Japan: Fukushima Daiichi power plant now stable

[News_Editor]

Japan: Fukushima Daiichi power plant now stable

2011-07-20 10:35:39 GMT+7 (ICT)

TOKYO (BNO NEWS) -- The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which has been the main source of Japan's ongoing nuclear crisis since March's devastating earthquake, was successfully stabilized and is now on its way to a 'cold shutdown,' officials said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan told a parliamentary committee that 'step one' of the plant's restoration process was completed almost as scheduled, adding that some of the progress was made ahead of the originally established schedule, Kyodo news agency reported.

In general terms, the nuclear plant's fuel tanks of the Nos. 1 to 4 units are being kept at a stable temperature. In addition, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) said the maximum amount of radioactive substances leaking from the damaged Nos. 1 to 3 reactors had a rate of 1 billion becquerels per hour, which is approximately one two-millionth of the amount it was leaking when the accident occurred.

Furthermore, Tepco said the maximum radiation dose amounts to 1.7 millisieverts per year around the plant, as the company is expected to bring the level to below the legal limit of 1 millisievert per year.

As a result, the government will now focus on 'step two' of the plant's restoration process, which is the so-called 'cold shutdown' that looks to keep the bottom part of a reactor's pressure vessel at 100 Celsius or below.

Japan has been recently facing further issues in their nuclear crisis as radioactive cesium was detected in the meat from contaminated cows of a farm located in the Fukushima Prefecture. The meat was shipped to at least 11 prefectures, including Tokyo, Shizuoka, Osaka, Kanagawa and Ehime prefectures, as well as Hokkaido, Aichi, Tokushima and Kochi.

Earlier in the month, the government of Japan announced that nationwide stress tests would be conducted on all of its nuclear reactors to assess the country's nuclear safety, as many of Japan's operation of reactors are currently suspended until regular checkups are completed.

Japan has been facing an ongoing nuclear crisis since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was severely damaged on March 11 when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a subsequent tsunami devastated the country. The disaster disabled the cooling systems of the plant, and radioactive elements leaked into the sea and were later found in water, air and food products in some parts of Japan. Subsequent power shortages throughout the country have further complicated recovery efforts.

At least 23,482 people were killed, while 8,069 people remain missing. There are still more than 88,000 people who are staying in shelters in 21 prefectures around Japan.

According to the Japan Research Institute, the country's reconstruction efforts will cost between 14 trillion yen ($174.58 billion) and 18 trillion yen ($224.46 billion) in the upcoming 10 years, including 9.1 trillion yen ($113.47 billion) this year alone. Japan has already allocated a 4 trillion yen ($48.89 billion) emergency budget to finance the early phase of reconstruction efforts following the disaster.

On June 23, the government also announced a budget of 2 trillion yen ($24.8 billion) to be distributed to cover the massive compensation claims since the beginning of the disaster being faced by Tepco, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-07-20