Resolving the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains a distant goal a decade after three of its reactors were built.
The most difficult part of the cleanup — removal of nuclear fuel out of each reactor — has not yet begun due to high radiation inside the reactor buildings, which calls into question the plant’s objective decommissioning in 2051. .
According to a survey by the national broadcaster NHK, more than 80% of the Japanese public do not believe that they are making significant progress and are worried about other accidents. Two recent incidents help explain why.
On February 13, a large earthquake centered near Fukushima, a replica of the one from ten years ago, caused water to come out of a tank containing spent fuel rods, which must be kept submerged to prevent a overheating. One week later, a fish caught off the coast of Fukushima was found to contain ten times the permitted level of radioactive cesium.
The episodes were not in themselves threats to public health. Fuel bars were not exposed and Fukushima food is under intensive security control. The last fish to exceed the radiation limit had been found two years earlier.