TEPCO still working on plan to end Japan nuclear crisis

Reuters: TEPCO still working on plan to end Japan nuclear crisis
(Reuters) - The operator of Japan's crippled nuclear plant said Wednesday it was still working on a detailed plan to end the country's nuclear crisis a month after it began, as tests showed radiation levels in the sea near the complex had spiked.

Engineers moved a step closer to emptying highly radioactive water from one of the six crippled reactors, which would allow them to start repairing the cooling system crucial to regaining control of the reactors.

Japan's nuclear safety agency said the latest tests showed radiation nearly doubled last week, to 23 times above legal limits, in the sea off Minamisoma city near the plant.

Radiation in Tokyo, 240 km (150 miles) from the plant, had fallen to pre-disaster levels Tuesday, the science ministry said late Wednesday.

A series of strong aftershocks this week has rattled eastern Japan, slowing the recovery effort at the Fukushima Daiichi plant due to temporary evacuations of workers and power outages.

The beleaguered president of operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) (9501.T) said the situation at the nuclear plant, wrecked by a 15-meter tsunami on March 11, had stabilized.

But TEPCO president Masataka Shimizu said the firm was still preparing a blueprint to end the crisis, now rated on a par with the world's worst nuclear accident, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

"As instructed by Prime Minister Kan we are working out the specific details of how to handle the situation so they can be disclosed as soon as possible," a relaxed-looking Shimizu told a news conference in Tokyo.

Shimizu has been largely absent from the recovery operation, spending time in hospital and only visiting the area Monday. He refused to comment on public calls for his resignation, and again apologized to the Japanese people for the crisis.

"We are making the utmost effort to bring the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi to a cold shutdown and halt the spread of radiation," he said.

ANGRY PROTESTS

TEPCO's Tokyo head office has been the target of angry protests over the nuclear crisis and authorities took no chances Wednesday, with riot trucks and security officers guarding the front gate during the news conference.

Latest data shows much more radiation leaked from the Daiichi plant in the early days of the crisis than first thought, prompting officials to rate it on a par with the Chernobyl disaster.

But experts were quick to point out the two crises were vastly different in terms of radiation contamination, and on Wednesday, Russia's nuclear chief said Japan was exaggerating the scope of the disaster.

"It is hard for me to assess why the Japanese colleagues have taken this decision. I suspect, this is more of a financial issue, than a nuclear one," Sergei Kiriyenko said on the sidelines of a meeting of major economies in southern China.