Japan remains in a “crisis” nearly three years on from the Fukushima disaster, said the head of the country’s independent review panel.
Kiyoshi Kurokawa, the chairman of Japan’s first parliament-appointed investigative commision that deemed the accident “Made in Japan,” said the state utility in charge of the plants needed to open up more to foreign expertise and be more transparent with the public as it embarks on a clean-up effort.
"This is really a national emergency," said Mr Kurokawa, who was in Abu Dhabi for the World Economic Forum's summit on the global agenda. "After two years and nine months, I think the world is really wondering what is happening in that site."
Yesterday the embattled operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) started the delicate task of removing damaged fuel rods from Fukushima Dai-Ichi reactor number 4, a task that has been likened in difficulty to pulling cigarettes out of a bent pack.
Over the coming year, engineers must extract in total 400 tonnes of spent fuel without breaking or exposing them to the air, and without further upsetting the unstable reactor building. That will only be the first of the reactors to be cleared of the highly radioactive fuel, and proposals for dealing with contaminated water are still to be evaluated.
The urgency to the clean-up is underscored by shutdown of all of the country’s 50 operational reactors, forcing the world’s third-largest economy to rely more on increased fuel imports from producers like Abu Dhabi. That has hurt its balance of trade and contributed to a slowing economy. GDP growth in the three months that ended September 30 slowed to 1.9 per cent from 3.8 per cent in the previous quarter.
“It has become very clear over the past two years or so the handling of this nuclear plant’s current situation by Tepco is not quite appropriate or perhaps not sufficient through their incompetence and lack of transparency in the process,” said Mr Kurokawa.
“I think Tepco has been doing their best, but nobody’s sure what the best may be. So that has to go through an independent, transparent and also international advice and experts. And through this process Tepco and the Japanese government can regain trust from the international community.”
Mr Kurokawa also serves on the board of Khalifa University, which is marketing itself as an education hub for the next generation of nuclear engineers needed to power the Arab World’s first civil atomic power plant.
The first of four reactors in the US$20 billion Abu Dhabi plant is scheduled to come online in May 2017; by 2020, the country is due to generate a quarter of its power from atomic energy.
Elsewhere in the region, Turkey and Jordan are due to come next with recently awarded contracts, and next year Saudi Arabia is expected to launch the world’s biggest new nuclear programme since China’s outlay.
ayee@thenational.ae
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
ASHES SCHEDULE
First Test
November 23-27 (The Gabba, Brisbane)
Second Test
December 2-6 (Adelaide Oval, Adelaide)
Third Test
December 14-18 (Waca Ground, Perth)
Fourth Test
December 26-30 (Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne)
Fifth Test
January 4-8, 2018 (Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney)
KYLIAN MBAPPE 2016/17 STATS
Ligue 1: Appearances - 29, Goals - 15, Assists - 8
UCL: Appearances - 9, Goals - 6
French Cup: Appearances - 3, Goals - 3
France U19: Appearances - 5, Goals - 5, Assists - 1
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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