No.61 Site visit to Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

This time, based on a request from the National Association of Mayors, we were able to accept a site visit to a nuclear power plant.
On the day of the event, we traveled from Koriyama Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen to J-village on the All Japan City Mayors Association bus, where we received a lecture on radiation and radioactive substances from the mayor of Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture, Tateya. After listening to the precautions, I changed into disaster prevention clothes and headed to the site.
First, I checked my identity at the entrance/exit control facility, received a temporary visitor card, passed through the radiation inspection gate, was lent a personal dosimeter, and finally entered the premises.
Due to anti-terrorism measures and security reasons, photography was prohibited inside the premises and cameras were restricted.
The inside of the premises was inspected from inside the bus, first passing in front of the multi-nuclide removal equipment (ALPS), and after checking the appearance of Units 1 to 4, we went between Units 2 and 3 while observing the impermeable walls of frozen soil. passed through the aisle. When we got close to the reactor building that had collapsed due to the hydrogen explosion, we all felt nervous.
Observe the fuel tanks on the sea side that were damaged by the tsunami, pass in front of Units 5 and 6, which are in cold shutdown without damage from the tsunami, and finally get off the bus and tour the seismic isolated building. Did. The Emergency Response Headquarters is located here, and it is always on the front line of decommissioning work, with 40 to 50 people on staff. The entrance check and radiation inspection gate were strict here as well.
After about two hours of observation, the doses of concern are as follows.

Between J-village and Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, maximum value at hot spot near main gate: 6.2μSv (microsievert)/h

• In front of ALPS on campus 0.8
• In front of Unit 1 49 → Point 10 → About 150 meters away 2
• 12 in front of Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4
• In front of nuclear power plant Unit 3 Maximum value 277
• 1.6 in front of Units 5 and 6
• Accumulated personal exposure dose during inspection γ (gamma) rays 0.01 mSv (millisievert), β rays 0.00 mSv

It seems that radiation levels have been considerably reduced since the beginning of the accident, except for a part of the premises. The entire premises are covered with mortar, and it is said that no new radioactive materials will be scattered. Workers did not wear protective clothing such as Tyvex except in the immediate vicinity of the reactor, and most of them wore normal work clothes with masks and gloves. We did not wear a mask, and went to the tour in normal disaster prevention clothes. The ALPS, which had problems immediately after its installation, is now functioning normally, and the frozen soil impermeable wall that prevents new groundwater inflow has been completed on the sea side, and has also been completed on the mountain side, with some exceptions.
My overall impression is that the cold shutdown of the reactor is stable, and although there are still unsolved issues such as fuel debris treatment methods for decommissioning, I feel that steady progress is being made. Above all, I was surprised because I didn't expect to be able to see the reactor so close.
Bad situations are quickly reported in the media, but good ones seem to be rarely reported, and I don't think the current situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is accurately conveyed to the public.
As Mayor Tateya explained, it is important to "correctly fear radioactivity and wisely avoid it." It is a national project that will take 30 to 40 years to decommission.
It should be noted that the J-village, which serves as a base for responding to the nuclear accident, has been decided to be reused as a training facility for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and will be restored to its original state by 2018. Accommodation facilities for workers will be relocated to Naraha Town, where the evacuation order has been lifted, and I saw many newly built apartments along National Route 6. In areas such as Tomioka Town, where evacuation orders are being prepared to be lifted, cafeterias and convenience stores are open for workers.