TOMIOKA, Fukushima Prefecture--Tokyo Electric Power Co. will open a center here on Nov. 30 to educate the public about the 2011 nuclear disaster and the ongoing decommissioning process in a facility that formerly promoted nuclear power.
In a video for visitors, TEPCO apologizes for the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, saying, "We fully realized that the faith we placed in the safety (of nuclear power) meant nothing but our arrogance and overconfidence.”
The company said TEPCO Decommissioning Archive Center is also meant for its own employees.
TEPCO renovated the two-story building of about 1,900 square meters, which formerly served as a public relations facility for nuclear power before closing after the nuclear accident.
The center will feature exhibitions in two parts, based on the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, which was crippled by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
The first floor is themed on the status of the current decommissioning work.
It has 11 sections, including an exhibition of the equipment that workers wear, and introduces measures to deal with contaminated water at the plant using projection mapping, which projects images onto models.
“We want visitors to understand the decommissioning process, if even just a little bit,” said Yasushi Shimazu, director of the center.
The second floor, which has 10 sections, shows the memories and lessons from the disaster. It includes sections showing images of the central control rooms at the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 plant and explanations of the events that unfolded over the 11 days between the quake and restoration of power to the plant through use of augmented reality technology.
In the first-floor theater hall, visitors can watch an eight-minute video introducing the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, the nuclear disaster and TEPCO’s responses. It ends with the apology for having placed too much faith in the safety of nuclear power.
The center, which is located along National Road No. 6 between the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear plants, is expected to welcome 20,000 visitors a year.
Admission is free. It is open daily between 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is closed on the third Sundays of the month and for the year-end and New Year holidays.