JAPAN: Workers employed on a clean up project after an earthquake and tsunami caused radiation leaks at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power have opened their on-site headquarters to members of the media

Record ID: 473527

  • Title: JAPAN: Workers employed on a clean up project after an earthquake and tsunami caused radiation leaks at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power have opened their on-site headquarters to members of the media
  • Date: 12th November 2011
  • Summary: FUTABA, FUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 11, 2011) (AGENCY POOL FILMED BY REUTERS CAMERA OPERATOR) RECOVERY WORKERS AND BUSES MOVING INSIDE FUKUSHIMA DISASTER HEADQUARTERS VARIOUS OF RECOVERY WORKERS WEARING WITH PROTECTIVE WEAR WALKING OUT OF BUS VARIOUS OF RECOVERY WORKERS COMING INTO CHANGE ROOM AND TAKING OFF PROTECTIVE WEAR WORKERS STEPPING OUT OF RADIATION C
  • Embargoed: 27th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • City:
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Disasters
  • Reuters ID: LVAEVFNY4W9JK3PZLHTXIBPW7GTE
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Recovery workers at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant on Friday (November 11) allowed members of the media to visit their on-site headquarters for the clean-up fight against radiation leaks.
    The Fukushima Daiichi facility operated by Tokyo Electronic Power Co. (Tepco) was struck by an earthquake and tsunami in March.
    It has spread radiation that has forced some 80,000 people to leave their homes after the government banned entry within a 20 km radius of the plant.
    "J-village," the national soccer training center which sits exactly on the edge of the exclusion zone, is what Tepco officials say is the only portal to Fukushima Daiichi.
    Every day, up to 3,300 recovery workers and hundreds of vehicles pass through J-Village where they get screened as they enter or leave the exclusion zone.
    A machine called a "gate monitor," similar to the new body-imaging devices used in airport security, provides returning workers with radiation check-ups in about 10 seconds.
    Returning vehicles are also scanned and cleaned by teams of men, using hoses with high-pressure water -- 500 tons of water has been used so far.
    In all, 400 staff, including a doctor and 2 nurses, work at J-Village, which has been used as staging area for Fukushima Daiichi clean up since March 17, Tepco said.
    Toshiro Iinuma, 56, who worked at the Fukushima Daiichi facility for 39 years and at J-village since the March accident, said he saw progress in the recovery efforts, but much more work remained to be done and the future of the project was unclear.
    "The working environment is much improved and I think we can see how Fukushima Daiichi has stabilized, but there is still a long road ahead and I don't know what's ahead of us," said Iinuma.
    The J-Village has played a big role in stabilizing the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.
    The complex's 12 soccer fields have turned to helipads, storage for heavy equipment, parking lots, a place to decontaminate cars and another to decontaminate helicopters.
    A soccer stadium was converted into dormitories with 1,000 rooms in prefabricated, two-storey buildings for Tepco employees.
    Workers said they hoped their efforts would result in bringing back the families who had to flee their homes when the disasters struck in March.
    "I wish I can add some efforts to help the evacuated families come back to their homes as soon as possible," 42-year-old construction worker Yukihide Gokuda said.
    Japan's Atomic Energy Commission estimated in a recent report that the country will need more than 30 years to dismantle the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
    Tepco has acknowledged that it may not be able to remove the fuel from the reactors for another 10 years and experts say cleanup at the plant could take several decades.
  • Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register