Japan's TEPCO restarts experimental operations to remove nuclear fuel residues in Fukushima

On the morning of September 10, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) of Japan restarted the experimental operation of removing nuclear fuel residues from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, and triggered a huge tsunami, resulting in a major nuclear leakage accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The reactor cores of Units 1 to 3 melted down, and only the building where Unit 2 is located did not experience a hydrogen explosion. According to estimates, there are 880 tons of nuclear fuel residues in Units 1 to 3, and they are still radioactive.

As TEPCO has a relatively good understanding of the internal situation of Unit 2, it has decided to start with this unit and try to remove the nuclear fuel residues. On August 22 this year, TEPCO had tried to start this operation for the first time, but due to installation errors of the removal equipment, it finally decided to postpone. After adjustments and preparations, at around 6:30 am on September 10, TEPCO restarted the work of pushing the removal equipment into the containment vessel, and at 7:20 inserted the removal equipment into the pipeline leading to the inside of the containment vessel and started the experimental operation.

According to the plan, TEPCO will use a telescopic device equipped with a gripper to take out 3 grams of residues, and then ***yze and decide the next steps. Most of the work will be completed through remote operation. It is expected that even if everything goes smoothly, it will take about two weeks to complete.

The recovery work of Fukushima nuclear fuel debris was originally planned to start in 2021, but it has been postponed for three years due to safety and other reasons. This experimental removal work has attracted much attention. It will obtain data on the nature and condition of nuclear fuel debris and is crucial for the future decommissioning work of the nuclear power plant, including researching methods for comprehensive recovery of nuclear fuel debris. The Japanese government and TEPCO said they plan to complete the decommissioning work by 2051, but given the current situation, it is still unknown whether it can be carried out as planned.