The Unseen Endpoint: The Maze of Fukushima Decommissioning 2018-2019

The Unseen Endpoint: The Maze of Fukushima Decommissioning 2018-2019

Between 2018 and 2019, less than a decade after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, the word decommissioning was used symbolically in the government's and TEPCO's explanations. The chaotic period immediately after the disaster had passed, and the site looked orderly with reduced debris and radiation levels, so much so that an overseas inspection team said that they had imagined a dangerous site, but it was clean and safe. However, the location of the fuel debris was unknown, and there was no road map for its removal, so the author felt uncomfortable with the words "steady progress. At the time, TEPCO and the government had a plan to complete decommissioning in a maximum of 40 years, but the person in charge of the site made it clear that "the definition of decommissioning completion has not been decided." In 2019, the decommissioning period for Fukushima Daini, which escaped the accident, was set at 44 years, highlighting the inversion of figures. Politically, the conflic
t over restart and decommissioning continues, and whether "decommissioning" means land clearing or residual management is also not settled. Globally, the decommissioning of nuclear reactors has been protracted, and Japan ranked fourth in the world in terms of the number of reactors scheduled for decommissioning. Against this backdrop, one word symbolized the absence of an end point, the divergence from the political slogan, and the imposition of future burdens.