Five years on, cleanup of Fukushima's reactors remains a distant goal

Removal of nuclear fuel from power plant that suffered triple meltdown following 2011 tsunami could take 40 years or more

In the chaotic two years after its name became forever associated with nuclear disaster, the Fukushima Daiichi power plant "resembled a field hospital", according to the man who is now in charge of the most daunting task the nuclear industry has ever faced: removing hundreds of tons of melted fuel from the plant's stricken reactors.

"Now it really does feel like the situation is settling down and we can look ahead," said Naohiro Masuda, head of decommissioning at the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco).