Sources have told NHK that the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant plans to start on Thursday a test retrieval of fuel debris from one of the reactors that suffered a meltdown in 2011.
The debris is a mixture of molten nuclear fuel and parts of the reactor structure.
It is estimated that there is a total of 880 tons of such debris in the No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors, which suffered meltdowns in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
The removal of fuel debris is said to be the most challenging step in decommissioning the damaged power plant because of extremely high levels of radiation, which hampers the work.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, also known as TEPCO, and the Japanese government plan to start the first test retrieval at the No. 2 reactor.
Last Friday, Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority issued a certificate, certifying safety, after conducting a pre-operation inspection.
TEPCO started a final on-site check on Monday. Sources say, if no problems are found, the operator plans to start the test on Thursday by putting a removal device into a pipe leading to the inside of the reactor containment vessel.
Most parts of the process are to be conducted through remote control. It is expected to take at least several days for the device to reach the bottom of the containment vessel, where the fuel debris exists. It is believed that it will be next week or later at the earliest that the debris will be taken to the outside of the vessel.
Whether the planned retrieval will be conducted smoothly is drawing attention as it was to begin in 2021 under the original plan.