On March 31, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) opened the Fukushima Revitalization Meal Service Center in Okuma Town, Fukushima Prefecture. The center will provide meals to workers at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. It is located about 9km from Fukushima Daiichi, and will be in full operation from mid-April. Construction of the center began in May of last year.
At present, about 7,000 workers at the reactor site must prepare their own meals — basically bringing them to the site individually. With the opening of the center, though, they will be able to enjoy hot meals, night or day, signifying a substantial improvement in their working environment. At lunchtime, the center will provide about 3,000 meals. Insulated containers and vehicles will help keep both hot and cold meals at their proper temperatures while they are being transported.
The construction and operation of the center — which will use products and food ingredients from Fukushima Prefecture, thereby creating jobs — will thus also contribute to the restoration of the damaged areas in the prefecture and help allay unfounded fears and rumors. The kitchen equipment was made in the prefecture by manufacturers operating there, including Cleanup Corporation.
A large screen displaying the current state of decommissioning is also being considered for installation in the workers’ dining room. As many of them are Fukushima natives, showing them what is going on will enable local people to better and more fully understand the activities at the station.
On March 26, President Naohiro Masuda of the Fukushima Daiichi Decontamination & Decommissioning Engineering Co. spoke about the meals center at a regular press conference reporting on the progress of decommissioning at Fukushima Daiichi.
He said, “There are important purposes [for the center] other than providing meals.” He emphasized that it would also revitalize communications among workers and improve their work safety.
“Sensory” Training Facility to Combat Work Accidents
Meanwhile, in order to help ensure safety during decommissioning at Fukushima Daiichi, TEPCO has announced that it will build a sensory training facility for new workers near the new Administration Office Building, with completion slated for the summer of 2016.
With several workers having fallen from high places, however, TEPCO will speed up the opening of a sensory facility focused on those particular dangers and the use of safety harnesses. Demonstrations will include the dropping of sandbags weighing as much as human beings onto helmets, helping workers appreciate the magnitude of the forces involved.
According to a TEPCO press release on March 26, there had been 47 accidents resulting in injury or death (excluding heatstroke) in FY14 (April 2014 to March 2015) as of March 2, about 2.4 times more than in the previous year. Workers with less than one year of experience accounted for 84% of the total. Given that fact, TEPCO deemed it urgent to improve risk recognition among newcomers, resulting in the development of the facility.
