Fukushima chief says no textbook for cleanup

The Japanese business nightmare: no manual.

But, how could this be so? I distinctly remember the great leader Abe telling the IOC that Fukushima was all under control. It seems very far from under control. The article doesn't mention the 2 million bags of contaminated soil that is piled up over large areas of the Fukushima floodplain.

So, after reading this article and understanding the comments from the person in charge of the clean up one could conclude that, they have no idea what they are doing! "There is no textbook"??? That's such a Jaoanese response! Gawd forbid they should actually think and innovate!

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: "It would be ignored the same way that the textbook for preventing every one of these nuclear incidents, accidents, and meltdowns has been ignored."

Exactly! In fact, this is the first time I'm hearing that revised estimates put the end of the decommissioning work at 50 years (optimistic), no longer the 30, then 40, they have guaranteed; and that's IF new science is created to do the job!

But hey, let's find suckers to buy Japanese nuclear tech, and restart all the NPPs that are online, despite many that are past the 40 year mark, etc.!

Usually I am extremely critical of the events post Fukushima but Mr Masuada sounds a realist and an honest man to take positive action-good luck to him......

Yeah, they've rewritten the exposure limits half a dozen times already

Hey timtak, sorry but I want to lay into this guy & the whole no manual crap, but ,...............

I want to hear your positive spin on this first please, 3/11 is not getting better, but before I say my thoughts, what are yours, sorry I don't like asking but HOW can we possibly spin so it even remotely positive...........show me the light

"But Masuda also acknowledged that Japan has not done as good a job as it should have on relaying the harsh realities at the plant."

http://enenews.com/category/japan

http://www.activistpost.com/2015/12/fukushima-over-100-new-radioactive-contamination-sites-found-off-north-americas-west-coast.html

Decommissioning is a difficult task. There is no manual because virtually no country has ever decommissioned a nuclear reactor yet. Only Russia and perhaps Us are tackling the disposal of small reactors from submarines... But that is 'relatively easy'... at worse you can encase them in cornet and lead and bury them. Everybody is hoping - uselessly - that technology can solve the radiation problem to clean them up safely. Italy is one of the few countries that has started and is still carrying on decommissioning of its few nuclear reactors, which were stopped and closed down after a popular consultation decided that the majority of the citizens had no faith in nuclear power and though the risks were too high for the benefits in the '80s. Work is still in progress and despite there are no leakages or danger (there are from the sticked nuclear waste, though) and there is no hurry, dismantling has not yet reached the core... and for three reasons: 1) nobody really knows how to handle it: 2) costs vs security of workers; 3) lack of a definitive location for the preservation for hundreds of years of the radioactive material produced. Almost 30 years have gone since then. Fukushima's crippled reactor is gonna stay there as it is, leaking and polluting the world, for quite a long time, believe me. Or it will end like Chernobyl, buried under concrete, even if unlikely, since, differently from Chernobyl, it is leaking from below. When all nuclear hell break loose, there is no way to clean it up in a timeframe that is useful for mankind...

There may be no manual, but there's plenty of manual conduct going on in TEPCO HQ.

Sure, TEPCO is now playing the victim card and we should all share the burden right. He can say what he wants, maybe it is true maybe not, nobody is allowed to expertise over there because Japan want to keep this in the "family" of Nuclear village. Facts are TEPCO is daily dumping nuclear waste in the ocean, lying to public, pocketing huge money for the cleaning of the mess they brought in the first place and using shady mode of operation under cover of a monopoly. I have no sympathy for them and I am not sure that being able to recover is good, I would rather prefer it is very hard so they can maybe try to learn from their mistakes and must expose of what they are doing.

I would be more concerned about food safety . As the rain picks up radiation from the plant, and clouds are not static then only some parts of Japan are producing safe vegetables.

The point is that the entire social structure here as reflected by the government and corporations, the other person is the problem and that the system as "designed" by others is to be accepted and is the right and correct way to do things. Meanwhile, each person cannot see beyond his own nose and his own small problem which "appear" to be a major one and blame everyone else for every one of those problems that cannot satisfy their self interests and greed.

That puts extreme pressure on those who has the fingers pointed at. And because the system "requires" exact "conformity" to "atarimae" mentality of what should be and would possibly be as "written" or accepted as a standard, most of those under pressure cannot or are not allowed to think outside the box for the fear of "public" scrutiny and embarrassment besides prosecution. Some things, especially things that occur without prior experience must be approached from every other perspective, including the ridiculous and outrageous. That also includes what scientists believe to be a scientific fact and principle.

The public must now allow those who are trying to correct a problem think outside the box and find solutions. It would be nice if those that complain and want compensation for damages, also look for solutions that may help. The natural disaster while may or may not have been prevented, did in fact happen. Blaming, finding faults and extracting compensation and continued conflict is not the solution.

Even if there was a textbook Abe would want it rewritten to say that there isn't actually a mess.