The Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) today provided the IAEA with a news release on its recent actions related to the fuel removal from the reactor building of Unit 4 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, as well as a progress report from TEPCO also related to the fuel removal at this Unit.

On 14 November 2013, the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) issued a news release in which it detailed requirements that NRA provided TEPCO for undertaking fuel removal from the spent fuel storage pools in reactor buildings to the Common Spent Fuel Pool, under the Act on Regulation of Nuclear Source Material, Nuclear Fuel Material and Nuclear Reactors. Details of the implementation plan can be accessed at NRA Actions Towards TEPCO Fuel Removal.

On 13 November 2013, the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) provided the IAEA an update on radioactivity in seawater at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS).

The report notes that on 9 November 2013 TEPCO found contaminated water was leaking from the dike surrounding H6 Tank Area in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Information on this leakage can be found on Seawater Monitoring Near Fukushima Daiichi NPS.

The NRA report also states that the concentrations of Cs-134, Cs-137, total Beta, and H-3 were relatively stable from 4 to 10 November 2013 at the nuclear power station - Seawater Monitoring Near Fukushima Daiichi NPS.

In addition, the NRA provided an update on the monitoring report of sea area radioactivity obtained from samples taken in the vicinity of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi NPS and in the open sea.

15.11.2013

The Government of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) announced on 19 November 2013 the NRA's enhanced sea area monitoring measures in the area within a 30 kilometre radius from the Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, as well as the initiation of a comparative analysis of the seawater monitoring data gathered by TEPCO and the NRA. The enhanced measures include additional monthly measurements (commencing 21 November 2013) and the establishment of seven additional sampling points, where radionuclides will be analysed, including Cs-134 (detection limit: 0.001Bq/L), Cs-137 (detection limit: 0.001Bq/L), Sr-90 (detection limit: 0.01Bq/L), H-3 (detection limit: 0.5Bq/L), K-40 (detection limit: 1Bq/L). The NRA had already been undertaking seawater monitoring beyond a 30 kilometre radius from TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

Following the 15 November 2013 contaminated water seepages reported earlier, the NRA provided on 19 November 2013 the results of TEPCO's daily seawater monitoring at a point near the Tank Area. Further information and a map can be found here.

In addition, TEPCO provided further details of the leakage.

The NRA reported that the concentrations of all radionuclides (i.e., Cs-134, Cs-137, total Beta and H-3) were relatively stable from 11 to 17 November at the sampling points near the Nuclear Power Station.

On 18 November 2013, the NRA provided the IAEA an update, noting that on 15 November 2013, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) announced the results of an investigation that surveyed the lower portion of the reactor Unit 1 vent pipes at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS).

At Units 1, 2 and 3 at the NPS, it had been assumed that the cooling water, injected into the reactors, was leaking from the primary containment vessels to the reactor buildings, but the specific location of the leakage had not been identified. In response, investigations have been conducted to identify the cause of the leakage. TEPCO has identified precise locations of leakages of contaminated water from the primary containment vessel of Unit 1.

In its 18 November 2013 update, the Government of Japan referred to the discovery as "a significant step forward towards decommissioning, since the cause of the leakage of the contaminated water was confirmed." The Government of Japan will further investigate the situation in detail and expects that the decommissioning process would be accelerated. The foregoing information is posted on the TEPCO website.

Further information was also provided on the robotic boat technology and measurement methods used to investigate leakage at Unit 1:

• Background information
• Results from the first day of investigation
• Results from the second day of investigation
• Higher resolution images

The Government of Japan also informed the IAEA on 18 November 2013 that TEPCO was scheduled to begin removing fuel from the Unit 4 reactor that day and moving it to the Common Spent Fuel Pool. In addition, the actions, which are to be taken by the Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan (NRA) with regard to the fuel removal, are described on the following NRA webpages:

• http://www.nsr.go.jp/english/data/131115-1.pdf
• http://www.nsr.go.jp/english/data/131114-1r.pdf

TEPCO provided further detailed information about the fuel removal procedure, as well as a summary of the safety measures currently in effect for the Spent Fuel Pool removal process at Unit 4.

