TEPCO has indicated that it will take measures such as installing additional cooling pipes in response to a request from the Nuclear Regulation Authority for immediate action, in response to the revelation that the foundation supporting the reactor at Unit 1 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, which suffered the meltdown, was severely damaged.
At Unit 1 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, an internal investigation conducted in March confirmed that the cylindrical reinforced concrete base that supports the reactor, called the pedestal, was broken almost all the entire circumference, exposing the reinforcing bars.
In response, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) requested TEPCO to quickly compile possible risks and necessary countermeasures in case pedestals could no longer support the reactors.
In response to this, TEPCO stated at a meeting of the Regulatory Commission held on the 3th that even if the pedestal could not support the reactor, it was unlikely that it would be suppressed by surrounding structures and cause major damage. We presented the evaluation results that the external impact is small.
In addition, he presented measures such as installing additional piping in case it becomes impossible to inject water to cool nuclear fuel debris and installing exhaust equipment with mobile filters to remove radioactive substances contained in gases emitted from the containment vessel.
TEPCO aims to complete the measures by the end of this year.