The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant said Thursday it has given up on a plan to begin retrieving debris that contains melted nuclear fuel at the No. 2 reactor by March due to technical difficulties.
Retrieving the highly radioactive mixture of melted nuclear fuel and debris from the crippled power plant is considered one of the hardest tasks in the process of its decommissioning.
The revised schedule will utilize a new method of retrieval -- using a telescopic tube first instead of a robotic arm, pending approval from the
It is estimated that
It remains unclear how the third and latest delay will affect
The utility had initially planned to start retrieving debris from the No. 2 unit in 2021 but postponed it to 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic and the need to improve the robotic arm. It then said it aimed to carry out the process in the latter half of fiscal 2023.
The total amount of tritium to be released during that period is expected to be around 14 trillion becquerels, well below the annual limit of 22 trillion becquerels, according to
The wastewater, generated in the process of cooling melted reactor fuel and mixed with rain and groundwater, has gone through a liquid processing system that removes most radionuclides except tritium.
The government sees the disposal of 1.34 million tons of water, which is pooled in over 1,000 tanks at the power plant, as a key step in decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
==Kyodo
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