Fuel Debris Collected Again at Fukushima N-Plant

Tokyo, April 23 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said Wednesday that it has successfully collected a sample of nuclear fuel debris from a damaged reactor in Fukushima Prefecture in the second round of its experimental removal work.

The sample collected from the No. 2 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was put into a container for transport, the Japanese power supplier said.

TEPCO said that it was able to take out the sample from a spot that is closer to the center of the reactor containment vessel, compared with the first round of its experimental removal work completed in November last year.

The sample will be analyzed at a research lab of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency in Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture, for research toward full-scale removal of nuclear fuel debris, part of the process for decommissioning the nuclear plant crippled in a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

The second round of the experimental debris removal work started on April 15. A telescopic device was put inside of the reactor, and a claw gripper on the edge of the device grabbed debris on Thursday.

The first round was originally scheduled for August last year, but was postponed to September due to an issue with pipe connection of the removal device.

Even after the work started in September, it was suspended for about a month due to an issue with a camera. In November, some 0.7 gram of debris was removed.

About 880 tons of nuclear fuel debris with extremely high radiation levels are estimated to be in the No. 1 to No. 3 reactors of the plant.

The removal work is the biggest challenge in the decommissioning process. TEPCO plans to start full-scale removal work with the No. 3 reactor as early as the 2030s.
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