Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
No. No! Anne!
Breaking news. It's been almost 10 years to the day since the devastation of the 2011 East Japan earthquake and tsunami. Now, another quake, this time of magnitude 7.3, has rocked the prefecture of Fukushima. Aftershocks of similar magnitudes are expected to follow throughout the night. Cutting power lines and damaging roads, leading to huge congestion around the city of Iwaki.
reports of fires in Sendai and Miyagi Prefecture. Tonight's earthquake threatens already fragile coastal communities like Namie, sections of which were only reopened a few years ago following the devastation of 2000. Only 10% of Namie's former population have returned, for many to empty spaces where their houses once stood.
Part of the town remains restricted. Few are currently occupied. Most are awaiting demolition. And the temporary housing across Japan, sometimes no more than shipping containers with windows, is now home to over 97,000 displaced residents. In Namie, the population is a little over 1,000. Typical, the Tokyo Electric Power Company.
Well, most people in this area don't trust the official radiation figures.
But thanks to the tireless work of the volunteers at the many sometimes ad hoc testing laboratories in the region, it does paint a rather grim picture of life in the prefecture following the Fukushima... ...news of the earthquake, a spokesperson from the Olympic Committee stated that they have no intention of changing their plans to hold the Olympic Games torch ceremony in Fukushima's J village, now only weeks away, saying it's vital to show solidarity with the residents and to show them in turn that it's safe to return to the area.
Suto-san! Suto-san! Are you okay? Is everything alright? Suto-san! Oh, Akiko-san. Suto-san, are you okay? Yes, I'm fine. Why didn't you answer the door? I was banging. I was behind the house. A section of my patio fell down. I was worried. I was on my way home and passing by the shrine. Come inside, Akiko-san. Have a cup of tea.
All is well. It was just a tremor. It was more than a tremor. Oh, please come inside. Well, I knew this would break one day. How bad is the damage? I've seen the house in the worst stage. Please sit. How did you come to buy this house? I visited Namie in 2015 and found it.
It was slated for demolition. Suto-san, nobody was casually visiting Nami-e in 2015. Not for more than an hour at a time and not without protective gear. I came on business. Ah, of course. What do you mean, of course? You worked for the Tokyo Electric Power Company. I don't like gossip. It's not gossip. It's Google. Ah, yeah, your tea. Thank you.
I heard you're going back to Tokyo. I am. In two weeks. I have a month off before my third year starts. I have to prepare my dissertation. What's the subject? Ah, well, you're here, so the disaster, I imagine. What aspect? Um, fishermen. The struggle of the fishermen. Government radiation guidelines. Oh. And what is it? A paper? A kind of narrated film. Fishermen?
I wish you luck with it. It sounds interesting. It did when I chose it as my subject. I have almost no footage and I've barely even started writing. It's a disaster. You're going to be a journalist. I'm sure you can. Puff it up a little. I don't want to puff it up a little. I want to do something substantial.
I started my placement here in January. It's now March. The real fishing season doesn't start until April. It was a bad choice. Why don't you write about your work with women at a radiation laboratory?
That seems very interesting work. I spoke to Kanno about it. You remember Kanno? Oh, yes. She's the one that keeps pestering me to get my cesium-137 test. Why do you keep refusing? It's free. Everyone takes one. It's my choice, Akiko-san. I don't understand it. You don't have to.
But working there must have been a rewarding experience. It's been inspirational. Such amazing women. What I didn't realize was how much of it is like counseling. For some residents, we are the only point of contact. It's good to just be there for them. Listen to what they have to say. Try to help.
I've even fixed a toaster. There you have it. Change the dissertation. No, it's too late. They barely have any time anyway. They're just mums with kids and jobs. And Kanno told me they weren't very keen on being filmed complaining about lack of funding or equipment. Oh, well then. Seems fisherman it is. There is one other possibility. And what is that? You, Suto-san.
Yes. If I could talk to you. And not just because I need your help. Oh, I don't think so. You're a riddle to me, Suto-san. A riddle? I've been bringing you groceries, batteries, bulbs and sake for three months and you've never really spoken to me. Spoke about what? Suto-san.
You spent your whole career working for the company that owns the Daiichi plant 12 kilometres away. And why should anyone be interested in that? You moved here two years ago and nobody ever sees you. You're like the hibagon or something. Oh!
