TEPCO ordered to draw up safety guidelines

Japan's nuclear watchdog has ordered the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to draw up clear safety guidelines to oversee its work to get the plant under control. Tokyo Electric Power Company is striving to bring the disabled reactors to a state of cold shutdown by next January, and then to begin preparations for their decommissioning, Japan''s (NHK World) website reported. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said it wants TEPCO to set down the specific post-emergency nuclear safety protocols that will direct its work over the coming 3 years. The agency said the key objective will be to prevent any additional discharge of radioactive substances and to drastically reduce radiation levels at the plant. It said TEPCO should identify ways to pinpoint and control radioactive hot spots, and take steps to prevent hydrogen explosions. The agency also wants the utility to report by mid-October how it aims to secure safety while using decontaminated water to cool down the reactors. The agency said it will ask experts to review the adequacy of the guidelines that TEPCO comes up with.