Government reveals timeline for decommissioning Fukushima reactors

[kristopher]

Government reveals timeline for decommissioning reactors
2011/07/21

Japanese authorities published on July 19 the first detailed timeline for decommissioning the damaged reactors of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant but offered no dates for lifting the evacuation zones around the stricken facility.

In the first preparatory phase of decommissioning, expected to be completed within three years, nuclear fuel will be removed from fuel pools at the plant and concrete shield walls will be dug into the ground to prevent radiation-contaminated groundwater from leaking into the sea.

The government and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which jointly announced the new road map, said the amount of radioactive material being discharged into atmosphere had fallen by the end of June to 1/2,000,000th of that escaping immediately after the initial accidents at the plant.

Officials said the initial goal of the disaster response effort, to achieve stable cooling of the reactors, had been achieved, as expected, by mid-July. The installation of a circulating cooling system, which treats radiation-contaminated water and then uses it to cool down the reactors, was critical in achieving stable cooling, they said.

The next stage, scheduled to be...

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201107200277.html