Fukushima plant head: Too early to predict decommissioning

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — The head of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant says details of the damage inside its reactors are only beginning to be known 12 years after it was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami, making it difficult to foresee when or how its decommissioning will be completed. The most pressing immediate task is to safely start releasing large amounts of treated but still radioactive water from the plant into sea, Akira Ono said in an interview with The Associated Press. The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami damaged cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation. The plant has been stabilized to the point where the operator can better plan a decommissioning strategy.