A cover for this reactor is under construction that will stretch 66 meters long, 56 meters wide and 68 meters high. The silhouette of twisted metal and shredded walls evokes the iconic Hiroshima atomic dome. Unit 1, the only reactor still without a shroud and closest to the viewing platform, is a shattered shell of a structure still partially buried under radioactive debris eleven years on. Credit: TEPCOĭespite an abundance of reassuring facts, the tour may not succeed in dispelling everyone’s concerns. Reactor 1 at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant April 16, 2022. TEPCO asserts one can safely access 96% of the plant complex in normal clothing. At the end of the tour my radiation monitor recorded a mild dose of 0.02 mSv, similar to a typical chest x-ray. No hazmat suits or protective gear, just a light vest with a pocket for a radiation monitor and thin gloves TEPCO required as an anti-Covid measure.
As we gazed on the ruins and debris our guide fielded questions and herded our group of eight into photos against this eerie backdrop. Upon reaching the viewing platform the scene of devastation triggered memories of the televised March 2011 hydrogen explosions and served as a reminder of what could go tragically wrong. Our guide provided numerous handouts and gave an informative PowerPoint presentation that focused on the positive and progress made, but much was not covered, and her answers were sometimes evasive or misleading.
Fukushima Daiichi is an immense site covering 3.5 sq km, just a bit bigger than Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. Our TEPCO guide briefed us before we arrived at the security check and then reboarded the bus, passing by a phalanx of water storage tanks, water treatment plants, cherry blossoms, parking lots of abandoned radiation-contaminated vehicles and construction work until we reached the reactors. Surreal is the only way to describe how it felt to be standing on a viewing platform about 100 meters from the four crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as the chilly winds gusted in from the ocean. Water storage tanks at Fukushima Daiichi, April 2022. Based on my April 16 th tour, transparency and forthrightness remain a work in progress. Apparently, the government encouraged TEPCO to arrange public tours as a way of regaining trust and demonstrating transparency. In 2022, TEPCO is mounting a PR campaign to normalize the Fukushima disaster and assert that everything is more or less under control, the nuclear plant is safe, and decommissioning is making good progress.
Reactor 1 before cover installed in October 2011. Credit: The Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Museum. The other three reactors are now all shrouded (see below). The cover was installed in October 2011 but the roof was removed in 2015, while the wall panels were removed in 2021 in preparation for installing a new building cover in 2023 to facilitate spent fuel rod removal. Undated photo of 4 reactors, here with Reactor 1 (at right) covered. Here I examine some aspects of this vibrant discourse and how the trauma of Fukushima is evolving. Abstract: The legacies of the Fukushima nuclear accident remain hotly contested in the media, academia, the courts and public debate because various actors have much at stake in contemporary battles over the future of nuclear energy, the national economy, decommissioning of the stricken reactors and public memory.
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