Inside TEPCO Largest Nuclear Power Plant

While on an internship during a summer of late 199os, I was among lucky few to be chosen to spend a few weeks working for Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO in its headquarters in Tokyo.

The interns were invited to tour several power plants to learn about the power generation in Japan. One of them is a nuclear plant located in Niigata Prefecture on the side of Japan Sea.

TEPCO owns 17 nuclear reactors, 10 in Fukushima Prefecture and 7 in Niigata Kashiwazaki Kariwa. In 1997 all 7 units in the Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant were in commercial operation with a total capacity of 8,212 MW, nearly doubling the combined the capability of Fukushima Daiichi and Daini and becoming the largest nuclear power station in the world.

Nuclear power is considered as a base load energy and it accounts for approximately 40% of TEPCO's total electricity output, said TEPCO on itswebsite.

Inside the Kashiwazaki plant, we are guided to walk through gigantic pipes carrying the sea water to cool the reactors. Large amount of sea water is absolutely necessary for a nuclear power plant, we learned, that's why most of them situated by ocean.

As the only country that has been a victim of a nuclear atom bomb, Japan has a strong feeling towards nuclear power. The construction of the plants have encountered fierce domestic protests. To persuade communities, TEPCO enlisted its safety measures, such as anti-quake structure, five barriers enclosing radioactive substances, etc.

The company, however, hadn't obviously foreseen a quake with the magnitude of 8.9. A Feed and Bleed measure to solve the current crisis is not working, and it will take three to five years to solve, said expert.

The point is, no matter how secure the design and how detailed a protection plan, there is always unthinkable. TEPCO failure is not in its design, but in its lack of crisis management and rapid response, which may take more than five years to heal and establish.

From Tennis to Everything You Do in Life

With over 20 years playing tennis, I thought I could never be as good as the ones I had dreamed of. I am not even talking of stars such as Federer and Nadal, but more realistic ones such as the player who was nearly 20 years older than me but beat me in straight sets.

However, recent things have changed my perception. And now, more than ever, I believe I can beat the top guns inside my playing circle, and even some good players in the city. What have changed? It all started from a new coach and new perspective.

This new coach, let’s call him Eric, is not even a good coach by popular judgment. A tennis buddy even warned me that Eric is a good player, but doesn’t have a clue about coaching. Terrible, I was warned.

But hey, there is no deny about Eric being the No.1 player inside the Tennis Club, I believe that there must be something that Eric has that I can learn from. So I signed up. And I have seen changes kept coming ever since.

Eric has no mercy; he doesn’t treat trainees like trainees, but professional players in training. Eric believe that everyone can be equally qualified to be playing tennis just as well as him, if they put the right amount of practice, right attitude and never give up and give in.

I immediately felt the difference of the perspective change in my tennis. I was thrilled by the feeling of hitting the balls like a pro, the desire to improve, the determination to keep going even I was ready to collapse, and in return, the tangible improvement pushes me to move forward further and further.

Eric is not only bad at pleasing you so you will feel good about yourself, at the expenses of releasing your full potential and achieving the maximum goals, he is also bad at saving people’s face. “Where is your stamina?” “Your forms mess up”, he would say, to your face, so you will correct right away.

Coaches like Eric are not for everyone; you do have to stomach constructive suggestions, to-you-face comments and everything in between.

It has been going on for two months; I still have a long way to go towards my goal of beating the local stars with flying colors.

Do you have such a coach in your life that can motivate you to constantly improve?

Let me leave one quote with you, “You stop playing not because you become old, you become old because you stop playing.”

Japan Nuclear Mess, What does it mean to China?

Japanese Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant is going through what Chernobyl has down, which is to seal off the whole unit and officially called it quit. The seemingly unavoidable fate and chilling fact to other aspiring nuclear energy developing giants such as China will be closely watched.

