A new plan set to reduce radiation emissions

The Japanese government and the operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant say they will install new devices to reduce the amount of radioactive substances released into the air. The government and Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO, originally planned to achieve a cold shutdown, in which temperatures of the reactors reach below 100 degrees Celsius by January next year. They now say that they will aim to reach that status within this year, as their work is making steady progress. The government and TEPCO revealed the plan in their monthly review of the timetable for containing the nuclear crisis. They will install new devices at the NO.1, No.2 and No.3 reactors to take contaminated gases out of the reactors using filters. They plan to start installing the devices next week. TEPCO also plans to complete the construction of a giant polyester shield over the No.1 reactor by mid-October. The operator also plans to improve its cooling systems so that the temperatures of all 3 reactors will drop below 100 degrees Celsius. They say the amount of radioactive substances released from the plant was about 200-million becquerels per hour in the first half of September. They say that's about one-four millionths of the level of the initial stages of the accident in March.

Hosono: Cooling down to be achieved this year

Japan's minister in charge of the nuclear disaster says reactors at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi plant will be cooled to below 100 degrees Celsius within this year. Goshi Hosono spoke at the International Atomic Energy Agency's annual ministerial meeting on Monday. He thanked the international community for assisting Japan in dealing with the accident at Fukushima. Hosono said that decontaminated water has been successfully used to cool down the troubled nuclear reactors, bringing the temperature close to 100 degrees Celsius. He also said spent nuclear fuel pools have been cooled in a stable manner. Hosono also said the spent nuclear fuel has been steadily cooled and will fall below 100 degrees by the end of this year, instead of early next year as initially predicted. When the reactors and spent fuel have been cooled below 100 degrees, radiation emissions can be kept very low. The minister also said Japan will work with the IAEA to remove radioactive materials from areas near Fukushima Daiichi. He explained the plan to separate the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency from the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, saying it will be merged with the Cabinet Office's Nuclear Safety Commission to create a nuclear safety agency under the Environment Ministry by next April.