Japan expects to bring the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant under control sooner than previously expected, government officials said Tuesday, although new problems have emerged over the large amounts of radioactive water in the basements of the units, complicating longer-term efforts to clean up the site.
Japan
expects to bring the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant under
control sooner than previously expected, government officials said Tuesday,
although new problems have emerged over the large amounts of radioactive water
in the basements of the units, complicating longer-term efforts to clean up the
site.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501.TO) said in its monthly review of its nine-month
plant stabilization plan that emissions of radioactive materials from the plant
have been reduced to a maximum of 1/4,000,000th of the peak, due to the recent
cooling of the reactors that has reduced the amount of tainted steam escaping
into the atmosphere.
"By reducing emissions of radioactive materials, we hope to make it
possible for evacuees to return to their homes as early as possible," said
Yasuhiro Sonoda, a lower house member responsible for managing the
Fukushima
crisis.
Trade and industry minister Yukio Edano said that "there is a reasonable
chance" of bringing the damaged reactors to a cold shutdown by the year
end," which would be one month ahead of the schedule under the master
"roadmap." His comments echoed statements on Monday by environment
minister Goshi Hosono at an annual general meeting of the International Atomic
Energy Agency.
Cold shutdown refers to a reactor being in a stable condition with the core
temperature below 100 degrees Celsius.
The more rapid cooling was made possible by repairs to the core spray line that
allows sprinkling water directly over the reactor core. The repairs had been
made in highly difficult conditions for the workers since high radiation levels
are still present at the reactors.
But a new problem emerged in the longer-range project to remove highly
radioactive water from the basements of the reactor buildings, which is
necessary to seal leaks and thereby permanently deal with radioactive
materials.
According to Tepco, despite steady decontamination through filtering, the
amount of water has not decreased as much as expected, apparently due to recent
heavy rainfall and seepage of groundwater into the basements, which hold pumps
and other machinery.
Japan
has
been hit by an unusually large numbers of storms this summer. Typhoon Roke, the
15th storm in this year's typhoon season, is expected to reach the country's
main
island
of
Honshu
midday
Wednesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The
agency forecasts approximately 500 millimeters of rainfall will inundate large
swathes of the country over the next 24 hours.
In the past month, the amount of water in the basements decreased by only
15,000 cubic meters, despite the fact that 40,000 cubic meters of contaminated
water has been treated.
"The seepage of groundwater won't require us to change the roadmap
plan," said Junichi Matsumoto, Tepco spokesman on nuclear issues.
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