A resolution on the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains a distant goal a decade after three of its reactors melted.
The most difficult part of the clean-up – the removal of molten nuclear fuel from each reactor – has yet to begin due to the high levels of radiation in the reactor buildings, which call into question the targeted dismantling of the plant by 2051.
According to a poll by the national broadcaster NHK, more than 80% of the Japanese public do not believe that significant progress is being made and are worried about further accidents. Two recent incidents help explain why.
On February 13, a major earthquake centered near Fukushima, a aftershock of ten years ago, spilled water from a tank with used fuel rods, which must be kept under water to prevent overheating. One week later, a fish caught off the coast of Fukushima was found to contain ten times the permitted level of radioactive cesium.
The episodes were not a threat to public health per se. The fuel rods were not exposed, and food from Fukushima is subject to intensive security checks. The last fish over the radiation limit was found two years earlier.