Due to the limited time available, the experts were only able to perform visual inspection of equipment samples. In doing so, they found no trace of the damage which caused a catastrophic failure in the Fukushima plant, 120 km to the south.
A delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency has begun inspecting a nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.
The Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture was one of several that were hit by the March 11th earthquake last year.
The team’s goal is to collect data on the quake’s impact on the plant’s structure and electric systems.
The team comprises 18 earthquake and building experts. It began by discussing work procedures with officials of the plant operator, Tohoku Electric Power Company, and the Japanese government.
The head of the IAEA’s International Seismic Safety Center, and team leader, Sujit Samaddar says the members will make every effort to learn how major quakes affect nuclear plants.
During the probe until Thursday next week, they plan to enter the plant’s reactors to check fuel pools and key safety devices, including cooling systems.
When the March 11th quake struck last year, the intensity at the Onagawa plant was 6-minus on the Japanese seismic scale of 0 to 7. Several fuel rod containers at the No. 3 reactor were damaged.
The IAEA has already assessed damage at the Fukushima Daiichi plant and another plant in central Japan. But this is the 1st probe designed to boost quake resistance at a plant. The agency says it will share the probe results with member countries.
Source: IAEA to assess quake resistance at Onagawa plant by NHK World.
The week of July 30th, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a select group of foreign experts will examine the Onagawa nuclear plant in northeastern Japan. Woody is honored to be a member of this team.
For more information and the video, please visit IAEA to assess quake resistance at Onagawa plant by NHK World.
With all of the disarray in the nuclear village of Japan, there had to be a story of someone doing something right. I finally found one: Tōhoku Electric Power Company, called Tōho Den, which is located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, which runs the Onagawa nuclear power plant.
Why did the Onagawa NPP survive the disaster of March 11? It experienced the highest ground shaking of all of the NPP in Japan and also survived a 13m tsunami.
The story begins in 1968 when Hirai Yanosuke joined the costal planning committee for the construction of the Onagawa NPP. Hirai-san was a former VP at Tōho Den and a former head of technology research at the Central Research Institute of the Electric Power Industry. He died in 1986.
Hirai-san was apparently the only person on the entire project to push for the 14.8-meter breakwater. Many of his colleagues said that 12 meters would be sufficient, and they derided Hirai-san’s proposal as excessive. Hirai-san’s authority and drive, however, eventually prevailed, and Tōhoku Electric spent the extra money to build the 14.8m tsunami wall. Some 40 years later, on March 11, 2011, the 13m tsunami struck the coast at Onagawa.
On March 19th, at the Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference in Busan, Korea, Woody was a guest speaker on a special panel session, “Special Panel Discussion I: Fukushima Accident, Issues and Lessons”.
