Fifteen years ago this week, Japan faced the biggest nuclear meltdown since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. While Soviet authorities entombed that plant in concrete, Tokyo decided on a very different approach ¡ª the Fukushima No. 1 facility would be entirely dismantled.
The tsunami-devastated plant is taking a pioneering approach to the critical next phase of the world¡¯s most complex cleanup operation. If successful, it could become a blueprint for the global industry.
Progress has been painfully slow, stalled by gaps in technical knowledge, cost overruns and the extreme caution required to deal with an unprecedented accident of such magnitude. ¡°It¡¯s an unknown world,¡± said Yuichi Sato, a spokesperson for the unit of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) that is responsible for cleaning up the plant.
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