Chapter 295: An Ordinary Scientist (9)

The nuclear explosion issue did not just affect TEPCO’s stock prices.

—The nuclear power plant is going to explode.

This message struck fear into the hearts of Japanese people who still remembered the nightmare of Fukushima. Immediately, a massive uproar erupted across Japan, centered in the Tohoku region. Tens of thousands of citizens began traveling to Aomori Prefecture to the north of the plant, Yamagata Prefecture to the west, and the Kanto region to the south.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Hotels quickly ran out of rooms, and there were calls for the government to set up evacuation centers to house citizens. Foreign investors quickly pulled out their money.

This was real. First of all, the person was Young-Joon. He has never been wrong in predicting this kind of disaster before. It may seem absurd for a biologist to predict a nuclear explosion, but he’s also a Nobel Prize nominee in physics. Moreover, he didn’t make his predictions out of his own delusions; he received data from an insider at the Tohoku nuclear plant.

Those documents contained an evaluation by technicians. It was clear the pressurizer was broken at the Tohoku nuclear plant, and the coolant pump and pipe needed evaluation. There was a clear risk of explosion if the plant continued to operate.

The Nikkei and Topix indices, which represented Japanese stock prices, began to plummet in real time, and Japanese citizens began to buy instant food such as ramen noodles and canned goods, as well as bottled water.

The entire economy was disrupted. Citizens who had been protesting in the Tohoku region and demanding shutdown of the nuclear plant ironically stopped rallying, as it was time to flee.

“The government will strictly monitor the risk of nuclear power plant operation, and if the risk level is high, we will shutdown the plant. We ask the public not to be agitated and to focus on their daily lives. The government will take full responsibility.”

In the end, that was what Atabe announced to the public through a spokesperson. However, reporteres threw aggressive questions at the press conference.

“Not only the internal technicians, but also technicians dispatched from TEPCO headquarters have assessed that the plant must be shut down. Is it necessary for the government to make another assessment?”

“The government has said it will take responsibility, but if the plant explodes, is there any way it can take responsibility?”

“Hasn’t the government yet to decontaminate the radiation in Fukushima?”

“I heard that the problem of releasing radioactive contaminated water requires money equivalent to Japan’s one-year budget. Isn’t it safer to shut down the reactors now?”

The spokesperson felt like his ears were bleeding. He calmed his breathing, and said, “The authenticity of the insider material published by Doctor Ryu Young-Joon has not been verified.”

“Are you saying Doctor Ryu lied?”

“That is why the government has dispatched technicians to the Tohoku Nuclear Power Plant: to confirm it. Please wait for the results of the investigation.”

“Have you arrested Doctor Ryu?” shouted someone among the reporters.

Suddenly, silence fell over the conference room.

The question was from a reporter from the Yomiuri Shimbun.

“I heard that plainclothes police officers went to the hotel where Doctor Ryu is staying and arrested him, and that he is now in custody. Is this true?”

“...”

The spokesperson gulped.

“It’s a legal procedure,” he said. “Right now, the stock prices of the entire country are fluctuating and social order is being shaken. When there’s a problem with public order of this magnitude, we can summon and investigate the disseminator, regardless of whether it was true or not. Furthermore, Doctor Ryu was about to leave the country, so we had to suspend his departure.”

“Oh!”

“Phew...”

“Wow...”

There were exclamations among the reporters.

“Are you saying that you arrested Doctor Ryu for pointing out the possibility of a meltdown at the Tohoku nuclear plant?” asked a reporter.

“The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is treating Doctor Ryu with the utmost respect and is only conducting a reference check. We are not resting him as a criminal.”

*

The announcement of a government-wide investigation came as a surprise to Hishijima, the director of the Japan Science and Technology Agency.

“This is insane.”

Hishijima sighed in his office.

It was one problem after another. Just yesterday, he was very pleased to receive a report from Cellijenner that the radiation decontamination experiment they conducted in some parts of Fukushima was successful. But now, they were saying that the nuclear power plant in Tohoku was going to explode.

“Seriously, does TEPCO have some kind of problem with nuclear plants? Why are they doing this to me?”

“The government has ordered experts to be sent to investigate whether there’s a risk of explosion at the plant,” said the manager of the nuclear power department.

“Do they really want us to investigate?”

“Probably not... Sir, Masumoto, the CEO of TEPCO and Prime Minister Atabe are almost like sworn brothers.”

“...”

“I’ve spoken with the technicians at the Tohoku nuclear plant. We’re alumni from the University of Tokyo.”

“What did they say?”

“The risk of explosion is high.”

“

Sigh

...”

“The pressurizer was working fine a week ago, but now it’s not. The pressure inside the coolant pipes has dropped a lot.”

“And?”

“Well, they increased the coolant pump to full capacity to boost the coolant circulation. They also inserted the shim control rods to significantly lower the reactor’s output. The technicians compromised by reducing the output instead of shutting down the plant,” said the manager of the nuclear power department.

“But that doesn’t cut off the power?” Hishijima asked.

“It doesn’t seem to be at that level yet.”

