A robotic will quickly attempt to take away melted nuclear gasoline from Japan’s destroyed Fukushima reactor

TOKYO (AP) — 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 main 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 problem of recovering from the magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in 2011.

Through 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 consider the upcoming check removing of gasoline particles from Unit 2 is an especially vital step to steadily perform future decommissioning work,” mentioned Yusuke Nakagawa, a TEPCO group supervisor for the gasoline particles retrieval program. “You will need to proceed with the check removing 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 injury 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 main containment vessel earlier this yr to seize photos from the areas the place robots had not reached.

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AP video journalist Ayaka McGill contributed to this report.