Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
2/14/2014
The International Atomic Energy Agency backed the decommissioning plan that Japan and Tokyo Electric Power Company are using for the cleanup of the Fukushima Daiichi Power Station, according to a report issued by the IAEA to the Japanese government this week. The two-part report, led by a team of 16 international experts, was organized by Japan as a way to peer-review the cleanup strategy. “The decommissioning of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi NPS is a challenging task that requires the allocation of significant resources, as well as the development and use of innovative technologies,” the report said. “The IAEA team considers that Japan developed its efforts towards decommissioning the plant promptly after the accident, and since then, Japan has achieved good progress in improving its strategy and the associated plans, as well as in allocating the necessary resources towards the safe decommissioning of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi NPS.” The report went on to characterize the cleanup as “very complex” due to the nature of the contaminated water management, nuclear fuel removal, and fuel debris removal that “must be resolved to achieve the long-term stable condition of the plant.”
The IAEA report also included recommendations for Japan and TEPCO to improve the decommissioning process. Included in this list was a greater outreach from the public relations team, although it did commend the team for its transparency. “TEPCO should consider revising its communication strategy by expanding its targeted stakeholders to include on-site staff and contractors,” the report said. “Interactive outreach efforts that are now used for public stakeholders could also be effective for engaging the worker community. As these workers are responsible for safely conducting all activities at the power plant, it is critical that they have a clear understanding of plant conditions and how their work contributes to the plant’s recovery,” the report said.
Also included in the list of recommendations was a list of strategies to deal with the removal of spent pool fuel and fuel debris in the reactor. The IAEA team praised the strategy for looking at innovative ways to deal the complex nature of these removals, and it highlighted the efforts taken to meet important milestones. “The IAEA team advises TEPCO to consider alternative options and additional measures to support the on-going fuel storage operations in the Common Spent Fuel Pool and future fuel disposition,” the report said. “These include: management of non-irradiated fuel; collection of data to assess fuel integrity; efforts to prevent cross contamination; techniques for removing rubble from fuel assembly internals; and management of the different categories of spent fuel.”
In terms of dealing with the radioactive waste produced during the cleanup, the report indicated that Japan could improve in some areas, although it did praise the government for moving forward in establishing a system of classification for waste disposal. “As decommissioning activities progress, large amounts of waste will continue to be generated and may require on-site storage for a long period of time,” the report said. “Therefore, careful planning of storage facilities for the whole decommissioning period should be in place. Design life of waste storage facilities should take into consideration the expected long decommissioning period. Due to limited space at the site, appropriate measures for waste minimization and volume reduction should also be implemented,” the report said.
