TEPCO Announces Delay to Large-Scale Retrieval of Debris at N-Plant; 2051 Still Eyed for End of Process
The retrieval work was originally set to start in the early 2030s, but it has been pushed back as TEPCO has found that it needs to demolish a structure with high levels of radiation adjacent to the No. 3 reactor building to ensure the safety of the work.
Although the start is delayed, the government and TEPCO still aim for the decommissioning of the reactors to be completed by 2051.
The 2011 meltdown generated an estimated total of 880 tons of debris in the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors. TEPCO plans to begin the full-scale removal at the No. 3 reactor.
The company said at a press conference that the details of work after debris retrieval are uncertain as the method of managing it has not yet been decided.
The planned method for the retrieval is that the debris will be broken into smaller pieces using specialized equipment before being dropped to the bottom of the reactor containment vessel. It will then be taken out through an opening in the side.
Filler material will be added to areas where there is debris that is highly radioactive or in an unstable condition to ensure safety.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asahi Shimbun
5 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: Fukushima debris removal is a task that will likely take eons
Decommissioning work continues around the No. 3 reactor at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. (Tsubasa Setoguchi) Buddhism uses its own unique units to express vast spans of time and numbers. Imagine a colossal castle, seven kilometers long, wide, and tall, its interior completely filled with poppy seeds. Once every hundred years, a single seed is removed. The time it would take to empty the castle—removing one seed every century until none remain—would still be shorter than what Buddhism calls a kalpa, or 'ko' in Japanese. Often translated as an eon, a ko represents an unfathomably long stretch of time, used to convey the sense of an almost inconceivable duration. The term also appears in the expression 'mirai eigo,' meaning 'an eternal future' or 'for all eternity,' evoking something that continues without end. How long, then, will it take to remove the fuel debris from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which suffered triple meltdowns in the 2011 disaster? The debris—which was once nuclear fuel that overheated, melted and fused with structural materials inside the reactors—was originally scheduled for removal beginning in 2021. Yet immense technical challenges delayed the start until last year. Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant's operator, recently announced that full-scale debris removal for reactor No. 3 will begin in fiscal 2037 or later. For reactors No. 1 and No. 2, no timeline has even been set. Of an estimated 880 tons of debris, only 0.9 gram has been recovered to date. A simple calculation based on the time since the accident suggests the removal process could take another 13.6 billion years to complete. Critics rightly argue that such an estimate is absurdly simplistic and misleading. But then, what would a realistic projection look like? Despite knowing full well the near impossibility of the task, authorities and TEPCO continue to uphold the goal of 'completing reactor decommissioning by 2051'—a timeline that seems more like sleight of hand than sincere policy, meant to lull the public into a false sense of reassurance. Even as Japan struggles to dismantle the legacy of Fukushima, the nation has pivoted boldly toward the 'maximum use' of nuclear energy. Kansai Electric Power Co. is now preparing to construct an entirely new plant. Has the landscape really shifted so dramatically—can a country's stance reverse so completely—in just the 14 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake? There's a word for something that defies belief: 'fukashigi.' Bizarre, inconceivable. Fittingly, this term too originated as a unit of measure in Buddhist cosmology—used to signify numbers so vast they dwell beyond comprehension. —The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 1 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
TEPCO Announces Delay to Large-Scale Retrieval of Debris at N-Plant; 2051 Still Eyed for End of Process
The start of the large-scale retrieval of melted nuclear fuel from reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has been delayed to between 2037 and 2040, TEPCO announced Tuesday. The retrieval work was originally set to start in the early 2030s, but it has been pushed back as TEPCO has found that it needs to demolish a structure with high levels of radiation adjacent to the No. 3 reactor building to ensure the safety of the work. Although the start is delayed, the government and TEPCO still aim for the decommissioning of the reactors to be completed by 2051. The 2011 meltdown generated an estimated total of 880 tons of debris in the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors. TEPCO plans to begin the full-scale removal at the No. 3 reactor. The company said at a press conference that the details of work after debris retrieval are uncertain as the method of managing it has not yet been decided. The planned method for the retrieval is that the debris will be broken into smaller pieces using specialized equipment before being dropped to the bottom of the reactor containment vessel. It will then be taken out through an opening in the side. Filler material will be added to areas where there is debris that is highly radioactive or in an unstable condition to ensure safety.
Yomiuri Shimbun
10-07-2025
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Astronaut Wakata Tests Artemis Lunar Spacesuit for NASA; Outfit Made by Axiom Space, Inc. Eyed for Use in 2027
WASHINGTON — Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata has participated in the first test of a spacesuit being developed for lunar activities in a 12-meter-deep pool at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas. The spacesuit, commissioned by NASA from U.S. space company Axiom Space, Inc., is intended to be worn by astronauts when they land on the moon as part of the U.S.-led Artemis lunar exploration program in or after 2027. The flexibility and safety of the spacesuit are said to have been improved compared to the suits worn when humans last walked on the moon in 1972, during the the Apollo 17 mission. Wakata, 61, who retired from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency last year, joined Axiom Space and participated in the program to test the spacesuit in May, drawing on his experience as an astronaut. In the first experiment, Wakata wore the spacesuit in an indoor pool about 12 meters deep, which is used for spacewalk training, and confirmed the operation capabilities of its life-support devices as well as the communication and cooling systems mounted on the back. He also simulated planting the U.S. flag on the lunar surface during the test. The company plans to continue the tests. 'The Axiom Space-developed spacesuit will enable astronauts to explore the moon for the first time in over 50 years as part of the Artemis III mission to the lunar south pole,' it said in a statement.
