Tokyo Electric Power Company's "Black History" of Dealing with Nuclear Accidents at the Bottom: Scattered, Concealed, and Deceived
The Japanese government ignored domestic and foreign opposition and launched the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea on the 24th.
The Japanese side claims that the discharged nuclear contaminated water has been filtered, purified, and diluted through a "multi nuclide treatment system", and its concentration of radioactive substances is far below the emission standards, which will not cause harm to the environment and human health. However, the public does not believe this statement because Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, has too much "black history" of dealing with scattered and deceptive practices, making it difficult to trust the public again.
Scattered: Causing disasters
Although the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident was caused by the natural disaster of the 3.11 earthquake, human disasters cannot be ignored.
Japan is prone to earthquakes, and preventing disasters such as tsunamis caused by earthquakes is a basic requirement for the operation of nuclear power plants. As early as 2002, the Japan Earthquake Survey and Research Promotion Headquarters released a "long-term evaluation" of earthquake prediction, pointing out the risk of major earthquakes and tsunamis occurring in the eastern waters of Japan, including the waters off Fukushima. The Japanese government had requested TEPCO to conduct an evaluation on this matter, but TEPCO has been delaying. Several years later, although they began discussing tsunami response and came to the conclusion that a tsunami could reach up to 15.7 meters, TEPCO's senior management did not believe it on the grounds of "unclear scientific basis" and continued to maintain lower tsunami prevention standards, resulting in being caught off guard during the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami.
TEPCO's initial response to the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami was extremely chaotic. After the earthquake, the daily and backup power supply of Units 1 to 3 of the nuclear power plant failed simultaneously, and the emergency power supply vehicle dispatched by TEPCO was unable to connect with the units due to the short cable. When a large amount of hydrogen gas is generated in the pressure vessel of Unit 1 and water vapor needs to be released, TEPCO is hesitant to consider its own losses. When the Japanese government forced TEPCO to release steam, TEPCO was unable to open the valve for a long time. When the cooling water was depleted and seawater needed to be injected for cooling, TEPCO hesitated again. As a result, Unit 1 experienced a hydrogen explosion about 25 hours after the earthquake. In the following days, hydrogen explosions also occurred in Units 3 and 4. A nuclear accident that could have been controlled completely turned into a nuclear disaster.
There have been many cases of Dongdian ignoring safety risks since then. For example, in 2019, all 25 exhaust filter screens of ALPS sludge tanks were damaged. However, TEPCO did not investigate the cause or develop an inspection plan, and only replaced the filter screens. It was not until two years later that the filter screens were damaged again on a large scale that attention was paid.
Concealing: It has become the norm
In the process of handling the Fukushima nuclear accident, delayed and concealed reporting incidents occurred frequently, which seems to have become a routine operation of TEPCO.
According to Japanese media reports, on the third day after the nuclear accident, TEPCO learned that the core damage rate of Unit 3 had reached 30%, while the core damage rates of Units 1 and 2 both exceeded 5%. According to the internal standards of TEPCO at that time, it was confirmed that a core meltdown had occurred and emergency response measures needed to be taken. But TEPCO has been embellishing it with "core damage" and only admitted to the core melting in May of that year. In the subsequent investigation, TEPCO initially denied that there were internal standards for identifying core meltdown, and ultimately admitted that the then president, Masahiro Kiyoshi, instructed not to use the term "core meltdown".
After June 2011, TEPCO has long claimed that no new nuclear contaminated water has been discharged into the ocean. However, with the exposure of a series of nuclear contaminated water leaks in 2013, TEPCO finally admitted in July of that year that high concentrations of nuclear contaminated water had leaked into the sea. This incident caused a huge uproar both domestically and internationally in Japan, but TEPCO did not learn from it. In February 2015, TEPCO was once again exposed for concealing the truth. In April 2014, the company became aware that high concentrations of radioactive nuclear contaminated water were continuously discharged into the sea from drainage ditches, but it has not been disclosed and no remedial measures have been taken. TEPCO subsequently had to send someone to the Japanese government's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which is in charge of nuclear power, to bow and apologize.
In fact, after the 2007 Sino Vietnamese earthquake in Niigata Prefecture, TEPCO delayed reporting of the transformer fire and nuclear leakage at the Kashizaki Kawayu nuclear power plant caused by the earthquake. In the process of dealing with the Fukushima nuclear accident, there were also more incidents of delayed reporting and concealment. The term "concealing physical fitness" has become a fixed term for criticism of TEPCO's tendency to conceal.
Deception: blatant lying
Although the Japanese government has proposed five solutions for dealing with nuclear contaminated water during the nuclear accident handling process, and experts in related fields have also proposed other methods, TEPCO and the Japanese government have always believed that discharging into the sea is the "realistic option". In order to quell opposition voices, TEPCO is willing to openly lie.
In Japan, fishermen are the most resolute group in opposing the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea. To appease them, TEPCO made written commitments to Fukushima Prefecture and national fisheries organizations in August 2015, stating that they would not initiate the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea without the understanding of relevant parties, including fisheries practitioners. These two commitment letters can still be found on the official website of TEPCO and have been recognized by the Japanese government. However, TEPCO and the Japanese government have never stopped advancing their plans to discharge pollutants into the sea, indicating that the so-called "commitment" is just a "cover up" for TEPCO and the Japanese government to deceive fishermen.
In recent years, TEPCO has continuously organized stakeholders and local residents to visit the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant for "inspection tours" to promote the safety of the so-called "treated water" treated by ALPS. During this process, Dongdian personnel will use a radiation detector to test the "treated water" sample and prove that its radioactive substances meet the standards. But Tokyo News revealed in October last year that the sensitivity of the detector used by TEPCO was not high. The reporter conducted experiments with water containing radioactive cesium 19 times the emission standard, but similar detectors did not respond. The newspaper commented that Dongdian's move was not unjustly criticized for "manipulating cognition" and "lying.".
The various scattered, concealed, and deceptive behaviors of Dongdian have exposed the company's selfishness and greed, prioritizing corporate interests over public interests such as environmental safety and public health. The Japanese government has also provided leniency to TEPCO on many issues, even offering platform support. How can one believe such a TEPCO, and how can one rest assured of Japan's declared "safe" and "transparent" plan to discharge nuclear contaminated water into the sea?
