Dive Summary:
- Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has asked the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) to shut down the last two reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant so that the utility can focus on cleaning up the disaster.
- Out of a total of six reactors, reactors 5 and 6 survived the 2011 tsunami which sent Fukushima into meltdown mode. Abe ordered TEPCO to decommission the remaining reactors after touring the facility Thursday.
- $10 billion stands between Abe's order and the decommissioning. Meanwhile, TEPCO is containing 400,000 metric tons of contaminated, radioactive water in 1,000 tanks. Major leaks have been reported in the some of the tanks bolted together and sealed with rubber.
From the article:
"Tepco set up the Contaminated Water and Tank Countermeasures Headquarters last month after reporting a 300 ton leak at one of the tanks, which Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority designated as the worst accident since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns at the site." ...
