Government and TEPCO (the Company which operated the facility) estimate that it will take about 30 years and 2 trillion yen. The dismantling includes the removal of nuclear waste, the construction of structures to stabilize the reactor; the decontamination of the area with the removal of soil, contaminated buildings and trees.
Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Dismantling the nuclear plant in Fukushima could absorb a time of over 30 years and cost up to 2 trillion yen (about 19 billion US dollars). This is what emerges from a Government study published yesterday.
The plant was damaged by the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, which led to a spill of radioactive material.
The Department of Energy announced that the dismantling of the plant will cost several hundred billion yen per year. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), who ran the facility and is now working to dismantle it, has come to the same conclusion: it will take about 30 years at a cost of 300 billion yen per year.
The dismantling includes the removal of nuclear waste, as well as the construction of facilities to stabilize the reactor. Added to this is the cost of decontaminating the area, the removal of soil, contaminated buildings and trees.
On 11 March 2011, a massive earthquake shook the eastern coast of Japan, causing a devastating tsunami that forced 470,000 people to abandon their homes. Almost 16,000 people died in the tragedy (and thousands more went missing), but the number of victims continues to rise as deadly radiation leaks from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. According to the National Police Agency, 15,884 people are confirmed killed; another 2,636 are missing, presumed dead.