40 years to decommission the plant's damaged

Japan's government and the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant say it will take up to 40 years to decommission the plant's damaged reactors.NHK has learned about a timetable drawn up by the industry ministry and Tokyo Electric Power Company, based on a report released earlier by the state's Atomic Energy Commission.The new timetable includes a plan to begin removing used fuel rods from spent fuel pools at 4 reactor buildings within 2 years, starting with reactor 4. That's one year ahead of what the Commission called for in its report.The removed spent fuel will be temporarily stored within the compound.The timetable also says that work to remove the melted fuel inside the No. 1 through No. 3 reactors should be completed in 25 years, when dismantling the reactors and buildings will begin. The ministry and TEPCO aim to completely scrap the entire compound within 40 years.The schedule includes repair work to fill cracks in the reactors and containment vessels where contaminated water has leaked.The unprecedented work involves very difficult working conditions, including high levels of radiation and the use of remote-controlled robots.The government plans to declare on Friday that the second phase of its timetable to bring the Fukushima plant under control has been achieved, with all the reactors brought to a state of cold shutdown.It also plans to release the new timetable to dismantle the reactors later this month.