Fukushima woes
October 17, 2011
The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has reported in its monthly review of work on the Fukushima Daiichi plant that it was on track to bring damaged reactors to a stable "cold shutdown" by the year’s end. According to the German news agency, dpa, TEPCO has also erected covers over reactor 1 at the plant to prevent further release of radioactive material into the air.
In a regular joint news conference with the government, TEPCO reported that the temperature of the three damaged reactors was below 100 degrees Celsius. Keeping them there is a key requirement for a cold shutdown. The company has warned, however, that another large tsunami or earthquake remained a great risk for the plant, which has been hit by countless aftershocks since the March 11 natural disasters.
Tens of thousands of people remain evacuated from the 20 kilometer no-go zone around the plant and in pockets beyond, after it unleashed huge amounts of radiation in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
Radioactivity spreading
Hotspots of radioactive fall-out have been detected as far away as Tokyo, 220 kilometers from the crippled facility. According to Reuters news agency, in the Japanese city of Ohtawara, more than 100 kilometers southwest of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, 400 tons of radioactive ash have piled up at a garbage incineration plant, which will run out of protected storage space in two weeks.
Further south, the city of Kashiwa has been forced to temporarily shut down a high-tech incinerator. Its advanced technology, which minimizes the amount of ash, has the side-effect of boosting the concentration of radiation.
Although the government is aiming at bringing the Fukushima crisis under control by December, researchers say that problems arising from the radiation, which is now spread throughout mountains, rivers and residential areas, are expected to persist for years.
10,000 free trips to foreigners
In an attempt to minimize the hit taken by Japan's tourism industry, the government has announced it will offer 10,000 foreigners free airfares to visit the country next year, as reported by French news agency AFP. Tourism authorities hope that positive reports from travelers about their experiences in Japan will help ease international worries about visiting the country.
The program is expected to start from next April, subject to government budgetary approval. The number of foreign tourists to Japan has fallen over 50 percent during the three months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that triggered meltdowns and explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The downturn in tourism began to slightly pick up in summer this year.
Agencies: Reuters, AFP, dpa / mg
Editor: Sarah Berning