INSTITUTE NEWS

L.A. Bolshov participated in the 46th Annual Conference of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF)

Within the conference framework, on April 23 a group of foreign participants of the conference, including IBRAE RAN Director L.A. Bolshov, Director General of the World Nuclear Association (WNA) Agneta Rising and others, visited Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant owned by Japanese company TEPCO. At the plant site the delegation was able to visualize the events of March 11, 2011, when due to the earthquake and tsunami the plant was severely damaged.

The difference of the situations at Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini should be emphasized. After the earthquake and tsunami at Fukushima Daini one line of external power supply was preserved, while at the Daiichi external power supply was completely lost. Delegation was able to observe the personnel work at the simulator under the same scenario, according to which the accident at Fukushima Daiichi developed. Similar result as at the emergency station was obtained.

The group visited the heat exchangers building, where traces of the devastating tsunami struck remained. The visitors were greatly impressed by ​​the enormous work that the personnel had to perform manually almost immediately after the accident. The delegation also examined the containment of the plant Unit 3. During the visit the following issues were discussed: the events lead to the accident at Japanese nuclear power plants, the lessons learned from the emergency response experience to such a large-scale accident at the nuclear plant, and further steps to promote international cooperation in the field of emergency response.