Wearing a white radiation protective suit, Masao Yoshida, director of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, took questions from reporters on Nov. 12.
Wearing a white radiation protective suit, Masao Yoshida, director of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, took questions from reporters on Nov. 12.
"During the week from March 11, I thought several times that I would die," Yoshida, 56, admitted.
Yoshida started by discussing the situation when the first explosion occurred in the No. 1 reactor building on March 12, a day after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
"As we did not know the situation inside the building, we envisioned the worst-case scenario that the containment vessel (of the No. 1 reactor) exploded and radioactive materials were coming out of the vessel. I felt that, if the meltdown (in which fuel in the reactor melts and drops to the bottom of the reactor) progresses and it becomes impossible to control the reactor, that will be the end," he said.
Asked when he felt that the nuclear plant passed out of the critical stage, Yoshida said, "I had a considerably hard time until the end of June. It was in July and August that the situation appeared to have stabilized."
As for the fact that the accidents occurred in his nuclear plant, the director's expression turned grim: "I have to apologize to every person in Fukushima Prefecture and all of the Japanese people for inconveniencing them and causing problems."
Yoshida answered questions for about 15 minutes. He refused to offer details of the accidents on the grounds that he is now undergoing a government investigation.
Following are excerpts of Yoshida's responses.
Question: When you look back at the past several months since the March disaster, what was the hardest thing for you?
Answer: The one-week period from March 11 was the hardest. In a situation in which we cannot predict the next development, we did everything we could do. I thought several times that I would die.
Q: What do you think about the current situation?
A: As an actual feeling, I think that the reactors are stable. Though they are stable, they are not safe. Radiation levels are high and there are still dangers in our daily work. But the reactors have attained stabilization levels that can make people living in surrounding areas feel relieved.
Q: What were your experiences at the times of the hydrogen explosions?
A: I heard a large boom. Workers who returned from their work said that an explosion appeared to have taken place in the No. 1 reactor. As for the explosion at the No. 3 reactor, I heard the sound and saw the image on TV. Concerning the No. 4 reactor, I heard the sound of the explosion in the headquarters building. At that time, I did not know in which building the explosion occurred, the No. 2 reactor building or the No. 4 reactor building.
Q: Do you have some requests of the central government, Fukushima prefectural government and TEPCO?
A: We have received a wide range of support from them to improve the environment of our work and lives. I appreciate them very much. As for future plans, I want them to work out mid- and long-term plans based on the actual situations of nuclear power plants.
Q: Is it possible to stabilize the nuclear reactors despite the fact that fuel has dropped to the bottom of the pressure vessels?
A: Seeing the changes in temperatures, we think that, even if fuel has leaked out of the pressure vessels, the entire reactors, including not only the inside of the pressure vessels but also that of the containment vessels, have been cooled and stabilized.
Q: You said that you thought several times that you would die. Please explain about that in more detail.
A: When the explosion took place in the No. 1 reactor building, we, in the headquarters building, did not know under what circumstances it had occurred. In a situation in which people suffering from various injuries were returning, there was a fear that, if the containment vessel had exploded in the worst case, radioactive materials were coming out of the vessel and it would become impossible to control the reactor.
An explosion also took place in the No. 3 reactor building. It was also difficult to inject water into the reactor of the No. 2 building. So we were not able to predict future developments. I felt that, in the worst case, if the meltdown advances and it became impossible to control the reactors, that would be the end.
Q: When did you feel that the nuclear plant passed out of the critical stage?
A: In early April, highly contaminated water leaked. As the abnormal situation meant that high-level radioactive materials were being discharged outside of the nuclear plant, we had to stop the leak as well as stabilize the reactors.
After that, the problem of how we should process the contaminated water occurred. Therefore, we worked hard to construct processing facilities. We had a considerably hard time until the end of June. It was in July and August when the situations stabilized.
Q: Tell us your plan for the coming months.
A: We will complete without fail the road map's Step 2 (which aims to bring the reactors to a cold shutdown within this year). The completion will meet the needs of the people in Fukushima Prefecture. Most of the people working in this plant are those of Hama-dori (areas in the eastern part of the prefecture). They are also evacuees, and their families have evacuated. All of the workers share the thought of wanting to reconstruct Hama-dori. I want to keep that thought in mind.