Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has revealed that it has collected deposits that are believed to contain substances derived from so-called "fuel debris" during an internal investigation of the containment vessel of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1.
TEPCO plans to analyze the components in detail and gather knowledge for fuel debris retrieval.
At the bottom of the containment vessel of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1, there is a deposit that seems to contain substances derived from so-called "fuel debris", which is a mixture of melted nuclear fuel and surrounding structures. last month, an attempt was made to collect it through an internal survey using an underwater robot, but it was canceled due to a malfunction of the equipment.
The survey was resumed on the 31st of last month, and TEPCO announced on the 1st that it had collected the deposits, saying that the robot had succeeded in sucking water that seemed to contain deposits at two locations.
After the 2nd, TEPCO will try to collect sediments at another two locations and analyze the types and amounts of elements over about a year.
In the future, in addition to reproducing the spread of deposits in 3D, we plan to photograph the inside of the "pedestal", the foundation that supports the reactor, which has not been investigated so far. At the same time, we would like to collect knowledge on how to remove fuel debris, which is considered to be the biggest challenge in decommissioning work.