Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority today designated the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant as a facility that requires special management, a move aimed to enhance regulators’ oversight of the complex hit by a meltdown disaster.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority also decided on a set of measures plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co should take so that safety will be ensured through the decades-long process to decommission four severely damaged units at the plant in northeastern Japan.

It also asked the utility to maintain the stable condition of the remaining two reactors that achieved cold shutdown after the plant was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, which triggered the nuclear crisis.

“This is work that may continue for generations. We will seek to ensure that the experiences (on safety measures) are passed on,” NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka told the meeting of the Authority’s members.

Following the designation, the utility known as TEPCO is expected to submit a plan by December 7 on how it will implement the measures requested by the regulators.

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