Episode 3 – Special edition
10-year anniversary of the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku
March 11th, 2021 marked the 10-year anniversary of the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, and a plethora of articles were published in both the Japanese and the international press to commemorate the event. In this special edition, we wanted to give you a refresher on some aspects of this catastrophe and its impact on the nuclear industry.
Many media outlets, in France and elsewhere, mentioned “the 10-year anniversary of Fukushima”, but it would in fact be more accurate to talk about the Great East Japan Catastrophe. On the one hand, for the simple reason that the earthquake and ensuing tsunami caused massive damage that should not be forgotten, and on the other hand, because “Fukushima” is the name of a prefecture, roughly similar to a French department. Fukushima (which roughly translates as “island of happiness/good fortune”) is particularly famous as a prefecture for its cuisine, which relies on a bountiful and diverse agriculture and fishing industry. Therefore, it is preferable to refer to the nuclear power plant as the “Fukushima Daiichi NPP” (“Daiichi” translating as “nr. 1”).
Fukushima Daiichi NPP – The situation on site
Some harsh criticisms have been directed at TEPCO, whose image has been impacted by the accident, especially regarding the slow pace of dismantling. However, as a French company with a solid experience in this field, it seems to be quite the opposite, with the cleaning, decommissioning and dismantling activities on the Fukushima Daiichi site having made considerable progress.
There are about 4,000 workers daily on site. In 2020, TEPCO moved its dismantling activities, the Fukushima Daiichi D&D Engineering Company, in a purpose-built three-floor building on site. It doesn’t have any windows and one enters through a reinforced entrance door. In it, the TEPCO teams are busy in open-plan floors and the team leaders can be identified by their armbands. In terms of safety, the situation on site is under control, but it seems like the emergency response mentality remains.
The site is now clean enough to allow for, with few exceptions, work in civilian clothes. Plus, the retrieval of the fuel rods from the storage pools is well underway, which means that the two main challenges today are the management of the contaminated water and the development of a dismantling scenario for the reactors with a molten core, with Onet Technologies contributing to this latter point.
Japan is expected to take a difficult decision regarding the management of the contaminated water, as the schedule is growing tighter in 2021. More than 1,000 tanks are currently storing about 1,000 m3 of water each. It is for the most part contaminated water that went through the ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) process, which removed most radioisotopes, but not tritium. The maximum capacity for these tanks (currently 1.37 million m3) should be reached around summer 2022 and TEPCO cannot simply keep increasing its storage capacity. Two solutions were considered: evaporation or dumping into the ocean. Even though tritium is a radioactive isotope, its emission is authorized for nuclear facilities within specific regulatory limits and the IAEA confirmed that both options complied with international practices. On April 13th, 2021, the Japanese government announced it had chosen to dump the decontaminated water into the ocean, after appropriate dilution. According to studies on the matter, this option would be the one presenting the least amount of risk to the population. With this decision taken, disposal of the decontaminated water should begin 2 years from now, in April 2023.
Around the site, that is, in the Fukushima prefecture and even beyond that, two main challenges remain: the decontamination of the environment and the socio-economic stimulation of the region.
Regarding the former, activities have proceeded area by area according to a classification system derived from the radiological maps. Overall, close to 17 million m3 of waste, including soil, have been generated in this manner. This waste is currently transported to the NPP for treatment and storage until 2045, but a final storage facility has yet to be identified. The bulk of these activities is over, as evidenced by the fact that the evacuation order now only applies to an area amounting to 2.5 % of the total area of the Fukushima prefecture. This so-called “difficult-to-return zone” is targeted by specific actions agreed upon by the authorities and the local populations.
Regarding the socio-economic stimulation of the region, despite lifting the evacuation order, only 20-30 % of the population returned to the “special decontamination areas” (SDA) where the annual dose exceeded 20 mSv/yr after the accident. Moreover, most of the people moving back in are senior citizens: the number of schoolchildren is 6 times less than before the accident, and it seems that most young people who found a job elsewhere won’t be coming back. 40,000 people still benefit from the “Fukushima refugee” status, of which a minority (about 10 %) seems ready to come back to the towns nearest the power plant. The Japanese government established a Reconstruction Agency, whose purpose is to coordinate investments, restore these areas and give them a future. The Fukushima Innovation Coast Framework program is for example designed to attract projects and companies in the field of research and innovation.
Consequences of the accident on the nuclear industry
This accident had a global impact on the nuclear industry, notably through the “post-Fukushima Daiichi” regulations.
In Japan, the industry has been transformed by a reorganization of the regulation authority, rebranded as the NRA in 2012, followed by a review of the acceptable standards. Plus, in the wake of the accident, the entire Japanese nuclear fleet was shut down. The 54 reactors produced 30 % of the country’s electricity.
In order for a nuclear power plant to restart, its operator must carry out all studies and upgrades required by the new standards and obtain the NRA’s approval. However, this doesn’t stop here: the operator must also secure the approval of the population living in the vicinity of the power plant, said approval being formally acknowledged by the local legal authorities. On a practical level, restarting the nuclear plants in Japan is not an easy feat and the process can fail for two main reasons: 1) the operator itself decides not to restart a facility, and 2) the general public refuses, including when upgrades have been carried out and approved by the NRA. It should be noted that power plants are not the only targeted sites, since fuel cycle and research facilities also have to go through these procedures.
The process of restarting the nuclear power plants took about 4 years to bear fruit, starting with the Sendai 1 reactor in August 2015. As of today though, the numbers paint a rather sorry picture: out of 54 reactors, 24 have been permanently shut down and will be decommissioned and dismantled. Of the remaining 30, 16 have been approved by the NRA and 9 have been given the final green light for a restart.
To compensate for this loss in energy production, Japan intensified its consumption of fossil energy, chiefly oil, coal and gas. In 2019, these three energy sources combined represented 87 % of the country’s total energy consumption. It should also be added that Japan imports almost all of it. The current energy policy of the country aims for a mix in the year 2050 composed of: 50 % renewables, 10 % hydrogen and 40 % thermal (incl. carbon sequestration) and nuclear. Regarding this last figure, the government hasn’t specified the share of nuclear within this 40 %. More details may be provided later in 2021 with a new update of this roadmap.
For more details:
A video regularly updated by TEPCO presenting, in English, the challenges overcome since the accident and the ongoing works:
“Inside Fukushima Daiichi”, a website proposing a complete virtual tour of the power plant (in English):
“Le Point Fukushima – 10 ans après”, a special report by the Nuclear delegation of the French Embassy in Tokyo (in French):
The book “Masao Yoshida, directeur de Fukushima” (Masao Yoshida, Fukushima director), available for free in .pdf format. It is a French translation of the complete hearings of M. Yoshida by the government’s investigation committee into the accident.