TOKYO — The operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear plant laid out a blueprint Sunday for stopping radiation leaks and stabilizing damaged reactors within the next six to nine months as a first step toward allowing some of the tens of thousands of evacuees to return to the area.
While the government said the time frame was realistic, those forced to flee their homes, jobs and farms were frustrated that their exile is not going to end soon. And officials acknowledge that unforeseen complications, or even another natural disaster, could set that timetable back even further.
“Well, this year is lost,” said Kenji Matsueda, 49, who is living in an evacuation center in Fukushima after being forced from his home 12 miles from the plant. “I have no idea what I will do. Nine months is a long time. And it could be longer. I don’t think they really know.”
Pressure has been building on the government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. to resolve Japan’s worst-ever nuclear power accident since a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami hit the country March 11, knocking out power and cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi complex.
On orders from Prime Minister Naoto Kan, TEPCO drew up the blueprint and publicly explained its long-term strategy — for the first time since the disaster — for containing the crisis that has cast a cloud of fear over the country.
“We sincerely apologize for causing troubles,” said TEPCO chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata. “We are doing our utmost to prevent the crisis from further worsening.”
Under the road map, TEPCO will deal with the crisis in two stages.
In the first stage, the company will focus on cooling the reactors and spent fuel pools and reducing the level of leaking radiation. It will also aim to decontaminate water that has become radioactive, reduce the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere and soil, and lower radiation levels in the evacuation area, Katsumata said.
In the next stage, TEPCO aims to firmly control the release of radioactive materials, achieve a cold shutdown of the reactors and temporarily cover the reactor buildings, possibly with a form of industrial cloth. Longer-term goals include removing fuel from the spent fuel pools and putting permanent covers over the buildings.
TEPCO also plans to establish a system to recycle cooling water that will remove radioactivity as well as corrosive salt left behind by seawater that was earlier used as an emergency cooling measure.
“Given the conditions now, this is best that it could do,” said Hidehiko Nishiyama of the government’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, adding that conditions at the facility remain unstable.
Explosions, fires and other malfunctions have hindered efforts to repair the stricken plant and stem radiation leaks.
Even with the announcement of the timeline, it remained unclear when evacuees might be able to return home.
The area would need to be decontaminated, including removing and replacing the soil, Nishiyama said.
Goshi Hosono, an adviser to the prime minister and a member of his nuclear crisis management task force, said the evacuees would not have to stay in gymnasiums for such a long period but would be moved into temporary housing.
Some evacuees were unswayed by TEPCO’s plan.
“I don’t believe a word they say,” said Yukio Otsuka, 56, a private school owner whose home is about 3 miles from the power plant. “I don’t trust them. I don’t believe it is possible. We have really drawn the short stick on this one.”
