Nuke plant clean-up to take 30 yrs
Source: Agencies |
November 1, 2011, Tuesday
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A JAPANESE government panel says it will take at least 30 years to close the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant safely, even though the facility is leaking far less radiation than before and is considered relatively stable.
The plant, site of the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986, was damaged by Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami, releasing radioactive material and forcing tens of thousands of people to leave the area.
While officials say the plant, about 240 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, is now relatively stable, an expert panel appointed by Japan's Atomic Energy Commission said it is likely to take 30 years or more to decommission it.
The panel made the estimate in the draft of a report to be completed by the end of the year. The draft has been posted on the commission's website.
Plant workers are still struggling to contain radiation leaking from the plant.
The panel noted that it took 10 years to remove nuclear fuel after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the US, and suggested the process at Fukushima would be more complicated and time-consuming.
It is also expected to be more costly. A report on Saturday in Yomiuri, a Japanese newspaper, said independent experts believe the process will cost more than 1.5 trillion yen (US$19 billion).
The earthquake and tsunami in March triggered meltdowns at three of the plant's six reactors. Explosions also damaged buildings at the plant.
Officials at Tokyo Electric Power, the utility that runs the plant, say they have largely succeeded in cooling the damaged reactors, meeting a goal of completing what is called a "cold shutdown."
But extensive repairs and safety measures must still be carried out. The panel said removal of the fuel rods at Fukushima cannot begin until 2021, after the repair of the plant's containment vessels.
As a stopgap measure, one of the damaged units now has an outer shell made of airtight polyester designed to contain radioactivity. Similar covers are planned for other buildings.
Government officials must also deal with decontaminating areas around the plant. A 20km exclusion zone around the facility remains in effect.
While the worst appears to be over, recent discoveries of radiation "hot spots" in and around Tokyo have caused fears among people there. Many concerned parents routinely check their neighborhoods for radiation.
In most cases, the readings have been below internationally accepted annual limits, but critics say the standard exceeds Japan's cap before the accident and the government should expand the scope of decontamination.
The magnitude-9.0 earthquake is the strongest on record to hit Japan. More than 21,000 people are dead or missing.
The plant, site of the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986, was damaged by Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami, releasing radioactive material and forcing tens of thousands of people to leave the area.
While officials say the plant, about 240 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, is now relatively stable, an expert panel appointed by Japan's Atomic Energy Commission said it is likely to take 30 years or more to decommission it.
The panel made the estimate in the draft of a report to be completed by the end of the year. The draft has been posted on the commission's website.
Plant workers are still struggling to contain radiation leaking from the plant.
The panel noted that it took 10 years to remove nuclear fuel after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the US, and suggested the process at Fukushima would be more complicated and time-consuming.
It is also expected to be more costly. A report on Saturday in Yomiuri, a Japanese newspaper, said independent experts believe the process will cost more than 1.5 trillion yen (US$19 billion).
The earthquake and tsunami in March triggered meltdowns at three of the plant's six reactors. Explosions also damaged buildings at the plant.
Officials at Tokyo Electric Power, the utility that runs the plant, say they have largely succeeded in cooling the damaged reactors, meeting a goal of completing what is called a "cold shutdown."
But extensive repairs and safety measures must still be carried out. The panel said removal of the fuel rods at Fukushima cannot begin until 2021, after the repair of the plant's containment vessels.
As a stopgap measure, one of the damaged units now has an outer shell made of airtight polyester designed to contain radioactivity. Similar covers are planned for other buildings.
Government officials must also deal with decontaminating areas around the plant. A 20km exclusion zone around the facility remains in effect.
While the worst appears to be over, recent discoveries of radiation "hot spots" in and around Tokyo have caused fears among people there. Many concerned parents routinely check their neighborhoods for radiation.
In most cases, the readings have been below internationally accepted annual limits, but critics say the standard exceeds Japan's cap before the accident and the government should expand the scope of decontamination.
The magnitude-9.0 earthquake is the strongest on record to hit Japan. More than 21,000 people are dead or missing.
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