Fukushima: Six months later. What has been done and what is to be done? (video)
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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March 11 earthquake of magnitude 9.0 off the coast of the Japanese city of Sendai and the tsunami that followed it, knocked out the neighboring Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. Three of the station's six reactors melted, causing several explosions and fires. Since then, almost half a year has passed. What has been done and what is to be done?
Every day at the enterprise work from two and a half to three thousand people. Many of them are busy cleaning radioactive debris, scattered by explosions. Others install and operate radioactive water disinfection systems. Still others erect a protective shell over the reactor of the power unit No. 1 in order to prevent further pollution of the environment. The same domes will appear above the second and third power units.
Now they are more stable than six months ago. After the earthquake, the reactors stopped, but their uranium fuel continued to disintegrate and produce heat. Cooling systems stopped working, and in the first hours after the accident the rods were heated enough to melt. According to preliminary data, the melt destroyed the lower part of the reactors; Hydrogen was released, which eventually ignited and triggered a series of explosions.
At the end of March, the temperature inside the reactor of the power unit No. 1 exceeded 400 ˚C. To date, it has dropped to about 90 ˚C, and the temperature of other power units fluctuates around 100 ˚С. The refrigerant is injected into the reactive zones of the reactors and heated to the boiling point. Probably, by the end of the year the temperature will drop below 100 ° C, and then active cooling will not be needed. Only then it will be possible to say that the reactors have stabilized.
The greatest danger for workers is radioactive debris. In some places it is so hot that it can kill anyone who comes close to it in a matter of minutes, so remote control robots are used to restore order. In addition, radioactive water continues to flow from the plant. A system is installed for its disinfection and return to the reactors for cooling.
The main source of radiation is cesium-137. It spread beyond the station, and local authorities must deal with it. Some have already started work.
It is still too early to speak about the social consequences of the crisis. The new data suggest that a permanent exclusion zone around the nuclear power plant, similar to Chernobyl, is needed. Political consequences already made themselves felt: at the end of August, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan resigned, largely because of criticism of the government's reaction to the nuclear crisis.
In the short term, workers will continue to cool the reactors and clean up. Then they proceed to remove uranium from the reactors. This is a difficult task. Radioactive fuels are believed to have completely melted and leaked (wholly or partly - God knows) from the stainless steel pressure vessel to the concrete shell under the reactor. There is such a high level of radiation that it will remain deadly for decades. Most likely, the years will pass, while someone dares to look inside and find out what all the same happened ...