Japan PM Abe praises Fukushima nuclear work during visit

Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has visited the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was damaged by an earthquake and tsunami last year.
 
Mr Abe said the process of dismantling the plant, which was decommissioned after the disaster, was an “unprecedented challenge”, BBC reports.
 
The plant is now stable, but removing all the radiation could take decades.On Thursday, Japan said it would review the previous administration’s plans to phase out the use of nuclear power.All 50 of Japan’s nuclear reactors were shut down after the disaster in March 2011, and the stoppage of nuclear power use by 2040 was ordered.
 
Two reactors have recently been restarted, and Trade and Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said others could follow if it was considered safe by the nuclear authority.
 
Mr Abe told some of the thousands of workers at the Fukushima plant that their courage “brings hope to Japan”.”Yet, we still face a great challenge – a unprecedented challenge in human history to working towards decommissioning the plant in such scale,” he said.
 
“The best of Japanese science and technology is gathered here, so with your tough spirit, we will succeed in the challenge of decommissioning.”
 
He said a successful decommissioning would “lead to the reconstruction of Fukushima and Japan”.   Read more… (219 words)

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