#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: It Will Take Years, Says Nuclear Safety Commission

in order to cool the fuel rods in the reactors and the spent fuel rods. Years. They are saying 1 to 2 years just to restore the water circulation systems.

From Jiji Tsushin's article (3/29/2011) on March 29 press conference by Nuclear Safety Commission, whose chairman by the way may be in trouble for being too "candid", embarrassing the politicians:

It will take years to cool the fuel rods in the reactors and the spent fuel rods at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

When the power is cut off, the heat from the fuel rods would drop to a few percent of the heat during the normal operation and would further drop to 1 percent within 1 to 2 weeks. But after that, it wouldn't decrease very much. Therefore, the heat exchanger systems need be restored.

The pumps to draw sea water are broken, and it will take months till the replacement pumps arrives. The circulation systems must be restored within 1 to 2 years.

In order to store the water polluted with radiation, the plan should be made for storage ponds and pools.

Regarding the Reactor Pressure Vessels (RPVs) of the Reactors 2 and 3, it is natural to assume that there is a leak somewhere when the pressures do not rise as expected. The Commission suggests the possibility that the RPVs are broken.

　国の原子力安全委員会は29日の記者会見で、福島第1原発の原子炉や使用済み核燃料プールの冷却作業について「（必要な期間は）年オーダーと考えている」との見方を明らかにした。
　会見した代谷誠治委員は「核燃料の熱は運転を止めた瞬間に（運転時の）数パーセントに落ち、1～2週間で1％に落ち、そこからはなかなか落ちない」と説明。原子炉の冷却に使った水を海水と熱交換して循環させる系統の復旧が必要だとした。
　しかし、海水をくみ上げるポンプも故障し、発注だけでも数カ月かかるが、循環系統は1、2年で復旧させなくてはいけないと説明。破損した部分から漏れた汚染水を処理するために、池やプールのような貯蔵施設を準備する必要もあるとした。
　一方、2号機と3号機の原子炉圧力容器について、「圧力が上がらないということはどこかから漏れていると思うのが自然だ」と述べ、損傷の可能性を示唆した。　

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