Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. The plant was destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 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-long decommissioning of the destroyed plant. The fuel, during meltdown, also likely melted its casing and other metal structures inside the reactor, forming rocks as it cooled.
TEPCO spokesman Takahiro Kimoto said it was the first time a robot camera has captured what is believed to be the melted fuel. He said it would take time to analyze which portions of the rocks were fuel. In an earlier survey Wednesday, the robot found severe damage in the vessel, including key structures that were broken and knocked out of place.
TEPCO plans to send the robot farther down on Saturday in hopes of finding more melted fuel and debris. Experts have said the melted fuel is most likely to have landed inside the pedestal after breaching the core. Kimoto said the robot probe in its two missions has captured a great deal of useful information and images showing the damage inside the reactor, which will help experts eventually determine a way to remove the melted fuel, a process expected to begin sometime after the Tokyo Olympics.
Locating and analysing the fuel debris and damage in each of the three wrecked reactors is crucial for decommissioning the plant. The search for melted fuel in the two other reactors has so far been unsuccessful because of damage and extremely high radiation levels. The submersible robot, about the size of a loaf of bread, is equipped with lights, maneuvers with five propellers and collects data with two cameras and a dosimeter. It is controlled remotely by a group of four operators.
It was co-developed by Toshiba Corp. HTLS gurugram lifestyle real-estate ht-weekend epaper education sports brandstudio-live photos business ht-brand stories ht-weekend videos real-estate lifestyle tech ht school mumbai live updates.
