Overturned cars remain stuck in holes. Collapsed roads and mangled steel towers are still visible, as are twisted steel frames, shattered wood and crumbling concrete hanging precariously from the skeletons of buildings.
Overturned cars remain stuck in holes. Collapsed roads and mangled steel towers are still visible, as are twisted steel frames, shattered wood and crumbling concrete hanging precariously from the skeletons of buildings.
Nearly a year after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. is now preparing for the next stage in ending the crisis. But the scene at the site shows that an enormous amount of work lies ahead amid lingering uncertainties about the situation within the damaged nuclear reactors.
"Although there was some concern about the malfunctioning thermometer at the No. 2 reactor, the situation at the reactor cores is stable,” Takeshi Takahashi, head of the plant, said. “Work has entered a new stage of removing nuclear fuel rods to prepare for decommissioning. While there are various issues because this is the first time we are doing this, everyone is working together on the new task."
Reporters were allowed onto the plant grounds on Feb. 20 for the first time since the government said the situation was under control last December. They accompanied Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency officials, who were conducting their first on-site inspection since the nuclear accident started. Reporters were allowed into the plant for a few hours last November.
Workers were seen clearing away rubble from the No. 4 reactor to prepare for the removal of nuclear fuel rods. Parts of the damaged walls of the reactor building had been taken away, revealing the yellow lid of the containment vessel.
Reporters were first taken to higher ground to view a temporary water pumping setup, which now holds the key to safety in the plant because it is designed to cool the reactors in a stable manner.
Three pumps in the bed of trucks were attached to three polyvinyl chloride pipes each about 7 centimeters in diameter that ran to the reactors.
Water had leaked from various parts in the connecting joints of the pipes that were damaged when the water froze.
Proceeding down a slope from the pumping equipment brought the reporters close enough to see the No. 1 reactor. Before the disaster, the area was covered with red azaleas in spring. But now, large tanks swept in by the tsunami lay by the roadside.
Green chemicals have been sprinkled on the ground to prevent the spread of radioactive materials. Radiation levels of 1,500 microsieverts per hour were recorded near the turbine building of the No. 3 reactor, which suffered the greatest damage. It was the highest level recorded during the time the reporters were in the plant site.
The reporters were allowed to leave the bus at a higher spot where the entire plant could be viewed. That was the first time reporters were allowed outside on the plant site after the nuclear accident.
Workers could be seen on the fifth floor of the No. 4 reactor building that was damaged by an explosion. Some were cutting the steel frame. About 3,000 workers were at the plant the day the reporters visited.
The reporters boarded the bus and were taken to a site where tanks were laid out to store water contaminated with radiation.
Before the disaster, the orderly nuclear plant was surrounded by greenery, including a forest where balloon flowers and gold-banded lilies grew wild. It was also home to endangered hawks as well as turtle doves and pheasants.
The forest was cleared to make room for 1,100 tanks that can hold about 180,000 tons of contaminated water.
Total exposure to radiation during the four hours or so spent in the plant was 71 microsieverts.