TEPCO believes stabilizing Fukushima reactors by year-end impossible

[Barrett808]

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501.TO) is coming to the view that it will be impossible to stabilize the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by the end of this year, possibly affecting the timing for the government to consider the return of evacuees to their homes near the plant, Kyodo News reported, citing senior company officials.

The revelation that meltdowns had occurred at the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors at the plant, most likely with breaches to pressure vessels encasing nuclear fuel, has led the officials to believe that "there will be a major delay to work" to contain the situation, one of them said.

The plant operator, known as TEPCO, announced on April 17 its road map for bringing the troubled reactors at the plant into a stably cooled condition called "cold shutdown" in six to nine months. …

But "the nine months is just a target deadline for which we are making efforts," a senior TEPCO official said, indicating that the likely delay would affect the plan to review the evacuation of local people, which the government is hoping to implement once the reactors are brought under control. ...

TEPCO believes stabilizing Fukushima reactors by year-end impossible

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. How surprised should I act?

[caraher]

2. Even if the reactors are stabilized how do you return many of the evacuees?

At least in the areas that are already heavily contaminated I just don't see how the contemplate returning people to their homes. Do they plan to scrape off the soil for miles around (and do exactly what with that?).

[Harmony Blue]

3. I am inclined to agree

It doesn't make logical sense that they would even attempt to do this. I suspect that there would also be a lot of public resistance to such an idea.

[FBaggins]

4. You hit on it already.

There are areas that have been evacuated because they're within a certain distance... but which have NOT been "heavily contaminated".

But you can't return there permanently as long as there's a reactor that's still within that distance that hasn't been fully controlled.

Do they plan to scrape off the soil for miles around

Actually... in some areas there was a plan to do something much like that. Note all the articles about the cesium in the waste water treatment facilities. Runnoff obviously is removing large quantities of the cesium that is not yet bound to the deeper soil.

But I would expect that to have limited success.

[kristopher]

5. Perhaps they mean to retrieve belongings.

They have been bringing in people by groups to retrieve valuables. They are allowed to fill a 72cm X 72cm plastic bag and bring it out.