Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for 13 August to 15 August 2013

State of the Fukushima ReactorsTEPCO and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) are reportedly discussing the feasibility of entombing the Fukushima reactors in concrete for a period of 75 years, which would allow the company to focus on the massive cleanup which will be required near the plant. Efforts to repopulate the area have been slow as a result of stalled decontamination efforts.In the meantime, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has granted approval for the “implementation plan” of TEPCO’s efforts to decommission the crippled Fukushima reactors, a process expected to take at least 40 years. Approval of the plan was originally expected in March, but numerous issues at the plant, including leaks and power outages, led to a delay. Experts are cautioning that the process of removing 1,330 spent fuel assemblies (as well as 202 unused assemblies) from cooling pools is likely to be fraught with danger, especially at reactor #4, where the spent fuel pool is located on the top floor of a building that was heavily damaged in a hydrogen explosion in the days immediately following the disaster.



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