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.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number