US NRC Blog Update: Fukushima Daiichi Now: Images and Perspectives

Fukushima Daiichi Now: Images and Perspectives

10 Comments Posted by Moderator on May 8, 2014

NRC officials tour one of the damaged units at the Fukushima Daiichi plant during their trip in February.

Roger Hannah

Senior Public Affairs Officer

Region II

 

In February, an NRC delegation, mostly comprised of senior managers responsible for reactor oversight, travelled to Japan to see, hear about and learn from the accident there in March 2011.
I was there to record the images and sounds of the trip – from the meetings to the tours of facilities, including the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, and the surrounding countryside. In interviews and conversations, I heard varied perspectives, but my focus was almost completely on people:

• The people whose homes and businesses and schools now sit abandoned near the plant – some knowing they may never go home again.
• The people who worked at the plant during and after the accident trying to keep the situation from being worse.
• The people who now work at the site donning protective clothing each day as they slowly tackle the mammoth cleanup.
• The people across Japan who continue to struggle with their view of nuclear power.

I wish we had been able to spend more time in the evacuated areas near the plant, but even the hours we were there carved indelible images in my memory. It’s interesting how seeing areas without people made me think about the missing people even more.
When it comes to nuclear safety, the most important people are those working inside or living closest to the plants. There is no stronger evidence than the images we captured during the trip.
It was difficult to distill all we saw and heard into the short video we posted on the NRC YouTube channel, but I hope we were able to show the essence of the trip…and for me, it was all about people.