IAEA at Fukushima

April 16, 2013

IAEA starts review at Fukushima

Kyodo

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/04/16/national/iaea-starts-review-at-fukushima/#.UWwZV0psFEs

A team of nuclear experts formed by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday started its activities in Japan to review the country’s ongoing efforts to scrap the crippled reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

It is the first IAEA mission to Japan focusing on decommissioning. The 12-member team will also look into the recent radioactive water leaks and electricity supply disruptions at the plant — mishaps occurring more than two years after the devastating nuclear crisis started.

Team leader Juan Carlos Lentijo, director of the IAEA Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology, said the recent troubles are among the topics to be discussed during the one-week mission.

“After this week of discussions, I hope that we will have enough information to give our assessment and to give our feedback to the government of Japan on the two issues,” he said prior to the start of the team’s activities.

The experts will also assess the general strategy for the decommissioning of the plant’s four crippled reactors, a process the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. expect to take at least 40 years.

During their stay, the experts will visit the Fukushima complex and release a preliminary report on April 22, according to government officials.

The review will be made in two steps, with the second step slated for several months later, Lentijo said.

Tepco has said it has kept the stricken reactors stable by injecting water continuously. But as a result, massive amounts of radioactive water continue to accumulate at the site and managing the polluted liquid remains a challenge.

Most recently, Tepco found a series of leaks of contaminated water from sunken reservoirs.

Before revelation of the water leaks, a power outage, believed to have been triggered by a rat that touched a makeshift switchboard, disabled the cooling system for the spent-fuel pools of reactors 1, 3 and 4. It took 29 hours to restore the system.

Se also : IAEA starts review on Japan's efforts to scrap Fukushima reactors

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130415p2g00m0dm062000c.html

April 15, 2013

IAEA reviewing cleanup at damaged Fukushima nuke plant

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201304150116

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency on April 15 began reviewing the decommissioning process at Japan's crippled nuclear plant, where new problems are triggering growing safety concerns about a cleanup expected to take decades.

The experts will assess and analyze melted reactors, radiation levels and waste management at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to make its decommissioning process safer and more stable, team leader Juan Carlos Lentijo told reporters.

The cleanup is "a very difficult challenge," he said, and "it is very important to conduct the decommissioning process in a very safe way."

The mission by the 12-member team is the International Atomic Energy Agency's first review of the plant's decommissioning process.

Japan's nuclear watchdog said there have been at least eight accidents or problems at the plant since mid-March, ranging from extensive power outages and leaks of contaminated water.

The problems are raising concerns about whether the plant, crippled by the March 2011 tsunami, can stay intact through a decommissioning process that could take 40 years. The problems have also prompted officials to compile risk-reduction measures and revise decommissioning plans.

Among the most pressing issue is leakage of tons of highly radioactive water from three of seven underground storage pools into the soil. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. and regulatory officials said none of it was believed to have reached ocean.

The contaminated water storage has been a headache from right after the accident, but officials finally acknowledged last week that the lack of space has become a "crisis." TEPCO has promised to speed up building more reliable steel tanks and eventually empty the underground tanks, but the leak will continue until then. Runoff from the three reactors melted in the aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami and a steady inflow of groundwater seeping into the basement of their damaged buildings produce about 400 tons of contaminated water daily at the plant.

The IAEA team will inspect the plant and hold more talks with TEPCO and government officials during its review. It will compile an assessment and advise the Japanese government in a report next week, and a follow-up evaluation is expected within several months.