Tepco aims to start removing spent fuel rods from the Fukushima plant's wrecked reactors within two years, and extracting the melted fuel in the containment vessels within 10 years, according to a medium- to long-term road map for decommissioning the facility released Wednesday.
Four of the reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 plant will be scrapped over the next 30 to 40 years, the plan drafted by the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. says.
But the plan's feasibility remains in serious doubt as the sky-high radiation levels in the reactor units will prevent workers from getting anywhere near them.
Instead, Tepco will have to devise or commission remote-controlled machines able to identify and plug cracks in the containment vessels, and use machines to remove the melted fuel inside — a task that requires technologies the world has never seen.
Nevertheless, Tepco Vice President Zengo Aizawa tried to sound upbeat at a Wednesday evening news conference, telling reporters the utility will research and harness technologies from around the world to successfully decommission the crippled reactors.
"We think the plan is achievable," he said.
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