Japan will decommission reactors 1 - 4 at the Fukushima nuclear plant,  the operator, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), announced Wednesday. 

''We have no choice but to scrap reactors 1 to 4 if we look at their conditions objectively,'' said TEPCO's chairmanTsunehisa Katsumata at a news conference.

Locals would be consulted on reactors 5 and 6 which were shut down safely, said the TEPCO. 

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano suggested all of the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant should be scapped.

Radioactive substance have been detected in both soil and seawater near the nuke plant.

Seawater near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant's No.1 reactor contained radioactive iodine at 3,355 times the legal limit, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said earlier Wednesday.

Plutonium has also been found in the soil at five places at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on Monday, according to the plant operator.

TEPCO said that plutonium 238, 239 and 240 were detected at the nuclear plant but the density was "equivalent to the density in the soil under normal environmental conditions and therefore poses no major impact on human health." 

At a parliament session Prime Minister Naoto KanTuesday already hinted that the nuke plant was "unpredictable" and it was "highly likely" that the plant will eventually be decommissioned.

March 11 magnituge -9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, which have left 11,232 people dead and 16,361 others unaccounted for so far, has triggered the severest nuclear leak crisis in Japan, forcing tens of thousands local residents to flee their home.   

Go to Forum >>0 Comments