Fukushima robot begins second attempt to retrieve melted nuclear fuel
A robot has begun its second attempt to extract melted nuclear fuel from one of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan, as part of a long and complex decommissioning effort following the 2011 nuclear disaster.
On Tuesday, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) launched the latest mission at the plant's No 2 reactor, aiming to retrieve a fresh sample of radioactive debris from closer to the core.
The effort builds on a first trial run conducted in November last year, which successfully extracted a tiny amount of debris–less than a gram–for analysis.
The robotic system, known as 'Telesco', is equipped with extendable arms, cameras, and a gripping tool designed to function in high-radiation zones.
Inserted through a narrow passage, the device will manoeuvre up to 22m inside the reactor's primary containment vessel. It is expected to take up to 12 days for the robot's tip to reach the new target location.
This second operation is focused on retrieving material from one to two metres closer to the reactor's centre, where more of the molten fuel is believed to have accumulated during the triple meltdown caused by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
The disaster triggered one of the worst nuclear accidents in history, leaving around 880 tonnes of radioactive fuel debris across three reactors.
The sample from the previous mission, which was roughly the size of a raisin, revealed traces of uranium, zirconium and other materials used in nuclear fuel. However, scientists say further sampling is required to gain a fuller understanding of the debris composition and distribution inside the damaged reactors.
The ultimate aim is to develop the technology and techniques needed for large-scale fuel removal, set to begin in the 2030s at the No 3 reactor. Tepco says it may revert to collecting a sample from the previous location if the robot is unable to reach the deeper site due to obstructions.
Tepco last year confirmed that the telescopic retrieval system is being upgraded since its first use, with a new camera to improve visibility and increased stability for the tip section.
Preparatory work in March included intensive worker training to check the order of the pipes and camera issues that delayed the earlier mission by several months.
The decommissioning process is expected to last decades, with some experts warning it could take more than a century due to the extreme radiation levels and technical complexity involved.
Robots, last month also began removing radiation-soaked sandbags from underground areas of two reactor buildings.
In 2023, Japan started releasing treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean —equivalent to the volume of 540 Olympic-sized swimming pools. While the International Atomic Energy Agency backed the move, it prompted China and Russia to ban Japanese seafood imports.
China has since reported no abnormalities in seawater or marine life near Fukushima, though it continues to enforce the ban pending further tests.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
a day ago
- Scotsman
14 Scottish universities ranked from best to worst in Complete University Guide 2026
The Complete University Guide has released its league tables that rank the best universities in the UK – and we've looked at the data to put together a list of Scotland's best unis. Every year, the respected guide publishes its UK university and subject league tables to help prospective students make informed choices. The main league table is based on ten measures: entry standards, student satisfaction, research quality, research intensity, academic services spend, spending on student facilities, continuation, student-staff ratio, graduate prospects – outcomes, and graduate prospects – on track. Take a look through our photo gallery to see Scotland's 14 universities ranked from best to worst – and find out how they rank compared to unis across the UK. 1 . 14 Scottish universities ranked from best to worst Take a look through our gallery to see 14 Scottish universities ranked from best to worst, according to the Complete University Guide 2026. Photo: Pixabay Photo: Pixabay Photo Sales 2 . The University of St Andrews Scotland rank: 1. UK rank: 4. Seven centuries of history link the students with the town, leading to the ancient and yet modern institution apparent today. Photo: Third Party Photo Sales 3 . University of Edinburgh Scotland rank: 2. UK rank: 18. From Nobel laureates and Olympic champions to space explorers and prime ministers, the University of Edinburgh has been influencing history since it opened the gates to its first students in 1583. Photo: Third Party Photo Sales 4 . Heriot-Watt University Scotland rank: 3. UK rank: 25. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted university status by royal charter in 1966. Heriot-Watt University is the eighth-oldest higher education institute in the UK. Photo: Third Party Photo Sales
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Japanese rover smashes into moon in fresh disaster for embattled space company
