Fukushima: robot starts new mission to retrieve debris at nuclear plant

On Tuesday, April 15, a remote-controlled robot started its second mission to retrieve melted fuel debris inside a reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The mission, which follows a similar debris retrieval in November, aims to develop the technology and robots needed for large-scale cleanup operations at the plant, wrecked by a tsunami in March 2011. The robot carries cameras and a tong to grip tiny nuggets of radioactive debris. It entered the No. 2 reactor’s primary containment vessel and should get a sample from an area closer to the center of the reactor where more melted fuel is believed to have fallen. The robot will take several days to reach the targeted area, where it will use a device carrying a tong and camera in a fishing rod style.
The first sample retrieval in November was a crucial step in the long decommissioning process of the crippled nuclear plant. After a series of further missions to gather samples, experts will develop a method to use robots in the large-scale removal of melted fuel from the facility, starting at the No. 3 reactor in the 2030s. The decommissioning of the plant is just beginning, and it could take several decades to complete it.