An extendable robotic started on Tuesday a two-week mission to retrieve the primary pattern of melted gasoline particles from inside one in every of three broken reactors on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy plant.
Extremely radioactive gasoline and different supplies within the reactors melted when a large earthquake and tsunami in 2011 broken the plant’s cooling techniques.
The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electrical Energy Firm Holdings, has beforehand used small robots to look at the within of the reactors, however that is the primary time for it to gather a pattern of the melted particles in what is going to mark the beginning of essentially the most difficult a part of the plant’s decadeslong decommissioning.
The mission was initially scheduled to start on Aug. 22 however was suspended when employees observed that 5 1.5-meter (5-foot) pipes for use to push the robotic into the reactor had been organized within the incorrect order, TEPCO mentioned.
The tools was reassembled in the suitable order for Tuesday’s try, the corporate mentioned.
As soon as contained in the reactor vessel, the robotic is operated remotely from a safer location.
The robotic, nicknamed “telesco,” can prolong as much as about 22 meters (72 ft), together with the pipes pushing it from behind, to achieve the melted gasoline mound, the place it should use tongs to gather a fraction measuring lower than 3 grams (0.1 ounce). It’s anticipated to take about two weeks to acquire the fragment.
An estimated 880 tons of fatally radioactive molten gasoline stays within the three reactors.
Chief authorities spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi famous that the mission marked the beginning of essentially the most troublesome section of the Fukushima Daiichi cleanup. “The government will firmly and responsibly tackle the decommissioning until the very end,” he mentioned.
The federal government and TEPCO have set a 30- to 40-year goal for the cleanup, regardless of criticism it’s unrealistic. No particular plans for the total removing of the melted gasoline particles or its storage have been determined.
© 2024 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials might not be revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.
Quotation:
A robotic has begun a 2-week mission to retrieve melted gasoline from the broken Fukushima nuclear plant (2024, September 10)
retrieved 10 September 2024
from https://techxplore.com/information/2024-09-robot-begun-week-mission-fuel.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 offered for data functions solely.