Untitled Document
Nuclear power in Japan, 1996: already...
Testimony of a Japanese boiler technician who died of cancer
July 26, 2011
Reprinted from Nuclear Gazette
| Testimony of Mr. Hirado NORIO, a boiler technician, written in 1996 (died of cancer in 1997) | J | I am not an anti-nuclear power plant activist | I worked for 20 years in nuclear power plants. There are always controversies about nuclear power plants, where people say they are for or against, or that they are dangerous or not. | But today, I just want to tell you what happens in the power plants. You will understand that there is a big difference between reality and the idea you have of it. At the same time, you will discover that nuclear power plants irradiate (contaminate) more and more people every day and are the cause of discrimination. | You will certainly discover things you have never heard before. Please read my texts until the end and think for yourself. When talking about nuclear power plants, many people talk about the construction plans. But no one talks about the actual work. Without knowing the site, you cannot know the reality of the power plants. | I trained as a boiler technician in industrial complexes and large chemical plants. I was hired to build (participate in the construction of) nuclear power plants at the end of my twenties, and then I worked for a long time as a site supervisor. I know almost everything about nuclear power plants, more than a regular employee could ever know. | Safety, an illusory perspective | Last year, on January 17, 1995, there was a big earthquake in Kobe. And the Japanese people began to worry whether earthquakes might not be dangerous for Japanese nuclear power plants. Would they really resist all earthquakes? It is not at all certain. The government and the electricity companies emphasize that the power plants are well designed and built on stable ground. But this is an illusory perspective. | The day after the earthquake, I went to Kobe. The many connections between the damages in Kobe and the nuclear power plant issues confused me. Until that day, who could have imagined that the Shinkansen rails and the highway pillars could fall? | In general, we imagine that the constructions of nuclear power plants, the Shinkansen or the highways are subject to strict administrative controls. But in Kobe, we discovered formworks left in the concrete pillars of the Shinkansen. The highway reinforcements had been poorly welded: (they had been bonded with the welding metal but the edges of the reinforcements themselves had not been fused). They were all displaced by the earthquake. | Why did this happen? Because too much importance was given to the plan, to the office, but the site supervision was neglected. If it was not the direct cause, one can say that this negligence caused the extent of the disaster. | Nuclear power plants built by unqualified people | As with the constructions in Kobe, there are also too many human errors in nuclear power plants. For example, connecting pipes while leaving tools inside. There are not many highly skilled workers. They cannot perfectly follow a well-designed construction plan. This illusory plan is based on the idea that it is expert workers who carry it out, but we have never questioned the quality of the workers or their working conditions. | For nuclear power plants as for other construction sites, the workforce and even the inspectors are made up of people with insufficient qualifications. It is understandable that a serious accident occurs in nuclear power plants, the Shinkansen or on the highways. | The design of the nuclear power plant plans is well done. There are many protective and emergency measures. If something goes wrong, it stops properly. But this is only at the level of the plan. Poorly executed construction work undermines this plan. | For example, to build a house, even if the plan is drawn by a top designer, if it is built by unskilled carpenters and plasterers, you will have water leaks and poorly installed partitions. Unfortunately, this house is the Japanese nuclear power plants. | Previously, there was always a foreman called "Boushin" to supervise the work. He had more experience than the site supervisor who was younger than him. The Boushin was proud of his work and considered an accident and negligence as a disgrace. He certainly knew the danger of an accident. | For about 10 years now, there have been no more skilled workers. | No experience is required at the time of recruitment. | Unskilled workers do not know the danger of an accident. They do not even know what non-compliant and poorly done work is. This is the reality of Japanese nuclear power plants. | For example | at the TEPCO Fukushima power plant | , we started the plant leaving a piece of wire inside and we narrowly avoided a serious accident that could have had global repercussions. The worker knew he had dropped that wire, but he did not know how dangerous the consequences of his action were. In this sense, a brand new nuclear power plant built by these unqualified people is just as dangerous as an old one. | Since there are not many skilled workers anymore, the construction of power plants has been standardized. This means that they no longer look at the plan but simply assemble prefabricated parts from the factory, connecting part number 1 with part number 2 like dominoes. Then they no longer know what they are building and how precise these works must be. This is one of the reasons why the number of accidents and malfunctions is increasing in nuclear power plants. | In the nuclear power plant, there is also the problem of irradiation that prevents the training of successors. When working in the nuclear power plant, it is very dark and hot, and with the protection it is impossible to talk. So the workers communicate by gestures. How can they transmit their skills under these conditions? In addition, they first send the skilled people to work, and they are quickly exposed to the annual allowed radiation level and can no longer work, which further increases the incompetence of the workers. | For example, for welders, they strain their eyes while working. After 30 years, they can no longer do precise work and can no longer find jobs in the petrochemical industry. And this is how they end up in nuclear power plants. | You may have a false image that nuclear power plants are something very sophisticated. But it is not as safe a construction as you imagine. | I think you have understood why nuclear power plants...