Japanese company ispace has declared a second failure in a bid for its lunar lander to touchdown on the moon after communication was lost less than two minutes before the scheduled grounding A lunar lander from a Japanese company crashed while attempting a touchdown on the moon in the latest casualty in the commercial rush to the moon and the second failure for the same company. The Tokyo-based company ispace declared the mission a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander. Flight controllers scrambled to gain contact, but were met with only silence and said they were concluding the mission. Communications ceased less than two minutes before the spacecraft's scheduled landing on the moon with a mini rover. Until then, the descent from lunar orbit seemed to be going well. CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada apologized to everyone who contributed to the mission, the second lunar strikeout for ispace. Two years ago, the company's first moonshot ended in a crash landing, giving rise to the name 'Resilience' for its successor lander. Resilience carried a rover with a shovel to gather lunar dirt as well as a Swedish artist's toy-size red house for placement on the moon's dusty surface. Company officials said it was too soon to know whether the same problem doomed both missions. This is the second time that we were not able to land. So we really have to take it very seriously,' Hakamada told reporters. He stressed that the company would press ahead with more lunar missions. A preliminary analysis indicates the laser system for measuring the altitude did not work as planned, and the lander descended too fast, officials said. 'Based on these circumstances, it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing on the lunar surface,' the company said in a written statement. Moon missions had previously been the preserve of governments but it became a target of private outfits in 2019, with more flops than wins along the way. Launched in January from Florida on a long, roundabout journey, Resilience entered lunar orbit last month. It shared a SpaceX ride with Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost, which reached the moon faster and became the first private entity to successfully land there in March. Another US company, Intuitive Machines, arrived at the moon a few days after Firefly. But the tall, spindly lander face-planted in a crater near the moon's south pole and was declared dead within hours. Resilience was targeting the top of the moon, a less treacherous place than the shadowy bottom. The ispace team chose a flat area with few boulders in Mare Frigoris or Sea of Cold, a long and narrow region full of craters and ancient lava flows that stretches across the near side's northern tier. Plans had called for the 7.5-feet Resilience to beam back pictures within hours and for the lander to lower the piggybacking rover onto the lunar surface this weekend. Made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic with four wheels, ispace's European-built rover — named Tenacious — sported a high-definition camera to scout out the area and a shovel to scoop up some lunar dirt for NASA. The rover, weighing just 5kgs, was going to stick close to the lander, going in circles at a speed of less than two centimetres per second. It was capable of venturing up to two-thirds of a mile from the lander and should be operational throughout the two-week mission, the period of daylight. Besides science and tech experiments, there was an artistic touch. The rover held a tiny, Swedish-style red cottage with white trim and a green door, dubbed the Moonhouse by creator Mikael Genberg, for placement on the lunar surface. Minutes before the attempted landing, Hakamada assured everyone that ispace had learned from its first failed mission. 'Engineers did everything they possibly could' to ensure success this time, he said. He considered the latest moonshot 'merely a steppingstone' to its bigger lander launching by 2027 with NASA involvement. Ispace, like other businesses, does not have 'infinite funds' and cannot afford repeated failures, Jeremy Fix, chief engineer for ispace's US subsidiary, said at a conference last month. While not divulging the cost of the current mission, company officials said it's less than the first one which exceeded £74million. Two other US companies are aiming for moon landings by year's end: Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Astrobotic Technology. Astrobotic's first lunar lander missed the moon altogether in 2024 and came crashing back through Earth's atmosphere. For decades, governments competed to get to the moon. Only five countries have pulled off successful robotic lunar landings: Russia, the US, China, India and Japan. Of those, only the US has landed people on the moon: 12 NASA astronauts from 1969 through 1972. NASA expects to send four astronauts around the moon next year. That would be followed a year or more later by the first lunar landing by a crew in more than a half-century, with SpaceX's Starship providing the lift from lunar orbit all the way down to the surface. China also has moon landing plans for its own astronauts by 2030.
