'Cold shutdown' at Japanese plant
Source: Agencies |
December 17, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
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DECLARING Japan has turned a corner in the battle to stabilize its tsunami-damaged nuclear plant, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced yesterday the facility has achieved a stable state of "cold shutdown," a crucial step toward lifting evacuation orders and closing the plant.
Noda's announcement was intended to reassure the nation that significant progress has been made in the nine months since the March 11 tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant into meltdowns in the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.
But the plant 230 kilometers northeast of Tokyo remains vulnerable to problems, its surroundings are contaminated by radiation and closing the plant safely will take 30 or more years.
"Now that we have achieved stability in the reactors, a major concern for the nation has been resolved," Noda said.
Noda said he hopes conditions will improve quickly so that the people who have been displaced by the crisis can return home "even a day sooner."
"There are many issues that remain," Noda said. "Our battle is not over."
The government's official endorsement of the claim by Tokyo Electric Power Co. that the reactors have reached cold shutdown status is a necessary step toward revising evacuation zones around the plant and focusing efforts from simply stabilizing the facility to actually starting the arduous process of shutting it down.
But Noda acknowledged the assessment has some important caveats.
The government says Fukushima Dai-ichi has reached cold shutdown "conditions"- a cautious phrasing reflecting the fact that TEPCO cannot measure temperatures of melted fuel in the damaged reactors in the same way as with normally functioning ones.
Even so, the announcement marks the end of the second phase of the government's long road map to completely decommissioning the plant.
Officials can now start discussing whether to allow some evacuees to return to less-contaminated areas, although a 20-kilometer zone around the plant is expected to remain off limits for years to come. The crisis displaced some 100,000 people.
Noda's announcement was intended to reassure the nation that significant progress has been made in the nine months since the March 11 tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant into meltdowns in the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.
But the plant 230 kilometers northeast of Tokyo remains vulnerable to problems, its surroundings are contaminated by radiation and closing the plant safely will take 30 or more years.
"Now that we have achieved stability in the reactors, a major concern for the nation has been resolved," Noda said.
Noda said he hopes conditions will improve quickly so that the people who have been displaced by the crisis can return home "even a day sooner."
"There are many issues that remain," Noda said. "Our battle is not over."
The government's official endorsement of the claim by Tokyo Electric Power Co. that the reactors have reached cold shutdown status is a necessary step toward revising evacuation zones around the plant and focusing efforts from simply stabilizing the facility to actually starting the arduous process of shutting it down.
But Noda acknowledged the assessment has some important caveats.
The government says Fukushima Dai-ichi has reached cold shutdown "conditions"- a cautious phrasing reflecting the fact that TEPCO cannot measure temperatures of melted fuel in the damaged reactors in the same way as with normally functioning ones.
Even so, the announcement marks the end of the second phase of the government's long road map to completely decommissioning the plant.
Officials can now start discussing whether to allow some evacuees to return to less-contaminated areas, although a 20-kilometer zone around the plant is expected to remain off limits for years to come. The crisis displaced some 100,000 people.
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