IAEA begins review of disaster-hit Fukushima nuke plant

Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday began reviewing the progress of the decommissioning of Japan's wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that was hit by the 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster.
The 15-member team is expected to assess ongoing efforts by the Japanese government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) to scrap the crippled reactors 1 to 4 at the Fukushima plant.
During their stay, the experts will conduct surveys in Fukushima and meet with Japanese officials, including those from Agency for Natural Resources and Energy as well as TEPCO before issuing a summary of findings at the end of the 9-day mission.
It is the third time that the IAEA will send its review mission after April and November in 2013. "In 2013, we saw that the government of Japan and TEPCO were defining a very impressive set of countermeasures to deal with this challenging issue. One of our objectives in this mission is to review up to what extent these countermeasures have progressed and whether the situation has been improved," team leader Juan Carlos Lentijo, director of the IAEA Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology, told reporters in Tokyo. Lentijo also said toxic water problem at the Fukushima plant is one of the most challenging issues at the time being. Over 250, 000 tons of highly-radioactive water is in need of treating and being stored in tanks to keep the reactors cool, with some 350 tons of toxic water being added everyday.
The magnitude-9.0 quake and subsequent tsunami in March 2011 hit the Fukushima plant, located 230 km north of Tokyo, knocking out its vital cooling systems of three reactors. It resulted in explosions, fires and the worst radiation crisis since the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe.