nuclear-news

Decades until Fukushima nuclear plant closed down

Experts: Scrapping Fukushima plant could take decades, asahi.com（朝日新聞社）2 April 11, – Regaining control of the four stricken reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant could take months or years, according to nuclear experts. And, even if the reactor cores can be cooled below 100 degrees, known as the “cold shutdown” stage, decommissioning will take several decades…….

There is a strong chance that pumps and other cooling equipment would have been damaged. But, with high radiation levels being recorded in much of the nuclear plant site, the time available to workers to repair the cooling system is limited.

If the cooling system cannot be restored, TEPCO will have to continue pumping in water from external pumps. That would likely entail further leaks of radioactive material onto nearby land and into the sea.

Another key challenge will be removing radioactive water from the basements of turbine buildings next to the core buildings. The idea of constructing new storage pools to take the water has been suggested, but TEPCO still faces many months of stopgap measures to deal with the large volumes of water……

Even an undamaged nuclear reactor takes decades to decommission. After the fuel rods are removed, all of the pipes to the core have to be sealed. The inactive reactor then has to be kept airtight for five to 10 years, allowing radiation levels within the core to fall. The core is then dismantled and removed. Finally, the building that houses the core is taken down. In order to stop radiation from leaking into the atmosphere, more contaminated parts of the building have to be removed before parts with low levels of radiation…..

asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：Experts: Scrapping Fukushima plant could take decades – English

April 2, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | - Fukushima 2011