Developments in Japan this week related to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant severely damaged in 2011 include a partnership with the organization cleaning up the UK's Sellafield site, results from remote inspections of unit 2 and a debate about volcano hazards near restarting plants.
Sellafield, Fukushima to Swap Information
On Tuesday, Tokyo Electric Power Co. announced an agreement with Sellafield Ltd. to share decommissioning knowledge beneficial to both sites. Sellafield is the UK's largest nuclear cleanup site, and Sellafield Ltd. is its management company owned by a consortium of URS, Amec and Areva. According to a TEPCO release, the agreement largely consists of conferences and site visits by engineers to share information on site management, radiation protection, design engineering and other areas.
Robot Tested on Unit 2 Torus
TEPCO on Tuesday made public the results of testing for an experimental Toshiba robot lowered onto the torus of unit 2. Attached to a cable and controlled from a different room, it surveyed a portion of the structure's underside, which is submerged in water. Visibility was worse than expected, a high dose is believed to have created static in its video images, and the robot fell off the torus three times. Nonetheless, it was able to survey a portion of one of 16 sections of the structure and did not find any leaks. The report suggested that TEPCO and its partners in developing the technology will consider alternative methods to conduct the inspection while also moving forward with planning for additional surveys.
NRA Head: Volcano Risk Won't Delay Restarts
On Saturday, the unexpected eruption of Japan's Mount Ontake killed at least 47 people. It also provoked protests and other petitions to further study the risk of an eruption near the Sendai plant, which is slated to include the first reactors to resume power generation in the country. On Wednesday, Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shunichi Tanaka confirmed that approval for the reactors' restart remains on track. Kyodo reported that he disagreed with volcanologists and others seeking further regulatory discussion of volcanic hazards near the reactors, arguing that it didn't make sense to "stop all social activities" because it's impossible to predict when a natural disaster might happen.