By KEITARO FUKUCHI/ Staff Writer
August 1, 2024 at 15:25 JST
The pole to retrieve pieces of melted nuclear fuel is demonstrated on a model in Kobe on May 28. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Tokyo Electric Power Co. will soon begin using a 22-meter pole to remove melted fuel from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, after the device secured a green light from the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
The NRA approved the device on July 31 and will now issue a certificate for it.
The utility said it will maneuver the tool into the base of the No. 2 reactor from Aug. 21.
The device resembles a fishing rod with a clawed grab, which is designed to pick up pieces of highly radioactive fuel.
The tool was demonstrated in May at a facility in Kobe operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., where it was lowered into a model of the pedestal upon which the reactor sits.
A total of 880 tons of fuel debris is estimated to remain in the plant’s No. 1 to No. 3 reactors.
The removal of melted fuel is regarded as the trickiest phase of decommissioning work, because the facility is still plagued by extremely high levels of radiation.
TEPCO plans to remove a few grams of melted nuclear fuel from the No. 2 reactor because radiation levels there are relatively low.
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