Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) has retrieved a small amount of nuclear fuel debris from the unit 2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP. The sample was collected from a location different from that of the first trial operation in November 2024 when Tepco extracted the first sample of nuclear fuel debris from the containment vessel at unit 2 using a specially developed device.
This followed several earlier failed attempts since the plant in Fukushima Prefecture suffered a meltdown following the massive March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in which three reactors suffered a reactor meltdown. In September 2024, Tepco had suspended attempts for a second time to collect melted nuclear fuel from unit 2 after two cameras on the robotic device ceased to function.
Tepco said it plans to analyse and compare the samples to determine things such as the condition inside the reactor. Tepco took the sample from the reactor containment vessel and put it in a resin container at a metal space outside the reactor, completing the second retrieval.
By operating a retrieval robot arm differently from the first time, Tepco collected debris that was 1 or 2 metres closer to the centre bottom of the containment vessel than the first retrieval. The debris is believed to be 7 millimetres or smaller and weighs 3 grams or lighter. The collected debris will be transported to a Japan Atomic Energy Agency facility of the in Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture. Tepco plans to use a robot arm that can be operated for a wider range in the next retrieval.
