Japan utility keeps to Fukushima cleanup plan, may face delay - Reuters Africa

By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO (Reuters) - The operator of Japan's tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant said on Wednesday that it would stick to its timetable of trying to achieve "cold shutdown" of damaged reactors by January, though technical problems could delay the plan.

The Fukushima Daiichi plant was damaged in March by a earthquake and tsunami that left more than 20,000 people dead or missing. The nuclear accident was the worst of its kind since the explosion and fire at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986.

"There is no change to the basis of our timeframe. But regarding our aim to bring rectors and fuel pools to cold shutdowns, we have succeeded in further stabilising the situation, Zengo Aizawa, Tepco's vice president, told reporters.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) first announced the cleanup plan in April, proposing to bring under control three nuclear reactors and four pools containing spent nuclear fuel at the Daiichi plant.

Cold shutdown is a state where water used to cool nuclear fuel rods remains below 100 degrees Celsius, making the fuel safe from heating up again.

Cooling systems were knocked out in March, causing meltdowns of nuclear fuel rods at three of the six reactors at the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo. Hydrogen explosions damaged buildings housing the reactors days after the disaster.

Tepco on Wednesday said it had achieved ahead of schedule its aim of bringing the spent fuel pools to stable temperatures and that it would try to further cool the reactors by adjusting the amount of water being pumped into them.

"The cooling at the plant made progress with the extreme effort of workers under very tough conditions," Nuclear Crisis Minister Goshi Hosono told reporters alongside Tepco officials.   Continued...

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