Debris Extracting Project Returns to the Beginning

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) announced that it would extract the devices for taking out nuclear debris from containment vessel of the reactor 2 in crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. It would make research on why the camera, attached on the device, has not been working. It is likely that the project will be intermitted for a certain long period of time.

In the severe accident in 2011, nuclear fuel rods in reactors of the Fukushima plant melted down and about 880 metric tons of nuclear radioactive debris are remaining in the bottom of reactors 1 to 3. While TEPCO had a plan to start extracting those debris in 2021, it was delayed twice with malfunction of devices or delay of development for new device　called “robot arm.” It decided to take debris out of containment vessel by using a device resembling fishing rod.

 

TEPCO tried to start the project in August, which was postponed with failure of setting the device for picking up a small part of debris. TEPCO announced that it restarted the project on September 10. However, it found that two cameras attached to the device, which would send video of operation, were not working in some reasons. The operation of taking debris out was halted again on September 17.

 

TEPCO decided to extract the device from the containment vessel to check out what caused the malfunction. The device will be taken out into a “quarantine box,” set outside of the containment vessel, to replace cameras. Because the cameras to be replaced are supposed to have been exposed highly radioactive environment, it takes certain period of time to finish the replacement.

 

It is not understandable why TEPCO insists on picking up a small amount of debris, while technology for taking debris out, robot arm or fishing rod, has not been established. Some experts question whether picking several grams of debris may contribute to the process to clean up the debris and accelerate the project of dismantling crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

 

As long as radioactive debris remain in the bottom of reactors, TEPCO needs to keep on cooling it by letting it soaked in the water. This process produces contaminated water to be stocked in the tanks. The government of Japan has decided to release the water after processing of extracting radiation except tritium. Releasing that processed water faced firm opposition from neighbor countries including China.

 

TEPCO and the government of Japan has a reason to accelerate the project of taking debris away. But the process of dismantlement will take a long time. They have not achieved exact schedule of ending the process.

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