DHAKA: United States Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said he expects deepening cooperation with Japan over the high-stakes cleaning up and decommissioning of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

The Fukushima plant has had a series of mishaps in recent months, including radioactive water leaks from storage tanks.

The incidents have added to concerns about the ability of operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO, to safely close down the plant, which suffered meltdowns after being swamped by the March 2011 tsunami on Japan’s northeastern coast.

‘We expect the relationship in the area of decommissioning between TEPCO and our national laboratories to expand and deepen in the coming years,’ Moniz said in a lecture Thursday in Tokyo, reports The Straits Times.

‘Just as the tragic event had global consequences, the success of the cleanup also has global significance. So we all have a direct interest in seeing that the next steps are taken well and efficiently and safely,’ he said.

BDST: 1843 HRS, OCT 31, 2013
RoR/JCK