Fukushima reactor on shaky base raises quake fears

Alarm bells are ringing over the signs that the heavily damaged structure of Fukushima’s No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant may be too weak to withstand another major earthquake.

Images taken by a remote-controlled robot sent to Reactor 1 found that much of the concrete base supporting the pressure vessel appeared to have melted, leaving only a metal frame holding the pressure vessel.

Experts now say the remaining structure may not be strong enough to withstand a major earthquake, a worrying prediction given that the area has been hit by a number of strong earthquakes in recent months.

The remaining structure cannot be described as safe, noting that much of the concrete base is left with nothing but the metal frame, a Natural Resources and Energy Agency official who is handling the decommissioning work said at a press conference on May 26.

At a press conference the day before, Toyoshi Fukita, head of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, said, “We remain concerned about whether it will withstand a strong earthquake.”

Asahi Shimbun

The Fukushima plant suffered a triple collapse after the Great East Japan earthquake of magnitude 9.0 in 2011, which caused a devastating tsunami.

Reactor No. 1 bore the brunt of the damage to the nuclear complex. Pictures taken by the remote-controlled robot showed not only the exposed metal frame but what appeared to be a pile of molten fuel on top of the frame.

Officials believe the meltdown in Reactor 1 caused most of the fuel to melt at the bottom of the pressure vessel. Tokyo Electric Power Corporation, the plant’s operator, suspects that the immense heat from the nuclear fuel may have melted the concrete at the base that supports the pressure vessel.

The cylindrical base is 1.2 meters thick and about 6 meters in diameter. It supports a pressure vessel that weighs approximately 440 tons.

A 2016 financial estimate by the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning stated that the seismic resistance of the structure would not be an issue even if a quarter of the base was structurally compromised, along with other damage to the interior of the pressure vessel.

But recent photos captured only about 25 percent of the base, leading the agency official to speculate that the concrete around the entire base had melted.

TEPCO officials plan to send another robot to take pictures of the base’s interior to better understand the seismic resistance of the structure.

Fumiya Tanabe, a former researcher at what is now the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, presented an even more terrifying possibility.

Noting that the interior of the base is directly under the reactor core there, he said it is possible for hot nuclear fuel to flow through the tubes into the interior.

“The metal structure inside the base may have melted,” Tanabe said.

This is a particularly troubling thought in light of the fact that earthquakes with seismic intensity of the top 6 on Japan’s maximum scale of 7 struck off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture in February 2021 and March 2022.

In a worst-case scenario, another strong earthquake could cause the pressure vessel to fall, Tanabe said, making work to remove the melted fuel more difficult.

He recommended that work begin quickly to assess the extent of the damage.

Reactor No. 1 at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant No. 1 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

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