Saturday, August 11, 2012

Photograph of Reactor 4 Containment Vessel Lid Removal: Hitachi Banner Proudly Displayed


as it should. The workers who did the work were from Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy and from Hitachi Plant Engineering and/or their subcontractors, judging by the photographs.

In the video also released by TEPCO, the workers on the ground were blurred, supposedly to protect privacy, and half the banner was hidden as the workers go back and forth in front of the removed lid.

But in the photographs, the only modifications TEPCO did was to blur the names of the workers on their backs. No need to blur the faces of the workers in the video anyway, because they all wore full face masks.

The work required 36 workers in two groups (18 each). The workers were exposed to maximum 0.39 millisievert for the work that took 15 minutes on August 10, according to the information TEPCO released on August 10, 2012.

(Click on the photo to enlarge.)

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ultraman, you forgot to mention the Japanese team male defeat...

BTW, here is a hint... probably creating an awareness on these issues would be a little bit more helpful:

Imagine a 15 meter tsunami, ok?

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/mururoa-atoll-could-collapse-report-kept-secret-for-2-years-277717.html

Cheers.

Andres Arce said...

It's interesting that the respectful reverence points out the Japanese origin of the workers; they really are quite sacrificing themselves (committing suicide almost) for the cause of saving the planet.

Anonymous said...

GE
Brings Good Things To Life

The GE ad campaign, started shortly after their BWR Mark 1 reactors demonstrated the design shortcomings so clearly, has been relentless.

Curing our cancer and keeping our beer cold.

Not buying the whitewash for one minute.

Anonymous said...

Anon above, just don't take it out on these workers.

Anonymous said...

My ex worked for GE building nuke reactors in CA in the late 60's or early 70's. I remember hearing some ugly stories about what went on at night there and the lack of quality control.

GE's old ad campaign at DisneyLand was like Monsanto's at EPCOT years ago - no mention of nukes or GMO.

Now they are both killing us!

m a x l i said...

@Anonymous at 6:46 pm
It would be more helpful if you could be a bit more specific instead of saying: "remember hearing some ugly stories".
In hindsight, do you think we could live in a different world today if your ex or one of the many thousands who knew some "ugly stories" managed to find a way to make it public 40-50 years ago?
Don't you think, at least now, would be the right time instead of never?

Anonymous said...

this is an incredible story, clearly 1 of my faves. bye the bye, we removed the lid off of
the container. Why? probably the old saw of
the building collapsing

Anonymous said...

Oh come on... Not even the Japanese are talking about Unit 4 collapsing any more...

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

This would make a wonderful statuary for the Kantei...

Anonymous said...

Are those workers kneeling down praying because they are so close to the "Radiation God"?

If I was that close to a nuclear meltdown, I would be kissing my ass goodbye!

Nancy said...

So what does the banner say. There is another picture on TEPCO's site where it isn't blocked. I can't quite translate it though.

People should remember that blame should go to the companies and the decision makers at the company. They are who made the determinations to cut corners. Most low level workers are trying to earn a paycheck in a system that discourages or outright destroys anyone speaking out. This is true in Japan's nuclear culture and equally true in the US nuclear culture. Raising an issue will get the issue ignored at best, get you fired if you push it too far. Whistleblowers in the US nuke industry get their careers ended and their lives destroyed if they speak out and push for change on a safety issue. The workers to outed the mess at Millstone NPP, Gundersen, there is also a guy who outed problems at Hanford recently got the same treatment.
Sure these workers at Daiichi could go get into a new line of work but we all really need them right now to be doing the work they are doing. There needs to be a distinction between the workers on the ground and those making the real decisions while raking in much larger salaries. The decision makers love it when the public blames the guy turning the wrench rather than them.

Anonymous said...

Since the Administrater removes the comments,, I'll just say Freedom of speech or find another line of work.;)

Atomfritz said...

I wonder if the Hitachi press department selected this photo because its quasi-religious expression of the workers bowing almost like praying believers before the Hitachi-labeled sanctuary cap.

@ anon 6:03
LaPrimavera usually doesn't censor, but there are sometimes posts that use racially offensive language which shouldn't be used in a blog with international audience. Or, maybe it was just our "all-caps Finnish friend" or whatever... but probably it wasn't worth reading anyway.

Anonymous said...

> So what does the banner say. There is another picture on TEPCO's site where it isn't blocked. I can't quite translate it though.

It seems to just state the companies' full/official name, something like "Hitachi GE Nuclear Technologies K. K."

pat said...

This large item would only be removed if TEPCO was freaking out about
the Unit 4 structural problems.

They announced "Cracking" and "Bowing" and then launched an initiative
to strip dead mass off of Unit 4.

never believe what they say, they are pathological liars.

Look at what they are doing.

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Walter said...

A late comment: I wonder if the names of the workers were blurred out, in order that it is not possible to trace them and have a look, if they are still alive today (May 2017).

Listening and watching Dana Durnford (BeautifulGirlByDana YouTube channel)it is really questionable if there was a fuel pool left to be emptied.

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