09.11.2013

On 6 November, the IAEA received an update from the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) on the daily monitoring by TEPCO of seawater near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station that indicates the concentrations of radionuclides, including Cs-134, Cs-137, as well as total Beta and H-3, measured at the sea sampling points within a 2 kilometre radius of the plant site, were relatively stable from 28 October to 3 November 2013.

In addition, the NRA provided the latest sea area monitoring results obtained from samples taken in the vicinity of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and in the open sea.

On its company website, TEPCO provides detailed information on the Unit 4 Spent Fuel Pool removal process, as well as a photograph of the transport container used to move the spent fuel after its removal from the Unit Four Spent Fuel pool.

08.11.2013

On 30 October 2013, the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) provided the IAEA with its most recent update on radioactivity in seawater at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS).

The NRA report notes no significant increase in the concentrations of Cs-134 and Cs-137 and total Beta in the designated sampling points, even after the rainwater flowed over the dikes on 20 October 2013 due to continued heavy rains.

In addition, the NRA provided the latest sea area monitoring results obtained from samples taken in the vicinity of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and in the open sea.

On 28 October 2013, TEPCO also issued a report related to maintenance of one of the water systems, as well as a document providing an overview of countermeasures that were put in place in preparation for Typhoon Francisco.

30.10.2013

On 23 October 2013, the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) provided the IAEA with an update on radioactivity in seawater at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS).

The NRA report notes no significant increase in the concentrations of Cs-134 and Cs-137 in the designated sampling points as compared to the previous week, even after the typhoon that passed over the Nuclear Power Station in the period 14-16 October 2013.

In addition, the NRA provided a monitoring report of sea area radioactivity obtained from samples taken in the vicinity of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi NPS and in the open sea.

At the same time, TEPCO has issued a report detailing specific counter measures implemented due to the heavy rain several days ago.

23.10.2013

On 17 October 2013, the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) provided the IAEA with an update on radioactivity in seawater at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS).

The NRA report notes that on 9 October 2013, TEPCO found that the concentrations of Cs-134 and Cs-137 in sampling seawater obtained from inside the screen silt fence at Unit 2 of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi NPS increased compared with the previous results. The NRA provided a link to this TEPCO data.

In addition, the NRA provided a monitoring report of sea area radioactivity obtained from samples taken in the vicinity of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi NPS and in the open sea.

17.10.2013

On 9 October 2013, the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) provided the IAEA with an update on current levels of radioactivity in seawater as of 8 October 2013.

The NRA also issued a press release on 9 October 2013 that reports the leakage of contaminated water from a desalination system in use at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, which led to the exposure of six workers.

The NRA provided these links to the TEPCO website which provide further details of TEPCO's report submitted to the NRA:

• http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1231306_5130.html
• http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1231302_5130.html
• http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1231301_5130.html
• http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1231300_5130.html
• http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1231292_5130.html
• http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1231288_5130.html

The NRA also provided the IAEA with a report providing sea water radioactivity monitoring data as of 8 October 2013.

10.10.2013

On 3 October 2013, the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) provided the IAEA with an update on radioactivity in seawater as of 28 September 2013.

TEPCO, the operators of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, issued updates on tank leakage and and countermeasures against contaminated water at Fukushima Daiichi NPS:

• Leakage from B Area South Tank, 3 October 2013. [pdf]
• Overflow of Water from the Notch Tank for H6 Area Located on the East of H5 Area at Fukushima Daiichi NPS, 1 October 2013. [pdf]
• Current Status of and Countermeasures Against Contaminated Water, September 2013. [pdf]
• Measures Against Contaminated Water/Outlines of Fundamental Measures. [pdf]
• Measures Against Contaminated Water/Outlines of Emergency Measures. [pdf]
• Contaminated Water Leakage from a Tank/Current Status. [pdf]
• Contaminated Water Leakage from a Tank/Measures for Risk Reduction. [pdf]

In addition, in a 3 October 2013 NRA press release provided the information that the NRA received a report from TEPCO, pursuant to the Act on Regulation of Nuclear Source Material, Nuclear Fuel Material and Nuclear Reactors, that TEPCO informed the NRA of the discovery of a leak in a storage tank. Details of TEPCO's report to the NRA are available here.

