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A28 SCIENCE
Saturday 22 July 2017

Possible melted fuel seen for first time at Fukushima plant

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) — An under-
water robot captured im-
ages of solidified lava-like
rocks Friday inside a dam-
aged reactor at Japan’s
crippled Fukushima nucle-
ar plant, spotting for the
first time what is believed
to be nuclear fuel that
melted six years ago.
Plant operator Tokyo Elec-
tric Power Co. said the ro-
bot found large amounts
of lava-like debris appar-
ently containing fuel that
had flowed out of the core
into the primary contain-
ment vessel of the Unit 3
reactor at Fukushima. The
plant was destroyed by a
massive earthquake and
tsunami in March 2011.
Cameras mounted on the
robot showed extensive
damage caused by the
core meltdown, with fuel
debris mixed with broken
reactor parts, suggesting
the difficult challenges
ahead in the decades- This image captured by an underwater robot provided by International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning shows lava-
long decommissioning of like lumps believed to contain melted fuel inside the Unit 3 reactor at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Okuma town, northeastern
the destroyed plant. Japan, Friday, July 21, 2017.
Experts have said the fuel Associated Press
melted and much of it fell
to the chamber’s bottom first time a robot camera analyze which portions of called the pedestal for a probe in its two missions has
and is now covered by ra- has captured what is be- the rocks were fuel. closer look. TEPCO plans captured a great deal of
dioactive water as deep lieved to be the melted In an earlier survey Wednes- to send the robot farther useful information and im-
as 6 meters (20 feet). The fuel. day, the robot found severe down on Saturday in hopes ages showing the damage
fuel, during meltdown, also “That debris has apparent- damage in the vessel, in- of finding more melted fuel inside the reactor, which
likely melted its casing and ly fallen from somewhere cluding key structures that and debris. will help experts eventu-
other metal structures in- higher above. We believe it were broken and knocked Experts have said the melt- ally determine a way to
side the reactor, forming is highly likely to be melted out of place. ed fuel is most likely to have remove the melted fuel, a
rocks as it cooled. fuel or something mixed The robot, nicknamed landed inside the pedestal process expected to begin
TEPCO spokesman Taka- with it,” Kimoto said. He “the Little Sunfish,” on Fri- after breaching the core. sometime after the 2020 To-
hiro Kimoto said it was the
said it would take time to day went inside a structure Kimoto said the robot kyo Olympics.q