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Roadmap towards Restoration: Progress Report

On July 19, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, published the progress status for the Roadmap towards Restoration from the Accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (hereinafter, the "Roadmap"), which was first announced in April.

In the Roadmap, TEPCO reports that the "Radiation dose is in steady decline," looking at the period of three months from April to July as the target for Step 1, and confirms that the progress target for Step 1 has been achieved.

Also, concerning the nuclear reactor, "stable cooling" is considered to have been achieved based on a situation where the heat generated in the reactor is being steadily removed, and hydrogen explosion is avoided by injecting nitrogen gas into the PCV (primary containment vessel). The spent fuel pools are also considered to have achieved "stable cooling." In addition, by processing the contaminated water that has accumulated in the buildings and elsewhere (accumulated water), and starting "circulating injection cooling" to reuse the water to flood the nuclear reactor, the risk of unintentional leakage to the environment has been mitigated. Elsewhere, the report states that to reduce the radioactivity concentration in the seawater in the plant port, decontamination is being conducted utilizing circulation-type seawater processing apparatus, and that as a countermeasure against tsunami, temporary tide walls have been installed, and that steps have been taken to improve the life and work environment for the workers.

Concerning the outlook for the future, there is no change in the status of progress towards the April Roadmap targets for Step 2, which are the "Release of radioactive materials is under control and the radiation dose is being significantly held down by three to six months (from April)." Also, for Step 2, the circulation injection cooling is continuing to take the nuclear reactor to cold shutdown conditions.

At the 17^th meeting of the Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters on July 19, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, "Things have progressed this far with regard to Step 1 thanks above all to the people working really hard at the site. I visited the site myself last Saturday and saw so many people working hard in the hot weather. I think their efforts are truly remarkable."

Click the link below to view the government's "The Great East Japan Earthquake" web page. http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/incident/index.html Click this link to see the measures taken to ensure the safety of beef after radioactive cesium was detected in some samples sourced from cattle in Fukushima Prefecture. http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/kan/topics/201107/measures_beef.pdf

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