Decommission Daini plant

November 17, 2014

Fukushima Gov. seeks Daini plant decommissioning

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20141117_40.html

Nov. 17, 2014 - Updated 12:58 UTC+1

The new governor of Fukushima Prefecture has called for the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant, which is currently offline.

Governor Masao Uchibori met with industry minister Yoichi Miyazawa on Monday for the first time since he assumed the prefecture's top post last month.

Uchibori asked the minister to proceed with work to permanently shut down all the reactors in the prefecture, including those at the Fukushima Daini plant.

The Daini power station, 10 kilometers south of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi station, was not damaged in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. But its operation has been suspended since the nuclear accident at the Daiichi station.

Uchibori said major challenges remain in decommissioning the reactors and managing the contaminated wastewater at the Daiichi plant.

Uchibori asked the central government in Tokyo to lead the decommissioning work and reconstruction efforts in Fukushima.

Miyazawa said the central government has no compulsory procedures under which the Daini plant would be closed. He said that plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, would be the first to make a decision on that matter.

Miyazawa said his priority as industry minister is the decommissioning of the Daiichi plant and controlling the radioactive wastewater there, as well as the reconstruction of Fukushima. He pledged that the government will play a leading role in these efforts.