Fukushima plant decommissioning may last until 2051

[UnrepentantLiberal]

The Asahi Shimbun
March 11, 2013

In a monumental undertaking the likes of which has never been attempted, it could take up to four decades to complete the decommissioning and dismantling of the four damaged reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The entire process will be composed of three phases, according to the road map toward the decommissioning of the No. 1 to No. 4 reactors at the plant announced in December 2011 by the government and TEPCO. Phase 1 will last until the end of 2013, followed by Phase 2, which is likely to continue until around 2021. The third and final phase should conclude sometime between 2041 and 2051.

PHASE 1:

In Phase 1, the cooling water circulation loops will be curtailed step by step while cooling of nuclear fuel is continued. A method of establishing a closed and independent cooling system for each reactor building will be devised. Research and development efforts will be started for removing fuel and disposing of radioactive waste.

In addition to the fuel assemblies inside the reactors, totals of 392-1,533 assembly units are left in the spent fuel storage pools of the four reactor buildings. Full-scale operations to remove spent fuel from the No. 4 reactor will start in November 2013, one month earlier than initially scheduled.

More: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201303110084

[vkkv]

1. Yeah, and in the meantime, the U.S. has a huge problem in OLYMPIA, WA with leaking storage tanks.

Wing Nuts love to complain about the DEFICIT being a destructive legacy to leave our children's, children's, children.

The TRUTH IS: the deficit can be fixed politically. We CAN NOT FIX the environment once it's destroyed, NUCLEAR WASTE and a POLLUTED WORLD IS THE REAL LEGACY that we will be leaving our childrens', children if we do not act right away.