A good eight years after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, the operator has for the first time started recovering fuel rods from one of the destroyed industrial reactors.
As the company Tepco announced, initially seven unused fuel rods are to be taken out of the decay tank of the reactor 3. There are stored a total of 566 spent and unused fuel rods.
Worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl
Reactors 1 to 3 were destroyed on 11 March 2011 as a result of an earthquake and tsunami, it came to meltdowns. Because of the radioactive radiation around 160,000 residents had to flee at that time. Still, around 30,000 people can not go back. It was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
The work should have started four years ago. Technical difficulties and debris repeatedly delayed the operation. The experts should have taken care when removing the debris, said Tepco spokeswoman Yuka Matsubara AFP. According to the dust, which was whirled up in the use and the radioactive radiation amplified.
Salvage until 2021
In February, Tepco successfully used a robot to pick up several pebble-sized nuclear fuel residues in reactor 2. In the reactors were already more often robots on the road to search for molten fuel and take photos. Its recovery is considered the most difficult part in the destruction of nuclear ruins. The operator Tepco expects that the recovery will take until the end of March 2021.