“How long can they hold out like this?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“That’s the problem. They’re trying to repair the pressurizer while holding out like that, but it’s not easy. And since the pressurizer’s functionality is gradually decreasing, they need to lower the output further with the control rods.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to shut down the plant if they keep reducing the output like that?” Hishijima asked.

“Then we’ll have to source the power that the Tohoku plant was supplying from elsewhere, and it will make the news that the reactor was shut down. That’s what Masumoto wants to avoid.”

“What a ridiculous mess they’re making.”

“The TEPCO headquarters said that they can control the explosion so that it doesn’t happen, even in the worst case scenario,” said the manager.

“How?”

“The shim rods aren’t the only control rods. If the reaction becomes too fast and dangerous, they can insert output control rods to stabilize it. In the worst-case scenario, they can insert safety rods to stop the reactor in an emergency.”

“Then why are the technicians saying to shut it down?” asked Hishijima.

“In the event of a pressurizer failure, shutting down is the standard procedure. No matter how fast the safety rods respond, they are a braking system to prevent the worst-case scenario. If they have to use them, it’s already a dangerous situation, and if the braking fails, it’s over.”

“... So you think we should ignore Masumoto’s opinion and shut down the reactor according to the rules?” Hishijima asked.

“That is the manual. And there’s another problem,” said the manager.

“What problem?”

“Current international opinion about us is not good.”

“Because we arrested Doctor Ryu?”

“Numerous civic groups and scientific journals are leading the charge in condemning the Japanese police. If the nuclear plant explodes now, it’s really over. SIr, we need to shut down the Tohoku reactor.”

“... I’ll meet with Masumoto.”

*

Hundreds of people had gathered at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department to protest. The rally was to condemn the arrest of RYU.

Tadayoshi, the head of the Detective Division, looked out the window and looked at the people, clicking his tongue.

“Of course, in a situation like this, it’s right to call him in and investigate. Why are they doing all that like we did something bad...”

“And how hard would it have been to hold someone of Ryu Young-Joon’s stature accountable if he went to Korea? Detaining him was the right decision, sir,” said the chief of the detective division.

“Investigation, not detainment,” Tadayoshi corrected.

“Oh, I apologize. Investigating the suspect...”

“Don’t even use the term ‘suspect.’ Don’t use words like detention or arrest, even by mistake. The phrasing matters; it doesn’t sound good.”

“But legally, we have to release him in forty-eight hours. What should we do?”

“Then, we’ll issue a detention warrant if necessary. Anyway, we can’t send Doctor Ryu back to Korea right now. We need to hold him accountable for causing chaos in the Japanese economy after the nuclear plant issue is resolved. The police will do their job; it doesn’t matter how famous the person is.”

“But someone has come to visit him.”

“Who? If it’s family, let them meet.”

“It’s not family, but... They’re a scientist who came to Japan with Doctor Ryu. Since they came here together, I allowed them to meet during the investigation.”

“... Alright, good job. That’s fine.”

Tadayoshi nodded.

That person was Song Ji-Hyun. Shocked by the news of Young-Joon’s arrest, she immediately rushed to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department from Fukushima, where she was working on decontamination research.

“Doctor Ryu! How... What happened?”

She was too stunned to speak.

“Doctor Song, you’re just on time,” Young-Joon said. “You told me before to tell you if I needed any help, right?”

“What? Oh, yes! Is there something I can help you with?” Song Ji-Hyun asked.

“Of the bacteria you found in the volcanic soil in Nicaragua, how many species responded to radiation?”

“One ate the radiation, and one didn’t die in high concentration of radiation.”

“Do you happen to have whole genome sequencing data for both species?” Young-Joon asked.

“Yes. They were sequenced just before we came to Japan.”

“I know it’s confidential data, but do you think you could show it to me right now?”

Song Ji-Hyun pulled out her laptop without hesitation. As a scientist, she was leaking the technology her company was developing. It was a violation of confidentiality, but right now, Young-Joon and Song Ji-Hyun were looking at something more important.

“Here it is.”

Song Ji-Hyun opened the WGS data of the two bacteria on her computer. It was a giant puzzle of strings of four letters, A, T, G, C.

Young-Joon stared at it.

“Normally, it’s impossible to figure out anything by looking at it like this. But you showed it to me because you thought I could figure something out, right?” Young-Joon asked as he read the data.

“Yes,” replied Song Ji-Hyun.

“The first bacterium is a species that you discovered first. It’s excellent at removing radioactive materials,” Young-Joon said. “And the second is a close relative of

Deinococcus radiodurans.

”

“

Deinococcus radiodurans

?”

“Do you think you could sell the second bacterium to A-GenBio for development?”

“It’s not within my authority, but the CEO will agree. I’ll tell him.”

“Thank you.”

“By the way, Doctor Ryu, are you okay?”

“I’ll be released soon. It’s crazy that the Japanese government would do something like this, but they can’t hold me for long,” Young-Joon said.

“Sir!”

Baek Jun-taek from his security team approached Young-Joon.

“I was notified that Chief Kim Chul-Kwon, Attorney Park Joo-Hyuk, and forty-eight others have arrived at Tokyo airport.”

“Okay, Please tell Chief Kim and Attorney Park to come here.”

Young-Joon then looked up someone’s contact information on his phone.

[Life Creation Team Head Cheon Ji-Myung]