Stabilizing Fukushima reactors to take at least 6 months – 3 months to achieve ‘steady reduction’ in radiation emissions

TOKYO, April 17 (Kyodo) — Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday it will take at least six months before the utility can stabilize troubled nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, saying that about three months are needed to achieve a ”steady reduction” in radiation leaks. … At a news conference in Tokyo, TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said he is considering resigning from his post at an ”appropriate time” to take the blame for one of the world’s worst nuclear crises, indicating that the company’s president, Masataka Shimizu, will also step down. Under the schedule, the utility aims to bring the damaged Nos. 1 to 3 reactors at the plant in Fukushima Prefecture to a stable condition known as a ”cold shutdown” in about six to nine months, a situation in which water temperatures inside the reactors have been stably brought below 100 C. Noting the urgent task of preventing radioactive materials from spewing out of the seaside plant, Katsumata said, ”We will do our utmost to curb the release of radioactive materials by achieving a stable cooling state at the reactors and spent fuel pools.” The utility said it will work on restoring stable cooling to the reactors and spent fuel pools in about three months, while seeking to control radioactive emissions and curb radiation substantially in an additional three to six months. … TEPCO also said it will put special covers on the heavily damaged outer buildings of the Nos. 1, 3 and 4 reactors as an emergency measure to prevent radioactive materials from spewing out of the buildings and contaminating the air and soil, with plans to complete the work in roughly six to nine months. Over the medium term, however, the utility plans to cover the reactor buildings with concrete walls and roofs, it said. The company said it will pour water into the structures containing reactor pressure vessels for the Nos. 1 and 3 reactors within roughly three months, while putting back into the pressure vessels any water that leaks out in the process. For the No. 2 reactor, whose containment vessel is feared to have been damaged, the utility plans to seal with sticky cement a part in the vessel that is believed to have been breached. It hopes to begin cooling the reactor within roughly three months in the same manner as the No. 1 and 3 reactors. …

TEPCO says stabilizing troubled reactors to take at least 6 months