Fukushima Daiichi - Update

NRC Creates Long-Term Fukushima Steering Committee

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues

• The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has created a steering committee to oversee the longer-term review of lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident and implementation of recommendations from the agency’s near-term task force. Its responsibilities also include identifying additional steps for the NRC to take.
•  Decontamination work has started in Fukushima City, a project that will clean 110,000 houses as well as public facilities and roads near schools by March 2013. Workers are cleaning roofs, removing topsoil and cutting down vegetation. Residents and volunteers have been asked to help in areas with lower radiation levels.
• Farmers in Nihonmatsu City in Fukushima Prefecture are shipping this year’s rice crop following confirmation that radiation levels are below the government limit. The city is about 40 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility.

Plant Status

• Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s revised three-year recovery plan for the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility describes how the utility will maintain stable conditions at the plant. Among other actions, the company will install additional pumps to inject cooling water into the reactors and replace existing hoses. A major step in the plan was achieved recently when the temperatures in all three damaged reactors was reduced to below the boiling point.
•  Workers at Fukushima Daiichi continue to decontaminate and manage water that has accumulated at the site. Water continues to be transferred from a temporary tank to a large storage barge anchored offshore. Decontaminated water is cooling the three damaged reactors at the site.

Media Highlights

• With radiation levels dropping at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility, a Reuters report looks at the next steps to stabilize the plant.

Upcoming Events

• The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and its Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety will hold the second joint hearing on the NRC’s near-term post-Fukushima task force recommendations Nov. 3. All five NRC commissioners will be invited to testify. The first hearing was held Aug. 2.
• NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko will speak on lessons learned from Fukushima Oct. 24 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C. Details are on the AAAS website.