04.10.2013

The Government of Japan provided the IAEA with an update on radioactivity in seawater near TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi (F1) Nuclear Power Station:

• The report provided by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), Japan, entitled F1 Issues as of 24 September 2013, can be accessed here.

In addition, TEPCO provided a document that describes the work in progress to determine the cause of leakages from storage tanks holding radioactively contaminated water, as well as a document describing the results of that investigation.

25.09.2013

On the first day of the IAEA's 57th General Conference, 16 September 2013, the Government of Japan provided a briefing for IAEA Member States and the media entitled, Updated Status of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: Regulation, Overview, Actions.

At this event, Japanese authorities presented information on the current status of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, including on the current situation of contaminated water leakage and countermeasures, radiation monitoring and enhanced technical development:

• The Updated Status of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: Regulation, Overview, Actions, Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), is available here.

  -- The supplementary information for this presentation, entitled the New Regulatory Requirements for Light-Water Nuclear Power Plants - Outline, is available here.

• The Countermeasures for Contaminated Water at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), is available here.
• The Outline and Prospect of IRID, International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning, is available here.

  -- The supplementary information for this presentation, entitled the Organization Outline and Present Activities of International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning (IRID), International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning, is available here.

• The Progress on Off-site Cleanup Efforts in Japan, Ministry of the Environment, is available here.

17.09.2013

The IAEA received on 6 September 2013 an information note by the Japanese Nuclear Regularity Authority (NRA) on issues at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The note, dated 5 September 2013, includes an overview of the current situation of contaminated water leakage, current information on radioactivity in seawater, the further supervision by the NRA and further facilitation of international communication.

The NRA note and the accompanying attachment with photographs and detailed information can be accessed in the resources section of this page.

On 5 September, 2013, the Government of Japan has officially transmitted to the IAEA a factsheet "Overview", a "Basic Policy" of the Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters together with an explanatory note entitledGovernment's Decisionon addressing the contaminated water issue at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS).

• The factsheet "Overview" is available here and at the METI website.
• The Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters' "Basic Policy" can be accessed here.
• The explanatory note entitled Government's Decisioncan be accessed here.
• Both the "Decision" and the "Basic Policy" are also available at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

06.09.2013

The IAEA issues regular Status Reports to the public on the current status of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, including information on environmental radiation monitoring, the status of workers and current conditions on-site at the plant.

The information cited in this Report is compiled from official Japanese sources, including the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) through the Japanese Permanent Mission in Vienna and the Cabinet's Office of the Prime Minister. Information is also provided by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Questions on the information provided in this report may be directed to info@iaea.org.

What are the recent developments at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant?

On 5 November TEPCO reported details of its removal of obstacles to robots surveying the Unit 3 Reactor Building. Removing these obstacles has allowed for greater access to areas on the first floor and subsequently enabled more detailed surveys of dose rates and environmental conditions (e.g. temperatures) that can be conducted via robotic survey.

TEPCO is working to desalinate radioactive water that has accumulated as a result of efforts to cool the reactors and spent fuel pools with seawater. Desalination of the water reduces the potential for corrosion caused by salt. On 5 November TEPCO released a detailed document outlining its capability to desalinate water onsite. This document outlines the operation of reverse osmosis desalinisation facilities and their evaporative concentration capabilities. Included are a number of figures showing salt concentration over time at the outlet and inlet to the system. A video explaining the water treatment process for salt removal has also been posted online.

On 6 November TEPCO released details of a new water treatment system intended to remove contamination from the Spent Fuel Pool of Unit 2. Due to the limited space around that pool, the system will be installed on two trucks parked nearby. Details of the latest reported values of the radioactive material concentration in each Spent Fuel Pool are available. On 7 November TEPCO released new results for the current decontamination efforts of its onsite accumulated water treatment process.

