The start of full-scale fuel debris removal from the damaged reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is now expected to begin in 2037 at the earliest, instead of the early 2030s.
In Fukushima Daiichi units 1 to 3, the fuel and the metal cladding that formed the outer jacket of the fuel rods melted, then re-solidified as fuel debris. Unit 4 does not contain any used fuel or fuel debris as it had already been defuelled before the accident.
There is an estimated total of 880 tonnes of fuel debris in units 1-3. To reduce the risk from this fuel debris, preparations are under way for retrieving it from the reactors. The aim had been to begin retrieval from unit 3, from which used nuclear fuel has already been removed. The retrieved fuel debris will be stored in the new storage facility that will be constructed within the site.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc (Tepco) succeeded in extracting small samples of fuel debris from the unit 2 reactor in November 2024 and in April this year.
However, Tepco has reportedly concluded after studying the specific removal method that it would take around 12 to 15 years just to prepare for the work.
“The difficulty of retrieving the first handful of debris has become apparent,” Toyoshi Fuketa, head of the decommissioning work at the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (NDC) told a press conference on 29 July, Kyodo reported.
In a statement, Tepco said: “Fuel debris retrieval is an extremely vital task for moving forward with decommissioning not only because it will reduce risk at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station but also because it presents unprecedented technological challenges. TEPCO will proceed with difficult tasks for the fuel debris retrieval step by step while prioritising safety as it aims to finish decommissioning in 30-40 years, as laid out in the Mid-and-Long-Term Roadmap, and fully complete the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.”
Delays like this don’t really surprise me anymore. The Fukushima cleanup is dealing with conditions that have never existed at this scale before, so timelines always feel optimistic in hindsight. Remote handling, radiation levels, and unknown debris behavior make every step risky. I think it’s better they move slowly and safely rather than rush and create new problems that last even longer.
I agree that the high level radioactive waste needs to be done VERY carefully and that takes time and money. It would not surprise me to hear 100 years and $500 billion for the total cleanup.
I just worry that people have forgotten and stopped being concerned about the dangers of nuclear power plants.
How long has it been? 7 years. I think they have had plenty of time to work out remote handling for example. Looks like they have put resources into other issues and merely shelved this aspect until later.
Fukushima disaster started on March 11, 2011. They do not yet know how to get inside the reactors, how to get at the fuel or what remote handling equipment will survive the high radiation. It will take 100 years and $500 billion for the cleanup.
See you have already forgotten how long ago the disaster started. I think memories of lay people can not hold on to these facts for long.
I’d be interested in a source for that. They’ve already removed over 1000 fuel components. The main issue is the removal of the molten fuel, which they project will take about 25 years. Decommissioning will take an additional 15 years. Even allowing for a 50% error in those figures, it’s not 100 years.
If it were a US company making those estimates, I might be more skeptical. But the Japanese culture almost forbids them from blowing smoke. I suspect their projections are reasonably close (+/- 10%).
I do not trust TEPCO based on their past failures and lies. 40 years is a best estimate wild guess from TEPCO. They have never meet any schedules - they only cut corners well.
The following description is one of the best I have found:
About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the three damaged reactors. TEPCO is attempting to learn more about its location and condition to facilitate its removal so the plant can be decommissioned.
The high-definition color images captured by the drones show brown objects with various shapes and sizes dangling from various locations in the pedestal. Parts of the control-rod drive mechanism, which controls the nuclear chain reaction, and other equipment attached to the core were dislodged.
TEPCO officials said they were unable to tell from the images whether the dangling lumps were melted fuel or melted equipment without obtaining other data such as radiation levels. The drones did not carry dosimeters to measure radiation because they had to be lightweight and maneuverable.
The drone cameras could not see the bottom of the reactor core, in part because of the darkness of the containment vessel, officials said. Information from the probe could help future investigations of the melted debris which are key to developing technologies and robots for its removal, they said.
But the large amount that remains unknown about the interior of the reactors suggests how difficult it will be. Critics say the 30-40 year target for the plant’s cleanup set by the government and TEPCO is overly optimistic.
The daunting decommissioning process has already been delayed for years by technical hurdles and the lack of data.
The nuclear industry has been around since at least 1945. They should know a lot about this problem and the solutions. Eleven years provides time enough to explore improvements and invite experts to do research if needed. The equipment needed is available. Converting to remote operation should not be difficult. The excuses given are still the same. Progress seems remarkably slow.
Sorry, there have only been 3 nuclear reactor core melts in the world so far: TMI-2, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. They were all different in damage to reactor cores.
TMI-2 was the easiest core melt to clean up because the containment was intact and only a partial core melt.
Chernobyl blew the top of the reactor building off and the core was on fire spewing radioactivity into the atmosphere. Russians dumped tons of water and concrete on the core until the fire was extinguished and the core was covered with concrete. There was never intention of cleanup for centuries. The reactor has been entombed and a huge moveable shield containment structure built to keep radioactive material from spreading.
Fukushima reactor 1, 2 and 3 were all extensively damaged during the core melt disasters. Explosions at these reactors were televised. Massive amounts of radioactive materials were released into the atmosphere. The people of Tokyo and Japan were lucky that the winds were blowing west to spread the radioactivity over the Pacific Ocean to be diluted in the long path to North America.
Therefore, the Japanese are the first to try and remove fuel debris form horribly dark damaged reactor buildings full of radioactive liquids and fuel debris in a never done before cleanup.
The first robots they tried for exploration/observation were off the shelf and had difficulties. Was it communications, video, or some radiation effect on magnets/motors, etc. The equipment needed is available once adapted to run remotely. Some aspects could be difficult but most can be addressed from prior experience. Why is this taking so long?