Photos: Inside Japan’s crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant
November 7, 2013
A Tokyo Electric Power Co. employee wearing a protective suit and a mask uses a radiation survey meter at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. The plant has recently had a series of mishaps, including leaks of radioactive water from storage tanks. The incidents, many of them caused by human error, have added to concerns about TEPCO's ability to safely close down the plant, which suffered multiple meltdowns after being hit by a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
A worker, center, is given radiation screening as he enters the Seismic Isolated Building at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Members of the media and Tokyo Electric Power Co. employees wearing protective suits and masks walk up the steps of a spent fuel handling machine as they look at the spent fuel pool inside the building housing the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Japanese regulators on Oct. 30 formally approved the removal of fuel rods from the cooling pool at the damaged Unit 4 reactor building considered the highest risk at the crippled nuclear plant. Removing the fuel rods is the first major step in a decommissioning process that is expected to last decades at the Fukushima plant, where three reactors melted down after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) employees and journalists wearing protective suits and masks look at the spent fuel pool inside the building housing the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Kimimasa Mayama, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
An official of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. measures radiation at H4 tank area where radioactive water leaked from a storage tank in August, at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Kimimasa Mayama, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
A worker wearing a protective suit and a mask walks through the Seismic Isolated Building, or command center, at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Members of the media wearing protective suits and masks look at the spent fuel pool from a fuel handling machine inside the building housing the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Japanese regulators on Oct. 30 formally approved the removal of fuel rods from the cooling pool at the damaged Unit 4 reactor building considered the highest risk at the crippled nuclear plant. Removing the fuel rods is the first major step in a decommissioning process that is expected to last decades at the Fukushima plant, where three reactors melted down after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Workers walk past the nuclear reactor three building seen from the coastal side at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (Tepco) Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on November 7, 2013. Nuclear engineers in Japan are preparing to move uranium and plutonium fuel rods at Fukushima, their most difficult and dangerous task since the plant's runaway reactors were brought under control two years ago. AFP PHOTO / KIMIMASA MAYAMA / POOL /AFP/Getty Images ( 524425299 )
An employee of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. wearing a protective suit and a mask walks past a fuel handling machine on the spent fuel pool inside the building housing the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Kimimasa Mayama, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Members of the media and Tokyo Electric Power Co. employees wearing protective suits and masks stand outside the Unit 4 reactor before starting their inspection at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Members of the media and Tokyo Electric Power Co. employees wearing protective suits and masks walk down the steps of a fuel handling machine after looking at the spent fuel pool inside the building housing the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant chief Akira Ono leaves after speaking to the media inside Seismic Isolated Building, or command center, at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. The plant, run by Tokyo Electric Power Co., has recently had a series of mishaps, including leaks of radioactive water from storage tanks. The incidents, many of them caused by human error, have added to concerns about TEPCO's ability to safely close down the plant, which suffered multiple meltdowns after being hit by a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
A Tokyo Electric Power Co. employee wearing a protective suit and a mask walks past storage tanks for radioactive water in the H4 area at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Members of the media look at an impervious wall made of steel pipe sheet pile installed along the coast to block radiation contaminated water from escaping into the sea at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
A member of the media wearing a protective suit and a mask walks in front of a fuel handling machine on the spent fuel pool inside the building housing the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Workers wearing protective suits and masks work on a crane for a transport container in preparation for the removal of spent nuclear fuel inside the building housing the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Members of the media and Tokyo Electric Power Co. employees wearing protective suits and masks walk past storage tanks for radioactive water in the H4 area at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Nuclear fuel rods are seen in the spent fuel pool inside the building housing the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
A Tokyo Electric Power Co. employee wearing a protective suit and a mask stands next to the spent fuel pool inside the building housing the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
An official of the Tokyo Electric Power Co., wearing a protective suit and a mask, measures radiation inside the building housing the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Kimimasa Mayama, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Workers wearing protective suits and masks work on a crane for a transport container inside the building housing the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Tomohiro Ohsumi, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Spent nuclear fuel rods are seen in a pool of spent fuel at the nuclear reactor four building at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (Tepco) Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on November 7, 2013. Nuclear engineers in Japan are preparing to move uranium and plutonium fuel rods at Fukushima, their most difficult and dangerous task since the plant's runaway reactors were brought under control two years ago. AFP PHOTO / / POOL KIMIMASA MAYAMA/AFP/Getty Images ( 524425286 )
Workers wearing protective suits and masks use a transport container, center, to prepare to remove spent nuclear fuel inside the building housing the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Kimimasa Mayama, Pool) ( Japan Nuclear )
Storage tanks for radioactive water stand in the H4 area at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (Tepco) Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on November 7, 2013. AFP PHOTO / POOL TOMOHIRO OHSUMI/AFP/Getty Images ( 524423992 )
A Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) employee wearing a protective suit and a mask walks in front of a fuel handling machine on the spent fuel pool inside the building housing the No. 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on November 7, 2013. AFP PHOTO / POOL TOMOHIRO OHSUMI/AFP/Getty Images ( 524423995 )
Workers of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) and journalists visit the nuclear reactor four building of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on November 7, 2013. AFP PHOTO / / POOL KIMIMASA MAYAMA/AFP/Getty Images ( 524425295 )
Storage tanks for radioactive water stand in the H4 area at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (Tepco) Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on November 7, 2013. AFP PHOTO / POOLTOMOHIRO OHSUMI/AFP/Getty Images ( 524424010 )
Spent nuclear fuel rods are seen in a pool of spent fuel at the nuclear reactor four building at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (Tepco) Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on November 7, 2013. AFP PHOTO / POOL KIMIMASA MAYAMA/AFP/Getty Images ( 524425338 )
Worker check a transport container and a crane in preparation for the removal of spent nuclear fuel from a pool of spent fuel at the nuclear reactor four building of Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (Tepco) Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on November 7, 2013. AFP PHOTO / POOL KIMIMASA MAYAMA/AFP/Getty Images ( 524425350 )
Workers of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) and journalists visit the nuclear reactor four building of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on November 7, 2013. AFP PHOTO / / POOL KIMIMASA MAYAMA/AFP/Getty Images ( 524425347 )
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) officials check a wall along the coastline at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on November 7, 2013. AFP PHOTO / POOLKIMIMASA MAYAMA/AFP/Getty Images ( 524425328 )
Categories: News, Syndicated, World
Tags: photo