FUKUSHIMA WILL TAKE ‘SEVERAL MONTHS’

Japan nuclear plant could continue to release dangerous radiation for several months
David Nakamura, April 3, 2011 (Washington Post)

"The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant could continue to release dangerous radiation into the air for several months, Japanese officials said Sunday, acknowledging their painstakingly slow progress in the battle to regain control of the badly damaged facility…[A] special adviser to [the] Prime Minister…first raised the specter of a months-long stabilization process…[The] government’s top spokesman…confirmed the time frame…[and said] the government will continue to examine alternative emergency measures ‘to shorten that period’ but…conceded they ‘may not be feasible.’

"…The public disclosure that authorities were viewing the fight in a window of months, not days or weeks, illustrated the complex challenges and uncertain nature of the massive operation, now in its fourth week, to repair the crippled power plant…[Underscoring the complexity,] the Tokyo Electric Power Co. announced it had retrieved the bodies of two workers who had gone missing March 11."

Living like this for months? (click to enlarge)

"Kazuhiko Kokubo, 24, and Yoshiki Terashima, 21, found Wednesday in the basement of the No. 4 reactor, were killed by the massive earthquake and tsunami that day, the company said, not by the subsequent release of dangerous radiation. They worked in the operation management division and were doing routine checks of the power plant when the quake struck…[The announcement of the deaths was delayed] at the request of family members…

"The announcement, coming a day after Tepco found irradiated water leaking into the sea from a crack in a storage pit at the No. 4 reactor, stoked fears about what other surprises lie in wait for emergency workers. Efforts to stem the leaking water, first by pouring concrete into the crack and then a water-absorbent polymer, have been unsuccessful…[A] spokesman for Japan’s nuclear regulatory agency insisted there has been ‘a degree of progress…[but] ‘challenges…for several weeks and others for several months and others that take even longer…’"

Living like this for months? (click to enlarge)

"Tepco and the government have been criticized by outside experts, the media and the public for failing to disclose information in a timely, transparent manner…Armed with complex charts, government ministers from several agencies [now attempt daily] to explain the incremental progress being made. But time and again, the small success stories have been overshadowed by more shocking revelations…

"[T]he International Atomic Energy Agency said it had found radiation in quantities it considered high enough to warrant evacuation outside the government’s 12-mile evacuation zone around the Daiichi plant. Another day, Tepco announced it had made a major error in reporting the radiation levels…Deep skepticism has set in among reporters…"