Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' latest decommissioning plan for the damaged Fukushima Daiichi No. 2 nuclear plant puts the timetable at 44 years for completing the task in four stages. TEPCO says the first stage will take 10 years, the second stage will require 12 years, and the last two stages will take 11 each.

Tokyo Electric Power is working to clean up the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant ahead of this year's Summer Olympics, but the Japanese government is still deciding whether contaminated water in tanks at the site should be allowed to evaporate or be diluted and released into the Pacific Ocean. The government could make a decision in the coming months, but experts say that safely disposing of the water may take years.

Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Co. and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission have signed an agreement regarding the exchange of nuclear plant decommissioning information. CEA's decommissioning experience will be helpful for TEPCO as it works toward decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, according to CEA Director of Nuclear Energy Christophe Behar.

Tokyo Electric Power will review its plan to create an ice wall to block radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. "The situation needs to be firmly confirmed because it could affect subsequent measures," said Toyoshi Fuketa, a commissioner at Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority.

Tokyo Electric Power's plan to freeze contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan has been delayed. The Nuclear Regulation Authority is urging plant officials to evaluate the plan further and propose additional measures. Toyoshi Fuketa, an agency commissioner, said the "contaminated water in the trenches is the risk factor of greatest concern. ... If the flow of water cannot be stopped, there is no point in talking about ice walls."