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Daily Mirror
First players of exciting new Nintendo Switch 2 divided over new games console
Nintendo Switch 2 is now on sale with the Japanese gaming giant promising that the new console is a 'huge leap forward' after eight years of development - but is it worth the £400 price tag? Nintendo's highly anticipated Switch 2 is now in stores - and gamers have already had their honest say on whether you get more bang for your buck. It's being heralded as a 'once in a decade' moment as new games consoles from Nintendo are so rare. The new console, released today (June 5), has a larger and higher-quality screen, with double the number of pixels as the original Switch. A key difference is with the controls, which now magnetically attach. There is also the Joy-Con 2 controller, which can be operated like a computer mouse by sliding it on a surface. The updated Switch also comes with a range of new social features, centred around a new tool called GameChat, which allows players to voice or video chat with friends while playing. The Japanese gaming giant also confirmed the new console supports the ability for players to share a game and play together with up to three friends, even if those friends do not own the game. Reviews are currently few and far between, as Nintendo decided not to send review units out until the day before release. However there are some popular opinions being shared online in the first few hours of release. Shoppers had the option to buy the console on its own, or with a digital version of Mario Kart World, the new open-world racing game, included. Gaming YouTuber Marques Brownlee shared an unboxing video with fans, along with a first try. Sharing his initial thoughts, he told the camera: "This new bigger screen looks way better." Comparing it to the Switch 1, he shows off the new full length kick stand and larger display, adding: "It's an obvious upgrade." Having a go with the detachable controls, Marques says it's "so much fun", adding: "They're so much better than the old ones." Referring back to the new controls experience, he explained: "Just having these huge new buttons, ergonomically it's better. It's much better to game on the individual Joy-Con on the new ones, so if you're thinking about Switch 2, is it really that much of an upgrade? Is it really that different? It's going to feel different just because of the Joy-Cons as much as the bigger screen." One follower replied: "The Switch 2 start up music is a vibe" while a disgruntled viewer shared: "Will never be as cool as the DS's evolutions (DS, DSI, 3DS, 2DS)". In response to Marques comments about the impressive screen protector, one replied: "For those who take out the switch a lot, that wiggle is awesome, it means it probably mitigates a little bit the scratches in the screen." In another initial review, Tabitha Baker, from gamesradar+, said: "I've just finished up my first day testing the Nintendo Switch 2, and so far things are looking pretty strong. While I've been surprised by the OLED's ability to display its own Switch 1 games slightly better (those without the Switch 2 Upgrade that is), the performance I've experienced from Cyberpunk 2077 and the overall feel of the console over the last eight hours point towards a worthy upgrade for those after a little more grunt under the hood." Kez McDonald, of The Guardian, explained that while he doesn't have his hands on the console just yet, he had a chance to play the console at Nintendo's offices. While he's keen to emphasise that the new features are indeed an upgrade, for the £400 asking price, he expected something more. He wrote: "Hardware-wise, it is the upgrade of my dreams: sturdier JoyCons, a beautiful screen, the graphical muscle to make games look as good as I want them to in 2025 (though still not comparable to the high-end PlayStation 5 Pro or a modern gaming PC)." But he said the upgrade feels rather "belated" after eight years of waiting. "I was hoping for something actually new, and aside from the fact that you can now use those controllers as mice by turning them sideways and moving them around on a desk or on your lap, there isn't much new in the Switch 2. "Absorbed in Mario Kart World, the main launch title, it was easy to forget I was even playing a new console." Nintendo say the Switch 2 has significantly improved gaming performance, as well as eight times the storage capacity of the original, with 256GB of built-in storage. The original Switch has proven hugely popular since it's release in 2017. Its hybrid home and mobile gaming system allows players to carry the screen and detachable remote controls with them and dock the device in a station at home to use it with a TV. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the Switch 2 was a 'leap forward' for the company and its customers. 'Nintendo Switch 2 is the next step in at-home gaming that can be taken on the go based on eight years of play and discovery that began with Nintendo Switch,' he said. 'With its new features that expand the possibilities of gaming experiences, I truly believe that Nintendo Switch 2 is a leap forward in our journey of putting smiles on the faces of everyone that Nintendo touches.' The new console will cost £395, or £429 for a bundle which also includes Mario Kart World.
