The operator of Japan’s destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy plant demonstrated Tuesday how a remote-controlled robotic would retrieve tiny bits of melted gasoline particles from considered one of three broken reactors later this yr for the primary time for the reason that 2011 meltdown.
Tokyo Electrical Energy Firm Holdings plans to deploy a “telesco-style” extendable pipe robotic into Fukushima Daiichi No. 2 reactor to check the removing of particles from its major containment vessel by October.
That work is greater than two years delayed. The removing of melted gasoline was supposed to start in late 2021 however has been plagued with delays, underscoring the issue of recovering from the magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in 2011.
Throughout the demonstration on the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Kobe, western Japan, the place the robotic has been developed, a tool geared up with tongs slowly descended from the telescopic pipe to a heap of gravel and picked up a granule.
TEPCO plans to take away lower than 3 grams (0.1 ounce) of particles within the check on the Fukushima plant.
“We believe the upcoming test removal of fuel debris from Unit 2 is an extremely important step to steadily carry out future decommissioning work,” mentioned Yusuke Nakagawa, a TEPCO group supervisor for the gasoline particles retrieval program. “It is important to proceed with the test removal safely and steadily.”
About 880 tons of extremely radioactive melted nuclear gasoline stay contained in the three broken reactors. Critics say the 30- to 40-year cleanup goal set by the federal government and TEPCO for Fukushima Daiichi is overly optimistic. The harm in every reactor is totally different, and plans should accommodate their situations.
Higher understanding the melted gasoline particles from contained in the reactors is essential to their decommissioning. TEPCO deployed 4 mini drones into the No. 1 reactor’s major containment vessel earlier this yr to seize photographs from the areas the place robots had not reached.
© 2024 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials is probably not printed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.
Quotation:
A robotic will quickly attempt to take away melted nuclear gasoline from Japan’s destroyed Fukushima reactor (2024, Might 28)
retrieved 29 Might 2024
from https://techxplore.com/information/2024-05-robot-nuclear-fuel-japan-destroyed.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Aside from any honest dealing for the aim of personal examine or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is supplied for data functions solely.