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Noda to declare cold shutdown of reactors

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will declare on Friday that the crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are in a state of cold shutdown.

The government and Tokyo Electric Power Company are working to bring the Fukushima plant under control according to a timetable they created. In October, they set the target of achieving the second phase of the timeframe within the year.

The government says the requirements have been met and it can declare the second phase is complete.

It says temperatures at the bottoms of reactor pressure vessels and the inside of the containment vessels basically stay under 100 degrees Celsius.

It also says the amounts of radioactive substances emitted from the plant have been curbed to the extent that radiation levels at the periphery of the plant remain below one millisievert per year.

At a nuclear disaster task force meeting scheduled for Friday, all Cabinet ministers will recognize that the second phase has been completed. Afterward, Prime Minister Noda plans to officially state that the damaged reactors are in a state of cold shutdown.

Now that the reactors are stable, the government plans to fully review the no-go zones and evacuation advisory areas set up after the nuclear accident.

Those evacuation areas still have locations where radiation levels are so high that residents will not be able to return home for an extended period.

Nuclear crisis minister Goshi Hosono plans to visit disaster-hit areas over this weekend to discuss with municipal leaders how to handle the evacuation zones.

Friday, December 16, 2011 07:57 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp

@lillymunster before i posted i saw dancing big snow flakes, but now it's gone.

@Edano we don't have any. Not complaining.

usually we have good chances for white christmas, but this year looks bad. only rain.

@lillymunster you know them in america ?

ahhh, really.

number 3 boom