The process of removal of contaminated rubble using remote controlled heavy machinery is on-going.

Table 1: Status of Cooling Water Flow, Temperatures and Pressure at Units 1, 2 and 3

TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant station reactors 1, 2 and 3 require circulating water to remove heat from their fuel.

Plant operators are working to bring the reactors into a "cold shutdown condition" defined by TEPCO and the Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters as:

• Lowering the coolant water temperature to below 100 degrees centigrade while reducing the pressure inside the reactor vessels to the same as the outside air pressure, or 1 atmosphere (atm); and
• Bringing release of radioactive materials from primary containment vessel under control and reducing public radiation exposure by additional release (not to exceed 1 mSv/year at the site boundary as a target).

Table 2: Most Recently Reported Temperatures in Fukushima Daiichi Spent Fuel Pools

Spent fuel removed from a nuclear reactor is highly radioactive and generates intense heat. Nuclear plant operators typically store this material in pools of water that cool the fuel and shield the radioactivity. Water in a spent fuel pool is continuously cooled to remove heat produced by spent fuel assemblies.

According to IAEA experts, a typical spent fuel pool temperature is kept below 25 °C under normal operating conditions. The temperature of a spent fuel pool is maintained by constant cooling, which requires a constant power source.

What is the latest information regarding radiation monitoring of foodstuffs?

Food monitoring data were reported from 2 to 8 November by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) for a total of 3585 samples collected on 23 and 30 April, 3 May, 17 and 19 August, 8, 12-14 and 26-28 September, 2, 6-7, 8, 10-11, 13-14 and 17-31 October and 1-8 November in 32 different prefectures (Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukushima, Gifu, Gunma, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Iwate, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Niigata, Okayama, Saitama, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Yamagata, Yamanashi).

These data included samples of various vegetables, fruit and fruit products, mushrooms, nuts, cereals, dairy products, baby food, tea leaves, meat, eggs, honey, fish and seafood.

Analytical results for 3 555 (over 99%) of the 3 585 samples indicated that Cs-134 and Cs-137 or I-131 were either not detected or were below the regulation values set by the Japanese authorities. However, 30 samples were above the regulation values for radioactive caesium (Cs-134 and Cs-137), as follows:

• As reported on 2 November, seven samples of fish collected on 25 and 31 October in Fukushima prefecture, three samples of mushrooms collected on 31 October and 1 November in Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures, one sample of beef collected on 1 November in Miyagi prefecture and one sample of unrefined tea leaves collected on 28 October in Kanagawa prefecture.
• As reported on 4 November, three samples of mushrooms collected on 2 November in Kanagawa and Tochigi prefectures.
• As reported on 7 November, six samples of meat collected on 10, 27, 29 and 31 October from Fukushima prefecture and two samples of mushrooms collected on 4 November from Tochigi prefecture; and
• As reported on 8 November, five samples of meat collected on 2, 17, 19, 22 and 25 October and one sample of persimmon collected on 4 November in Fukushima prefecture, and one sample of dried shiitake mushrooms (log-grown) collected on 7 November in Kanagawa prefecture.

Updated information on food restrictions were reported by MHLW on 7 November indicating that restrictions were lifted on the distribution and/or consumption of non-head type leafy vegetables and turnips produced in specific areas of Fukushima prefecture. Restrictions were implemented on the distribution of log-grown brick cap mushrooms (outdoor cultivation) in specific areas of Tochigi prefecture.

Additional information on food restrictions were also reported by the MHLW on 8 November indicating that restrictions were implemented on the distribution of log-grown brick cap mushrooms (outdoor cultivation) in additional areas of Tochigi prefecture.

A full list of instructions regarding food restrictions was provided by MHLW on 9 November.

The IAEA will continue to issue regular Status Reports to the public on the current status of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Questions on the information provided in this report may be directed to info@iaea.org.

10.11.2011