Amid nationwide distrust of government information, International Atomic Energy Agency experts visited the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on May 27 to draw up their own report on the disaster.
Amid nationwide distrust of government information, International Atomic Energy Agency experts visited the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on May 27 to draw up their own report on the disaster.
The IAEA team will present its report to the ministerial conference on nuclear safety at IAEA headquarters in Vienna on June 20-24.
The team comprises 18 experts in areas of research related to earthquakes and tsunami or nuclear accidents.
The team members were briefed on the damage and the current situation at the plant by Masao Yoshida, the plant manager. They inspected the No. 1 though No. 4 reactors from outside, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the plant, and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
The mission was led by Mike Weightman, chief inspector of Nuclear Installations of Britain, and includes deputy leader Philippe Jamet, a commissioner of the French Nuclear Safety Authority.
Some of the members took part in the fact-finding mission that visited Japan to examine the damage caused by the 2007 Niigata Chuetsu-oki Earthquake to TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture.
Mission team members are experts in various disciplines concerning three main areas: the quake resistance of nuclear power plants and the effects of earthquakes and tsunami on the structures and systems of such facilities; severe nuclear accident analysis; and emergency preparedness and response, such as evacuations.
The team is expected to compile a report focused on these three areas.
On May 24, the team held discussions with Banri Kaieda, the minister of economy, trade and industry.
On May 25, the experts were briefed on the accident by NISA's Nobuaki Terasaka and also heard reports from officials at other ministries and agencies concerned,.
On May 26, the team visited the Tokai No. 2 nuclear power station in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, operated by Japan Atomic Power Co.
Measures to improve safety at the Tokai No. 2 nuclear power taken last year after a review of its resistance to tsunami apparently helped avert a potential nuclear disaster. The plant's emergency power supply system was not disrupted by the massive tsunami caused by the magnitude-9.0 quake. The team is likely to compare the safety of the Tokai plant with that of the Fukushima plant, where the crisis broke out after it was hit by the tsunami.
In addition, the fact-finding team has inspected the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear power plant, also operated by TEPCO, and met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano and the foreign and education ministers.
The experts are scheduled to hand a summary report to the Japanese government on June 1 before leaving Japan the next day.
The Japanese government is also planning to present its own report on the nuclear accident to the IAEA ministerial meeting in June. The report will be drafted by a group of government officials and experts led by Goshi Hosono, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and special adviser to Prime Minister Naoto Kan.