Nuke plant director: 'I thought several times that I would die'

[kristopher]

Nuke plant director: 'I thought several times that I would die'

November 13, 2011


Wearing a white radiation protective suit, Masao Yoshida, director of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, took questions from reporters on Nov. 12.

"During the week from March 11, I thought several times that I would die," Yoshida, 56, admitted.

..."As we did not know the situation inside the building, we envisioned the worst-case scenario that the containment vessel (of the No. 1 reactor) exploded and radioactive materials were coming out of the vessel. I felt that, if the meltdown (in which fuel in the reactor melts and drops to the bottom of the reactor) progresses and it becomes impossible to control the reactor, that will be the end," he said.

Asked when he felt that the nuclear plant passed out of the critical stage, Yoshida said, "I had a considerably hard time until the end of June. It was in July and August that the situation appeared to have stabilized."

As for the fact ...

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ2011111317366

This press conference was part of the day for reporters, who were just allowed to enter the Fukushima NPP compound for the first time since the multiple meltdowns.

For more on that see:

First look at Japan nuke plant: rubble amid progress


The damaged No. 3 reactor building at Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The damaged facility was shown to the media for the first time since the accidents in March on Nov. 12. (Pool photo)

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ2011111317334

[avaistheone1]

1. He still may suffer an early death.

[PoliticAverse]

2. I hope the reporters brought dosimeters with them. n/t

[kristopher]

3. "Fukushima No. 1 tour an eye-opener"

Monday, Nov. 14, 2011

Fukushima No. 1 tour an eye-opener
Radiation dangers temper sense of stability at scene of devastation

By REIJI YOSHIDA
Staff writer

OKUMA, Fukushima Pref. — "Now 1,000 microsieverts (per hour)!"

The shout by a Tokyo Electric Power Co. worker, in full face mask and seamless white protective suit, sent tension high among the 18 journalists aboard a slow-moving bus inside the compound of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

As the bus moved near the badly damaged reactor 2 building, a radiation meter spiked to a level about 18,000 times higher than the everyday reading in Tokyo.

On Saturday, for the first time since the quake-tsunami disaster of March 11, reporters were allowed into the plant for a guided tour.

On that ...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111114x3.html