According to a New Yorker blog entry by Evan Osnos, who made a point linking a life sentence to Kang Rixin, the head of China’s nuclear-power program and a senior Party apparatchik convicted of taking bribes and abusing his position to enrich others. China is experiencing the most aggressive nuclear-power expansion in the world.

One important thing pointed by Osnos' interviewee is, that Japanese nuclear facility is old and aging, while Chinese ones are all newly imported from nuclear energy leaders such as France. Besides, the Chinese designers and plant management are also receptive to other input such as Americans.

Would it so-called nuclear binge could be happening? It is up to anyone's guess. Who could have thought Japan, a leading nation in energy technology, will have to seal off its nuclear plant, just like what Ukraine did.

Monster Quake, Tsunami

A magnitude 8.9 earthquake shattered Japan and the 13 meter Tsunami had impacted many lives in this nation country.

One twitter I followed, said there is no way to get home, so he might as well working at the office. Some coworkers celebrated the fact that the building is still standing, by starting drinking beer. (a bit cold for that)

Another twitter said the Shinkansen he was taking to Osaka from Tokyo stopped, due to the loss of power. The train got stuck inside a tunnel and he is thinking to take a nap. (what else to do in the dark car and tunnel?)

However, considering the initial reports, I have to give credits to Japanese government, and Japanese people for their disaster response plans. Not only the country is in order and people started sorting out the aftermath, but the fact that size of monster could have easily destroyed people's spirit.

While living in Japan's most earthquake prone area, in Niigata and surrendering Kanetsu area, I was amazed by the buildings that were built to keep property damage to the minimum in terms of a earthquake. And Hinan Kunren (disaster drills) were held on a regular basis.

Probably with that mindset, Japanese people will be able to stand up again with so many natural disasters affected the country. This time should be no exception.

The Real Secrete is Stay Flexible

The world is certainly not short of uncertainties, oil price surge, a series of unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, and these budget fights in Washington. However, for each of us, the real secrete to achieve goals is to stay flexible.

There is few sure things in life, most of time, we deal only with probabilities; all you do is to do the right things to increase the odds, so the balance tilts towards your side.

When on a losing track, the plan is to firmly hold on the ground, and not giving in. Explore every possibility to turn the game around.

Risk is unavoidable, but there is a plan in place to mitigate it.

So is tennis. The point is not to hit home runs, but singles and doubles. The goal is to put the ball in the court, in play, and follow the rules, and be consistent.

It is the plan of the game, the strategy of the day.

How to act on each situation, make a judgment and still follow your rules?

1. Mentality wise, there are no sure thing and nothing new under the sun. ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN. Think all options, have several plans in place and keep an OPEN MIND, and when something unthinkable happens, ready to act upon PLAN B, or even PLAN C. There is never a perfect solution, you have to make a decision right there.

2. Ask. How experts stay flexible when things go unexpected? Tennis pro will be able to tell his game plan, and then adjust to the opponent’s levels.

3. Proactive. Don’t wait for the ball to drop, attack it while it is still in the mid air. Don’t wait when things have started going the other way when the best time has passed. When the things start changing, you change as well.

4. Calm down and focus, don’t get emotionally high and low. Trust own power to handle the situations. Keep the ultimate goal straight. The goal is to improve every aspect of games; it is not to feel good about self, not to get others’ complimentary.

5. Slow down if necessary, so you will have time to think through and come up some options to address a changing situation. Most of mistakes are made while rushing through things, especially when things start changing fast and you want to keep the pace. The situation could be worse when your originally planned strategy has been challenged and a new plan is not in place. The best solution is to take a break, change the pace and assess the emerging factors.

6. Lastly, Forget about being prefect. The desire to be the best one possibly can has sometimes paralyzed us to act when facing quickly changing environment. The perfectionist’s mantra, which is if there is no perfect solution, the best solution is doing nothing, would leave situation to eventually become uncontrollable. Do something, come up with something that is best address the issue, will be much better than doing nothing.