TEPCO Begins 2nd Nuclear Debris Removal Work

Tokyo, April 15 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. on Tuesday morning began the second experimental work to remove nuclear fuel debris from a damaged reactor at its Fukushima No. 1 power plant in northeastern Japan.

TEPCO aims to remove 3 grams of debris at the maximum from the meltdown-stricken No. 2 reactor within about two weeks. This time, the company plans to go closer to the center of the reactor containment vessel than during the first experimental work last year.

Constituents of the collected debris will be analyzed for research to realize full-scale removal.

Like in its first debris removal work, the company plans to insert a fishing rod-shaped remote-controlled device into the containment vessel. A claw gripper attached to the tip of the device will catch debris at the bottom of the reactor vessel.

TEPCO replaced a camera attached to the telescopic device after the first debris retrieval work was halted due to camera problems. The company also improved the gripper.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]