A Nuclear Reactor Operator Returns To The Fukushima Plant

TOKYO -- In 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the shores of Japan's main island, resulting in a tsunami that devastated the towns on the country's northeastern coastline and claimed more than 15,000 lives. The earthquake and tsunami caught many Japanese scientists by surprise and revealed fortified structures to be vulnerable. Enormous waves surmounted nearly 19-foot seawalls, and water quickly flooded the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, triggering a series of disasters that would eventually result in the meltdown of three of the plant's six nuclear reactors. Five years later, the shock still reverberates, stirring concern about the future of nuclear energy in Japan as Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the now defunct Fukushima Daiichi Plant, attempts to reopen reactors throughout the country. Meanwhile, the cleanup and decontamination effort at the Fukushima Daiichi plant is ongoing, with the goal of collecting and treating contaminated water in the vicinity of the reactors by 2020.  The Japanese government has undertaken a $15 billion plan to decontaminate more than 100 cities affected by the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant and prepare them for the return of their evacuated residents. However, the authorities are having trouble disposing of the radioactive waste, a lot of which is currently being shuffled from one location to another in Fukushima. Radiation-contaminated soil and debris stuffed in black bags also lie arou...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news