VIENNA--Goshi Hosono, the state minister in charge of the Fukushima nuclear accident, vowed to achieve cold shutdown at the crippled reactors northeast of Tokyo by the end of the year.
VIENNA--Goshi Hosono, the state minister in charge of the Fukushima nuclear accident, vowed to achieve cold shutdown at the crippled reactors northeast of Tokyo by the end of the year.
Hosono made the pledge Sept. 19 during the annual meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency here.
The government had earlier set a goal of mid-January for achieving cold shutdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
However, Hosono said the government would pull out all the stops to reach that goal a few weeks ahead of schedule.
A reactor is in cold shutdown when temperatures are maintained at below 100 degrees.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is expected to make a similar pledge when he addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23.
The resolve expressed by Hosono and Noda is intended to assure the international community that Japan is steadily moving toward resolution of the nuclear accident triggered by the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake.
In line with that international pledge, the Noda administration is also considering lifting the designation for communities lying between 20 and 30 kilometers of the Fukushima plant as regions that should prepare for evacuations in emergencies. If the government lifts that designation, it will have to determine conditions under which residents in those communities would be allowed to return home.
In his IAEA speech, Hosono also indicated that Japan would ask the IAEA to dispatch a team in October to help with decontaminating radiation from the Fukushima accident.
Before his speech, Hosono met with Yukiya Amano, director-general of the IAEA, during which agreement was reached on dispatching the IAEA team so Japan would be able to utilize its specialized knowledge.
After his meeting with Amano, Hosono told reporters, "We need advice on technology to remove cesium from the accumulated radioactive waste."
In his speech, Hosono also said the government would place priority on overseeing the health of residents affected by the Fukushima accident.
He added that a new nuclear regulatory agency would be established by around next April as an affiliated agency of the Environment Ministry and that a study mission from the IAEA would visit Japan next year to assess the new agency's work.