Giornalisti per la seconda volta dentro Fukushima Daiichi

Pio d'Emilia, giornalista di Sky TG24, ci ha inviato sulla nostra pagina Facebook il resconto comune scritto dai giornalisti che per la seconda volta oggi sono potuti entrare nella centrale disastrata di Fukushima. Al testo, lui aggiunge che si è trattata di una visita un po' "sovietica" in termini di vincoli e restrizioni.

Ecco il testo del comunicato stampa, nel quale mi sono permesso di correggere l'utilizzo improprio di mSv come abbreviazione di microSv.

Fukushima Pool Report

We met at the rendezvous point of HIRONO Station, about 230km northeast of Tokyo and 25km south of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. A convoy of TEPCO vans took us to J-Village, which sits just outside the border of the 20-km exclusion zone around the plant and is the headquarters for the nuclear cleanup.

J-Village bustles with activity. Workers in white DuPont TVYEK protective suits and masks arrive and leave throughout the day for stints at the plant. There are hundreds of cars in the car park, along with trucks bearing the logos of TEPCO, Hitachi, Kashima Kensetsu and many other companies, along with fire engines and police cars.

After an all-body radiation check, we were briefed by TEPCO officials, and instructed on how to wear our suits, gloves and radiation masks. We are assigned numbers and given individual dosimeters then began by bus the roughly 45minute journey to the plant. We were told to leave personal cameras and cellphones behind. (David McNeill took his but it was later confiscated by a TEPCO official at the plant). The radiation level at J-Village was 0.5 microSv per hour according to TEPCO. Our own dosimeter showed 0.86 microSv per hour.

We entered the exclusion zone at NARAHA town at 8:54AM through a convoy of police cars and trucks and then through TOMIOKA, OKUMA and FUTABA. We passed the Fukushima Daini plant between NARAHA and TOMIOKA. From TOKIOKA, the radiation level began rising sharply, from 1.5 (microSievert, hereafter microSv) to 7.68 microSv in OKUMA and 9.9 microSv about 1KM from the plant, at which point the radiation exceeded the level of our dosimeter and we had to rely on TEPCO. From TOMIOKA on, the bus was filled with a symphony of bleeps from counters. TEPCO said the reading at the main gate was 15.0 microSv and 40 microSv before we entered the onsite crisis management center (MENSHIN JYUUYOUTOU)

Inside the center the air was filled with the sound of filters working to keep the exterior contamination at bay. TEPCO officials explained that about 3000 people work at any one time at the entire nuclear plant. We saw hundreds of people wearing various states of protective gear. There were makeshift beds and cots throughout the building. Inside the central control center, workers in utility suits, many wearing masks, huddled around computers. The room was dominated by three large screens: one monitoring j-Village and different parts of the Daiichi plant; another showing exterior shots of the four most damaged reactors and a third bank of small screens showing live feeds of the main TV networks in Japan. A large digital readout on the wall showed the radiation level inside the room, which used MilliSieverts not MicroSv, and therefore read 0.000. Our dosimeter said 0.68MicroSV.

Plant manager Takeshi TAKAHASHI arrived for an interview. He explained that he replaced Masao YOSHIDA in December after Yoshida fell ill (with cancer). He apologized for causing so much trouble to the people of Japan and thanked everyone, including people abroad, for all their help. He said because of this assistance the plant has now achieved cold shutdown. He said his task is now to make sure reactors 1-4 are safe and stable and ensure no radioactive substances escape. “Our main challenge now is to remove the nuclear fuel from the reactors. It’s a technically very difficult problem, but we want to take it step by step.” He was asked repeatedly about the temperature of the No.2 reactor, which last week reportedly climbed alarmingly, and he blamed it on a single faulty thermometer – one of three. “The plant has reached a state of cold shutdown. We will try to allow people to return to their homes as early as possible.” We were struck by how tired and drawn Takahashi looked -- there were some questions about his health, which he swatted away.

We were then taken on a tour of the six reactors, past 1 to 4 first. Reactor 1 is now completely covered with a tarpaulin-like structure so we couldn’t see the damage; reactor 2 appeared undamaged; reactor 3 was the most damaged and is a mess of tangled metal; it appears to have lost its top floor, which was blown off in the force of the March explosion. The radiation reading at the seafront-side of the reactors was 100microSv (Reactor 1), 300 microSv (Reactor 2), peaking at 1500microSv in front of reactor 3. Reactor 4 was also badly damaged but TEPCO officials said the damage was sustained from the force of the reactor 3 explosion. About a dozen workers could be seen on the roof of the reactor 4 building.

Black pipes ringed the back of the buildings. These are recycling contaminated water from the reactors, we were told. The pipes are surrounded by a bank of earth and clay to stop leaks into the sea, after some of the pipes previously sprang leaks. We saw about 100 new, very large 1000-ton water tanks on a ridge about 20 meters from the reactors, which are being used to store contaminated water from the reactors. A building crew was leveling land next to the tanks, apparently to make more room. TEPCO said in April the existing tanks will be full so they are trying to make more space.

We were taken back to the control center where we interviewed some workers at the plant:

Yasuki HIBI, an engineer with KAJIMA KENSETSU. He heads a team of 50 workers who are responsible for removing debris. He said conditions had improved a lot for the workers at the plant, but they still have to limit work to two three-hour shifts a day. “It’s still too dangerous for workers to enter reactor no.3.”

Kazuhiro SAKAMOTO, a worker with TODEN KOGYO. His job is to find workers and purchase equipment. “The worst time was when the radiation was 250 MiliSV (per year – the maximum, temporary government limit) and we couldn’t find people to do the work. We could only work in two-minute busts, when we were extracting cesium from contaminated water.

Hiroyuki SHIDA. Responsible for cleaning every vehicle going in and out of the zone. “The most difficult job was ensuring our people were not exposed to too much radiation. So we needed a lot of people, a sea of people, and they had to change frequently. It was a lot of trouble. Everyone needs a full-body check every day.”

At the end of the day we handed in out individual radiation counters. McNeill’s said he had absorbed 71 microSv during the four hours at the plant.