Experts split on how to decommission Fukushima nuclear plant

Experts split on how to decommission Fukushima nuclear plant

An experiment to decontaminate soil is conducted in Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture, on Aug. 11. (Mainichi)

What is actually going to take place at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, where word is that the four reactors that were crippled in the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami will eventually be decommissioned?

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) defines "decommissioning" as the process of removing spent fuel from reactors and dismantling all facilities. Ultimately, the site of a decommissioned reactor is meant to be reverted into a vacant lot.

In 1996, the then Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) -- now the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) -- finished decommissioning its Japan Power Demonstration Reactor. The decommissioning process of the Tokai Nuclear Power Plant in the Ibaraki Prefecture village of Tokai began in 1998 and is set to end in fiscal 2020, while the No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear reactors at the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant in the Shizuoka Prefecture city of Omaezaki are slated for decommissioning by fiscal 2036. Around the world, only around 15 nuclear reactors have thus far been dismantled.

The standard decommissioning process entails six major steps: 1. Remove spent fuel rods, 2. Remove radioactive materials that have become affixed to reactor pipes and containers, 3. Wait for radiation levels to go down with time, 4. Dismantle reactors and other internal vessels and pipes, 5. Dismantle the reactor buildings, and 6. Make the site into a vacant lot.

"Cleaning," "waiting," and...

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/features/news/20110828p2a00m0na002000c.html

It's a huge job that takes an incredible amount of time, isn't it?

Strictly to reduce her cancer risk...

I'm surprised (though in retrospect I probably shouldn't be, given the way TEPCO and the government seem bent on preserving every appearance of normalcy) that they're looking at this as just a slightly more complicated case of decommissioning a reactor. It's hard to picture that site ever becoming just an ordinary "vacant lot."

I'd have expected a view more like that expressed by one nuclear engineer quoted in the article in the OP:

"What Katsuta has in mind is a Chernobyl-style concrete sarcophagus, which would entail cloaking the melted tomb with massive amounts of concrete. "How could we simultaneously dismantle four reactors that have been contaminated to the extent that they have by radioactive materials?" asks Katsuta. "Japan has little experience in decommissioning reactors, and this case is quite different from standard decommissioning processes. It's not realistic to think we can revert the site back to a vacant lot. I think we should be considering options such as entombing the site with concrete or setting up a protective dome over the damaged reactor buildings."

No one knows how to stop the runaway. Its not like you can simply pull the plug, even in shut down it still requires a lot of energy and personnel. Its the stupidest thing man has ever come up with, nuclear energy that is.

outstrips our capacity to EVALUATE IT. There's money to be made! No time for such concerns... :SIGH:

It's the same with IT. I asked my adopted sister this evening if she'd EVER spoken to MY KIDS about contingency plans in the event of a cell phone outtage. Do they even KNOW how to access the Festnet or where? She looked at me with big eyes...

Man will live to regret this nuclear boondoggle

Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves... or if that seems a bit dated, they could hire Denzel Washington and Chris Pine.

Either way, I want my money back.