IAEA: No Significant Damage at Nuke Plant

Reviewed by Takahiro MIYAO

Article:
IAEA: No Significant Damage at Nuke Plant
The Japan Times (8/19/2007)
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070819a2.html

Reference:
IAEA Mission Report "Preliminary Findings and Lessons Learned From the 16 July 2007 Earthquake at Kashiwazaki-Kariya NPP: Report to the Government of Japan"
IAEA News Centre (8/17/2007):
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/PDF/
Kashiwazaki_Kariwa_Report.pdf

Comments:

As reported in The Japan Times (see the link above), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has submitted to the Japanese government its mission report on earthquake damage to Kashiwazaki-Kariya nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, based on the findings of an IAEA expert team that visited and examined the plant for four days in early August. One major conclusion of the IEAE report (see the reference above) is that damage to the nuclear power station "appears to be limited and less than expected," although "the quake far exceeded the level of seismic activity accounted for in the plant's design." It is also suggested that "the radioactivity released was extremely small and was estimated to result in an individual dose well below the authorized limits set by the regulatory authority for normal operating conditions."

These conclusions must be a tremendous relief to the Japanese government, and especially to Niigata Prefecture, which is suffering in terms of business, tourism and even daily life from inaccurate reports and rumors about possible "radioactive contamination" of its coastal areas. However, it takes time to change the public's perception, once it is established, whether it is correct or not. There should be a lesson to be learned about how to supply the public with accurate information on unfolding events as quickly as possible in order to prevent misinformation and disinformation from spreading beyond anyone's control.

In this regard, the IAEA report warns that "the information from the plant should have been issued more promptly," and "it is of key importance to preserve the integrity of the communication and monitoring systems in order to report the information on releases of radioactive material to the authorities as soon as possible…, even if no significant releases have occurred or are expected to occur." This is probably the most important lesson to be learned by everyone and every organization involved from this unfortunate event.

Acknowledgment:
This review is adopted from the following blog (with its Japanese translation):
http://glocom.blog59.fc2.com/blog-date-20070820.html