TOKYO, 22nd August, 2024 (WAM) -- The operator of the disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Japan was set to attempt to remove a small amount of melted fuel from one of its crippled reactors on Thursday, but decided to put the trial extraction on hold due to issues discovered during preparations.
Japanese news agency Kyodo News reported that Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. has not said when it will try again after suspending the operation on Thursday morning as setup errors were identified in the debris retrieval device.
It is the first such attempt to remove debris by TEPCO since the plant in Fukushima Prefecture was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami over a decade ago.
"It is better to carry on with the work safely and steadily rather than rushing," TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa told reporters in Niigata Prefecture, where he was visiting to discuss another reactor operated by the company.
The trial will only seek to retrieve a few grams of fuel debris from the No. 2 unit over approximately two weeks. Methods of removing all the melted fuel remaining in the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors have yet to be decided, leaving major challenges in the plant's decades-long decommissioning plan.
On 11th March 2011, the six-reactor plant on the Pacific coast was flooded by more than 10-metre-high tsunami waves triggered by the magnitude 9.0 quake, causing the reactor cooling systems to lose their power supply.
TEPCO had initially planned to start retrieving debris from the No. 2 unit in 2021 but postponed its plans three times due to the coronavirus pandemic and technical difficulties.