2011/03/24
Yasuhiro Ishii, leader of the Tokyo Fire Department's rescue team (Seiko Sadakuni)
A Tokyo Fire Department chief leading a crew to prepare for hosing water on reactors of the hobbled nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture called the operation "a race against time and radioactivity levels."
Yasuhiro Ishii, 47, led the first batch of the TFD Hyper Rescue team to cool nuclear reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The TFD has played a central role in the water spraying operation, along with the Self-Defense Forces.
Ishii's team arrived at the plant after 5 p.m. last Friday, a week after the magnitude-9.0 temblor knocked out the nuclear reactors' cooling systems.
His team's responsibility was to determine where a fire engine equipped with height-refraction water cannon should be positioned to spray water.
According to data, the amount of radiation at a location to the immediate west of the No. 3 reactor were 300 millisieverts per hour, a level that would require immediate evacuation under normal circumstances.
The TFD initially planned to place a fire engine equipped with a height-refraction water cannon between the No. 3 reactor and the coastline, but the plan was changed because the area is clogged with tsunami-swept debris and lumber.
A new location was found inland between the No. 2 and No. 3 reactors, where the fire engine with a water pump could be positioned at the wharf northeast of the No. 1 reactor to pump seawater.
The process of putting extension hoses in place for about 450 meters from the planned water-discharging spot proved relatively smooth. But connecting the remaining 350-meter extension to the Super Pumper fire engine at the wharf had to be done manually because tanks containing hazardous materials and other obstacles blocked the path.
Although radiation levels at the site were between 80 millisieverts an 100 millisieverts per hour, Ishii's team working on the hose extension were so focused on their task that they paid little attention to the radiation reading on their gauges.
Ishii and six other members of the team also monitored the radioactivity in the area with dosimeters and were able to warn other workers of hazardous areas.
"It's dangerous. Don't come closer," Ishii ordered a member during the course of the operation. He had to gesture to stop members many times because of the high amount of radioactivity.
Spraying water began 30 minutes after midnight on Saturday, about seven hours after Ishii's crew arrived on the scene.
By then, the exposure of radiation for each individual was within safe limits.
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