Fukushima Nuclear Plant Reaches 'Cold Shutdown'

Nine months after the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, the Fukushima plant is now considered stable.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has reached a state called "cold shutdown," Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said today, meaning it's safe enough for some of the 100,000 people displaced by the tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster to return home. A cold shutdown means that the reactor's core temperature is below 100 degrees Celsius, meaning no nuclear reactions can take place. The amount of radiation emitted from the stricken power plant has also been greatly reduced to just one millisievert per year, which is the legal exposure limit. Because the reactor has cooled down enough to be no longer considered hazardous, many of the evacuees from the March 11 disaster will get to return home. However, those who lived within 20 kilometres of the plant won't be able to return for years (and likely decades) due to the contamination. Japanese authorities hope to have the plant completely decommissioned within 30 years.