A remotely-controlled robot dived into the radiation-filled waters of the Fukushima power plant to study the March 11, 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, and imaged molten nuclear fuel stretching across the dark depths of the reactor.
As part of clean-up operations at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, engineers sent a remote-controlled robot deep into Unit 1 on February 9, according to plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO). .
After being hit by an earthquake and a 15-metre tsunami, three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan suffered severe meltdowns in the most severe nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl incident. Due to harmful radioactive isotopes emitted into the environment, about 160,000 residents were immediately evacuated, and Japanese authorities created a 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the plant.
The purpose of this final mission was to obtain information about Unit 1’s primary containment vessel, as well as to identify tons of melted nuclear fuel debris found in submerged highly radioactive waters. The plan is to eventually remove this radioactive debris, but the team is currently investigating the extent of the molten debris and analyzing the isotopes emitted.
Robots are used because the radiation levels deep within the facility are very dangerous for humans. Some areas the robot explores reach levels of two sieverts, a dose of ionizing radiation that is deadly to humans, the Associated Press said.
With the help of the robotic submarine’s camera, the team placed special guide rings around the building to help guide the path for future inspections. The camera also managed to capture some images of nuclear fuel melting and falling to the bottom of the damaged reactor.
TEPCO, the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning (IRID), and Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy were tasked with cleaning up and “decommissioning” the power plant. Some of the effort will be towards removing this physical nuclear debris, but there are also issues of dealing with the highly radioactive waters that flood the plant. Currently the plan is to dump some of this contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean, but the idea is creating a separate storm of controversy. In total, the entire decommissioning process is not expected to be completed until 30 to 40 years from now…
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