Tepco To Postpone Removal Of Radioactive Debris
NHK has learned that the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant plans to postpone removing radioactive debris from inside a reactor because preparatory tests have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tokyo Electric Power Company had planned to conduct robotic arm experiments in Britain in August, but the plan was suspended due to the pandemic. Transporting the robotic arm to Japan would be difficult.
Sources say TEPCO determined that it would be impossible to start the operation in 2021 as planned.
The firm is now making arrangements to carry out the tests in Japan.
The 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused a triple meltdown at the plant.
Removing fuel debris from the No.1, 2, and 3 reactors is said to be one of the biggest challenges in the plant's decommissioning process, because of the extremely high levels of radiation inside the reactors.
TEPCO and the Japanese government had planned to start with the No.2 reactor in 2021, as robot and other surveys have provided the most detailed images and data from inside that rector.