There was a COVID epidemic, which made socialising a little difficult. And the hibagon is a myth, Akiko-san. Not a riddle. The riddle is why would a retired TEPCO executive relocate to a partially destroyed house in Nami-e, on the edge of the exclusion zone? It's quite a compelling story, don't you think? Peace and quiet.
You know, some people in Namie think you're a spy. Oh, my goodness. I'm not sure Hibagun make very good spies, Akiko-san. What was your position at Tepco?
Yes. Ha, ha, ha.
Did you really come here today because you were concerned for me after the tremor? Yes, but I've been meaning to ask you for a while. I don't mean now. Of course, you can think about it. I don't have my camera anyway. If I'm going to help you with your dissertation, Akiko-san, there will be no camera.
You may use me as a basis for your research, but I will not do an interview and you will not use my name. Believe it or not, this is still rather sensitive. Terms accepted? Terms accepted. Well, I'm going to need a drink for this. I have a good sake. I've been looking forward to it. I'll be happy to share it. Not for me. I have to drive home. To Milwaukee? Don't you foolish.
The radio said the roads are gridlocked. Just a small one. So, where would your narration start? On the day of the earthquake? Or March the 11th, 2011, at 2.46 in the afternoon, and so on and so forth? It seems a logical place. What were you doing? March the 11th, 2011 was a Friday, I believe, at 2.46.
I was at my desk. I was dealing with some paperwork that had to be done before the weekend. And I was irritated because I was supposed to have the afternoon off to take one of my dogs to the vet. We didn't know where the epicenter was at first. Obviously, it was not Tokyo. The tremors were not strong enough. When we heard the earthquake was in this region,
That was a concern. You are thinking of the Daiichi plant? Of course. We are all thinking of Daiichi and Dai-ni. But strangely, my first thought was for plant manager Masao Yoshida.
At 2:46pm on Friday 11th March 2011, 26km below the Pacific Ocean floor, an earthquake measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale struck 130km off the coast of Honshu on the Japanese archipelago, pulling the entire island 2.5m to the east and pushing it up by 1m.
It was the fourth largest earthquake ever recorded and brought devastation and chaos to a vast area, severing power lines, crippling roads and causing widespread damage to property. First to feel the impact were the prefectures of Miyagi and Fukushima on Japan's eastern coast, which is also home to two nuclear power plants named Daiichi and Daini. Of these two facilities, Daiichi is the largest.
Built in the late 60s, Daiichi is equipped with six boiling water reactors. At the time of the earthquake, reactors 5 and 6 are in idle shutdown, and reactor 4 has been defueled for maintenance. Reactors 1, 2 and 3 are operating at full capacity.
The Daiichi plant manager is 56-year-old Masao Yoshida, a 30-year veteran of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO. Yoshida has been plant manager for nine months. This is Yoshida. Stay down. Get under a desk if you can. Cover your heads and stay down. Do not run. Do not attempt to leave the office complex.
Find cover! If you can't find cover, hold on to something and wait! Do not try to leave the building! Do you know Masao Yoshida? Ah, yes. I knew him. I knew him, yes, of course. Forgive me. We'd worked together when he was deputy head of plant operations in the early 90s, and we'd run into each other here and there. What was he like? He was very knowledgeable. There was very little he hadn't done at Tepco.
and there was very little he didn't know about the dike plant. Did you like him? I did. But at Tepco, I suspect I was an exception. Really? Management couldn't read him. He had a rather booming voice. He smoked two packs a day. They found him brutish, unpolished, petulant...
I don't recall anyone ever questioning Yoshida's expertise. It wasn't that. And my goodness, his teams were always loyal. Tefco management seemed scared of him. They found him disrespectful of their authority. This is really good, Suto-san. Can I record you on my phone? Yes, do what you have to do. But this is not an interview.
But before we go on, you do understand how a boiling water reactor works, yes? I think so. What do you know? Okay, um...
There are long rods which are full of little plutonium pellets and grouped together. I can't remember what that's called. A fuel assembly. Yes, and lots of those fuel assemblies are placed inside the reactor core where they sit underwater, bouncing atoms off each other and generating heat, which creates steam, which powers turbines, which produces electricity. Yes, very good. OK.
