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Doubts on viability of Latest Fukushima cleanup plan

the presence of highly radioactive water at Unit 2 posed a particular challenge. There and at other units, workers have been cooling nuclear fuel at the reactor’s core and in storage pools by pumping in hundreds of tons of water a day, producing dangerous amounts of runoff.

  Radiation Poses Barrier To Repair Work at Plant NYTimes.com By HIROKO TABUCHI April 18, 2011TOKYO — Robots deployed inside two reactors at the Japanese nuclear plant overrun by last month’s devastating tsunami have detected radiation levels too high for workers to enter, posing immediate challenges for a new plan to bring the ravaged complex under control by year’s end…...On Sunday, two robots made their way into two of the reactor units, opening doors and navigating radioactive debris and puddles of water to return with temperature, pressure and radioactivity readings. The readings, released Monday, showed continued high radiation levels……
Tokyo Electric’s ambitious plan for bringing the reactors to a cold shutdown has also been criticized. The plan, drawn up at the government’s order, is meant to give residents evacuated from the area around the plant an idea of when they might be able to return home.

But experts question the viability of the plan, which calls for swiftly building critical new cooling systems. Tokyo Electric faces “substantial barriers” in following the timetable, said Haruki Madarame, chairman of the Nuclear Safety Commission, an independent panel of experts appointed by the government to oversee the nuclear industry.

Mr. Madarame, a former professor in nuclear engineering at Tokyo University, told reporters Monday that the presence of highly radioactive water at Unit 2 posed a particular challenge. There and at other units, workers have been cooling nuclear fuel at the reactor’s core and in storage pools by pumping in hundreds of tons of water a day, producing dangerous amounts of runoff.

Radiation Presents Barrier to Plan for Fukushima Nuclear Plant – NYTimes.com

April 19, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | - Fukushima 2011