Fukushima Cleanup Expected to Take Another 30 Years

Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster is the “gift” that keeps on giving – experts predict the Fukushima cleanup will take at least another 30 years to complete.  And this is despite the fact that the effort has been going on for nearly a decade already.

Why the Fukushima Cleanup is Expected to Take 40 Years

As a reminder, the 2011 Fukushima disaster was on a scale not typically seen.  A huge 9.0 magnitude earthquake triggered a 40-foot tsunami that caused the damage and required over 160,000 people to evacuate.  Over 42,000 people were displaced by the incident, and sadly, over 18,000 people died.  It was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

Obviously, this was a massive disaster, but that’s not the only reason the Fukushima cleanup is proving to be easier said than done.  Although more than 14 million tons of radioactive water have already been removed from the site, the effort is closer to the beginning than the end.

Approximately 900 tons of melted debris still needs to be removed.  Over 1 million tons of contaminated cooling water must be disposed of.  Four nuclear reactors need to be dismantled and hauled away.  And then once these things are done, the hard work can begin!

Not helping matters is the fact that it’s still too dangerous for humans to enter the reactor areas – the effort relies heavily on drones and robots, which is obviously less efficient than a typical operation.

Just to give you some perspective, the 4 reactors that were damaged cost $2.2 billion to build over a 10-year period.  The Fukushima cleanup, which has already been going on for a decade, has already cost $295 billion.