Japan’s Tepco weighs options over projected tsunami threat to Fukushima plant

Tepco is trying to clean up the site of its Fukushima Daiichi plant, hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, an effort expected to last decades as it looks to build defences against another disaster.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) is assessing a government report that highlights the threat of another tsunami overwhelming its wrecked Fukushima nuclear station, the company said on Wednesday.

Bags of radioactive waste are stored in the "difficult-to-return" zone in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (Bloomberg)

Tepco is trying to clean up the site of its Fukushima Daiichi plant, hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, an effort expected to last decades as it looks to build defences against another disaster.

The latest government projection suggests an 11-metre (36-ft) seawall planned by Tepco engineers could be overwhelmed if tsunami waves taller than 20 metres (66 ft) are unleashed by a quake of magnitude 9 or more, broadcaster NHK has said.

“Tepco will examine the latest projections and analyse the impact on the ongoing preventive measures against tsunamis that the company has been taking,” a spokesman told Reuters by telephone.

The earthquake that struck off Japan’s east coast in March 2011 had a magnitude of nine, spawning a tsunami that led to the meltdown of three reactors at Fukushima, where Tepco continues to struggle to curb release of radioactive material.