The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said it will need 12 to 15 years of preparation – or until 2037 or later – before starting the full-scale removal of melted fuel debris.

Workers at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in northeast Japan were evacuated Wednesday after an 8.7-magnitude earthquake off Russia’s far east triggered tsunami warnings around the Pacific. “We have evacuated all workers and employees” at the Fukushima Daiichi plant — which went into meltdown after being hit by a tsunami in 2011 — a spokeswoman for plant operator TEPCO told AFP,

Tokyo Electric Power Company newly released plan reveals the challenges to decommissioning the Fukushima nuclear plant by the Japanese government's 2051 goal