Fukushima reactor finally under control

Nine months after a tsunami struck Fukushima nuclear plant, the Japanese government has declared the reactors to be in a state of “cold shutdown”. It marks the end of “Step Two” of the recovery process after Step One – the stable cooling of reactors and used fuel pools – was completed in July.

This step [Step Two] means that the reactors have continued to be in a stable condition for some time, so we can consider that they are now under control,” said Takashi Sawada, vice chairman of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, a pro-nuclear group of academics and industry specialists.

However, he stressed that the use of the term “cold shutdown” by the government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) did not indicate that all four disaster-hit reactors were now safe.”But I think it’s okay to say that the reactors have basically reached a stable condition of cooling,” he added.

The focus of recovery is now expected to move to the decommissioning of the damaged units, amid