Fukushima: robot images show massive deposits thought to be melted nuclear fuel
Source: The Guardian
Sunday 23 July 2017 02.02 BST
Images captured by an underwater robot on Saturday showed massive deposits believed to be melted nuclear fuel covering the floor of a damaged reactor at Japan’s destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant.
The robot found large amounts of solidified lava-like rocks and lumps in layers as thick as 1m on the bottom inside a main structure called the pedestal that sits underneath the core inside the primary containment vessel of Fukushima’s Unit 3 reactor, said the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.
On Friday, the robot spotted suspected debris of melted fuel for the first time since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused multiple meltdowns and destroyed the plant. The three-day investigation of Unit 3 ended on Saturday.
Locating and analysing the fuel debris and damage in each of the plant’s three wrecked reactors is crucial for decommissioning the plant. The search for melted fuel in the two other reactors has so far been unsuccessful because of damage and extremely high radiation levels.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/23/fukushima-images-show-massive-deposits-thought-to-be-melted-nuclear-fuel
From Huffington Post:
07/23/2017 12:27 EDT
This discovery could mark a turning point in the complicated cleanup of the nuclear facility.
In a potentially major milestone in the cleanup effort of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, an underwater robot has captured what’s believed to be the first images of melted nuclear fuel inside one of the plant’s three damaged reactors.
The remote-controlled robot, nicknamed “Little Sunfish,” found “large amounts of solidified lava-like rocks and lumps” at the bottom of Fukushima’s Unit 3 reactor over the course of a three-day investigation that ended Saturday, reported the Associated Press.
The debris still needs to be analyzed, but the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), seemed confident that the objects were fuel. A spokesperson said Friday there was a “high possibility that the solidified objects are mixtures of melted metal and fuel,” according to the BBC.
If true, the discovery could mark a watershed moment for the complex and costly cleanup of the Fukushima plant — an effort that could cost more than $70 billion and up to 40 years to complete, the Japan Times reported.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/fukushima-melted-nuclear-fuel-robot_us_59748002e4b09e5f6ccfd72d
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