The UN atomic agency said on Friday that Japan’s Onagawa nuclear power plant, despite having been closest to the epicenter of the earthquake and tsunami that struck the country last year, was in surprisingly good shape.
The structural elements of the plant were “remarkably undamaged given the magnitude of ground motion experienced and the duration and size of this great earthquake,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in an initial report.
The Onagawa plant recorded temblors — “among the strongest of any plant affected by the earthquake” — that exceeded its design capacity and the basement of one of its reactor buildings flooded, but the plant maintained its cooling capacity, its reactors shut down without damage to their cores and there were no signs of major damage to crucial safety systems, the Vienna-based IAEA said.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, 120km to the south, was not so lucky, suffering multiple reactor meltdowns and releasing radioactivity into the environment in the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years.
The IAEA report followed a two-week trip by 19 international experts that will be followed by further visits at Onagawa and reviews of other Japanese nuclear plants.
Findings will be added to an IAEA database being compiled by its International Seismic Safety Center (ISSC) that was part of the watchdog’s “action plan” on nuclear safety drawn up in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
“The data we are collecting will make an important contribution to improving safety,” mission head Sujit Samaddar said. “Information in the database will allow IAEA member states to measure the performance of their nuclear power plants in the face of external hazards.”
In contrast, the magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11 last year knocked out a power line at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant and generated a large tsunami that flooded its emergency generators, destroying the plant’s cooling systems. Catastrophic meltdowns occurred in three reactors, releasing radiation that has tainted the surrounding environment.
The plant has since stabilized, but more than 100,000 people still can’t go home due to radiation fears, while work to decommission the plant will take about 40 years. It was the world’s worst atomic accident since Chernobyl.
The Onagawa plant was about 70km from the quake’s epicenter, while Fukushima Dai-ichi was nearly 180km from the epicenter.
The tsunami was more than 13m high at both nuclear plants. Fukushima Dai-ichi’s seawall was built to withstand a tsunami of up 5.7m. Onagawa’s seawall was nearly 14m high and survived the tsunami. It has since been extended to nearly 17m above sea level.
Investigations by the government, the parliament and private groups have found that Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) underestimated the earthquake and tsunami risks faced by its plant at Fukushima despite a history of quakes in the region. The investigations have also criticized TEPCO and government regulators, which have developed cozy relationships, for ignoring safety standards and recommendations, including those by IAEA and other groups.
The IAEA visit from July 30 to Wednesday this week was its first to the Onagawa plant since the disaster. The group inspected the plant and interviewed dozens of workers and officials to assess how its structure, systems and components responded to the quake and its violent shakings.
Samaddar said he hoped to make similar inspections at other plants in Japan to share information and improve safety at nuclear power across the world. No visits are scheduled yet and would only take place at Japan’s invitation.
Five nuclear plants total suffered some level of damage from the earthquake and tsunami, but all but Fukushima Dai-ichi were shut down safely.
In May, the last of Japan’s 50 working reactors were turned off as safety checks were carried out, but two are now back online and generating power. Despite public protests, the government is eager to restart reactors because of the ballooning cost of fuel imports to keep the power supply running.
FRUSTRATIONS: One in seven youths in China and Indonesia are unemployed, and many in the region are stuck in low-productivity jobs, the World Bank said Young people across Asia are struggling to find good jobs, with many stuck in low-productivity work that the World Bank said could strain social stability as frustrations fuel a global wave of youth-led protests. The bank highlighted a persistent gap between younger and more experienced workers across several Asian economies in a regional economic update released yesterday, noting that one in seven young people in China and Indonesia are unemployed. The share of people now vulnerable to falling into poverty is now larger than the middle class in most countries, it said. “The employment rate is generally high, but the young struggle to
STEPPING UP: Diminished US polar science presence mean opportunities for the UK and other countries, although China or Russia might also fill that gap, a researcher said The UK’s flagship polar research vessel is to head to Antarctica next week to help advance dozens of climate change-linked science projects, as Western nations spearhead studies there while the US withdraws. The RRS Sir David Attenborough, a state-of-the-art ship named after the renowned British naturalist, would aid research on everything from “hunting underwater tsunamis” to tracking glacier melt and whale populations. Operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the country’s polar research institute, the 15,000-tonne icebreaker — boasting a helipad, and various laboratories and gadgetry — is pivotal to the UK’s efforts to assess climate change’s impact there. “The saying goes
ENERGY SHIFT: A report by Ember suggests it is possible for the world to wean off polluting sources of power, such as coal and gas, even as demand for electricity surges Worldwide solar and wind power generation has outpaced electricity demand this year, and for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal, a new analysis said. Global solar generation grew by a record 31 percent in the first half of the year, while wind generation grew 7.7 percent, according to the report by the energy think tank Ember, which was released after midnight yesterday. Solar and wind generation combined grew by more than 400 terawatt hours, which was more than the increase in overall global demand during the same period, it said. The findings suggest it is
TICKING CLOCK: A path to a budget agreement was still possible, the president’s office said, as a debate on reversing an increase of the pension age carries on French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday was racing to find a new prime minister within a two-day deadline after the resignation of outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu tipped the country deeper into political crisis. The presidency late on Wednesday said that Macron would name a new prime minister within 48 hours, indicating that the appointment would come by this evening at the latest. Lecornu told French television in an interview that he expected a new prime minister to be named — rather than early legislative elections or Macron’s resignation — to resolve the crisis. The developments were the latest twists in three tumultuous
RSS