I'm going to record. Do as you wish. Conversation with Kiyoshi Suto, 20th of March, 2021. Could you repeat the bit you said about Yoshida? No. Okay. So, the earthquake. So, the earthquake. At the first tremors, what's called the scram is initiated, which is the automatic shutdown of the reactors. Control rods are inserted into the core.
These act as a casing around the fuel rods, essentially starving them of reactivity and stopping all nuclear fission in an instant. And who does that? The control room? No, seismic sensors under the plant trigger it automatically. For the time being, all Shimada had to do was monitor it. Who's he? Toshiro Shimada, the control room chief. Hashimoto-san, can we turn the off? Yes, sir.
Seawater pumps closed? Yes, sir. Ito-san, status of the reactors? Scram successful. Reactors 1, 2, 3 at 6%. Reactor 4 defueled and idle. 5 and 6 in cold shutdown for planned maintenance. Temperature and pressure? 300 degrees. Pressure normal at 450 kPa. Any change in suppression pool temperature or pressure? No, sir. Honda-san, begin RCIC procedure. The manual is in the drawer behind you. Yes, sir. Matsumoto-san!
Is the isolation condenser initiated? Yes sir. Good. We are going to need it to cool the reactor. Seconds count. I know you are not familiar with the procedure. Check in your manual. Yes sir. External power lost. The quaker has severed the grid. Diesel generators activated. DG running. Watch those water levels. Core temperature. If it starts boiling off, it can get away from us very quickly, gentlemen. Yes sir.
The earthquake has cut all external power lines feeding the facility. The six diesel generators start up automatically, restoring electricity to the plant and allowing the cooling and depressurisation of the reactors to continue uninterrupted. In order to avoid damage from hurricanes and typhoons, these generators are situated in rooms under the reactor buildings.
Control Room Chief Shimada is concerned that even in shutdown mode, the reactor cores will need a steady flow of cold water, up to 70,000 litres per hour, to avoid the water boiling away and provoking what is known as a meltdown. That is, when the fuel rods exposed above the waterline begin to melt.
Meanwhile, the on-site managerial and office staff of the Tokyo Electric Power Company and its partners have assembled at the meeting point outside the administrative complex. There are some 2,000 employees on the plant that day.
Report all missing, all injured, both typical and athletes. Each department report to their department chief. All chiefs report to me. All designated representatives of the Crisis Response Center make your way to the seismic building with me. Thank you.
The Crisis Response Centre, CRC, is a large conference room located in the quake-proof building on the western side of the Daiichi facility. It was completed a mere eight months before the earthquake. The centre has no windows and is equipped with telephone lines, faxes, food, fresh water and giant monitors mounted to facilitate communication with external parties. Can I have everyone's attention, please?
That was a significant quake. That means there we undoubtedly follow a tsunami warning. But the system is doing what it's supposed to do. And I ask you all to breathe. Fall back on your training. Man your station. And do the same. Let's work. How's it, Saito? A lot of information coming in, Yoshi. Ask me in two minutes. Generator should be running by now. We should check the pools have not been damaged. If they are cracked, we have a whole different headache.
In his deposition to the subsequent government inquiry, plant manager Yoshida stated that his primary concern, other than the safety of his staff, was the condition of the spent fuel rod pools housed in the containment building of Idle Reactor 4. This is where rods which have passed their peak are stored in cool pools after being extracted from the core.
Yoshida was worried that the earthquake may have cracked the pools, causing leakages, which would in turn expose the rods. At the time of the earthquake, there are 1,500 fuel rods in these pools, and should they become exposed, the radiation level would be equivalent to that of several reactor cores, forcing the evacuation of Tokyo and beyond.
At 3 o'clock, less than 20 minutes after the quake, staff gather around the television sets to watch news footage of the incoming tsunami. The images are chilling. Plant manager Yoshida instructs a member of his team to send a fax to TEPCO head office warning of a possible nuclear emergency.
But neither the President nor the Chairman of TEPCO are present at head office. Their whereabouts are unknown, so the message is received by a lower-ranking manager. What does that mean? I don't know. Possible emergency. Is he invoking Article 15? Not that I can tell. Well, it's an emergency where it isn't. I thought everything was going according to standard procedure. It is. So why is he telling us there will be a possible nuclear emergency? That tsunami.
