Fukushima decommissioning chief on clean-up status

he of wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant said Tuesday re's no need to extend current target to finish its decommissioning in 30-40 years despite uncertainties about melted fuel inside plant's three reactors.

Ten years after its triple meltdowns following March 2011 massive earthquake and tsunami, Fukushima Daiichi plant has stabilized but faces new challenges.

Nuclear regulators recently found fatal levels of contamination in reactors; a planned test removal of melted debris from Unit 2 reactor has been delayed for one year due to late robotic arm development in pandemic-hit Britain; and a recent earthquake may have caused extra damage to reactors.

About 900 tons of melted fuel debris remain inside three damaged reactors at plant, and ir safe removal is a daunting task that its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), and government say would take 30-40 years to finish. removal of spent fuel units from cooling pools is alrey being delayed for up to five years.

But Akira Ono, chief decommissioning officer at Fukushima Daiichi plant, says he does not plan to revise current target to finish decommissioning in 2041-2051.

He said TEPCO plans to focus primarily on coming dece and hopefully will release a new 10-year romap by end of March.

A lot about melted fuel, which fell from core to bottom of primary containment chambers in Units 1, 2 and 3, remain unknown, Ono said. It is too early to decide how plant should look like at end of cleanup, he said.

Local officials in Fukushima have said y expect plant complex to be a flatland, where people can walk by freely.

Ono says an end state should be discussed by government, local residents, experts and ors involved and should be decided by consensus.

Some experts are still skeptical if removal of all melted fuel debris is possible at all and suggest a Chernobyl-style entombment of Fukushima plant, but Ono denied that option, saying a long-term abandonment could pose a bigger risk than controlled cleanup and hinder Fukushima's recovery.

When all spent fuel is removed from cooling pools to a much safer longer term dry cask storage, while details of melted fuel debris are well assessed and ir safe storage methods are under way, decommissioning will reach a milestone with a bright prospect, he said.

Ono said removal of melted fuel debris is hopefully progressing on track during 2030s.

Massive riation from reactors has caused some 160,000 people to evacuate from around plant. Tens of thousands are still unable to return home.