TEPCO Resumes Nuclear Debris Removal Work

Tokyo, Sept. 10 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. resumed on Tuesday morning experimental work to remove nuclear fuel debris from a reactor at its meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.

The trial is the first attempt to remove the debris since the March 2011 nuclear accident at the plant.

The work at the No. 2 reactor of the plant was scheduled to begin Aug. 22, but was halted as five pipes to be attached to a debris-removal device turned out to have been arranged in the wrong order.

The pipes were arranged by a partner company in July, but TEPCO never checked the order in which they were arranged. After the halt, TEPCO officials engaged in related confirmation work in an effort to prevent a recurrence of problems in the preparation phase. TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa checked the order of the pipes himself Monday, the officials said.

If portions of the debris are removed successfully, efforts to decommission the disaster-crippled plant will enter a new stage.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]