{"id":418,"date":"2014-12-08T05:08:46","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T05:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/?p=418"},"modified":"2015-03-25T08:56:56","modified_gmt":"2015-03-25T08:56:56","slug":"external-monitoring-committee-finalizes-proposals-on-tepcos-nuclear-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/news\/418","title":{"rendered":"External Monitoring Committee Finalizes Proposals on TEPCO\u2019s Nuclear Reform"},"content":{"rendered":"

The proposal began with the following comment: \u201cIt is vital that TEPCO permeates safety culture throughout the entire organization \u2014 from upper management to first-line managers in the field \u2014 and aims to constantly maintain higher standards.\u201d It went on to praise the company\u2019s activities, while asking it to \u201cquickly finalize\u201d key performance indicators (KPI) for quantifying progress of the nuclear safety reform.<\/p>\n

The report then moved on to the matter of communications, praising TEPCO for actively conveying information overseas on \u201cthe lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear accident, the progress of decommissioning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the report hailed the completion of removal of spent fuel assemblies from Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 as a \u201cbig step forward\u201d in the reactor\u2019s decommissioning.<\/p>\n

At the same time, it pointed out that the power company should strive further to implement measures to prevent the dispersion of radioactive substances, as well as to monitor mechanisms and carry out the treatment of contaminated water.<\/p>\n

At a press conference held at TEPCO headquarters in Tokyo on the same day, committee chairman Dale Klein, who used to lead the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), announced that the committee would next meet near the site of the Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Station (NPS), adding that an opportunity might be arranged for residents to ask questions.<\/p>\n

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Fuel Assemblies Continue to Be Removed at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3, with Preparations Made for Those at Unit 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

On November 27, the Agency for Natural Resources & Energy (ANRE) of Japan\u2019s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) released a progress report on the decommissioning work being carried out at the Fukushima Daiichi NPS.<\/p>\n

Currently, spent-fuel assemblies are being removed from the Unit 4 spent fuel pool, with 1,331 such assemblies already having been fully transferred to the common pool by November 5. Another 202 fuel assemblies are to be transferred to the Unit 6 spent fuel pool by the end of this month.<\/p>\n

Debris removal at the Unit 3 spent fuel pool \u2014 suspended due to the dropping of a control console for a refueling machine into the pool \u2014 will resume later this month. To prevent similar accidents, additional panels will be installed to protect the fuel racks.<\/p>\n

The assemblies from the Unit 3 spent fuel pool will be removed by crane, with remotely-controlled equipment handling the spent fuel. Although human workers, in principle, will not be directly entering the operating floor because of the radioactivity, they will be involved in physically installing and inspecting the equipment, as well as in dealing with various problems. Currently, the operating floor is being decontaminated, with shielding being installed.<\/p>\n

In addition, hot tests of the multi-nuclide removal equipment \u2014 called the \u201cAdvanced Liquid Processing System\u201d (ALPS) \u2014 are being carried out with water containing radioactive materials. The original system has already treated 171,000 cubic meters, with the additional system treating 36,000 cubic meters and the new high-performance system 3,000 cubic meters.<\/p>\n

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Improved Environment for Workers at Fukushima Daiichi<\/strong><\/p>\n

On November 27, TEPCO released the results of a survey on improvements of the work environment being carried out at the Fukushima Daiichi NPS. Materials related to the survey materials, including questionnaires, were distributed to all workers except for TEPCO employees, with responses coming from some 4,587 persons, representing about 70% of the total.<\/p>\n

According to the survey results, more than 80% of the respondents said that TEPCO\u2019s efforts to improve the work environment were either \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cnot bad.\u201d The percentage answering \u201cgood\u201d to various questions about the current work environment was higher than the previous survey, released in December of last year.<\/p>\n

The total percentage of survey respondents saying that the usability of the entry administration facility was either \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cnot bad\u201d was 77%, up ten percentage points from the year before. Similarly, 90% described measures for health management the same way, up from 81%.<\/p>\n

Some 70% of the respondents described the usability of rest places as \u201cgood\u201d or not bad,\u201d marking a rise from the previous year\u2019s 58%. As for their opinion of the environment of workplaces on NPS premises, some 69% said it was \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cnot bad,\u201d up sharply from the 44% recorded one year ago. Also, 58% described the environment for eating at Fukushima Daiichi as \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cnot bad,\u201d up from 40%.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, unfavorable comments (i.e., those replying \u201cnot good\u201d or \u201cnot very good\u201d in the survey) were made about the following points, indicating room for improvement:<\/p>\n