IAEA: Japan Nuke Cleanup May Take More Than 40 Years
Source: Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) -- A U.N. nuclear watchdog team said Japan may need longer than the projected 40 years to decommission its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant and urged its operator to improve plant stability.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency team, Juan Carlos Lentijo, said Monday that damage at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant is so complex that it is impossible to predict how long the cleanup may last.
"As for the duration of the decommissioning project, this is something that you can define in your plans. But in my view, it will be nearly impossible to ensure the time for decommissioning such a complex facility in less than 30-40 years as it is currently established in the roadmap," Lentijo said.
The government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. have predicted the cleanup would take up to 40 years. They still have to develop technology and equipment that can operate under fatally high radiation levels to locate and remove melted fuel. The reactors must be kept cool and the plant must stay safe and stable, and those efforts to ensure safety could slow the process down.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_NUCLEAR_IAEA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-04-22-12-54-57
heaven05
(18,124 posts)my god. And the reason for nuclear power is?
onehandle
(51,122 posts)Trillo
(9,154 posts)"They still have to develop technology and equipment that can operate under fatally high radiation levels to locate and remove melted fuel."
Pink Floyd needs new lyrics.
Tom Rinaldo
(22,911 posts)Be fair, how could anyone have anticipated a possible need for that? It's not like anyone knew that radiation can be lethal.
Hubert Flottz
(37,726 posts)About like that Drill baby Drill worked out for the Gulf.
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)csziggy
(34,120 posts)The last reactor was shut down in 1987. "Cleanup" was started right after that but there are still millions of gallons of liquid radioactive waste stored there, much in single shell containers some which are leaking their contents.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site#Decommissioning
If TEPCO can clean up Fukushima in 30-40 years, I would be impressed.