FUKUSHIMA – NINE MORE MONTHS

Japan nuclear crisis 'over in nine months'
17 April 2011 (BBC News)

"The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has said it expects to bring the crisis under control by the end of the year…Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) aims to reduce radiation leaks in three months and to cool the reactors within nine months…

"Radiation levels in the sea near reactor 2 rose to 6,500 times the legal limit…up from 1,100 times… raising fears of fresh radiation leaks…Tsunehisa Katsumata, the chairman of Tepco, Asia's largest utility…[said] they would need up to nine months to bring the power plant to 'cold shutdown'…He said the plan would allow the tens of thousands of families evacuated from the area around the facility to return home as soon as possible…

"Tepco said after cold shutdown it would focus on encasing the reactor buildings, cleaning up contaminated soil and removing nuclear fuel."


From AP via YouTube

"Japan's government had ordered Tepco to come up with a timetable to end the crisis, now rated on a par with the world's worst nuclear accident, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster…[Reports say Tepco] is still not certain that the nine-month deadline can be achieved.

"…[T]he immediate priority for Tepco is to stop radioactive water leaking into the Pacific Ocean…[It is using] remote-controlled robots…[in] one of the reactors to gauge radiation and temperature levels…[The QinetiQ machines] are controlled using a standard games console…[They] can carry out tasks such as rubble clearance, demolition and radiation testing…Japan is a world leader in such technology, but its robots are not adapted for dirty work such as meltdowns at nuclear plants, experts say…

"Emergency workers have been unable to enter any reactor building since the disaster…Japan's recovery bill has been estimated at $300bn (£184bn) - already the most expensive disaster in history…[and the government has said] that figure might be an underestimate…"