By FUMI YADA/ Staff Writer
November 3, 2024 at 17:27 JST
The operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant said it retrieved a tiny amount of melted fuel from one of the reactors that went into a triple meltdown following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Nov. 2 the fuel debris, which measures no more than 5 millimeters, was removed from the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor around 9:50 a.m. on the same day and temporarily placed in an isolation box.
It will be transferred to a dedicated container if TEPCO confirms that its radiation level is below a predetermined amount.
The sample resembles a pebble. Its structure and characteristics will later be analyzed at a research institute in Ibaraki Prefecture.
An estimated 880 tons of melted nuclear fuel remain inside the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors. They went into meltdown after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, knocked out cooling systems at the plant.
The debris still emits extremely high levels of radiation, and its removal is the most exacting task in the decommissioning process.
On Oct. 28, TEPCO inserted a telescopic device into the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor to retrieve up to three grams of nuclear debris as part of an experimental study.
The device, which acts like a fishing rod, grasped the debris sample at the bottom of the containment vessel on Oct. 30.
TEPCO initially planned to start the fuel retrieval in August, but it was postponed because pipes used for the process had been placed in the wrong order during preparatory work.
The project was again suspended in September due to malfunctioning cameras.
TEPCO again halts work to collect melted nuclear fuel
September 17, 2024
Icicle-like objects could be melted fuel debris at Fukushima plant
March 19, 2024
Work to remove nuclear fuel at Fukushima plant postponed again
August 22, 2024
TEPCO resumes oft-delayed plan to collect melted nuclear fuel
September 10, 2024
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
A hand at the end of a telescopic device grasps nuclear fuel debris inside the No. 2 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on Oct. 30. (Provided by Tokyo Electric Power Co.)
