Chief Cabinet secretary ruled out the possibility that the two undamaged reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s six-unit Dai-Ichi plant would be salvaged
Units 1 through 4 suffered from explosions, presumed meltdowns and corrosion from seawater sprayed on radioactive fuel rods after a March 11 earthquake and tsunami cut power to reactor cooling systems.
Workers have averted the threat of a total meltdown by injecting water into the damaged reactors for the past two weeks.
The risk to workers might be greater than previously thought because melted fuel in the No. 1 reactor building may be causing isolated, uncontrolled nuclear chain reactions
Dismantling the plant and decontaminating the site may take 30 years and cost Tokyo Electric more than 1 trillion yen ($12 billion)
Decomissioning Three Mile Island accident nuclear plant took 12 years.
The government hasn’t ruled out pouring concrete over the whole facility as one way to shut it down.
Dumping concrete on the plant would serve a second purpose: it would trap contaminated water.
Among proposals being considered to contain the disaster, Japan may use a special fabric to cover reactors and curb the spread of airborne radiation.
The plant probably is covered by a layer of radioactive dust that may contain plutonium, a radioactive element that can cause cancer when inhaled
The number of dead and missing from the earthquake and tsunami had reached 27,652
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-26/japan-checks-radiation-in-sea-water-dumped-on-fukushima-s-damaged-reactors.html
www.bloomberg.com
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