Japan nuclear crisis 'over in nine months'

Nearly 28,000 people are dead and missing after the quake and tsunami

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Japan quake

• Death and survival at school
• Fukushima v Chernobyl
• Q&A: Health effects of radiation
• Fukushima: What must be done?

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has said it expects to bring the crisis under control by the end of the year.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) aims to reduce radiation leaks in three months and to cool the reactors within nine months.
The utility said it also plans to cover the reactor building, which was hit by a huge quake and tsunami on 11 March.
Nearly 14,000 people died and another 14,000 are still unaccounted for.
Tepco unveiled its roadmap as Hillary Clinton briefly visited Tokyo to pledge America's "steadfast support" for Japan's reconstruction.
'Cold shutdown' Radiation levels in the sea near reactor 2 rose to 6,500 times the legal limit on Friday, up from 1,100 times a day earlier, Tepco has said, raising fears of fresh radiation leaks.

A UK firm's robots, operated via a standard games console, will go into the reactor

Tsunehisa Katsumata, the chairman of Tepco, Asia's largest utility, told a news conference in Tokyo on Sunday they would need up to nine months to bring the power plant to ''cold shutdown''.
He said the plan would allow the tens of thousands of families evacuated from the area around the facility to return home as soon as possible.
"We sincerely apologise for causing troubles," Mr Katsumata said. "We are doing our utmost to prevent the crisis from further worsening."
Japan's government had ordered Tepco to come up with a timetable to end the crisis, now rated on a par with the world's worst nuclear accident, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Continued