According to this BBC article, Tepco intends to have everything under control by the end of the year :
The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has said it expects to bring the crisis under control by the end of the year.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) aims to reduce radiation leaks in three months and to cool the reactors within nine months.
The utility said it also plans to cover the reactor building, which was hit by a huge quake and tsunami on 11 March.
Having watched the following video of the plant (no sound) I would suggest it will take them that long to untangle the mess caused by the hydrogen explosion :
_
_
The video is from a set of three released by Tepco themselves as spotted over at Zerohedge who have this to say :
On Friday, April 15, TEPCO released what is the most conclusive video of the devastation at Fukushima. After watching these three clips we fail to see how even the most optimistic of individuals see the situation as resolving with anything but entombment, which however judging by the urgency in Japan’s actions will be the first even on the agenda…in 2015. In other Fukushima news, we learn that after declining for a few days, the seawater around the reactor has once again seen a surge in radioactivity (Kyodo), that fuel rods have melted through not one, not two, but all three active reactors at Fukushima, but not to panic: all is well as long as these are cooled down, by the same water that will eventually seep into the ocean of into the groundwater considering the cooling system is destroyed beyond repair (Japan Times), that TEPCO itself, following weeks of denials, will not only be nationalized but most likely bankrupted eventually as a push to complete the liberalization of Japan’s power industry (Asahi), but this won’t happen before TEPCO drags down the Nikkei: Reuters reports that as part of funding its reconstruction efforts, the virtually insolvent utility will be forced to liquidate up to its entire stake ($2.2 billion) in telecom giant KDDI, potentially setting off a selling waterfall across various asset classes. Elsewhere, now that Japan will have no choice but to contend with rolling blackouts indefinitely, the country’s energy needs will be increasingly reliant on Russia’s goodwill, which now is the white knight “energetic” protector of not only Europe, but Japan (Yomiuri).
Totally and comprehensively SNAFU I think.
Given the age of these reactors and their proximity to the end of their useful lives (similar age reactors at other nearby power plants have already been taken out of service) I doubt a reactivation of Fukushima was ever on the cards.
It still astounds me when looking at pictures of the total devastation around the plant that it survived as intact as it is. In fact a nearby nuclear plant was the ‘go to place’ for survivors immediately after the tsunami subsided as it was the only building complex left standing.
If there is any nation in the world that will benefit from lessons learned it is the Japanese. They repaired a vital road into the quake hit area within a week and here one scrapyard fire shuts the most vital road into London for days on end ‘just in case’.
We are being driven into the third world make no mistake.
Bill – yes, amazing there is still structure there at all what with a mag 9 earthquake, 10m tsunami and massive hydrogen detonation. I’m sure the Japanese will have a lot of the major mess sorted out pretty quickly or as quickly as is possible with the scale of the destruction all around.
The UK seems to be destined to be a regulation obsessed/oppressed obscurity in no time with more prodnoses than workers. Given the choice I think third world and no government would be preferable to our over bearing state and their real masters in Brussels.