[Inspection training] Inspection training held in Fukushima

This year's inspection training was held on December 3rd and 10th.

The destination of this visit is the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the Decommissioning Archive Center. In 2024, 13 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the purpose of the visit is to look back on our own activities to preserve the history of the earthquake disaster and to think about what we should pass on to future generations through the visit to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company, where efforts toward decommissioning are still ongoing.

During this inspection, we were accompanied by Mr. Kino from the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Kino has been responding to the situation in Tomioka Town and on the nuclear power plant site since immediately after the earthquake.

We will meet up at a shopping center in Tomioka town and from there we will head on the national highway towards Okuma town.

On the way to the nuclear power plant site, we heard about the scene after the accident, what it was like at the time when people were forced to evacuate, and stories from current Tomioka town residents.

After passing through a strict security check at the entrance, we headed to tour the premises. The vast grounds, the size of 3.5 Tokyo Disney Resorts, stretch across the towns of Futaba and Okuma.

Of the 880 tons of fuel debris remaining inside the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant reactors, only 0.5 grams was removed in a recent operation.

Contaminated water generated by the inflow of groundwater and rainwater is repeatedly purified using the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) until the radioactive materials are below regulatory standards.

The radioactive substance tritium remaining in the ALPS-treated water is also present in natural environments such as rivers and oceans, and is also released from nuclear facilities around the world in accordance with each country's standards.

Although measures were in place to deal with earthquakes, measures against tsunamis were inadequate.

The observation deck in front of the nuclear power plant building that we visited is about 300 meters from the building. Some staff members were surprised that they could see that far without special equipment.

We checked the time when we were in areas with high levels of radiation, but masks were optional and we mostly just wore our regular clothes. The workers, with a few exceptions, also wore their regular work clothes. It has taken time since the accident, but the environment on the premises is gradually improving.

The common impression shared by the staff after the tour was that they had once again realized the importance of experiencing things on-site. There was a considerable discrepancy between the information they had in their heads and the actual situation they saw on-site.

We would like to continue thinking about how we can use this experience to pass on our earthquake disaster heritage.