Unexploded device found near Fukushima plant

August 10, 2017

Unexploded bomb found near Fukushima plant

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20170810_28/

Police are checking what appears to be an unexploded bomb found near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Construction workers found the object on Thursday morning while drilling at a parking lot to expand the site, about 300 meters from the power plant in Fukushima Prefecture.

Police say the object is about 85 centimeters long and 15 centimeters in diameter.

Police were sending the pictures of the object to the Self-Defense Forces to determine whether it could explode, and will consider measures to remove it.

The operator of the power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company, says an airfield of the now-defunct Imperial Japanese military used to be at the site, and the facility was air raided during World War Two.

TEPCO says an area within 200 meters from the site is cordoned off, but that decommission work for the crippled reactors on the plant premises is underway as usual.

August 10, 2017

Suspected bomb found on premises of Fukushima power plant: TEPCO

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170810/p2a/00m/0na/008000c

August 10, 2017 (Mainichi Japan)

OKUMA, Fukushima -- What appears to be an undetonated bomb has been discovered on the premises of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) announced on Aug. 10.

The device was discovered buried in the ground at a parking lot currently undergoing maintenance in the western corner of the premises at 7:30 a.m. by an excavation worker. With a length of approximately 85 centimeters and a diameter of about 15 centimeters, the cylindrical apparatus has what appears to be a stabilizer tail. It was located roughly a kilometer from the damaged No. 1 to No. 4 reactors.

The Fukushima Prefectural Police are working to confirm if the device is indeed a bomb and are considering disposal methods if it is confirmed to be an explosive. Police have cordoned off the surrounding area, but the situation has not caused any effects on the decommissioning of the plant.

U.S. forces launched an airstrike in an area around the power plant during World War II, according to the Fukushima Prefectural Archives.