The Sea of Japan is calm now, glinting in the light near the largest nuclear facility in the world. But in case something goes wrong, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa has a new tsunami wall as the massive facility gets ready to reopen.
After the Fukushima accident in 2011, Japan decided to abandon nuclear power. However, given that it has the dirtiest energy mix among the G7, it is attempting to reduce emissions, and atomic energy is steadily resurfacing, partly due to artificial intelligence.
The 15-meter (50-foot) wall at the 400-hectare (1,000-acre) KK plant, which was exclusively shown to AFP, is just one precautionary measure to avert another disaster and calm the public and Japan’s uneasy neighbours.
“We believe that (a similar accident to Fukushima) could be largely avoided,” Masaki Daito, KK deputy superintendent, told AFP. Japan now has “the strictest (regulatory) standards in the world”.
Since it was closed for two years for “upgrades” following a significant earthquake in 2007, the facility in central Japan, like the country as a whole, is no stranger to earthquakes.
A 15-meter tsunami at Fukushima destroyed backup generators and power lines, rendering water pumps necessary to cool nuclear material inoperable.
The largest nuclear catastrophe of the century saw the meltdown of three reactors, roofs being blown off, and radiation being discharged into the atmosphere by hydrogen explosions.
In addition to “blow-out” panels and a new vent designed to filter out 99.9 percent of any radioactive particles, KK has new backup power supply vehicles on higher ground to ensure that the power remains operational in the case of a seismic event.
In addition to the recently built sea wall, an embankment has been enlarged and reinforced. In corridors deep inside the reactor building, luminous stickers mark pipes and faucets.
“The lights all went out at Fukushima and no one could see,” Daito said.
