The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper on Thursday reported that TEPCO will withdraw from a scheme to supply and run two nuclear reactors at a plant in Vietnam.
The paper said the change of plan would be a blow to Japan’s once-proud policy of promoting its nuclear technology.
“Our atomic power engineers still need to do a lot more to stabilize and decommission the reactors (at the Fukushima Daiichi plant),” the Mainichi daily quoted TEPCO president Naomi Hirose as saying on Wednesday.
“It is impossible” to abandon the domestic task and promote exports, he added.
However, the International Nuclear Energy Development which had undertaken the project along with power companies including TEPCO said it had not been informed of any change of plan by TEPCO.
“We have confirmed with Tokyo Electric that it will continue to cooperate in the (Vietnam) project,” said an official on condition of anonymity. TEPCO has not yet responded to the claim.
Tsunami-sparked meltdowns at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant in March 2011 causing a nuclear disaster in Japan as leaking reactors contaminated vast areas of farmland, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee from their homes.
The full clean-up is expected to take decades and scientists have warned that some settlements may have to be abandoned.
VG/JR
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