Tsunami? There's a wall, a barrier. It'll hold. How high would it have to be to bridge the wall? I don't know. Well, someone must have shimmy's on the customer to be informed of the situation. No, sir. Why not? Nobody knows where they are.
Attention all Daiichi personnel, Tepco and partners. This is plant manager Yoshida. Mega tsunami warning. Repeat, mega tsunami warning. All personnel operated near the sea wall. Take refuge immediately. Clear the area. I repeat, clear the area and find a safe place in those.
As the tsunami barrels towards the coast, most at Daiichi are confident that the barriers that extend out in front of the plant, designed to bear a tsunami of 5.7 meters, will take much of the force. The sea is sucked out by the oncoming wave and the water level at the plant's seawall drops considerably.
Members of staff who are at that moment outside scramble for a safe space indoors. Meanwhile, the control room is struggling with the isolation condensers. At the Crisis Response Center, staff attempt to mount the satellite linkup between the plant and TEPCO head office. It is estimated that at its highest, the tsunami measured 40 meters.
By the time it reaches the plant, it has dissipated considerably, but it is still 13 metres high. That's a full seven metres higher than the barrier can withstand, rendering it almost useless. At four o'clock, barely an hour after the earthquake, the tsunami overtops the barrier and slams into the plant.
Matsumoto, if you leave the isolation condenser open too long, you'll cool the core too fast. So remember to toggle it on for 30 seconds or for 30 seconds. Keep going like that. Green, red, green, red. You are doing fine. Yes, sir. Everyone else, just keep watching the numbers. You are doing well. I want updates every two minutes. Starting on my left. What's going on?
Station blackout. It can't be a SPO. The generators are up. Check the panel. Use the torch on your belt. Check everything. And someone find me a source of light. The torches. Ozaki, in the cupboard, in the corner. Yes, sir. Don't panic. Ito-san, set us. We've lost everything. Look. What do you mean, lost? It's...
It's all at zero. You have to call station blackout, sir. SBO! Repeat! SBO! Find the cause of it now. The pews could have tripped. We need to get those generators back up. Everybody, get a torch. I need as much light in here as possible. Honda, open the door. Let them in.
What's going on? This is bad. We've got no power. Do you know why we have no power? Water. Give me some water! No, no, no, no, no. Seawater. What? Everywhere. In the building? Everywhere. The basement. Generators? Generators, backup, battery panels, DC power systems. It's all underwater.
Satellite link is up. OK. What can I see here? On the top left of the screen is TEPCO HQ. On the top right is the Prime Minister's office. We are bottom left and bottom right is supposed to be the off-site centre in Okuma. Why is it black? It's offline. Why? The earthquake. But the off-site centre is supposed to be the hub. That one is TEPCO HQ. I don't need to see these bureaucrats. Hearing them is bad enough. PHONE RINGS
Yes? Hello Toshio, what's the news from the control room? What? What is it? All of them? What is it? Do what you can old friend. What is it? Which one of these is the microphone? The one with the red band. This is Fukushima Daiichi plant manager Masao Yoshida.
We have SBO on the plant. Repeat, station blackout. Reactor control systems have lost all power. External and generators. All control facilities inoperable. Water supply to reactor cores cut off. I am hereby declaring a specific nuclear incident as stipulated in Article 15 of the Nuclear Preparedness Act.
This is Fukushima Daiichi plant manager Masao Yoshida. We are in a nuclear emergency. In the next episode of Fukushima. Tempco is a private company, Prime Minister. They said there was no radioactive leak. You really think they'd have the first idea if there was? The Nuclear Preparedness Act is a work of supreme genius. Only if you're in one emergency. No
Not three. It doesn't mention power grids going down or helicopters fishing babies out of the sea. I just watched a boat go clean through someone's living room. My men need sleep, not to be roaring out the red carpet for visiting dignitaries. I understand. So you have power? No.
With the alternative power sources, we've managed to get some readings. What alternative sources? Car batteries. You're running this plant on car batteries? TEPCO are stalling on venting the reactors to release pressure. We could do it manually. Prepare suicide teams to open the vents. Suicide teams? That's what you call them? No, that's what they are. In Fukushima Episode 1, Suto is played by Togo Egawa and Akiko by Amy Okamura-Jones,
The director is Sasha Yevtushenko and the producer is Toby Swift. Fukushima, from the BBC World Service, is a BBC Audio production.