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Before the nuclear fuel depots were affected.
TEPCO
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The robotic arm grabbing the deposits.
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The robotic arm grabbing deposits at another place.
TEPCO
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Nuclear depots after their release.
TEPCO
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The nuclear fuel after being seized by the robotic claw of TEPCO.
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The field office during the operation.
TEPCO
Late last week, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) sent a probe into the second damaged reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The probe's mission was to explore the solidity of the nuclear fuel that had melted in 2011, when a tsunami struck the nuclear power plant following an earthquake, causing the three reactors of the Central.
Eight years later, TEPCO is progressing slowly but steadily towards the decommissioning of the three damaged reactors. The mission to touch the molten nuclear fuel with a remotely controlled probe was to determine the strength of the fuel and determine if it could be transported off-site. This was the first time field crews had used any device to physically interact with the fuel since the reactor meltdown.
"The sighting device came into contact with depots located at six different places on the pedestal," TEPCO wrote in a short preliminary report published on Friday. "Deposits in five locations could be moved." TEPCO has posted a video, which can be found here, of the robotic probe picking up pieces of molten nuclear fuel.
In addition to the images taken by the robotic probe (which can be found in the gallery above), TEPCO also took measurements on radiation dosage and temperature. The company said it was still badyzing sensor readings.
according to The Asahi ShimbunThe eight-hour operation helped TEPCO obtain information on the types of containers it will need to dispose of the molten nuclear fuel. No material was removed from the reactor. "The recovery process will begin seriously in one of the reactors in 2021, according to the plan jointly developed by the central government and TEPCO", The Asahi Shimbun wrote. The paper notes that TEPCO must withdraw a small amount of nuclear fuel later this year for study.
The melted fuel in reactors 1 and 2 has not yet been affected, but the information collected through this probe will help TEPCO to develop a plan to advance the decommissioning process. Full dismantling should take 30 or 40 years, according to Bloomberg.
Announcement image by TEPCO
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