12 Sept (NucNet): A team is being established to collect knowledge and expertise “at home and abroad” concerning the potential risks and solutions to contaminated water leaks and long-term decommissioning at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has said.
In a document made public in English on 10 September 2013, minister of economy, trade and industry Toshimitsu Motegi said Japan would be seeking proposals for ways to deal with the leaks. The document says proposals will be “closely examined” by a government committee established to oversee efforts to deal with the leaks.
The document says: “A system to mobilise the related technologies and expertise at home and abroad, and to implement countermeasures of the entire government will be developed.”
METI also said information sharing with the international community on the causes of events, the progress of countermeasures, and contamination of the environment and food will be strengthened.
This follows recent criticism of the communications policies of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and the government from various organisations including Japan’s Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee and the Paris-based Nuclear Energy Agency. In a report on lessons learned from the Fukushima-Daiichi accident published yesterday, the NEA called for “significant improvements” in national and international communications and information exchange among regulatory organisations and their crisis response centres.
METI said government ministries and various agencies would “promptly prepare and disseminate” information in foreign languages about the situation at the plant. Starting immediately, a special team dealing with contaminated water and decommissioning issues will summarise and disseminate information both in Japan and overseas.
In addition to providing information through overseas embassies and to the foreign diplomatic corps in Japan, the cabinet secretariat will “proactively” communicate to foreign media.
Through daily onsite work and patrols, new incidents at Fukushima-Daiichi will be quickly discovered and reported, METI said.
The document makes clear that the government is willing to play a major role in advancing mid-term and long-term decommissioning targets at Fukushima-Daiichi.
The removal of the fuel from the spent fuel pools and of the fuel debris from the reactor containment vessels will be carried out as soon as possible, the document says. The treatment of contaminated water will be speeded up.
Recent leaks of stored contaminated water at Fukushima-Daiichi were reported on 19 August 2013 when water was discovered inside and outside a dike surrounding a wastewater tank.
On 21 August, the Japan Nuclear Regulatory Authority revised its rating of this leak from a Level 1 to a Level 3 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.
The storage tanks were built following the March 2011 accident at the plant to hold radioactive water.
Tepco said earlier this month that an estimated 300 cubic metres of water had escaped from one of the tanks, leaving “hot spots” of pools of radioactive water.
The METI document is online:
www.meti.go.jp/english/earthquake/nuclear/decommissioning/pdf/20130910_01c.pdf
