though TEPCO announced in March this year that there was no damage in the turbine building basements of Reactors 3 and 4. The reporter claims there is a handwritten note in the 2nd basement floor of Reactor 3 that says "2011.3.11 (inundated with water) 430 centimeters from the floor surface" - i.e. 4.3 meters of water in the basement (Photo 7). In the report in August last year, TEPCO says the water was from the skimmer surge tank overflow, but the reporter says it is hard to believe, because the 2nd floor of the basement was not just flooded but completely filled with water.
7. TEPCO says the damage at Fukushima II is due to the tsunami. But the pipes in the heat exchanger building on the 2nd floor, which was not flooded with the tsunami, show extensive damage, and they are being repaired or replaced. (Photos 9 and 10)
The Shukan Asahi article:
(UPDATE) Just as I posted, I also found TEPCO's newly released photographs (5/9/2012) of Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant. Everything looks great as far as these photographs show. There are photographs of Reactor 1's diesel generators.
30-Day free trial by following the link.
Tokyo Time
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10 comments:
Gee. I thought failure to disclose the destruction of billion dollar assets on a company's financial statements would send company executives and perhaps auditors to jail.
Good to see this spelled out. People have been ignoring Dai-ni, although the tsunami affected it as well and IT SHOULDN'T HAVE.
"The reporter claims there is a handwritten note in the 2nd basement floor of Reactor 3 that says "2011.3.11 (inundated with water) 430 millimeters from the floor surface" - i.e. 4.3 meters of water in the basement (Photo 7)."
Since when 430 mm correspond to 4.3 metres?
C'mon!
Roberto
Sorry, 430 centimeters.
I have many months ago checked all the official status updates reports from TEPCO regarding both NPP site after a news report about radiactive water in the basement at Daiini. Unless I overlooked it somewhere, TEPCO made no reports of any problems at the Daiini plant.
Just recently, however, looking through some NRC transcripts obtained under the FOIA, there was indeed mention of a near meltdown situation at Daiini. Unfortunately, I can't find the document right now, but if/when I do, I'll gladly post the link.
Bottom line: I would not be surprised at all if at least some of the damage here reported does indeed exist. Something went on there, and the silence about it may very well in and of itself confirm it.
*mscharisma*
i followed the link to the latest photos.
can you translate this one for me please..
(4)電動機据付後の機能確認
（試運転時の振動測定）
撮影日：平成24年４月12日
I'm looking at the photo and I can't get over how clean and new the environment looks.
The mega-ducting across the top left is pristine, certainly doesn't look like decades of use to me.
But maybe it's not fuku di.. which would explain things. but then, why post pics of somewhere else ?
@richard:
contrary to popular galore all nuclear power plants look pristine once you are inside... it's no coal plant, no combustion/fumes of any sort, all piping is stainless steel, they all look like that, it's perfectly normal.
Roberto
@anon 9:39
It's always Potemkin villaging.
If visitors from the press or politics are announced, they do some superficial clean up, do some new paint etc.
There are quite some nuclear installations all over the world from where rarely photos do leak.
I have seen shocking photographs from inside nuclear plants all over the world.
Dirty, rusty, cracking, leaking, squirting, flooding, even collapsing structures. This already has led to many nuclear close-calls.
And this is not limited to countries like India, Pakistan, Bulgaria, Russia, and Germany.
It's common in USA, too.
The NRC actually doesn't care for cleanliness in nuclear installations.
Their inspectors even allowed to restart the Davis-Besse nuclear plant, they ignored the fact that the reactor pressure vessel was covered with thick rust.
Luckily shortly before restart some worker by chance noticed that it was no superficial rusting but completely rusted-through up to the thin inner, stainless-steel layer... one of the many close-calls, one of the few that became public.
@mscharisma, they did report, but I wouldn't be surprised that they only did it in Japanese. Not all TEPCO's press releases get translated in English, and METI or NISA is even worse when it comes to translating.
@richard, they moved the electric motor from the 2nd floor of the heat exchanger building to the 1st floor, and checked to see if it was properly installed.
@laprimavera: Good point. I'm only able to read English text, so if it was somewhere in the Japanese version(s), I would not know. Thanks for pointing that out.
*mscharisma*
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